Open Zoning for Students

[Bulldog Fan #2]

Well...It's not entirely like that. The student would have to appear before the school board and make a case as to why they choose to go to that school. The school board actually turns down alot of these requests, but others are allowed based on specific circumstances.

 

 

I bet they don't turn down the best athletes. Even if they can't spell cat!!!

[inthezone]

I don't know an exact number but 35% may be high. With the overcrowding in county schools parents should be happy that they can pay to send their kid to Alcoa. Alcoa also has better academics than some county shools in the area when you look at test scores and such. They don't pay for students to come to them so IMO they should not be treated like private schools.

 

 

I think the 30% to 35% is close for the whole system, but it may not be the High School. Alcoa does have good academics, but the county schools are above the state average in every academic testing scored. I know many county students who have been very successful.

 

I thought the private schools could not give students tuition and still play in public league. Correct me if I'm wrong. For example does Catholic give scholarships?

[fromthetop2]

There are as many different types of open zoning as there are definitions of good looking women.

 

In WillCo, open zoned schools started in the last few years due to overpopulation/underpopulation of high schools, as well as lack of construction planning for the future.

 

When Franklin HS was being reconstructed, they ended up with more students than they were slotted for.

Students were given a choice to attend Brentwood HS, which was underpopulated due to the opening of Ravenwood, and only enough students could qualify that would bring Brentwood up to its capacity.

 

Since that time, it has been a yearly designation to adjust to population changes. I believe BHS, Fairview, and Page are now open-zoned this year.

 

When open zoning was instituted, there were many board members saying it would lead to recruiting. Thus, very stringent rules were put into place. For example:

-You cannot go to a middle school and tell any student about the open-zoned high schools. You cannot go there and sign-up students in the spring for the next school year. Aside from a small ad that appears in the paper, nothing is mentioned and nothing can be said about open zoning.

-Parents must go, on their own, to the open-zoned school and meet with the principal. They must fill out the paperwork and it must be submitted. All of this has to occur by May 1st. It has to be then approved.

-No coaches can talk about their sports programs except on school grounds as part of visit with the parents who are checking out the school.

-With the changes in cirriculum (everyone being equal, which means some schools had to drop courses), there is little academic reason to go to one school over another. Now, that is not reality, but the academic argument for transfers doesn't fly with the school board.

-Students who are in high school and participate in sports and transfer are subject to the normal transfer rules by the TSSAA.

 

With as many eyes and ears, the coaches are absolutely paranoid about keeping to the letter of the law. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that if the board caught a "whiff" of recruiting, then all applicants who participated in middle school sports would be denied admission.

 

Don't know how it is done everywhere else, but this County has the clamps on it.

[barb]

Allow me to play devil's advocate for a moment. Why is it "totally understandable" to simply go wherever you want to go for academic purposes but "indefensible" to do the same for athletic purposes? Respond to this but spare me the student comes first in student-athlete stuff. The reason we may see it as indefensible is that we put so much more emphasis on athletics (i.e. this board) than the other side. I have not looked too hard but, but yet to find the Profesor T web site where 200,000 people post about their biloogy quiz bowl team. Bottom line is people want their kids to go to a school that has the history of W I N N I N G!!! Simple as that in my opinion. So if given a choice, why would they not send them to that particular school (Fill in the blank here)

If I had an academically gifted child, noone would fault me is I wanted to send her to a school with advanced course offerings if the school we were zoned for did not offer them. If I had a kid that was musically gifted and the school in our zone had no music program, would I still hear the criticism...probably not. Noone wants to stand in the way of a child developing its full potential. Strong academics and music can help a kid get into a good college. So why begrudge a talented athlete the chance to develop their skills in a good athletic program. A good athlete needs a good program to have any chance of playing at the next level. Believe it or not, most of these kids who cross zones to attend school benefit far more than the schools they attend. Trust me, if parents were not allowed to pay tuition to enroll their kids in schools like Maryville, they would probably just pick up and move there.

[Bhsline73]

Rutherford county doesnt exactually have "open zoning" but its becoming more and more that way. People who live NEXT to riverdale are coming to BLACKMAN becasue they dont LIKE the school. This is why the schools are getting more and more over crowded and have to spend money on expansion. Keep people in their own zones and youll be ok.

[PTSportsWriter]

the Cocke County school system has no-zoning for high schools. Transferring from one school to another has been made more difficult however, because some school board members saw the reasons for the transfers being athletic based only.

[Coalman]

I pay tuition at Alcoa for my kids. The reason we decided on this school system is the small school environment which provides a low student to teacher ratio. At 400 bucks per year it is also a bargain. My son did not play football before coming to Alcoa but decided to play after he got there. He plays baseball as his primary sport and they did not even have a field to play or practice on until his junior year.We are zoned for William Blount and that would be the more logical choice for a high school baseball career. Athletics played a very small role in our choice.

[bulldogger07]

CHS...the only students in the county that can choose to come to CHS are Franklin students only at this time. CHs is closed to all other zones.

 

Indy and Ravenwood are NOT open zoned for anyone at this time...nor will they be under the current circumstances.

 

Open zoning in WC has more to do with student populations...prevent over-crowded schools and fill empty classrooms in less populated schools.

 

Exactly.

[barb]

the Cocke County school system has no-zoning for high schools. Transferring from one school to another has been made more difficult however, because some school board members saw the reasons for the transfers being athletic based only.

Greene County has an open policy and Greeneville City has a tuition policy...Tell me PT, which of Cocke County's school's is the most desirable?

[lilrebs24]

If I had an academically gifted child, noone would fault me is I wanted to send her to a school with advanced course offerings if the school we were zoned for did not offer them. If I had a kid that was musically gifted and the school in our zone had no music program, would I still hear the criticism...probably not. Noone wants to stand in the way of a child developing its full potential. Strong academics and music can help a kid get into a good college. So why begrudge a talented athlete the chance to develop their skills in a good athletic program. A good athlete needs a good program to have any chance of playing at the next level. Believe it or not, most of these kids who cross zones to attend school benefit far more than the schools they attend. Trust me, if parents were not allowed to pay tuition to enroll their kids in schools like Maryville, they would probably just pick up and move there.

Best post i've seen yet, i totally agree! I lived outside the city limits and was affraid my kids might not get in on tuition. So i moved to Maryville. And another thing i have a boy who plays sports and a girl that doesn't. But it wouldn't matter if my boy didn't play sports, thats still where i want them to go,for many reasons.

[PTSportsWriter]

Greene County has an open policy and Greeneville City has a tuition policy...Tell me PT, which of Cocke County's school's is the most desirable?

 

Academically? Cocke County HS offers more courses I believe. They also offer a vocational school. The school system does provide the opportunity to bus kids from Cosby High to Cocke County for 2nd and 3rd blocks (but they would miss 1st and 4th because of this I would imagine? Or maybe its only 3rd block).

 

As far as teachers and the like? I'm sure the quality is about the same, I would imagine. This school system isnt exactly handing out $100,000 contracts.....(Or even a third of that)....

[barb]

Best post i've seen yet, i totally agree! I lived outside the city limits and was affraid my kids might not get in on tuition. So i moved to Maryville. And another thing i have a boy who plays sports and a girl that doesn't. But it wouldn't matter if my boy didn't play sports, thats still where i want them to go,for many reasons.

 

We paid tuition to enroll our daughter in Greeneville City schools because at the time, they offered way more advanced courses and had an excellent vocal music program that Greene County schools did not have. However,now that the county schools have made great strides academicallyand have fledgling music programs, we may see fewer tuition students enrolling for those reasons. Whether Greeneville sports will suffer because of this remains to be seen.