If you want to send your child to a different Nashville public school than the one they’re zoned for, then the process will get a little easier under a new plan Metro Schools will implement for next year.
Under the new plan, Metro Schools is getting rid of the special transfer policy, in favor of allowing all parents to choose schools with extra open seats. Schools spokeswoman Olivia Brown says the special transfer policy was cumbersome for parents.
“They had to meet certain criteria, and they had to get signatures from the principles of the current school and the school they wanted to attend. With open enrollment basically, you identify schools with enough seats and you say you can apply to go to any of those schools you choose to.”
Deadlines will be moved up so that parents can know before summer starts, which school their child will attend the following year. That also allows schools to plan ahead for supplies like textbooks.
Following a meeting of the School Board last night, Brown says the lottery process for the magnet schools won’t change. The new school choice plan is an administrative decision, so board members did not have to approve it.
Board members also approved two new programs to improve teacher quality, Teach for America and the New Teacher Project. Those programs aren’t official yet, though. Mayor Karl Dean is still raising the 2-million dollars from the private sector needed to fund the programs. The boards of the non-profits also have to approve bringing the programs to Nashville. That’s expected to happen by the end of the month.
In other board business, member Ed Kindall decided not to make any motions regarding the rezoning plan for next year. He says instead, the board will be meeting with the Schools administration to make sure safeguards are in place to ensure adequate funding for schools in poorer neighborhoods. They’ll also look at transporting students who want to continue attending schools across town.
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