How Much Input Will An East Nashville School Overhaul Advisory Panel Get?

The East Nashville Advisory Committee met in the same room where there was an uproar Sunday night, in a meeting organized by parent activists with East Nashville United. Credit: David Wright Smith

In its first meeting, a special advisory committee for an East Nashville school overhaul heard an update for plans from central office administrators. But parent organizer and one-time school board candidate John Haubenreich says he heard too much from the district.

“My concern is that the committee won’t have the chance to speak and to make its voice heard, which is the point of this thing,” he told WPLN following the meeting.

Superintendent Jesse Register says the decision has already been made that KIPP charter schools will take over one of the low-performers in East Nashville – either Inglewood, Kirkpatrick or Whittsit. An announcement is expected December 1^st.

“The conversion is an important early decision, and we will try to move on through that,but then keep the work going,” Register said. “I see this committee working at least through April and the first part of May.”

Wedesday night, the 26-member panel of parents, students and teachers discussed the high mobility rates in the schools that feed into Maplewood and Stratford. The district is considering new feeder patterns, more charter conversions and a transportation plan that would allow every student to pick where they go.

A final plan is expected just before Register plans to retire after this school year.

David Wright Smith contributed to this report.