Rutherford County Schools Director vows to protect the “community feel” by building smaller schools

Dr. James Sullivan (Photo by Rutherford County Schools)

Rutherford County School Board members are set to vote on the purchase of property that could be home to several new schools.

Rutherford County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and school officials there are weighing how to handle an influx of students while trying to maintain a community feel. During a work session on Tuesday, school board members discussed plans for the purchase of 161 acres on Lee Road in Smyrna for $12,880,000 dollars for a new school campus. The property is in one of the densest growth areas in the county.

During the meeting, Rutherford County Schools Director Dr. James Sullivan told board members the original plan had been to build a single high school serving up to 2,500 students on the site. But after discussions with other officials, the hope now is to build a smaller high school serving 1,200 to 1,500 students along with a middle or elementary school, or possibly both. He says the Lee Road property fits that vision, which is similar to the campuses that house Blackman Middle and High Schools, and Stewarts Creek Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.

 “You could almost have like we have the Stewart’s Creek, the Blackman, those types of campuses,” said Dr. Sullivan. “We want to make sure that we keep what makes Rutherford County, Rutherford County and not look 15 years from now and realize we have these huge buildings that just cycle students through like factories and don’t keep us with that community feel.”

He explained the focus on smaller schools could also potentially lead to a second new high school in the future near Plainview Elementary in Christiana. Growth in the county has also led to increased demand for specialized instruction, which could mean changes down the road for existing schools such as Thurman Frances Arts Academy, which currently serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“The other part of that is that we realize we have a lot of magnet school seats that are needed and so trying to get a magnet school on the north end, whether that is making Thurman Frances K-12, that’s kind of what we’ve tossed around,” said Dr. Sullivan.

Several board members expressed support for the plan moving forward, noting that land values in the area continue to increase. Others noted that the Lee Road Property already has access to a major roadway and is located in an area of rapid growth.

“It’s a great piece of property. We don’t need to mess around and let this land get away from us,” said Zone 6 Board Member Butch Vaughn.

There are no specifics yet on what the potential new school buildings would look like, but some board members did express interest in exploring building designs different from other recently built schools.

Zone 1 Board Member Tammy Sharp said she recently toured a school in Kentucky that had wings with all the common areas in the middle, which kept co-mingling between different grade levels in between classes to a minimum.

“It is a smaller school, and I think we should look at some other layouts. I think that would be a good one for our junior high and our high school,” said Sharp.

Board members are set to vote on a contract for the Lee Road property during their meeting on March 20.

They will also vote on the Asher Sullivan Memorial Project at Christiana Elementary School. Part of the project is to install a half-court on the playground with the “Asher Star.” The project is to honor 10-year-old Asher Sullivan, who died last year after falling into flood waters and being swept into a storm drain near his home. Asher is the son of Superintendent Dr. James Sullivan and was a student at Christiana Elementary.

Most of the materials for the playground project have been donated and the school plans to fund the remaining $7,250 dollars through its basketball account.