Rutherford County Schools Director says two students arrested for making false reports about school threats
Rutherford County Schools Director Dr. Jimmy Sullivan posted a video message on social media to parents Tuesday afternoon in response to the arrests of two students he says made false reports about school threats.
Supporters make the case for Novus SMART Academy in Rutherford County
Following the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education’s recent decision to deny Novus SMART Academy’s application to become the fourth charter school in the district, supporters and educators from the charter school have taken their appeal to the state.
Rep. Charlie Baum wants to reduce the “lag” growing school districts face receiving state funding
The monthly payments Tennessee sends school districts are determined based on enrollment last school year. Representative Charlie Baum Districts hopes to reduce the “lag.”
Rutherford County Schools leaders highlight homegrown training program for special ed and ESL instructors
Rutherford County Schools (RCS) leaders highlighted recent efforts to fill special education and English as a second language (ESL) teaching positions at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.
Rutherford County Schools in need of additional nurses for ‘medically fragile’ students
Rutherford County Schools Board of Education officials noted the need for more school nurses in the district at Tuesday’s work session meeting.
“Wicked” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” among 7 books under consideration for banning at Rutherford County Schools
The Rutherford County Schools Board of Education is expected to decide if it will ban seven books next month to comply with a new state law instructing school libraries to remove books with sexual or otherwise inappropriate content.
Three new public charter schools took different paths to serve families in Rutherford County
Rutherford Collegiate Prep opened its doors for the first time to students last Wednesday while American Classical Academy Rutherford and Springs Empower Academy are both opening today.
Rutherford County Schools approves book ban policy revisions
The Rutherford County school board unanimously voted to approve revisions to district policy regarding the removal of books with sexual or inappropriate themes from school libraries to align with a new state law that went into effect this year.
Rutherford County School Board says no to a fourth public charter school
Members of the Rutherford County School Board voted 4 to 3 Wednesday night to reject what would’ve been the county’s fourth public charter school. Financial concerns ended up playing a bigger role in the close decision against Novus SMART Academy (K-8) than academics.
Rutherford County Schools review team recommends approval for a fourth public charter school
Next month Rutherford County will see three new public charter schools open and a fourth could see approval before the first class bell rings.
TDOE announces $2.6M in Perkins Reserve Grant awards to support CTE and STEM learning
The Tennessee Department of Education has awarded more than $2.6 million in Perkins Reserve Grant (PRG) grant funds to 55 school districts to support career and technical education (CTE) programming in the 2024-25 school year.
Poll finds Tennessee voters are more supportive of public charter schools than the school boards opposing them
A new poll finds the unanimous rejection of new charters at the school board level this year doesn’t align with the values of Tennessee voters who elected them.
Students in Rutherford County may take home new backpacks at summer camp
Rutherford County Schools (RCS) is recommending purchasing backpacks for participants in the upcoming June summer learning camp.
Independent review recommends denial for a proposed fourth public charter school in Rutherford County
Leaders of Novus SMART Academy (K-8) hope to provide families with another public school option.
Rutherford County School Board narrowly votes to extend director of schools’ contract
Members of the Rutherford County School Board narrowly voted 4 to 3 to extend the contract of Director James “Jimmy” Sullivan during Thursday night’s board meeting.Dr. Sullivan became the Director of Schools for Rutherford County Schools (RCS) in 2022 under a four-year contract. Prior to becoming the director of schools, he served as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction from 2019 and served as the founding principal of Rocky Ford Middle School in Smyrna.
Reset rooms are reducing behavior problems in Rutherford County elementary schools
Rutherford County School leaders say reset rooms are helping prevent behavior problems in elementary schools.Reset rooms are designated safe areas where students can go to regulate their emotions and behavior. The rooms also allow students to have quiet time which is another strategy for de-escalation.District Special Education District Coordinator Annie Ralston told school board members at Monday’s work session that over the fall semester, there were 1,432 instances of students using the reset rooms to take a break. Only 349 of those instances, or roughly 25 percent, escalated to involving an administrator.
Rutherford County School Board discusses pay raises and other changes to compete for staff
The Rutherford County School Board is considering upping the ante for how much the district pays its special education teachers and faculty.During budget preparation in last week’s meeting, board members discussed the pay hike to maintain competition with other school districts.Board member Frances Rosales also suggested giving an incentive to education assistants (EA) for students learning English as a second language.
Rutherford County School Board wants to suspend the driver license of students who make school threats
Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to push for harsher consequences for students who threaten their school.The resolution calls for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation allowing for the revocation of the driver’s license of students who make false bomb threats or other threats against their school.“Many of the punishments for such actions are not sufficient deterrents to some students. The revocation of a student’s driver license may be a more effective deterrent for some students,” said Director of Schools James Sullivan.Board member Tammy Sharp proposed the resolution after working in collaboration with Representative Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna.
Rutherford County School Board elects Shelia Bratton as new chair
Rutherford County School Board members voted Shelia Bratton to be the new board chair Tuesday evening, replacing former chair Tammy Sharp.Sharp withdrew from serving another one-year term due to a medical diagnosis that she wishes to focus her full attention on.“I just wanted to thank everyone for the emails, the texts, and the phone calls in support of my well-being and my new diagnosis. I even had some people here tonight. Thank you, thank you everyone, and it was an honor for me to serve the last year and aside Dr. Sullivan and we’re gonna keep going. We’re gonna go from here,” said Sharp.
Nonprofit aims to turn special needs kids in Rutherford County into comic book heroes
Special needs students in Rutherford County may get to live out their dreams of becoming superheroes in the near future.At Thursday’s Rutherford County School Board meeting, The Every Kid Is A Hero Foundation presented board members with a proposal to give special needs students in the district a chance to become heroes in a comic.“What we have done, we’ve become a foundation called The Every Kid Is A Hero Foundation,” said foundation representative Lee Colvin. “Within this county’s school system, what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to come in and we’re trying to work with the special needs high school programs.”