Shelby County Schools holds second community meeting on rezoning plan

Shelby County Schools held its second community meeting about a rezoning proposal for the 2014-15 school year at Woodstock Middle School Thursday. The district is rezoning in response to the creation six new municipal school districts in Memphis suburbs in order to accommodate students who will be zoned to Shelby County Schools next year but whose current schools will be in the municipal districts.

District planner Denise Sharpe laid out plans to transfer those students who now attend Shadowlawn Middle School and Rivercrest Elementary but live in the the unincorporated part of Shelby County to Barret’s K-8,  Woodstock Middle Schools and Lucy Elementary School.  Shadowlawn and Rivercrest will become part of Bartlett’s school district

Though 16 community members signed up to speak, only three took the floor. Two of those speakers raised concerns about a plan that would send Woodstock students to Raleigh-Egypt and Craigmont high schools; one said that zoning students there would cause families to leave Shelby County Schools.

The third was Cody Childress, a representative for the new Millington school district, who encouraged audience members to send their children to Millington’s district. “Folks, we want you in Millington,” he said. His comment was interrupted by one audience member who shouted out, “What’s your question?”

Childress was crowded by interested parents after the meeting.

Millington was also hosting a recruitment event tonight, and Childress brought along a pile of letters of interest for parents.

Board member David Reaves attended the meeting and told parents he will propose to the board that Woodstock Middle School become a high school. He said, however, that that plan will likely take more than a year. Reaves said he would suggest the possibility that Millington’s school district educate the students from the unincorporated area for one year only, while the new high school is being built; or that the students be zoned to Bolton High School in order to avoid sending students to Raleigh-Egypt or Craigmont.