Maryville City Schools proposes to rezone elementary schools

Maryville City Schools proposes to rezone elementary schools 

Daily Times 

11/5/24 

By: Shanon Adame 

 

Maryville City Schools is growing. So much so, the board will vote on their second Elementary School rezoning since 2020. 

The proposed rezoning will be going before the board Monday, Nov. 18. 

MCS Director of Schools Mike Winstead said the district has been running for several years at a high 90% capacity, especially at the elementary level. 

If you have just one added development, he said, or even a subdivision that goes through some sort of renewal, where older families move away and younger families move in, it can significantly affect the schools. 

Additionally, the increase in population during the pandemic means that schools are running out of space. 

 

Winstead explained that some of the rezoning that is being proposed now is actually undoing rezoning that took place 12 years ago. 

As it stands now, the proposal is: 

27 students to be rezoned from Sam Houston Elementary to John Sevier Elementary: 

• The area north of Sevierville Road between Columbus Street and S. Washington Avenue. 

57 students from Foothills Elementary to Sam Houston Elementary: 

• The Reserve 

• The Cottages at Cades Cove 

• Oak Tree Apartments 

• Wilson Road, Moonrise Lane and Westside Drive 

Winstead said that many students already take advantage of the district’s policy to allow students to transfer to schools they aren’t zoned for as long as a parent or guardian is driving them, so he didn’t expect an abnormally large number of families to be affected. 

Students who are in the area of rezoning will have the option to stay enrolled at their current school so long as they have their own means of transportation to and from school. If a student’s only means of transportation is by bus, they will have to attend their newly rezoned school. 

The rezoning will not affect intermediate schools, only elementary schools. 

Winstead said the majority of the overcrowding is at Foothills Elementary, and the goal is to get the classroom size down to a reasonable amount. 

Right now, there are over 20 students in each classroom. 

Currently, Foothills and John Sevier have eight classrooms per grade while Sam Houston has six. Winstead said the plan is to expand Sam Houston to have eight classrooms per grade; because of this, another rezoning is likely in about three years. 

Winstead explained that MCS is the only school system in the nation that has had a Blue Ribbon Award school three years in a row, and it was given to each of their elementary schools. 

“So that helps and I think all are viewed by the public as good schools,” he said. 

MCS will hold a public input meeting at 5 p.m. Nov. 18, located at Montgomery Ridge Intermediate Library, 835 Montgomery Ln, Maryville. The monthly board meeting will follow. 

The rezoning map can be found at: https://maryvilleschoolsorg-1-us-east1-01.preview.finalsitecdn.com/about-us/school-zoning 

Anyone is unable to attend the public input meeting can email comments or questions to mcs@maryville-schools.org or call 865-982-7121.