School rezoning task force to consider input from public

A task force preparing a proposal for zoning of Metro students will meet tomorrow, and publicly consider input gathered at public hearings throughout the community.

The meeting is expected to be among the task force’s last before submitting its proposal to the Board of Education. Some school board members have said they would like the board to consider and possibly approve the plan as early as July 8.

The Metro Nashville Public Schools Community Task Force on Student Assignment convened in January, and proposed a rezoning plan in May. Since that proposal, the task force has hosted four public hearings.

The task force’s charge is to take those opinions into account in creating a final proposal for school board consideration. Once the task force’s proposal is complete, the ball is effectively in the court of the school board.

Input expressed at the public hearings has been mixed. The proposal has generated controversy in its recommendation that the Pearl-Cohn cluster be expanded to encompass most of north Nashville, adding in many cases to the high percentages of economically disadvantaged and African-American students attending some of the affected schools.

In addition to parents and MNPS employees, the public hearings attracted community groups and active citizens. Several Metro Council members have also spoken up in favor of or against the proposal.

School board member Mark North, chair of the task force, said he expects task force members will weight the “quality of input” received from all these stakeholders. In terms of Metro Council members, for example, he said the task force will “consider” their perspectives.

“It’s the quality of the input, and not necessarily either the quantity or the messenger, that will be important,” North said Monday.

Tomorrow’s task force meeting will take place at 8 a.m. at the MNPS central office, 2601 Bransford Ave.