Some parents and officials in Rutherford County are upset that the school district spent $200,000 to renovate La Vergne High School’s track rather than fix the restrooms, which are in a state of disrepair.
This, according to DNJ.com and the Nashville-based FOX 17, the latter of which reported some bathrooms don’t even have doors on the stalls.
“Fixing the track is a capital expenditure that’s already been approved in the budget long before school started. Rutherford County School Board Vice Chairman Coy Young is 1 of 5 who voted to stick with the current plan. He says, to the best of his knowledge, all the stalls now at least have curtains in and believes the whole thing got blown out of proportion,” according to FOX 17.
“He says the bathrooms are already scheduled to be renovated this summer when students aren’t at school, and, if they decided to reallocate that money now, they would have to go through the entire approval process again. By doing this, he says they would gain only a few months. But, both say this isn’t a bathroom vs. track issue. For him, it simply made sense to keep what was already approved. But (Rutherford County School Board member Lisa) Moore says the point is that there are more pressing issues than a track on which to spend $200,000.”
According to DNJ.com, school board members “approved the $199,935 track resurfacing project that’s supposed to be completed by the spring in a 5-2 vote.”
“(Rutherford County School Board member Tammy) Sharp said parents of female students at La Vergne High have complained to her about the lack of doors, but she has not heard from parents of male students. She also provided a video of one restroom where all of the restroom stalls had doors, except one designed to accommodate a wheelchair. The doorjamb showed the space designed for a locking mechanism,” the website reported.
“La Vergne High, which opened in 1988, is among the older schools with bathroom problems, said Trey Lee, superintendent of engineering and construction for the district.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ruther County School Board of Education” by Rutherford County School Board of Education.
Sounds like something Sumner County would do.
It would appear that people are being fooled by the fake conservatism of some of our elected officials. Mainly one Lisa Moore on the county school board.