Charter School Group Says Williamson County Schools Misrepresented Facts of Application in Appeal Hearing

A group that runs charter schools told The Tennessee Star that plans for one of the schools it represents, Founders Classical Academy of Brentwood, were misrepresented by officials of Williamson County Schools during an appeal hearing held before the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission in Brentwood on Monday.

“Much of the Williamson County Schools presentation, especially the closing, dwelled on our purported ‘inability to effectively serve students,’ based on our lack of general bus transportation (Founders provides busing for special needs and in situations where necessary, and serves more diverse populations than most districts the schools reside in, with parents being willing to drive their children, as they are in Williamson), and lack of food services,” said Brian Haas of Del Rey Education., a company that helps launch Founders Classical Academy public charter schools around the country.

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TPUSA Will Not Host Event in Williamson County Schools

After backlash from far-left groups, Williamson County Schools has explained that it will not host a Turning Point USA [TPUSA] event at Nolensville High School later this month. 

“There is false information circulating about a Turning Point USA event that has been advertised to be held at Nolensville High on September 21. That event was never approved to be held at NHS and [TPUSA] has been asked to remove all references to Nolensville High,” Williamson County Schools said in a statement on Twitter. 

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Williamson County Greenlights $2.5 Million to Purchase More School Buses Despite Driver Shortage

The Williamson County School Board voted to purchase 25 new school busses for the 2022 school year. The board met Monday night, where they discussed the school’s need for the new vehicles.

During the meeting, it was said that due to the country’s supply chain shortages, the school board decided that it was best to order the buses now. Superintendent Jason Golden added that it was because of their current busses age and millage.

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Williamson County School Board Votes to End Mask Mandate

The Williamson County school board voted to end their mask mandate after Governor Bill Lee passed the new COVID legislation. The school board reportedly voted Friday evening but met Thursday night to discuss the possible outcomes of their mask mandate following the signing of the new COVID legislation. 

The Communiy Impact Newspaper reported that Friday evening, parents received an email from the Williamson County School Board Executive Director of Communications Carol Birdsong.

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Williamson County Schools Offers No Update After First Day of Forced Masking

Williamson County Schools are not talking after the first day in which students were required to wear masks, offering no insight into whether the newly-imposed mandate worked as planned. 

Friday, Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw ruled Williamson County Schools could force students to wear masks, temporarily halting an executive order by Gov. Bill Lee (R) that previously made masks optional. 

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Federal Judge Blocks Governor Lee’s Executive Order to Opt-Out of Mask Mandates in Williamson County Schools and Franklin Special School District

Group of young students at table, reading and wearing masks

On Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their kids out of wearing face coverings at school. Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw ruled Williamson County Schools and the Franklin Special School District can enforce mask mandates in their school systems despite Governor Lee’s executive order.

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Williamson County Board of Education Votes to Continue Mask Mandates in Schools

The Board of Education in Williamson County, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly Monday evening to extend its mask mandate for COVID-19 prevention until January.

At the urging of Superintendent Jason Golden, school directors initially voted on Aug. 10 to impose the requirement on elementary-school students. On Aug. 26, the board enjoined that mandate on middle-schoolers and high-schoolers as well. The rule would have expired this Tuesday but for the prior evening’s vote. 

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Commentary: Williamson County Schools, Fostering Healthy Solution, Derek Young and the Non-Profits That Feed Them

Child-rearing is going on in Williamson County Schools (WCS) without the parents’ knowledge or consent and the administrators, the school board, and the non-profits that are involved do not feel it is wrong.

The lack of involvement and transparency for parents who are not in line with Superintendent Jason Golden, and the non-profits feeding into WCS is glaring. It is a double standard for those conservative, traditional, pro-America, Christian parents who wish to be and legally is, the primary caretaker for their child, who has the right to raise their children as they see fit, morally, ethically, and spiritually.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Will Continue Requiring Masks, After Nashville Officials Ended the Mask Mandate Last Week

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) announced last week that they will continue enforcing their mask mandate indefinitely. The announcement came out Friday – the same day that Metro Nashville health officials ended the mask mandate.

The Tennessee Star reported on a recent court ruling that schools lacked the legal authority to impose a mask mandate contrary to state and their local government policy decisions. The Star inquired with MNPS about the relationship between this ruling and their decision to continue the mask mandate. MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted told The Star that the case referenced doesn’t prevent a school district from enacting or enforcing mask requirements. The Star asked if this ruling would jeopardize MNPS’s qualified immunity if parents challenged the mask mandate in court. Braisted responded that MNPS wouldn’t comment on hypothetical legal challenges.

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Williamson County Schools Rescinds Mask Mandate After Saying Judge Didn’t Rule Against Their Authority to Impose It

Williamson County Schools (WCS) announced Friday they’re ending their mask mandate, several weeks after a judge opined they lacked legal authority to continue imposing it. After the spring semester lets out, WCS won’t require masks any longer. In a voicemail obtained by The Tennessee Star, WCS Communications Director Carol Birdsong announced to parents that WCS was ending their mask mandate.

“Hello Williamson County Schools families, this is Carol Birdsong calling. Superintendent Jason Golden announced at last night’s school board work session that the district’s indoor mask requirement will come to an end once school has been dismissed and campuses have been cleared on Friday, May 21. The district will continue to recommend and encourage masks this summer for those who are not fully vaccinated – but they will not be required. More information is included in the email that is accompanying this phone call.”

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Williamson County Schools Ignores Judge Ruling Against Mask Mandates

Williamson County Schools (WCS) will continue their mask mandate, although a judge opined that they lacked authority to do so. Since Williamson County Circuit Court Judge Michael Binkley dismissed the case for lack of standing, he didn’t order the Williamson County Board of Education (WCBOE) to stop enforcing their mask mandate. However, he did specify in an alternative ruling that WCBOE lacked the legal authority to continue enforcing their mask mandate.

The Court is not convinced, as a matter of law, that WCBOE acted within its statutory authority at the time it promulgated its face-covering requirements. Further, the policy decisions promulgated by Mayor [Rogers] Anderson and Governor [Bill] Lee in February 2021 and April 2021 are inconsistent with WCBOE’s continued enforcement of face-covering requirements. With respect to WCBOE’s authority to issue a face-covering requirement, [their] Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment is alternatively DENIED. The Court cannot find, as a matter of law, Defendants have acted within the authority given to them by the legislature when enacting face-covering requirements.

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Tennessee Good Government Group Files Suit Against Williamson County Schools’ Mask Mandate

Members of a Tennessee-based group who say they fight government overreach have sued the Williamson County School (WCS) System because it mandates that its students wear masks to guard against COVID-19.

This, according to a lawsuit that Recall Williamson founder Gary Humble filed in the Williamson County Chancery Court this month. Recall Williamson members, in their lawsuit, said they want court officials to declare that WCS members breached their authority, per state law, when they mandated that students wear masks. They also said that only members of the Tennessee General Assembly — and not the state’s governor — can grant that authority to school systems.

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Parents: Williamson County Schools’ New Curriculum Claims President Obama Shipping 1.7 Billion Dollars in Cash to the Dictators of Iran Without Congressional Authorization Is an Achievement

  On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – host Leahy welcomed Williamson County Schools parents Stefanie and Edina to the show to talk about the recent discovery of the new Tennessee “standard” curriculum for the county. During the show, Edina said that parents are only allowed to view Williamson County Schools’ (WCS) new online social studies curriculum in person at the facilities of WCS under the supervision of WCS staff and disclosed what she learned in an in-person review of the curriculum with David Rector of WCS. Edina highlighted a segment of the new curriculum that discussed the Obama administration’s so-called “achievements” and “setbacks.” Leahy and both parents were dumbfounded to learn about the subtle propaganda that is part of the curriculum. Leahy: We have two special guests in the studio today, two parents from Williamson County. Edina, you are originally from Edina: Hungary. Leahy: Originally from Hungary. Edina: And California so I escaped socialism twice. Leahy: Well, maybe three times I don’t know. Edina: I seem to have bad luck Leahy: (Laughs) So you and you have a last name I can’t…

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Mike Looney Leaving Williamson County Schools Post for Job as Superintendent of Fulton County, Georgia Schools

  In a special-called meeting of the Fulton County Schools Board of Education, it was a unanimous decision of the seven-member board for current Williamson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael “Mike” Looney to assume the position of Superintendent of Fulton County Schools. It was announced by Fulton County Schools (FCS) during a public event on April 17 that Looney was the single finalist for the position of Superintendent after conducting a national search. With that announcement, FCS began promoting Looney with a document called a “fact sheet,” highlighting his leadership experience, results in teaching and learning and providing links to background articles. The FCS district, as Georgia’s fourth largest, has more than 95,000 students, 7,500 teachers, 105 schools and more than 14,000 employees, according to the district’s website. Fulton County encompasses Atlanta, however, Atlanta maintains a separate school system which physically bisects the FCS district. Coming from Williamson County Schools (WCS) that is less than half the size of FCS with 40,000 students and 48 schools, the move will be a big one for Looney and will put an end to the most recent controversy surrounding the WCS 10-year Superintendent. On March 6, The Tennessee Star broke the story that…

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National Teachers’ Union Formalizes Belief That Educators Must Acknowledge Existence of White Supremacy Culture

The National Education Association added a new section to its Resolutions, titled “White Supremacy Culture,” in which it states the belief that educators must acknowledge the existence of White supremacy culture as a primary root cause of institutional racism, structural racism, and White privilege. The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional employee organization – union – in the country, with a reported 3 million members at every level of education including pre-school to university graduate programs. The NEA has affiliates in every state, with the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) being listed as the Tennessee state affiliate. The TEA, as reported by The Tennessee Star, was very active in 2018 state elections, spending more than $500,000 during the election cycle. The “White Supremacy Culture” resolution was included in the 2017-2018 report of the NEA Resolutions Committee, which was presented to the NEA Representative Assembly held July 2 through 5, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a reported 6,200 delegates attended. According to NEA, the Representative Assembly is the highest decision-making body within the 3-million member body with over 8,000 delates, making it “the world’s largest democratic deliberative body.” The NEA holds a 10-day long annual meeting and representative assembly each…

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Mark Levin’s TV Program Spends Full Half Hour on ‘White Privilege’ Videos from Williamson County Schools Obtained by The Tennessee Star

  On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy held a special discussion after Mark Levin featured the WCS boards in service training modules on the Mark Levin’s show BlazeTV Tuesday evening. Throughout the segment, Gill and Leahy discussed Mark Levin’s response to the videos and talked about how other counties might be putting this racist and biased agenda into their in-service teacher trainings. The men called for citizens to take control of their schools and to investigate whether or not their schools are taking part in this anti-American agenda. (BlazeTV Show audio plays) Gill: That’s Mark Levin on his show on The Blaze last night literally took an entire segment, thirty minutes of the show and dissected the Williamson County white privilege video as you heard it there. That’s just kind of the initial part where he was breaking it down. He literally went segment by segment tearing it apart as it went. And again in the way that the brilliant Mark Levin can do. He illustrates the idiocy of this whole thing including…

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SMOKING GUN: TDOE Document Shows Williamson County Schools Delivering ‘White Privilege’ In-Service Training in Violation of State Law

Williamson County School System officials apparently went against Tennessee law when they imposed an in-service training curriculum that preached “white privilege” and other social justice causes. They did this, of course, through a new Williamson County Schools Cultural Competency series of videos. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 49-6-3004 makes it clear that every superintendent of a public school district in Tennessee must submit an in-service training plan that has been approved by the local school board to the TDOE by June 1 of the preceding academic year, and that the Commissioner of Education must approve that plan: (emphasis added) “In-service days shall be used according to a plan recommended by the local superintendent of schools in accordance with the provisions of this section and other applicable statutes, and adopted by the local board of education. A copy of this plan shall be filed with the State Commissioner of Education on or before June 1 the preceding school year and approved by him.” (emphasis added) The Tennessee Star asked the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to provide a copy of the in-service training plan for this school year (2018-2019) that, by law, Superintendent Mike Looney was supposed to file with the state before…

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The Tennessee Star Report’s Gill and Leahy Discuss WCS Superintendent Mike Looney and the ‘Unresponsive’ Williamson County School Board

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy discussed the legal implications of Williamson County schools Superintendent Mike Looney who has allegedly gone rogue and avoiding the law for implementing racist and anti-American un-authorized in-service teacher training modules. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed the lack of response from the Williamson County school board members and the possible legal ramifications due to evidenced neglect for Tennessee State law. Gill: One of the lead stories at Tennessee Star today, focuses on again this Williamson County video series and it’s not X rated it’s just I rated for idiot. (Leahy laughs) Gill: It’s the I rated Mike Looney video series that promotes the racist idea that ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST and it’s WHITE PRIVILEGE if you’re not being successful and you’re not white it’s not your fault. It’s because of all those white people that are keeping you down. And that’s the agenda that Mike Looney and the Williamson County school board have decided needed to be taught as in-service training to teachers.…

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Tennessean Reporter ‘Rage Tweets’ Because of Tennessee Star Article ‘Discrediting My Story About the Racist Wall Incident at Sunset Middle’

Amelia Knisely, the Tennessean reporter whose March 8 story titled “Racist incidents are occurring in Williamson schools,”  was discredited by the subsequent Tennessee Star article on March 15, “Williamson County Parent of Sunset Middle School Student Says Alleged ‘Racist Incident’ at School Claimed by Tennessean Never Happened,” went on a self described “rage tweet” on Monday morning about the two stories. “A thread of Monday rage: I don’t normally feel inclined to respond to @tnstar “reporting,” but a story has come out discrediting my story about the racist ‘wall incident’ at Sunset Middle,” Knisely, who “Prior to moving to Tennessee, Amelia was a television reporter and producer in West Virginia. She holds a master’s degree from Marshall University,” according to her Tennessean bio, tweeted. Her bio also notes that, “She previously served as editor of The Contributor in Nashville, and she has written extensively on poverty and homelessness.” At the end of her “rage tweets,” Knisely apologized for directing her tweets to @tnstar, rather then the Twitter account of The Tennessee Star, which is @TheTNStar. “Ah, yes, sorry @tnstar as you are not the @TheTNStar. Never rage tweet before coffee, y’all,” Knisely tweeted. Between those two tweets, Knisely added a…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Gill and Leahy Discuss WCS Video Series and the Forced Education of Global Citizenship

On Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked in depth about the Williamson County school districts “Cultural Competency” video training series that have been forced upon teachers and hence their students. Towards the end of the segment, the men asked the question of why nobody is speaking up about this. They begged the question of where are the parents, the administrators, the Governor who in his State of the State address promised that Tennessee schools would be teaching American Exceptionalism. The duo expressed concern for the lack of basic skills being taught and lack of Americanism and push of Globalism centered agenda. (Audio plays) Gill: How about the test of any school system being the ability to teach children to read, write, do arithmetic, to learn the basic skills so that they can for a lifetime pursue learning because they’re going to have those fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Leahy: Oh Steve. (Chuckles) Gill: How about if that is the fundamental schools and tests instead of this double speak educrat speak that…

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Left Wing SPLC, Same Group That Has Teamed up with Williamson County Schools, Establishes Political Action Fund to Attack Conservatives

Even as ultra-liberal Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is building up a huge cash reserve, it has formed a political-action fund to step up its attacks against conservatives. The Washington Free Beacon reported on the SPLC’s $518 million in assets, including $121 parked in offshore accounts, based on financial filings in the State of California. Now, PJ Media is reporting that the SPLC last summer created the SPLC Action Fund to fight legislative battles at all levels of government and to push for ballot initiatives. The SPLC is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), meaning it cannot participate in political activities. The Action Fund applied for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(4) so it can lobby and participate in advocacy, PJ Media and The Washington Free Beacon reported. The SPLC website solicits funds for both the SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund on the same webpage. The SPLC is also busy educating Tennessee teachers its ideology, The Tennessee Star reported. Williamson County Schools will send teachers to a series of workshops in Franklin this coming May that is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, according to a source. Those workshops, called Teaching Tolerance, are scheduled for May 3 and May 4…

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The Tennessee Star Report Discusses the Slow Creep of The Southern Poverty Law Center into the Williamson County School System

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy discussed the steady advance of a so-called social justice doctrine into the public school systems of Tennessee. Towards the end of the show the men agreed that the reason for this socialist agenda making its way into public schools was due to the lack of conservative leadership. Gill: And now Williamson County schools, I know this seems shocking to people if you’re just waking up and you’re still a little blurry and caught in a fog because of daylight savings time. Listen up, this is true. It’s not The Onion, it’s not some parody. Williamson County schools, thanks to the leader ship of Mike Looney, the schools superintendent. Williamson county schools are teaming up with the leftist hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center to teach teachers in Williamson County how despicable Williamson County is basically. Leahy: Yeah basically. It’s a group that they put this program on, called “Teaching Tolerance,” that’s a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center you can see it right on the…

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Southern Poverty Law Center Holds Over Half a Billion Dollars in Assets, Including $121M Overseas

The Southern Poverty Law Center will not run short on cash in its work to attack conservatives, one newspaper reports. The SPLC has amassed more than half a billion dollars in assets, including $121 million in overseas accounts, The Washington Free Beacon reported. According to audited statements and tax forms filed in 2018 with the State of California that were obtained by the paper, the group’s assets totaled a $518 million from November 2017 to Oct. 31, 2018. That represents an increase of $41 million from $477 million in total assets a year ago. The SPLC has $91 million in U.S. public equity funds and $60 million in private equity funds, plus $24 million in real asset funds. And, the SPLC last year formed an Action Fund as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, to fight legislative battles. According to their consolidated financial statements ending Oct. 31, 2018, the SPLC and Action Fund have cash and cash equivalents of $9.3 million. Other significant incomes include contributions and receivables of $8.2 million and investments of gift annuity program at just over $10 million. It pays to work for the SPLC. The Organization has a 401(k) Retirement Plan for its employees. For the year ended…

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Knox County Schools Spending $170,000 on ‘Cultural Competency’ In-Service Training for Teachers and Staff This Year

Knox County Schools are spending $170,000 out of their $928,677 in-service budget on “cultural competency” training for teachers even as the Williamson County School System uses increased expenditures to tell white teachers they are over-privileged. Knox County’s Fiscal Year 2019 expense is in the KCS General Purpose School Fund, under “Disparities in Education Outcomes.” The “In-Service/Staff Development – Schools,” is located under the “Other Expenses” line. The note for the $170,000 line item specifies, “Cultural Competency training.” The school budget details are here. Another note on the page, E-6, says, “The Disparities in Education Outcomes programs is a district initiative aimed at eliminated education disparities. The FTEs contained in this program are Restorative Interventionists. Also included in this program are resources for Cultural Competency training and supplies needed to support the program.” The overall Disparities in Education Outcomes budget for FY 2019 is $1,533,099. Knox County Schools’ general fund budget for 2019 was $484.5 million, an increase of $13.4 million from the previous year, according to the FY 2019 Knox County budget. The overall in-service training budget for FY 2019 is $928,677, a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous year total of $918,635. In 2016, a school board task force…

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Williamson County Schools: ‘White People Have the Privilege of Seeing Their Skin Tone Reflected Daily in the Goods and Public Spaces Around Them’

Dr. Mike Looney, superintendent of Williamson County Schools, wants to make sure every teacher in the system knows how to teach students about “white privilege,” a left wing concept that, while it has no standing in law,  has been pushed to indoctrinate public school teachers and and students alike in direct opposition to the fundamental principles of American civics and American exceptionalism. Towards that end, Looney has taken steps that began with the creation of a “cultural competency committee” in January 2018, the hiring of a WCS diversity officer, and the creation and development of a series of in-service training videos known as the Williamson County Schools Cultural Competency Series. The series has at least three modules, and possibly four. According statements Looney made to The Tennesseean, Williamson County Schools launched system wide in-service training based on these “cultural competency” videos in August. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Education told The Tennessee Star that the department has not reviewed or approved this series. The Star secured a copy of Module 3 of this series last Tuesday, a 26 minute video which can be seen in its entirety here. Because the video advances so many alarming concepts, The Star…

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Sources: Embattled Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney to Take Medical Leave

5:13 PM Williamson County Schools director of communications Carol Birdsong confirmed to The Tennessean the story The Tennessee Star broke earlier in the day that Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney will be taking a medical leave: Williamson County Director of Schools Mike Looney will take medical leave due to an upcoming surgery. Looney has recently learned that he has a tumor in his pancreas, according to WCS Spokeswoman Carol Birdsong. Over the next several weeks, he will be having surgery and undergoing treatment. The district does not know when exactly Looney will take medical leave, she said.   4:08 PM Sources tell The Tennessee Star that embattled Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney will be taking a medical leave. The Star has asked Williamson County Schools director of communications Carol Birdsong for comment, but has not yet received a reply. According to a source, Looney sent this message out today:   I need to share a little bit of news so that you can learn it from me rather than another source. I would much rather not share things of a personal nature, but given my role in the district, it really can’t be avoided. I very recently learned…

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Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney: ‘I Apologize to the Community for the Distraction That This Accusation Has Caused. I Completely Deny the Allegations’

Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney, who was arrested on assault charges Wednesday, released a statement on Thursday that, according to WKRN, said, in part “I apologize to the community for the distraction that this accusation has caused. I completely deny the allegations and have faith that the legal process will result in a positive resolution.” “News 2 reached out to all 12 Williamson County School Board Members for comment. Only one got back to us and directed us to the District Communications Director. Several board members have spoken out on social media,” WKRN reported. Looney has not been placed on administrative leave by the Williamson County Schools Board of Education. Three of the board members who have made public comments on Facebook appear to be strongly supportive of Looney. According to WKRN: Anne McGraw, who serves District 4 wrote on her Facebook, “I cannot, and will not, comment on the incident at Franklin High School this week other than to say that knowing what I know, I’m 100 percent in support of Dr. Looney and his leadership in our district. The official statement issued by Williamson County Schools is below for those who have yet to see it. I expect…

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WKRN: ‘Report States Looney Then Grabbed the Teen by Her Arm and Pulled Her from a Chair Before Escorting Her to His Personal Vehicle’

UPDATE (1:25 p.m): The Tennessee Star has obtained a photo of what it believes to be the original affidavit of complaint in the case of the State of Tennessee vs. Dr. Mike Looney, which can be seen below:                       12:30 p.m. Late Thursday morning, WKRN reported that, according to an affidavit, Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney, who was arrested Wednesday on assault charges as a result of this incident, “grabbed” a female high school student experiencing a psychological emergency at Franklin High School on Tuesday “by her arm and pulled her from a chair before escorting her to his personal vehicle.” “According to an affidavit, the teen’s mother requested her daughter be taken to the hospital. At some point, according to the report, Looney placed himself between an officer and the student and said the teen would be taken to his office,” WKRN reported, adding: Dr. Looney reportedly told the student he would not have a scene at school and told her to stop crying. The report states Looney then grabbed the teen by her arm and pulled her from a chair before escorting her to his personal vehicle. The teen’s…

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Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney Arrested on Assault Charges

Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney was arrested on assault charges Wednesday. Late Wednesday, the Franklin Police Department issued this “statement in response to multiple media inquiries regarding today’s arrest of Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent:” Yesterday, Franklin Police Officers and paramedics were dispatched to Franklin High School for a reported psychological emergency. While working with the student, the student’s mother, and school staff to transport the student to the hospital, Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent, abruptly entered the conference room, grabbed the student by her arm, and forced her out of the school and to his vehicle. Officers intervened and had on-scene paramedics transport the student to the emergency room for evaluation. Today, those officers consulted with the Williamson County Magistrate, who issued an arrest warrant, charging Dr. Looney with Assault. Dr. Looney surrendered himself at the Williamson County Jail after Franklin Police notified him of the warrant. Looney, charged with assault, is free on the $1,500 bond set by the Magistrate. He is due in court 03/08/18 at 1:00 pm. Looney has served as Williamson County Superintendent of Schools since 2009. The unusual circumstances of the incident that resulted in Looney’s arrest raise several…

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Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson Proposes Sales Tax Hike To Help Fund Schools

  Williamson County is scrambling to fund its fast-growing school district, and County Mayor Rogers Anderson said this week that raising the sales tax is a way to help get the job done. Anderson made his pitch Wednesday in delivering his annual State of the County address during a Williamson, Inc. luncheon at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs hotel. Raising the sales tax is “an alternative to relying solely on the residential property tax,” Anderson said. The county’s recently approved 2017-2018 operating budget did not include a property tax increase. The student population in Williamson County has skyrocketed by 32 percent since the 2007-2008 school year. The 44 current school sites, several of which have portables, do not have the space to meet the projected growth in the next 10 years, Anderson said. Anderson said county officials have been considering various sources of revenue. Last year, the county commission approved an educational impact fee to also help pay for schools. One-half of the fee went into effect in March, with full implementation set for September. The fee is assessed only to new home construction and is projected to generate about $25 million annually for new school construction. However, it has met…

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Williamson County Teacher Sues School District, Says She Was Bullied Into Resigning

Tennessee Star

  A well-liked Williamson County elementary school teacher is suing the school district, alleging she was bullied and harassed into resigning. Melanie Lemon, who taught second grade at Walnut Grove Elementary, filed a lawsuit Friday in Williamson County Circuit Court. The defendants are Williamson County Schools, superintendent Mike Looney, assistant superintendent Denise Goodwin and Walnut Grove principal Kate Donnelly. The suit seeks compensatory damages and asks that the school district extend its anti-bullying policy to adults. Lemon’s resignation on May 12 prompted an outcry in the community. Supportive parents and former students started a petition of protest and quickly collected more than 1,800 signatures. Some showed up at a school board meeting dressed in black to object to how they felt the school district mistreated her. The lawsuit says that Lemon went from getting stellar observations to suddenly receiving a poor one, and that school officials falsely accused her of child abuse. A teacher for 14 years, seven of them at Walnut Grove, Lemon had tenure. The lawsuit states that Tennessee’s Teacher Tenure Act is supposed “to protect teachers from arbitrary demotions and dismissals.” At the start of the 2016-2017 school year, Lemon “became the target of a systematic plan…

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Williamson County Commission Budget Committee Approves Plan To Expand Schools To Prevent Rezoning

Tennessee Star

The Williamson County Commission Budget Committee has approved plans to expand Page and Brentwood middle and high schools to keep students from being rezoned to other parts of the county. The committee voted 5-0 on Monday to approve the plan, which will go before the full commission next Monday, May 8, according to the Williamson Herald. Funds from a builders education impact fee that went into effect March 1 would be used toward debt service for the projects. The committee approved $4.9 million for the first phase of the Page expansion and $17.2 million for the Brentwood project, the Williamson Herald said. The total cost of the three phases of the Page expansion would be about $43 million. Parents have pressed for more funding, even starting a movement called Fund Our Schools, which has created a Facebook page and launched a petition drive. In Brentwood, there has been talk of pulling out of Williamson County Schools and forming a city school system to ensure Brentwood students stay in Brentwood schools. Candidates running in Tuesday’s city commission race addressed the topic at a debate last month, saying such a move now would be premature but might be something to consider in the future.…

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Williamson County Schools Eliminates Class Rank

The Williamson County School Board voted this week to eliminate class rank, citing its declining importance in applying for college. The new policy takes full effect for the class of 2020. Class rank will be restricted to the top 10 percent for 2018 and 2019. While schools will not rank students numerically, there will still be honors recognition using the Latin system with the following GPAs:  Summa Cum Laude 4.25 and above, Magna Cum Laude 4.00-4.24 and Cum Laude 3.75-3.99. Valedictorian and salutatorian will be chosen using criteria for academic performance and community service. High schools nationwide have been moving away from using class rank for more than a decade, but the trend was initially met with frustration by college officials. Back in 2006, The New York Times reported that “many college deans deplore the trend, saying it forces them to either recreate class rank, make less informed decisions or overemphasize results on standardized tests.” William Shain, then the dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University, told The Times, “There’s a movement these days to not let anybody know that a kid has done better than other kids.” The push for eliminating class rank is motivated in part by a desire for…

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