To my Clarksville and Montgomery County Friends - please get the word out! There are too many parents out there that are still unaware of the proposed rezoning or the public meeting this coming Tuesday (September 6th, 2011).
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20110902/NEWS01/109020315/Clarksville-Montgomery-County-School-Board-ready-rezoning-hearing?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
It is interesting how the public hearing is now turning into an event with restrictions tied to it. As we all know, we are heading into a long weekend with this public hearing falling on the day following (Tuesday, Sep 6). I can assure you that until this article many if not all of the concerned parents knew nothing about the requirement to sign up in order to speak at the public hearing - and by no means should you be repetitive (or share the same concerns as many other parents).
"So far, we've received an estimated 170 pieces of public feedback on the rezoning map, either online or by hard copy submissions," Shelton said. This too is misleading as I know many parents and concerned citizens who have emailed the board directly and have posed some tough questions that have yet to be answered by the board.
We hear that this was a "comprehensive study" conducted over a year's time. Beyond the school board I assume no one had an idea until the first reading was complete... To our school board I ask who, if anyone from the Clarksville and Montgomery County Roads Department were involved? How many of you drive Warfield in the morning and evening hours? What about Rossview Road? Was any consideration given for those children that will be bused right past the schools they currently attend each morning and evening to get to another school miles away utilizing already congested roads?
David Riggins, the Regional Planning Commission Rep. who is featured on the cmcss video stated that he was only in attendance for about the first half of the series of meetings held to discuss rezoning, that regional planning commission only gave input as to projected growth in the various zone areas, and
THAT NOBODY ELSE FROM THE REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION WAS INVOLVED IN ANY WAY, OR ATTENDED ANY MEETINGS, AND NOBODY FROM THE REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION WAS INVOLVED IN DRAWING UP THE NEW LINES OR CONSULTED AS TO TRAFFIC FLOW OR LOGICAL BOUNDARIES.
Also curious, Mr. Riggins saw the video for the first time on Wednesday, August 31, 2011, and only because on of our neighbors questioned him as to his involvement!
In an email response from Mr. James Sumrell, COO, CMCSS, he stated "
The map (along with the student data) exist in our re-districting software. The map was created several years ago by Damien Maloney, by Chris Clark, and by members of the software firm from whom we purchased the software."
What is "several years ago"? Several years ago the Rossview area was not exploding, nor the Exit 1 area. What was true several years ago is that roads such as Trenton, Rossview and Warfield were congested to the breaking point.
Lastly, the board knew this was going to produce a public outcry - mostly due to the many questions that are still unanswered but also due to the secrecy and
LACK of public involvement in this entire project. With that said, the public meeting is quite possibly going to be held at a location that simply cannot handle the volume of citizens that intend to be present. CMCSS has a solution though! Instead of moving to a location that can accommodate a large audience they will "satellite" the feed into a separate building. Now that is public!
It is not too late - if you are not engaged, I would encourage all, whether you have children or not to get involved because this plan was ill-conceived and we can do better for our children and our community!
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