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I think the Algood zip code is 38506. Sometimes they don't really indicate whether the house is Algood or Cookeville but will give a zip code. Not all 38506 homes are in Algood (I live in one that's inside the Cookeville city limits) but the 38506 post office is in Algood.
There are a LOT of homes for sale in Cookeville, particularly for autumn. This trend has been going on for a while now--probably at least 6 months. When we bought our home in August 2005 (we didn't close on it until the end of December 2005, though), it seemed like home sales were moving quite a bit more briskly. I would imagine the nationwide housing situation has impacted the Putnam County area to some degree, although probably not nearly to the extent Florida, California, etc., has been and will continue to be impacted.
On the school system--right now it definitely is still a (mostly) open school system but I think those days are coming to an end. There was recently a pretty big crisis with overcrowding at the Algood K-8 school and that is forcing the powers-that-be to recognize that they need to deal with the problem. Cookeville HS is also becoming a bit overcrowded, although right now it seems manageable. That will not be the case for too much longer if enrollment continues there at the pace it's been trending in the last several years. Obviously the solution is to zone the schools, and honestly, it really needs to happen sooner rather than later. It's a waste of taxpayer dollars to staff a school and then have it be half full, as is the case with Upperman High School if I'm not mistaken. I think it was Putnam School Board member Roger Williams who said something to the effect that "the problem is that we don't want to say no to anyone and it's gotten us in this mess." Zoning is what works for schools nationwide, and now that we are seeing the current problems erupting in Putnam County, it's the logical solution.
I have to say that I truly believe it's the genuine niceness of Tennesseans that has created the problem. As problems go, it's a relatively simple one to fix, albeit not painless for many.
I can't stand that some in the school hierarchy in Putnam County want zoning. I think forced zoning is fascist and communist. It gives students absolutely no choice in where they can go to school unless they go to private schools or are homeschooled. It provides no incentive for educators to improve or to even be competitive.
Since Cookeville HS is so large and offers so much more than the other two high schools, it seems grossly unfair to tell people in Baxter and Monterey that they're stuck going to smaller high schools that offer just one foreign language and few AP classes even though their tax dollars are helping fund Cookeville High's programs. Likewise, just because someone lives in Cookeville doesn't mean that they should be required to attend a huge high school when their tax dollars are also supporting smaller high schools.
Since Algood School has become so wildly popular, it seems that it should be the duty of the school board to try to make other schools as popular. Instead, with zoning only those who live in the Algood neighborhood will be fortunate enough to go to a school that they love, and everyone else will be forced to go to their neighborhood school, like it or not.
Cookeville HS was built with core facilities for 3,000 students. It's far from being overcrowded. (Whether it should've been built that large or whether they should've built 2 high schools is another matter entirely.) Upperman was built for 800 and has 600 enrolled. Monterey HS is also nearing capacity.
Every elementary school is at capacity in Putnam County. The few out-of-county students attending Putnam County schools are not the reason for the overcrowding. When the current school building project is completed, that will help ease the tension. If the school board and county commission are able to stay ahead of the growth, there is absolutely no reason why the schools can't continue to offer the freedom of choice for Putnam County's school kids.
Well, one thing that can be considered is waivers. Of course, those can be abused but if one school offers something that another doesn't, it would be a reason to request a waiver.
I guess I would agree that Cookeville is not overcrowded--yet. It is getting close to capacity, though.
To me, what's most grossly unfair about the Algood situation is that people who live right around the corner from the school and have, say a kindergartner and a 3rd grader, can't send their kindergartner to the school that's just moments from their home because the children from near and far have caused it to be overcrowded to the point that they have had to host kindergarten elsewhere. There's something very wrong with that situation.
There's definitely no one perfect solution, and I understand your point about the underserved populations. I used to live in a place where the population was 50+% Hispanic. Most of the county was predominantly white. The school in that particular zone--well. It was just sad. On the other hand, my recent IB diploma recipient went there for 3 years--it was a middle-high school and she attended 6-8th grades.
Last edited by Wordy; 09-23-2007 at 02:29 PM..
Reason: to fix a typo
Forgot to comment about the out of county students. Do you remember about the special needs student from Jackson County who was refused entry into Putnam County Schools even though Jackson County was going to pay the costs for that student? This was last year.
I was personally appalled by that and see no issue with allowing a student to attend schools in my county when his or her own simply does not have the resources to provide the services necessary. In particular, I see no issue when the county making the request has offered to foot the bill.
Ironically, it was the absence of that same board member, Roger Williams, at the meeting when that was voted on and ultimately denied, that caused that particular student not to receive the services he or she needed. Had Mr. Williams been there, he would have voted yes on that particular motion. In order for the motion to be brought back up again, though, one of the men who voted against it would have had to do so and neither ultimately did. I wonder about that kid sometimes.
Forgot to comment about the out of county students. Do you remember about the special needs student from Jackson County who was refused entry into Putnam County Schools even though Jackson County was going to pay the costs for that student? This was last year.
I was personally appalled by that and see no issue with allowing a student to attend schools in my county when his or her own simply does not have the resources to provide the services necessary. In particular, I see no issue when the county making the request has offered to foot the bill.
Ironically, it was the absence of that same board member, Roger Williams, at the meeting when that was voted on and ultimately denied, that caused that particular student not to receive the services he or she needed. Had Mr. Williams been there, he would have voted yes on that particular motion. In order for the motion to be brought back up again, though, one of the men who voted against it would have had to do so and neither ultimately did. I wonder about that kid sometimes.
Holy cow I was outraged when the school board told that poor kid from Jackson County that he wasn't welcomed in Putnam County! Since Jackson County was willing to pay, and since there was room in Putnam County, and since the teachers involved were willing to do it, I cannot understand what those two school board members were thinking.
Frankly, since people from other counties are helping support Putnam County schools through their sales taxes every time they shop or eat out in Cookeville, I really think that people in other counties have a legitimate claim to sending their kids to Putnam County schools. In addition, the county receives state and federal funds based on enrollment, no matter where the kids live.
I addressed the board at the next meeting, specifically about that issue, and told them that they were not speaking for me when they denied that poor kid an opportunity to receive the services he/she needed. I was pretty hot over that one.
Yeah, last year was kind of a tumultuous year with the ousting of Dr. Martin and all of that, huh?
Oh, and basically their rationale was that "we need to take care of our own." Daren Shanks has a record of voting against out-of-county transfers. Vern Crabtree made some speech about how "My blood runs through Jackson County" but also voted against it. I believe his rationale was similar to Mr. Shanks'. It just seemed so petty and small to me.
I can't stand that some in the school hierarchy in Putnam County want zoning. I think forced zoning is fascist and communist. It gives students absolutely no choice in where they can go to school unless they go to private schools or are homeschooled. It provides no incentive for educators to improve or to even be competitive.
Since Cookeville HS is so large and offers so much more than the other two high schools, it seems grossly unfair to tell people in Baxter and Monterey that they're stuck going to smaller high schools that offer just one foreign language and few AP classes even though their tax dollars are helping fund Cookeville High's programs. Likewise, just because someone lives in Cookeville doesn't mean that they should be required to attend a huge high school when their tax dollars are also supporting smaller high schools.
Since Algood School has become so wildly popular, it seems that it should be the duty of the school board to try to make other schools as popular. Instead, with zoning only those who live in the Algood neighborhood will be fortunate enough to go to a school that they love, and everyone else will be forced to go to their neighborhood school, like it or not.
Cookeville HS was built with core facilities for 3,000 students. It's far from being overcrowded. (Whether it should've been built that large or whether they should've built 2 high schools is another matter entirely.) Upperman was built for 800 and has 600 enrolled. Monterey HS is also nearing capacity.
Every elementary school is at capacity in Putnam County. The few out-of-county students attending Putnam County schools are not the reason for the overcrowding. When the current school building project is completed, that will help ease the tension. If the school board and county commission are able to stay ahead of the growth, there is absolutely no reason why the schools can't continue to offer the freedom of choice for Putnam County's school kids.
I'm curious to know how many of CVH students would have to transfer to Upperman or Monterey if they put zoning into place? Would it then cause those two schools that were built for a much smaller student body to be overcrowded? I'm all for freedom of choice. I agree that it can encourage teachers to strive to be better.
And, of course, zoning of the schools will considerably limit where we are able to look for a new home in order to ensure that our kids go to CVH. I guess we just deal with it. Homeschooling is always an option.
I would say quite a few would end up in the other two high schools. There are also many students at CHS who live in other counties. They just lie about their address.
When we were making our choices about life here in Tennessee, there were quite a few pretty neat properties we found to be great deals and just gorgeous, but ultimately we concluded that since the primary reason we moved to Cookeville was for our daughter to attend the IB program at CHS, we needed to find a place in Cookeville. All of our children are very happy with our location and they have all said it would have been hard to adjust had they lived away from town. They go to Poet's and attend parades and go to the library and the park and church on Wednesday nights--just all sorts of things that would be much more difficult if we had located ourselves out in the more remote parts of the county, even though the deals there were better.
CAtoGA, that's a very good point which I hadn't thought of. Upperman and Monterey will probably receive a whole bunch of new students if zoning were enforced. The very idea of school zoning and lack of choice just turns my stomach.
I do have friends who live in western Putnam County, not too far from Buffalo Valley, and while their kids attended Baxter schools at the elementary and middle school, they made sure their kids went to CHS for high school. Not that Upperman is a bad high school, but by virtue of its smaller size it just didn't offer as much as Cookeville High. They told me that their kids carpooled with others in that area who did the same thing.
And Wordy, I wish I was at that school board meeting with you. I would've given you a standing ovation! I know a couple of the school board members and was shocked when one of them was elected to the school board a couple of years ago. A nice guy, but apparently clueless when it comes to the role of public education.
Fortunately, Cookeville is blessed to have a large community of families who are big on supporting the schools and making sure their kids get a good education. And with a very good college of education at the local university, there's never a shortage of high-calibre teachers, many of whom are spouses of university faculty. So no matter what a couple of buffoons in the school board or county commission do, I think the schools will remain very good. (I'm knocking on wood right now.)
Okay, so other than the IB program, what does CHS offer that the others don't? Would kids get the same caliber of education, just not be offered as many extras?
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