Looking for the scoop on recent Westhaven rezoning (Franklin, Brentwood: for sale, real estate)

[vbuskirk]

For some time now my wife and I have been considering putting our Franklin (Fieldstone Farms) house on the market this summer, and we're getting dangerously close to the jumping off point now. While chatting with a neighbor this evening, I heard a rumor that there was a recent official announcement concerning high school rezoning in Williamson County that, for example, affects the Westhaven subdivision. Within the past few days three houses on my street have sold in record time. We are currently setting up appointments with potential real estate agents next week, who I suppose will fill me in on such things, but ...

I don't see any recent chatter related to this issue on city-data.com (nor does google find anything within the first couple of minutes of searching). Does anyone have any more details? Is there a feeding frenzy of people relocating within Franklin in order to remain within the FHS zone???

[Wmsn4Life]

Yes, it has been rezoned to Independence and Centennial high schools, and yes, there are probably a lot of people trying to move to stay in the Franklin High zone.

You're lucky if you missed the rezoning hype last year. There were quite a few threads about it on CityData, and it was a huge ordeal in the media when the schools were rezoned. It's right here on the Westhaven web page. Scroll down to the "Our Schools" part at the bottom.

Community : Westhaven : New Homes : Available Homes : Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Tn (http://www.westhaventn.com/community - broken link)

If you're concerned about a particular address, the best way to be sure about zoning is NOT to rely on a real estate agent. Go to the schools website and check for yourself under "Zone Query."

http://www.wcs.edu/zone_query.htm

[vbuskirk]

Thanks. While my mail is delivered to Franklin, I guess my heart is in Nashville (and beyond). I don't really follow the local news. I did find a lot of threads from 2010 on city-data, but nothing recent. Do you know when the decision became final? Was it just within the past few days/weeks?

Also, I've recently graduated my third and final FHS student, so I'm done with choosing where I live based on the public system. Just trying to confirm a rumor that the the decision was (a) final and (b) recent. Based on the link to the Westhaven website you pointed me to, I think that confirms (a).

Thanks for your response.

[Wmsn4Life]

Originally Posted by vbuskirk

Thanks. While my mail is delivered to Franklin, I guess my heart is in Nashville (and beyond). I don't really follow the local news. I did find a lot of threads from 2010 on city-data, but nothing recent. Do you know when the decision became final? Was it just within the past few days/weeks?

Also, I've recently graduated my third and final FHS student, so I'm done with choosing where I live based on the public system. Just trying to confirm a rumor that the the decision was (a) final and (b) recent. Based on the link to the Westhaven website you pointed me to, I think that confirms (a).

Thanks for your response.

No problem. The decision is final, and the school board voted on it in October.

[Ldoubled]

Westhaven was zoned to Independence. No part of Westhaven was zoned for Centennial. Centennial is open zoned for all of Williamson County for up to 150 kids, a few people were planning on sending their kids there. And in a move that shows how brilliant our school board is, Page is open zoned for kids who are zoned to Franklin HS...just in case you feel the need to rezone your own kid and to drive 30 minutes each way past your local high school for no particular reason.

From what I see here, there is a flurry of people with 9th graders and 6th graders selling, it's unconscionable that the 9th graders weren't grandfathered in, it amounts to about 3 kids, the other 19 freshmen can stay because of sibling rule, IB and hardship cases.

For Westhaven, all of it was rezoned. Some homes that have been on the market since before the end of the school year will still have the old schools listed.

There are a lot of homes for sale in Westhaven...and a lot of homes selling. Most of the homes for sale are due to relocations and job losses. Quite a few are folks wanting to move within the neighborhood. And then there are the new homes.

[Wmsn4Life]

Originally Posted by Ldoubled

Westhaven was zoned to Independence. No part of Westhaven was zoned for Centennial.

Why does the Westhaven website say they're zoned for both schools? I don't know why they would advertise one open-zoned school and not others if they aren't actually zoned there.

[vbuskirk]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

the school board voted on it in October.

I see . Old news then. I suppose what is new in the equation is that the 2010 school year is now officially over, and there are only a few weeks left until the 2011 school year starts.

[Ldoubled]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Why does the Westhaven website say they're zoned for both schools? I don't know why they would advertise one open-zoned school and not others if they aren't actually zoned there.

They made a mistake, it will be corrected on Monday. All of Westhaven is zoned the same. I'm not sure if wcs.edu still has the zoning maps up on its site but you can see that no West Franklin neighborhoods were rezoned to Centennial.

At one time, Looney said that they may provide transportation from Westhaven and other West Franklin neighborhoods to Centennial if enough people took the open zoning option, that may be where the Westhaven sale's website's confusion came from, but the transportation option was never presented at school board work sessions or meetings where action could be taken on it.

As far as why they didn't mention all open zoned schools on the website, Centennial is the only one that is open zoned county-wide and within a reasonable distance from Westhaven. And during the zoning discussions, a fair amount of people expressed interest in going to Centennial. Page is only open zoned for folks zoned to Franklin HS and Ravenwood, so it's not an option for Westhaven residents. Fairview and Summit are also open zoned but both are very far away. Fairview is over 18 miles from Westhaven, Summit is even farther. Would be silly to even bring them up.

[Wmsn4Life]