Can someone explain redistricting (schools) in the Nashville suburbs? (Murfreesboro: new home, neighborhoods)

[olive03]

Hi Nashville folks -

I created a post last year re: Brentwood/Franklin (https://www.city-data.com/forum/nash...brentwood.html) and appreciated everyone's input.

I'm back to ask for some more insight... Long story short, Nashville is still on our list as a possible relo. I'm planning on visiting the metro area within the next few weeks to scout out the various towns that we're considering. We'll be listing our house here in Chicago in Spring 2021.

That being said, can someone explain redistricting schools for me? In reading, it appears that due to the rapid growth in some areas, there is a possibility that "neighborhood schools" could change for families depending on the year and demand. This would be an absolute deal breaker for us, so I'm a bit worried. Up here, where you live determines what schools you feed into and it does NOT change. Parents would lose their minds if it did!

Counties/towns we're currently considering:

Williamson (Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Nolensville)
Sumner (Hendersonville)
Willis (Mt. Juliet)

Even though we'll both be working remotely from home, my husband would like to be within a 30 min drive of Nashville city limits, so I have a feeling some of these towns will need to be removed from our list (i.e. Spring Hill)?

Any other places we should consider?

Thanks in advance!

[Big TR]

When we lived in the far reaches of the Chicago suburbs back in the mid 2000's, the same thing happened there. Tons of growth required lines to be redrawn on which schools kids would attend. It most definitely happened up your way.

It happens in the city of Chicago quite often since so many people have moved out of the city or to different areas of the city. Schools were closed and kids had to go to "new" schools.

If a rezoning of your kid's school is truly a deal breaker, you shouldn't move to the Nashville suburbs.

Rezonings are happening constantly due to the tremendous growth. The school districts can't build schools fast enough to deal with the overcrowding.

This is a fairly standard practice.

[Hey_Hey]

There are certain pockets where the risk of rezoning is really low. Places that are essentially built out are unlikely to go through rezoning. For example, Brentwood proper has almost no growth because they are land locked with very little in the way of build able land. You could also target a neighborhood with a school in it. If a rezoning were to take place it is very unlikely they would move kids away from a school that is within walking distance. Lastly, you can find school attendance and projections for capacity on the Williamson Schools website. If you target a school at 70% capacity then it is likely to be adequate while your kids are there.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by Big TR

When we lived in the far reaches of the Chicago suburbs back in the mid 2000's, the same thing happened there. Tons of growth required lines to be redrawn on which schools kids would attend. It most definitely happened up your way.

It happens in the city of Chicago quite often since so many people have moved out of the city or to different areas of the city. Schools were closed and kids had to go to "new" schools.

If a rezoning of your kid's school is truly a deal breaker, you shouldn't move to the Nashville suburbs.

Rezonings are happening constantly due to the tremendous growth. The school districts can't build schools fast enough to deal with the overcrowding.

This is a fairly standard practice.

Definitely not happening where we are in the Chicago burbs... we also aren't out in the far, far burbs.

Thanks for your input.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

There are certain pockets where the risk of rezoning is really low. Places that are essentially built out are unlikely to go through rezoning. For example, Brentwood proper has almost no growth because they are land locked with very little in the way of build able land. You could also target a neighborhood with a school in it. If a rezoning were to take place it is very unlikely they would move kids away from a school that is within walking distance. Lastly, you can find school attendance and projections for capacity on the Williamson Schools website. If you target a school at 70% capacity then it is likely to be adequate while your kids are there.

Makes total sense. Thank you!

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by olive03

Makes total sense. Thank you!

I know the idea of rezoning can be unsettling, especially when you're thinking about investing in a home.

It's really not true, though, that Brentwood doesn't get rezoned. There probably won't be major shifts like we experienced in the early 2000s, but it's not off the table completely. We experienced a pretty big rezoning just a few years ago, and there are new neighborhoods coming online.

But it doesn't even have to be new homes that affect school attendance. Brentwood is known for having homes where empty nesters and retirees sell to young families with 2, 3 and 4 kids. That kind of infill growth changes school populations really quickly.

If you want to buy in Brentwood, buy in Brentwood. The degrees of performance in Williamson County Schools are so small that your kids will get a good education, and they will make friends. Just find a community that works for you, and go with it.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

There are certain pockets where the risk of rezoning is really low. Places that are essentially built out are unlikely to go through rezoning. For example, Brentwood proper has almost no growth because they are land locked with very little in the way of build able land. You could also target a neighborhood with a school in it. If a rezoning were to take place it is very unlikely they would move kids away from a school that is within walking distance. Lastly, you can find school attendance and projections for capacity on the Williamson Schools website. If you target a school at 70% capacity then it is likely to be adequate while your kids are there.

A few years back Brentwood actually had a lot of churn and caught the school board off guard, because empty nesters sold and families moved in.

If you want to be safe buy as close as possible to the school you want to stay at. (less than 1/2 mile from an elementary school).

[olive03]

Again, appreciate everyone's insight.

A few more questions:

1. Is this possible throughout all of K - high school? Could a student go to Brentwood HS, for example, and then be sent to another high school to finish up?

2. Is there a limit on the amount of times a family could go through this process or are you at the mercy of whatever is decided by the district?

3. How does this impact house values? Could a house value potentially go down if for example when you buy the house it feeds into Ravenswood HS and then due to redistricting the house now feeds into Centennial HS?

4. Is redistricting limited to Williamson Co only or should we anticipate that this might be a possibility in the other two counties we're considering (Sumner and Willis)?

5. Off topic a bit, but I read last night that Rutherford Co is the second highest performing county as far as schools in TN (with Williamson Co being #1). Is this true? Should we add this county to our list of considerations and if so, what towns would you recommend?

Thanks again!

[olive03]

Originally Posted by septimus

A few years back Brentwood actually had a lot of churn and caught the school board off guard, because empty nesters sold and families moved in.

If you want to be safe buy as close as possible to the school you want to stay at. (less than 1/2 mile from an elementary school).

I'm assuming this would only be applicable if we didn't want to get redistricted during the elementary age, right? Is it even possible to find a house that is less than a 1/2 mile from the elementary school, middle school and high school? By the time we got down there, we'd only have one year left at the elementary age.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by olive03

I'm assuming this would only be applicable if we didn't want to get redistricted during the elementary age, right? Is it even possible to find a house that is less than a 1/2 mile from the elementary school, middle school and high school? By the time we got down there, we'd only have one year left at the elementary age.

There are certain years that you can be grandfathered into a school even if your neighborhood has been rezoned- 5th, 8th, 11th and 12th. So if you are rezoned the year before you child would be in one of those grades, you can opt to keep them there, but would have to provide your own transportation.

I think one thing to understand is that mass rezonings aren’t happening every year.
Even in the huge rezoning of 2010, I think only about 15% of the county was rezoned. And since then, I feel like the school board has worked hard to anticipate growth and slow the amount of rezonings.

If you search WCS enrollment 5 year projections, you can see the projected growth of each school and what schools are expanding and when. That might help you when choosing between neighborhoods.

Rutherford County has great schools, esp in Murfreesboro. But it is a hard commute from Murfreesboro to Nashville, so you may want to consider the location of your jobs when deciding whether to look there. But it has a great combination of good schools and affordable housing.

Also, the county to the east is Wilson, not Willis.