by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Projections for the 2025-2026 school year call for Sewanee Elementary School to have three fewer teachers and two fewer educational assistants unless there is an influx of in-zone attendance, according to Franklin County Director of Schools Cary Holman. The decrease in staff would seem inimical to another circumstance. “Of 12 new out-of-zone requests for attendance at SES, nine were denied,” said school board member Sarah Marhevsky. The too easily overlooked criterion in these metrics is “in-zone” versus “out-of-zone.”

According to school board Student Assignment policy 6.205, “the school for which [students] are to attend by residency,” (i.e., a student’s zone) is “defined as being the school destination of the bus going by their house.” Policy 6.206, Transfers Within the System, provides for a student residing in the Franklin County School District to attend a school other than the school the student is zoned for if the parents provide transportation. Policy 6.204, Attendance of Non-Resident Students, provides for out-of-county or out-of-state students to attend school in Franklin County. In both cases, power to “grant such transfers” falls to the director of schools.

However, Policy 6.206 lays out specific guidelines for the director of schools to follow in making the decision. “Each year, the Director of Schools/designee shall review the number of spaces available in each school by grade, class, and program levels ... The Director of Schools/designee shall reserve a reasonable number of enrollment spaces at each school to account for the enrollment of zoned students.”

Asked what constituted a “reasonable number of enrollment spaces,” Dr. Holman gave an example. “59 students in Grade 2 with three teachers = 19 per class. As a result, there would be few open seats. Due to unforeseen circumstances during the summer, seats must be locked to ensure available seats for in-zone students at the beginning of the year.” [Note: For grades K-3, the average class size cannot exceed 20, and the maximum is 25.] Holman said faculty and staff decreases are anticipated across the county.

“It’s definitely Dr. Holman’s right to turn down out-of-zone, and particularly out-of-county, students,” Marhevsky conceded. “It’s just not what has traditionally been done at SES.” At SES, the situation is complicated by the number of out-of-county students. “Right now, 25 SES students are from out of the county,” Marhenvsky said. Huntland has 15 out-of-county students. “The schools with the most out-of-county students are the ones at the edges of the county,” Marhevsky observed. District wide, 57 students are from out-of-county.

“There have always been students who were denied based on space. Because Dr. Holman required SES to decrease from 10 to 7 classroom teachers, however, the decrease in teachers necessitates turning down more out-of-zone students,” Marhevsky said. She speculated that in the past out-of-zone students were factored into Sewanee’s numbers when determining how many teachers to hire. Particularly troubling, according to Marhevsky, among the nine applicants denied 2025-2026 attendance at SES were a number of out-of-county rising kindergarteners who attend Sewanee Children’s Center (SCC). “Families who sent their children to SCC could reasonably expect that their children could go on to SES with their peers. It’s been rightfully upsetting to many,” Marhevsky insisted.

“Some of our families are connected to the Sewanee community and not any other,” said SCC Director Sarah Ralston Stark. “They may live in Jumpoff right over the Marion County line and work at the University. Before [their children attending school in Franklin County] hadn’t been an issue. And now it all the sudden is. That’s the thing that’s throwing people.”

“Enrollment is monitored and adjustments are made as needed,” Holman said, explaining the staffing decrease at SES and denial of nine applicants. “We review new and previous year requests each year.”

For the 2024-2025 school year. SES had one kindergarten teacher, two first grade teachers, two second grade teachers, one third grade teacher, two fourth grade teachers, and two fifth grade teachers. For 2025-2026, plans call for two teachers for third grade and one teacher for all other grades. At present, 25 students, the maximum number, are enrolled in the second grade.

Asked what would happen if another in-zone student enrolled at SES, Dr. Holman said, “The principal would need to make some internal teacher placement configuration decisions.” Asked if that meant split classes, a teacher teaching two grades, Holman replied, “Correct.”