WJLE’s Reeling in the Years Returns Saturday Night

January 9, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The Winter edition of Reeling in the Years will air Saturday night on WJLE. In addition to the pop hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s, this program will also feature top songs from various years for the week of/nearest January 11. The program hosts are former WJLE announcers Dennis Stanley and Shawn Jacobs. Be listening Saturday night from 6 to 10 p.m. for another edition of Reeling in the Years.

January 9, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A long-time and respected educator is speaking out against the Board of Education’s last building plan, primarily because it would replace DeKalb Middle School, be a return to an out-dated education model and would harm high school athletics.

Mike Braswell, who spent many years teaching and coaching at DeKalb Middle School, is troubled that the Board of Education wants to eliminate the middle school by building two new schools for pre-kindergarten to 8th grade in the Smithville area and to convert the existing Northside Elementary to a pre-K to 8th grade school. Such a move would give the district a total of four pre-K to 8th grade schools including DeKalb West and would replace the existing Smithville Elementary and DeKalb Middle Schools.

Braswell questions the wisdom in this move calling it a return to an “archaic education system”. He said educators discovered years ago that for the most part it is not to the student’s advantage for early grade students to attend school with upper grade students.

“No leading school systems around are building pre-K through 8 schools. Even Smith County, who for the longest held on to the community schools concept, recently built a new middle school to serve Carthage,” said Braswell.

“I went to elementary school in Smithville in the 1950’s to a grade 1-8 school. There were several community schools in the county, all for grades 1-8. The school board was in the process of eliminating these community schools as inefficient and not educationally sound with one or two teachers handling all grades. It was twenty years later that all these schools changed or were eliminated with the building of DeKalb Middle School. It took that long for our county to get in line with the leading school systems in the state and agree that it was not to the student’s advantage for early grade students to attend school with upper grade students. Moreover, the middle school concept helped transition students better to the high school level,” said Braswell.

Although DeKalb West School has proven to be a success as a Pre-K to 8 grade school, Braswell said the situation there is unique.

“West is a regional school for the western part of DeKalb County that has a family atmosphere. That would not be the case for three similar schools in Smithville. We would be dividing the loyalties of families in one small town and create divisions instead of cooperation. Besides, the problems associated with zoning for three schools would present almost impossible challenges to meet and be fair,” said Braswell.

Athletics would also suffer, according to Braswell.

“As a former coach in our county, I think eliminating middle school sports teams would be devastating to DeKalb County High School athletics. Looking at this year’s DMS boys basketball team as an example, the Saints have a good team that is barely competitive with surrounding schools. Divide their team into three schools and no coach could produce a competitive team. And that doesn’t address the problems of competing in baseball, softball, soccer, and other team sports. It is my opinion that DCHS sports teams would suffer tremendously. I realize that I am biased. I was on the original DeKalb Middle School faculty and was the original coach of the boy’s basketball and football teams but I think the Middle School has been a huge success. I hate to see our school system travel back fifty years to an archaic division of schools, ” Braswell continued.

As for a new high school, Braswell said there is already a need for a new one and implementing this new pre-K though 8 grade proposal could delay that for years.

It’s been a month now since the Board of Education opted for this plan over a previous proposal for a new pre-K to 2nd grade school but so far the board has not formally presented the request to the county commission, which would have to provide funding.

Without any hard numbers, the board is relying on its architects’ latest estimates for construction which puts the new 2 school project at a minimum of $48,685,000 (not counting the total renovation which would be needed at Northside Elementary) and it does not include the purchase of land. Some say the overall costs of this plan would be exceedingly more than $48 million.

“The major reason for the proposed building plan I was told is to save money. I’m not informed enough to argue that point, but adding an extra school to the system is going to add tremendously to the staffing and operation of an extra school. Such a building plan now would probably eliminate the building of a new high school for years to come. DeKalb County needs a new high school as the flagship school of our county. The facility we have now is inefficient and dated and the football complex is an embarrassment for a modern- day campus,” said Braswell.

“The Board of Education hired a Director of Schools that is trained to be a leader on the operation of schools. Why not use the plan proposed by our education professionals and leaders and support their plan based on education needs and solutions instead of always trying to find the cheapest way out?. Put the children ahead of the money,” he said.

Fifteen months ago the Board of Education was sold on building a new pre-kindergarten to 2nd grade school to replace Smithville Elementary School and voted in October, 2018 to seek funding from the county commission for this building model once a suitable site was found. In March the school board got its first look at the schematic design, site plan, and floor plan for the proposed new Smithville Elementary School. Architects of Upland Design Group met with the board to review four site plan options for a new 109,000 square foot school with a student capacity of 800 for pre-kindergarten to second grade. All four options were laid out for new school construction on the same campus as Northside Elementary School. Six months later in September the school board considered four other locations for the possible future home of the new elementary school after advertising for property owners to answer a “Request for Proposal” if they were willing to sell from 25 to 100 acres. Four proposals were submitted for consideration. But by December, the school board had a change of heart. During a special meeting the Board voted 6-1 to scrap the plan for a Pre-K to 2nd grade school and recommend to the county commission funding two new Pre-K through 8th grade schools in the Smithville area and a renovation of Northside Elementary School to make it a Pre-K to 8th grade facility. That would give the district a total of four Pre-K to 8th grade schools including DeKalb West but it would require a zoning of the county meaning students would have had to attend the elementary school within the zone where they reside.

January 8, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The New Year brought new leadership to Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District, as Jim Hodges retired and turned over the duties of Executive Vice President & CEO to Mike Davidson.

Davidson comes to the District after an extended career with the City of Cookeville, Tennessee. Davidson served as Cookeville City Manager from March 2015 through June 2019, and prior to that, he held the positions of Cookeville Finance Director and Director of Cookeville Gas Department.

In addition to new CEO Mike Davidson, Cliff Swoape has been promoted to Director of Human Resources & Communications effective with the new year. Swoape has served the District since 1987 when he began work as a part-time meter painter while he went to college. He has served as Property Maintenance, a Service Technician, a Customer Service Representative, and most recently as Manager of Safety & Training for twenty-two years. Swoape resides in Woodbury with his wife Katherine, their children, and pets. He is looking forward to his new role of caring for the District and its employees beyond just their safety and training needs. Swoape said he remains committed to safety, customer service, and reliability always being top priorities for the District.

Founded in Smithville in 1955, the District is the natural gas provider for all or portions of twenty-two counties in Middle and East Tennessee. The District’s mission is to support the growth of the communities it serves by providing safe, reliable, and competitive natural gas service.

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