Student Enrollment Down in DeKalb School System

By: Dwayne Page

Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System is down by 46 students compared to last year at this time.

Comparing the numbers for the first full week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide is 2,993 as of today (August 9), down from 3,039 last year.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers are down at three of the five schools and up at the other two. “We’re down by 46 students county wide from where we were a year ago. Of course, this is an ever changing number and it will be changing daily from now until probably after Labor Day. Usually it’s the Monday after Labor Day before you get numbers firmed up about who has moved in and moved out,” said Reeder.

As of today (Thursday, August 9), enrollment at each school is as follows compared to last year:

DCHS: 873 (up by 6 students)
DeKalb Middle School: 572 (up by 26 students)
Northside Elementary: 603 (down by 36 students)
Smithville Elementary: 556 (down by 21 students)
DeKalb West School: 389 (down by 20 students)

Enrollment at DCHS breaks down as follows:
9th grade: 226 students ( up by 7)
10th grade: 223 students (up by 7)
11th grade: 213 students (down by 17)
12th grade: 211 students (up by 9)

Enrollment District-Wide by grade level is as follows:
Pre-Kindergarten: 111(SES & DWS combined) (down by 6)
Kindergarten: 212 (SES & DWS combined) (down by 4)
1st grade: 213 (SES & DWS) (down by 17)
2nd grade: 215 (SES, Northside, & DWS) (down by 15)
3rd grade: 230 (Northside & DWS) (up by 26)
4th grade: 198 (Northside & DWS) (down by 41)
5th grade: 242 (Northside & DWS) (down by 14)
6th grade: 252 (DMS & DWS) (up by 27)
7th grade: 231 (DMS & DWS) (up by 7)
8th grade: 216 (DMS & DWS) (down by 15)

Enrollment by School:
DeKalb Middle School:
6th grade: 210 (up by 29)
7th grade: 184 (up by 6)
8th grade: 178 (down by 9)

Northside Elementary:
2nd grade: 51 (down by 3)
3rd grade: 183 (up by 18)
4th grade: 158 (down by 52)
5th grade: 211 (up by 1)

Smithville Elementary:
Pre-K: 96 (same)
Kindergarten: 168 (down by 3)
1st grade: 168 (down by 15)
2nd grade: 123 (down by 5)

DeKalb West School:
Pre-K: 15 (down by 6)
Kindergarten: 43 (down by 2)
1st grade: 45 (down by 2)
2nd grade: 42 (down by 6)
3rd grade: 47 (up by 8)
4th grade: 40 (up by 11)
5th grade: 30 (down by 16)
6th grade: 42 (down by 2)
7th grade: 47 (up by 1)
8th grade: 38 (down by 6)

Reeder urges parents to make sure their children attend school on time every day classes are in session. “Students who miss 18 school days per year-regardless of the cause-will be considered chronically absent under State Department of Education regulations. The number of chronically absent students will also reflect on the overall performance score given to the school system. The state is using a new accountability measure called the Chronically Out-of-School Indicator. Students who miss more than 10 percent of the school year, for any reason, are considered chronically out of school. This would typically be students that miss 18 or more school days out of our 180-day school year calendar,” reported Reeder.

Under state law, if a student misses as few as five days of school “unexcused” he or she is considered “truant”. “We won’t take you to juvenile court for five days missed but we will send a letter to the parents to arrange a meeting with them to see what can be done to improve their child’s attendance,” said Reeder.

Tardies are also a concern, especially early in the morning. “We don’t have a lot of tardies during the day. Its like during first block in the morning when they are getting there a few minutes late. We ask parents bringing their children to school to please arrive on time by 7:45 a.m. because three tardies can equal one unexcused absence,” said Reeder“

Meanwhile, Reeder urges parents who are home schooling their children to contact the school system to let them know.”I wish you would come by and register with us. It helps us to know where they (students) are and what they are doing. Some people withdraw their kids from the school system to home school and we never hear from them again in the following years. Legally, parents are suppose to register but there is really not a penalty if they don’t. It just helps us keep up with where the students are at. Registering is not a big deal. It doesn’t take but five minutes and it would help us out some,” said Reeder.

August 9, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Diabetes is complicated disease that can strike fear, confusion, and helplessness in diagnosed people and caregivers. People with diabetes must deal not only with their disease, but also with the impact this has on their lives and emotions. A self-management approach to diabetes education gives people the knowledge, tools, and confidence to take day-by-day responsibility of their diabetes care.

On September 4, 2018, the DeKalb County Health Department/Community Health Center will be offering a free Take Charge of Your Diabetes Program workshop. The 6-week program is designed for people with diabetes and caregivers to learn basic skills necessary to self-manage their diabetes and work effectively with health care professionals. The Take Charge of Your Diabetes Program is conducted by two leaders certified by Stanford University Diabetes Self-Management Program Master Trainers. Classes will be held every Tuesday from 1 PM – 3 PM at the DeKalb County Health Department/Community Health Center.

For more information, or to sign up for the program, please contact Megan Akins at 615-597-7599.

By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for June inched up to 5% from 3.8% in May and just below the 5.1% rate for June, 2017.

The local labor force for June was 8,010. A total of 7,600 were employed and 400 were unemployed.

Jobless rates for June among the fourteen counties in the Upper Cumberland region were as follows from highest to lowest:

Van Buren: 6.5%
Jackson: 5.4%
Clay: 5.1%
Fentress: 5.1%
DeKalb: 5%
Warren: 4.9%
Cumberland: 4.6%
Overton: 4.5%
White: 4.4%
Putnam: 4.4%
Pickett: 4.3%
Macon: 4%
Cannon: 3.9%
Smith: 3.7%

The unemployment rate for each of Tennessee’s 95 counties increased in June 2018, according to data by Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) Commissioner Burns Phillips.

Unlike the statewide unemployment rate, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to account for seasonal fluctuations such as yearly school closings.

“These increases in county unemployment rates are something we typically see in June,” said Phillips. “In fact, we’ve experienced this uptick every June since the state started keeping records in 1976.”

The county rates incorporate seasonal workers who are temporarily unemployed. Between May and June of this year, education service jobs were down by 38,000. These are custodians, bus drivers, and other school support staff who are not working during the summer months.

June is also typically the month when recent high school and college graduates enter the workforce and have yet to find employment, adding to the jobless count across the state.

Williamson County continued to have Tennessee’s lowest unemployment in June with a rate of 3.0 percent, which represents a 0.9 of a percentage point increase from its May 2018 rate. The current rate for Williamson County is 0.1 of a percentage point lower than it was in June 2017.

Davidson County experienced the state’s second lowest unemployment figure with a rate of 3.1 percent, up from of 2.2 percent the previous month.

Lauderdale County had the most unemployed residents in Tennessee during June. Its jobless rate of 7.0 percent is up 1.7 percent when compared to May. Bledsoe County had the second highest unemployment in the state last month. At 6.6 percent, unemployment in the county grew by 1.7 percent from the previous month’s figure.

“These increases, while something we’d rather not experience, are right on par with last June,” Burns explained. “When you look at the year-to-year comparisons for many counties, the rates are the same as they were this time last year.”

Tennessee had a seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate of 3.5 percent in June, which mirrored the rate from the previous month. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate experienced a slight increase to 4.0 percent, up 0.2 of a percentage point from May’s revised unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.

Tennesseans who are searching for employment will find a variety of valuable resources on the state’s workforce website.

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