Total Start of School Student Enrollment in DeKalb School District Down From Last Year

August 10, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Fewer students are enrolled in the DeKalb County School System than this time last year.

Comparing the numbers for the first full week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide was 2,988 as of Thursday (August 10) down by 19 students from 3,007 last year.

More than a decade ago in August 2013, DeKalb County’s student enrollment district-wide was 3,052 or 64 more than today.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers for this month are down from last year in August by 43 students at DeKalb County High School and by 31 students at Smithville Elementary but the count is up by 28 at DeKalb Middle School, 15 at Northside Elementary, and by 13 at DeKalb West School.
Currently, the largest class by grade district-wide is the fifth grade with 248 students. The smallest class district-wide other than the pre-K classes is twelfth grade at 195 students.

As of Thursday, August 10 enrollment at each school was as follows compared to last year:

DCHS: 814 (down by 43 students) * In August 2013 DCHS enrollment was 834.

DeKalb Middle School: 572 (up by 28 students) *In August 2013, DMS enrollment stood at 592.

Northside Elementary: 592 (up by 15 students) *In August 2013, the Northside enrollment was 591.

Smithville Elementary: 550 (down by 31 students) * In August 2013, the Smithville Elementary enrollment was 621.

DeKalb West School: 460 (up by 13 students) *In August 2013, the DWS enrollment stood at 414.

The following is the current enrollment by grade system-wide:

Pre-K: Smithville Elementary-85 (up by 13)

Pre-K: DeKalb West-15 (down by 5)

Kindergarten: 214 (down by 2)

First Grade: 218 (down by 18)

Second Grade: 230 (down by 23)

Third Grade: 247 (up by 22)

Fourth Grade: 211 (down by 31)

Fifth Grade: 248 (up by 27)

Sixth Grade: 231(down by 1)

Seventh Grade: 237 (up by 8)

Eighth Grade: 238 (up by 35)

Ninth Grade: 211 (down by 15)

Tenth Grade: 206 (up by 1)

Eleventh Grade: 202 (down by 20)

Twelfth Grade: 195 (down by 10)

TOTAL ENROLLMENT DISTRICT-WIDE: 2,988 (down by 19)

The enrollment by school breaks down as follows:

Smithville Elementary: Pre-K 85, Kindergarten-167, First grade-166, and Second grade-132: Total 550

Northside Elementary: Second grade-39, Third grade-197, Fourth grade-166, Fifth grade-190: Total 592

DeKalb West School: Pre-K 15, Kindergarten-47, First grade-52, Second grade-59, Third grade-50, Fourth grade 45, Fifth grade-58, Sixth grade-43, Seventh grade-50, and Eighth grade 41: Total 460.

DeKalb Middle School: Sixth grade-188, Seventh grade-187, Eighth grade-197: Total 572

DeKalb County High School: Ninth grade-211. Tenth grade-206, Eleventh grade-202, and Twelfth grade-195: Total 814

Reeder also provided numbers on how the enrollment has been trending over the last 10 years district wide.

Year 2014: 3,005 students

2015: 3,015 students (up by 10 students)

2016: 2,950 students (down by 65 students)

2017: 3,039 students (up by 89 students)

2018: 2,993 students (down by 46 students)

2019: 2,999 students (up by 6 students)

2020: 2,881 students (down by 118 students)

2021: 3,044 students (up by 163 students)

2022: 3,007 students (down by 37 students)

2023: 2,988 students (down by 19 students)

Enrollment numbers at each school from 2014-2023:

Smithville Elementary: Year 2014-609; Year 2015-569; Year 2016-540; Year 2017-578; Year 2018-556; Year 2019-561; Year 2020-552; Year 2021-574; Year 2022-581; Year 2023-550

Northside Elementary: Year 2014-623; Year 2015-658; Year 2016-640; Year 2017-639; Year 2018-603; Year 2019-594; Year 2020-552; Year 2021-578; Year 2022-577; Year 2023-592

DeKalb West School: Year 2014-389; Year 2015-382; Year 2016-376; Year 2017-409; Year 2018-389; Year 2019-397; Year 2020-384; Year 2021-425; Year 2022-447; Year 2023-460

DeKalb Middle School: Year 2014-554; Year 2015-536; Year 2016-521; Year 2017-546; Year 2018-572; Year 2019-607; Year 2020-579; Year 2021-577; Year 2022-544; Year 2023-572

DeKalb County High School: Year 2014-830; Year 2015-867; Year 2016-864; Year 2017-867; Year 2018-873; Year 2019-840; Year 2020-832; Year 2021-890; Year 2022-857; Year 2023-814

August 9, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Out of order!

Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins has announced that the 25 mile per hour flashing lights over Highway 70 in the school zone at DCHS and DeKalb Middle School are temporarily out of order and for the next few days will not be operating at the beginning and end of the school day.

Chief Collins admonishes motorists to continue obeying the 25 mile per hour speed limit in that school zone at the beginning and end of each school day just as if the lights were working. Of course, a constable will continue working there each day directing traffic through the school zone.

Motorists are cautioned to be careful around school busses that are stopping to let children on or off the bus.

Tennessee Law 55-8-151 states that drivers on a roadway overtaking a school bus from any direction must stop when the school bus stops with the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children.

This applies to all roadways aside from “separate roadways” that are divided by a barrier, raised median or an unpaved space of five feet or more where pedestrians are not permitted to cross.

Drivers passing in the opposite direction on a separate roadway of a school bus that has stopped for school children to enter or exit should still proceed with caution.

Failure to stop upon approaching a school bus that is stopped is a Class A misdemeanor. Drivers who don’t stop may receive a fine ranging from $250 to $1000.

August 9, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville has a new airport manager.

Chelsea H. Jones was recently hired to succeed Katelyn Sanders who left for another career move.

Jones attended Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen.

After the meeting, Mayor Josh Miller and Alderman Shawn Jacobs, the city’s representative on the airport advisory committee, told WJLE that Jones is a good fit for this position.

“Chelsea came highly recommended from the city airport committee. She is a graduate of MTSU and has even done some teaching there. She has been here for about a month and its working out very well,” said Mayor Miller.

“We formed a search committee for a new airport manager, and it so happened that Chelsea was the recommendation of all members of the search committee. She came very highly recommended so at that point we began reaching out to her knowing she would be a good candidate. We were very fortunate that she accepted the job. She has been doing a great job. I am not an aviation expert but being the city’s representative on the board I am very pleased with her,” said Alderman Jacobs.

Jones, a resident of Murfreesboro, has an education background in aviation. She earned her bachelor’s degree B.S. in Aerospace Administration in the fall of 2018 and a Master of Science M.S. in Aviation Safety and Security in the fall of 2020. Prior to college, Jones attended Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro where she graduated with Honors in 2014.

“I spent the last three years as a full-time lecturer for MTSU’s aerospace department and I loved every minute of it,” said Jones. “I was able to get a lot of great experience and meet a lot of great people there and hopefully influence some of the future aviation personnel which is very rewarding. Before I settled down into a long-term career, I did want to pursue what my original degrees were for. I have a bachelor’s degree in airline management, and I have a master’s degree in aviation safety and security. I really wanted to get out on the industry experience side itself which is why I decided to take a step back from the education field and instead go more toward the airport side,” Jones explained.

Asked why she chose Smithville for a career move, Jones said she learned about the job from a friend. She also has a family connection here. “My grandmother grew up in Smithville, so this city came highly recommended to me, and I met a couple of local people here around Smithville that highly recommended the position for me which is how I learned of the job. One of my friends, Christopher Thomas, who was born and raised here is the first one who informed me of the position. He said that Smithville was a very nice city, that this was a very nice airport, and that they (city) were looking for a new manager. I was already looking as well. When it comes to managerial roles, they don’t really crop up too often within airports themselves, so I was eager to jump at this opportunity,” said Jones.

Chelsea said she is already enjoying her new job and is impressed with the airport operation here. “I have spent just over a month in the new position. It has been an extremely beneficial move on my part. I have learned and grown a lot as an aviation employee. It’s a nice little municipal airport. It’s a smaller airport which I am happy to be part of because anything larger I think would have been somewhat overwhelming for me as a first-time airport manager. I did have some part time experience. I worked at the Smyrna airport for about two years part time so there I got a lot of behind-the-scenes experience and some managerial experience with that role. That helped the transition for me to be a little bit smoother. I have gotten to wear a lot of different hats that I would otherwise never have gotten to wear If I had stayed at MTSU itself. I am still teaching part time at MTSU so I can still keep my foot in the door and help teach some of the future aviation personnel again. It has been a really rewarding experience and I am very happy to be here,” said Jones.

“When it comes to the goals for this airport, we are in the process of trying to get a tree obstruction removal project going on, cutting through the last of the red tape to finally get that in progress and we are hoping over the next couple of years to potentially add more hangar space. Hangars are in very high demand right now in the aviation community and if we were able to get our hands on a nice grant to cover a lot of that funding, then those hangars would be filled up pretty much instantaneously. We have a pretty long waiting list right now and it would be great on the airport’s part to build that up a little bit and bring more revenue to the city and grow the airport while still keeping that nice little municipality feel to it,” said Jones.

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