Board members Tammy Sharp, Katie Darby, Stan Vaught, and Vice-Chair Frances voted in support of Novus SMART, while Chair Claire Maxwell, Butch Vaughn, and Caleb Tidwell voted against it.

With Tennessee’s annual Tax-Free Weekend scheduled for July 26–28, families across the state are preparing for back-to-school purchases.

Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education denied Rocketship’s application in April, but multiple members encouraged the charter operator to make revisions and resubmit for a vote tonight.

On Thursday, members of the Rutherford County Board of Education will decide whether to approve Jeremy Sager’s application to open Novus SMART Academy (K-8).

The new contract approved Thursday includes a 17 percent raise in the first year and 2.5 percent in each of the following three years.

Rutherford County Schools has identified 12 buses it can purchase from nearby dealers for roughly $2 million. Board members will consider approving that purchase on Thursday.

Under the original plan, school bus service would have been eliminated for students in grades K-5 who live within a mile of their school and students in grades 6-12 who live within a mile and a half, forcing parents to find other ways to get their students to class.

Rutherford County Schools Director Dr. Jimmy Sullivan posted a video Wednesday afternoon to let parents know he’s now hopeful the potential school bus driver strike will be limited, if it happens at all.

Leaders of Rocketship Public Schools and Novus SMART Academy (K-8) have the option of submitting an amended application for approval this summer.

The board voted Thursday to pull more than a dozen titles from library shelves, despite receiving a report that the district’s libraries aren’t meeting state standards when it comes to the number of books available.

Rutherford County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and school officials there are weighing how to handle an influx of students while trying to maintain a community feel.

School board members voted to remove “Assassination Classroom” volumes 1 through 8 and 11by Yusei Matsui, “Catch 22” by Joseph Heller, “Perfect Chemistry” by Simone Elkeles, “Water for Elephants” by Sarah Gruen, and “Yolk” by Mary H.K. Choi from school libraries.

Members of the Rutherford County School Board took an unusual path to deny Board Member Caleb Tidwell’s resolution opposing educator diversity goals during hiring, by first approving it and then voting it down.

The Rutherford County Schools (RCS) Board of Education passed a resolution Thursday urging state leaders to “expedite the closure of the nation’s borders” as the county’s English learner population continues to grow.

The book ban debate continued to rage at Thursday’s Rutherford County Schools Board of Education meeting, when school board members ultimately voted to remove several more books from school library shelves.

Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna, has proposed reducing the minimum age for school bus drivers from 25 to 21 to help school districts find more qualified bus drivers to cover routes.

From school threats to book bans and higher-ed funding debacles, 2024 marked a year of controversy and contention among education policymakers.

The Rutherford County Schools Board of Education approved new zoning rules for high schools in the county at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Several local residents spoke to Rutherford County Schools (RCS) Board of Education members Thursday to continue voicing opposition to recent book bans within the Middle Tennessee school district, after district librarians received an email instructing them to pull 150 “sexually explicit” books from school library shelves.

The ongoing debate about book bans in Rutherford County Schools dominated much of the discussion at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, after district librarians said they recently received an email instructing them to pull 150 sexually explicit books from school library shelves.