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Hamilton County: Signal school enrollment restricted

By: Kelli Gauthier
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Rick Smith

When Sally Spraker’s twin daughters graduated from Signal Mountain Middle School last year, she planned for them to attend the new Hamilton County middle-high school last month.

Since she lives right over the line in Sequatchie County, she was a little concerned when she heard rumors of stricter enrollment rules at the new school, but she signed her daughters up anyway.

“I asked some of the teachers, and they said, ‘Oh, your kids are so good. They’ve got good test scores, no behavior problems,’” she said.

But in June, Mrs. Spraker received a letter stating her children would be removed from the school system because they didn’t live in Hamilton County.

The Sprakers, who live less than two miles from the new school, now make the nearly 40-mile roundtrip drive to Sequatchie County High School in Dunlap, Tenn., every day.

In an effort to prevent overcrowding at the new mountain school, administrators decided to limit enrollment only to students living within the school’s zone, they said. Unlike the precedent set at the old Signal Mountain Middle School, under which mountain residents such as the Sprakers could apply for hardship transfers or pay out-of-county tuition to attend the Hamilton County school, enrollment this year has gotten tighter.

School administrators figured the mountain’s first high school instantly would be popular, so they made a decision not to accept out-of-county or out-of-state students, even if they were willing to pay tuition, which this year is $2,956 for out-of-county students and $7,258 for those from out of state. Hardship transfer requests submitted to the system’s central office also were denied, principal Eddie Gravitte said.

This year, the only students outside the Signal Mountain school zone who can attend the new school are those who choose to leave Orchard Knob or Dalewood Middle schools. Those schools are on the state’s high-priority list so state law allows them to transfer to a non-failing school — in this case, Signal Mountain.

As of this week, the Signal Mountain school had 831 students in grades six through 12, Mr. Gravitte said. He said administrators expected 750. Nolan Elementary, which is adjacent to the middle-high school, also grew by about 40 students this year. Mr. Gravitte said the decision to limit enrollment was for this year only, and things might change for the next school year. But he’s not sure he wants that.

“We’re going to grow rapidly in the next couple of years; we’ll be at capacity in three to four years,” Mr. Gravitte said. “I don’t know if we want to hasten that.”

But Mrs. Spraker said even if school administrators change the rules next year, she doesn’t think she would try to send her children.

“They’re settling in well,” she said. “I’m not sure we would even go back — they need stability.”

As Hamilton County opens highly anticipated new schools, the district had to take a much harder look at where students live than it has in the past, said Deputy Superintendent Rick Smith. If necessary, school social workers will drive out to a residence to make sure students live where they say they do, he said.

“We’ll have to do the same thing in Apison at the new East Hamilton Middle High,” he said. “For students from Georgia, it’s right down the road.”

When Kay Keefe bought a farm two years ago on Signal Mountain, just over the Sequatchie County line, she was told her daughter could attend the new middle-high school when it opened. With her daughter about to graduate from fifth grade from a local private school, Mrs. Keefe said she is considering purchasing property inside Hamilton County line so her daughter can attend the new school next year.

“We bought this house because we were told it was just a matter of applying and paying tuition,” she said.

Jay Robinson, owner/broker of Robinson Real Estate Inc., sells property on Signal Mountain across the Sequatchie, Marion and Hamilton county lines. Much of the mountain’s growth, including at least two higher-end subdivisions, is happening on the Sequatchie County side, he said.

“Maybe this year it’s not a bad thing (to not allow out-of-county students to attend the new school) as they adjust and figure out what the student census is,” he said. “I would just hope that sometime in the future there would be a compromise to allow those kids access. We wouldn’t want overcrowding, but I think the facility is large enough.”

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