Current District News
School District Accountability The state of Tennessee provides our Schools and District a designation every year. The scores for elementary and middle schools are based on four areas—achievement (test scores), growth (student progress over time), chronic absenteeism, and English language proficiency. For high schools, two additional indicators are included in their score—Ready Graduate and graduation rate. The State Department of Education also looks at multiple other factors to determine if a school has areas that need additional focus. Each District is rated as Exemplary, Advancing, Satisfactory, Marginal, or In Need of Improvement. For the 2021-2022 evaluation period, the Hamblen County School District received a rating of Satisfactory. The educators working in the Hamblen County Department of Education are not okay with a Satisfactory rating. As part of this process, the state identifies schools that have demonstrated exemplary performance, and they are recognized as Reward schools. This year the Hamblen County School District has two reward schools—Hillcrest Elementary and Lincoln Heights Elementary. I am extremely proud of Dr. Paula Davis and her team at Hillcrest and Ms. Shelley Green and her team at Lincoln Heights Elementary. This is a major accomplishment, and we all should celebrate with them. The state also identifies Focus schools. These are schools that, in an area of the evaluation process, were identified as needing extra attention and supports. This year, the Hamblen County School District has three Focus schools. Those three schools are listed and the specific area of focus is in parenthesis: Meadowview Middle School (English Learner student group), West View Middle School (Students with Disabilities student group), and Morristown-Hamblen East High School (Hispanic student group). Each school in the District received their accountability data, reviewed those data with Central Office personnel, and wrote school improvement plans. Those plans have been submitted to Central Office and are under review. We will look at all plans, as well as our accountability data, and select best practices to implement across the District. We will foster a culture of collaboration to implement best practices. We do not want to improve performance in just one school in the District; we want to improve performance in all schools in the District. The mission of the Hamblen County Schools is to educate students so they can be challenged to successfully compete in their chosen fields. We take our mission seriously and know that a quality education and education system are critical not only to our students but also to the economic viability, growth, and sustainability of Hamblen County. While Satisfactory is not the rating we wanted, I am highly confident we have the right team of professionals to raise our rating. We are committed to getting and keeping the District on a path to sustained continuous improvement. We look forward to working for and with you as together we develop our most valuable resource – our youth – they are our future. 05/31/2023 Parents/Guardians, I ask for a favor – please take a little time and communicate with your student on the significance of threats. We take the safety of students and faculty very seriously. In this sense, “we” includes all Hamblen County Department of Education (HCDOE) employees and all local law enforcement agencies. Since we returned from break, we are seeing an increase in verbal threats. We are also seeing increased activity on social media that approach the spread of these threats or do spread these threats. If we receive an allegation of a threat, we immediately take action and involve local law enforcement. Even if the student later tries to explain the threat away as a joke or they weren’t serious, we treat anything of this nature seriously. The HCDOE policy dealing with these type activities falls under policy 6-3091, “Terroristic Threats”. I encourage you to review the policy at https://1drv.ms/w/s!Au-raUImzCXEgfoGcWL84W9MlZgIcw. The policy calls for discipline up to extended expulsion for making a threat or disseminating a threat. Each case is looked at on its own merits, but this is the policy that guides each Principal’s disciplinary considerations. While I have given you the District aspect of discipline, you also need to be aware law enforcement can and has filed charges against students for making threats. Again, law enforcement takes this very seriously. So, these activities can quickly move from just a school discipline issue to a legal matter. I encourage you to sit down with your student and have a discussion. I want all of our students to be aware of the policy addressing threats, the legal aspects associated with any threat, responsible use of social media, and how seriously we take every one of these allegations. I also want you to encourage them to reach out to someone at their school and/or you if they hear anything (this is also part of policy 6-3091). If they see or hear something, we need them to say something. We take student and faculty safety very seriously, and I ask for your help in communicating this information with your student. Thank you for your time & consideration Arnie Superintendent Hamblen County Schools 05/31/2023 Parents/Guardians, I ask for a favor – please take a little time and communicate with your student on the significance of threats. We take the safety of students and faculty very seriously. In this sense, “we” includes all Hamblen County Department of Education (HCDOE) employees and all local law enforcement agencies. Since we returned from break, we are seeing an increase in verbal threats. We are also seeing increased activity on social media that approach the spread of these threats or do spread these threats. If we receive an allegation of a threat, we immediately take action and involve local law enforcement. Even if the student later tries to explain the threat away as a joke or they weren’t serious, we treat anything of this nature seriously. The HCDOE policy dealing with these type activities falls under policy 6-3091, “Terroristic Threats”. I encourage you to review the policy at https://1drv.ms/w/s!Au-raUImzCXEgfoGcWL84W9MlZgIcw. The policy calls for discipline up to extended expulsion for making a threat or disseminating a threat. Each case is looked at on its own merits, but this is the policy that guides each Principal’s disciplinary considerations. While I have given you the District aspect of discipline, you also need to be aware law enforcement can and has filed charges against students for making threats. Again, law enforcement takes this very seriously. So, these activities can quickly move from just a school discipline issue to a legal matter. I encourage you to sit down with your student and have a discussion. I want all of our students to be aware of the policy addressing threats, the legal aspects associated with any threat, responsible use of social media, and how seriously we take every one of these allegations. I also want you to encourage them to reach out to someone at their school and/or you if they hear anything (this is also part of policy 6-3091). If they see or hear something, we need them to say something. We take student and faculty safety very seriously, and I ask for your help in communicating this information with your student. Thank you for your time & consideration Arnie Superintendent Hamblen County Schools
Wed May 31 11:28 AM
Parents/Guardians, I ask for a favor – please take a little time and communicate with your student on the significance of threats. We take the safety of students and faculty very seriously. In this sense, “we” includes all Hamblen County Department of Education (HCDOE) employees and all local law enforcement agencies. Since we returned from break, we are seeing an increase in verbal threats. We are also seeing increased activity on social media that approach the spread of these threats or do spread these threats. If we receive an allegation of a threat, we immediately take action and involve local law enforcement. Even if the student later tries to explain the threat away as a joke or they weren’t serious, we treat anything of this nature seriously. The HCDOE policy dealing with these type activities falls under policy 6-3091, “Terroristic Threats”. I encourage you to review the policy at https://1drv.ms/w/s!Au-raUImzCXEgfoGcWL84W9MlZgIcw. The policy calls for discipline up to extended expulsion for making a threat or disseminating a threat. Each case is looked at on its own merits, but this is the policy that guides each Principal’s disciplinary considerations. While I have given you the District aspect of discipline, you also need to be aware law enforcement can and has filed charges against students for making threats. Again, law enforcement takes this very seriously. So, these activities can quickly move from just a school discipline issue to a legal matter. I encourage you to sit down with your student and have a discussion. I want all of our students to be aware of the policy addressing threats, the legal aspects associated with any threat, responsible use of social media, and how seriously we take every one of these allegations. I also want you to encourage them to reach out to someone at their school and/or you if they hear anything (this is also part of policy 6-3091). If they see or hear something, we need them to say something. We take student and faculty safety very seriously, and I ask for your help in communicating this information with your student. Thank you for your time & consideration Arnie Superintendent Hamblen County Schools
Wed May 31 10:00 AM
Since the fall of 2020, USDA approved waivers allowing Hamblen County Schools to provide breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost, regardless of income status. The waivers have not been extended by USDA for the 2022/2023 school year. As a result, theonly students who will receive free lunch meals will be those who qualify, based on income, through an application process. Hamblen County Schools will continue to provide free breakfast to all students regardless of eligibility status. If you need assistance completing an on line application or have questions, please contact your child’s school or the school nutrition program.
Fri Mar 17 02:07 PM