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Road closure North Campbell Station Road, 1/3 mile south of Yarnell Road, will be closed starting Tuesday, Nov. 27, to facilitate the new alignment of North Campbell Station Road and new bridge construction. The contractor has been given 21 days to complete, and the road should be reopened Tuesday, Dec. 18, according to Jim Snowden of Knox County Engineering and Public Works. Local access will be permitted and through traffic will detour via Yarnell and Lovell roads.
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VOL. 6 NO. 48 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
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November 26, 2012
Not-so-random harvest
IN THIS ISSUE
Coffee Break
Steve Kitts is senior vice president and Knox County executive of the Farragut office of Foothills Bank and Trust. He has worked at big banks and small banks, and banks that started small then were consolidated into larger entities. Through it all, his passion has remained steady: He loves community banks.
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Read Coffee Break on A-2
Miracle Maker It’s almost time for the final bell at South-Doyle Middle School, but 6th grade social studies teacher Donna Hall looks like she’s in the middle of her day. A big tote bag sits on the floor behind her desk. She won’t walk out to her car until it’s stacked full of student papers that she’ll work on until deep into the night.
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See Betty Bean’’s story on A-9
Who needs this? TDOT is planning to dump $100 million into an extension of the James White Parkway despite opposition from Mayors Rogero and Burchett. If your daily travels include Bob Gray Road or any of its narrow, twisty counterparts, you know better spots for this money.
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See S. Clark’s comments on A- 4
Who killed UT football? The autopsy continues, but Marvin West has a guess …
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See Marvin’s story on A-6
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Beans for lunch tomorrow! Adrian Jabran, Jackson Musrock, Jack Feddersen, Ashton Mayo-Beavers, Alexandra Musrock and Leoni Kunz work at the Episcopal School of Knoxville’s garden. Photos submitted
ESK garden yields veggies, learning opportunities By Betsy Pickle As Americans were reminded last week, the Pilgrims had a feast of Thanksgiving to celebrate their first successful harvest. Episcopal School of Knoxville students and faculty give thanks throughout the year as they enjoy harvests from their own garden at their farm-totable organic lunches. Parents are grateful, too. “We have a lot of parents who are really surprised by what their students are willing to eat because they’ve seen it growing in the garden, and they’ve tasted it fresh,” says Mathew Luce, ESK’s farm director.
of years ago. The idea of creating a vegetable garden at the school, which sits on 78 acres of rolling farmland in Knox County west of Lovell Road, came from those discussions. Initially, they simply wanted to raise produce to use in meals. “As we began to do more research,” says Luce, “we wanted to make sure that the garden … was successful for all students – that it was like the library and that students would be welcome at any time. Right now, grades 3, 4 and 5 have a garden class every other week. We have food production, Max Lancaster holds up an egg from and we also have the value-added the school’s chicken coop. educational component that is reHeadmaster Jay Secor and ally, really important.” Though the garden was estabLuce, a Latin teacher at the time, started talking about taking a dif- lished only in April 2011, it alferent approach to lunch a couple ready has been so successful that
Luce and Secor were invited to present a program the week before Thanksgiving at the National Association of Episcopal Schools Conference in Baltimore. Luce thinks their “Growing a School Garden” session was a success. “They really were excited about the information and asking questions about how they could do this at their school.” Luce, who grew up in Knoxville, attended Christian Academy of Knoxville and was homeschooled before going to Bearden High School, wasn’t just a random teacher with a green thumb when he was asked to be farm director. After graduating from Bearden in 2003, he spent a year in Kenya gaining hands-on agricultural exTo page A-3
Farragut schools ‘under-funded’ By Suzanne Foree Neal Farragut High School principal Mike Reynolds dropped in at the Nov. 13 meeting of the Farragut/ Knox County Schools Joint Education Relations Committee and opened the eyes of many of the committee members. Nancy Wentz, committee member and substitute teacher, was discussing school funding when Reynolds arrived. Committee members quizzed Reynolds extensively on the subject. “We know the general household income is above other areas, and that people think Farragut schools also have money,” said committee chair Mark Littleton. “Generally that is not true.” Reynolds explained that Farragut gets a good share of Title 1 students who transfer from underperforming schools in the Knox County system because Farragut is one of the schools to
which that busing is provided. When a student transfers from an underperforming school to Farragut, the Title 1 money from the federal government stays Mike Reynolds with the student’s home school, Reynolds said. It doesn’t hitch a ride to the new one. “I would be more concerned with what we’re receiving per student and not just for Farragut, but for all schools,” Reynolds told the group. He said the county average per student is about $8,400 a year, but Farragut High only gets about $4,500 per student. “We only get half?” a shocked Wentz responded. “The school board has the ultimate say in how funds are used and distributed,” Reynolds answered. Underfunding at Farragut has
gone on for so many years that not only is technology sorely lacking, there’s not even the infrastructure necessary for the new technology. “What Farragut (leadership) should understand is, it’s not private schools that make or break a community, it’s the public schools,” Reynolds said. “If the public school perception is that it’s low performing, you see a decrease in property values, and businesses won’t move in. As long as public schools are viable and strong, the community will be viable.” “I think it’s inevitable that we probably need to dive into the political side as to where our schools are in funding,” Littleton said. “I’m reeling from the figures you’ve given us. I think at the next meeting we should come in with per capita numbers for all schools in the county. I think we can support that schools in this area are not equitably funded.” Showing an inequality seemed
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to be a given, according to Reynolds. “We’re not talking about something that’s even close to being equitable,” he said. “But we are still expected to perform, and Farragut outperforms the others.” “When you say Farragut, the first thing you think of is good schools,” said Singletary. “Schools are an amazing asset to the town and community. This makes a powerful point that schools need support.” The committee took the first step by sending out a plea to Farragut Mayor Ralph McGill. Committee members agreed to send a letter requesting McGill’s help in spreading the word that Farragut schools need financial assistance. Accompanying the letter will be a list of suggested talking points that discuss the needs of the schools. The package will be copied to members of the board of mayor and aldermen and town administrator David Smoak.
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