As the Rutherford County School System grows with new students, rezoning may have to take place before new schools are built. As an example of the growth, County School Board Member Tammy Sharp said that one of the latest schools to be built is already bustling with an increased number of new students…

Rockvale High School, which opened in 2019, was built to serve 2,300 students. However, the school is one of the fastest growing schools in southwest Rutherford County – which means more rezoning maybe necessary or else the student population could easily grow to around 2,500 students.  

Stewarts Creek High School in the Smyrna area opened in 2013 and upon its opening date the freshman class alone added up to approximately 600-students…



Older educational facilities like Riverdale High School between Highway 99 and South Church Street are in need of additions. School board member Sharp said that fellow board member Claire Maxwell in School Board Zone 5 told her…



Sharp told WGNS NEWS that the Rutherford County Schools continue to search for property to build new schools because of the expected growth in multiple areas…



A retreat and workshop for Rutherford County School Board members is tentatively planned for the first half of 2022, which will include the discussion of new schools and the search for land to build future schools on.

Hear the audio from this story and more on the WGNSradio.com news website.

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Continued (School Growth)...

A past press release from the Rutherford County Schools showed that Rutherford County has grown from just over 84,000 people in 1980 to more than 341,000 residents in last year’s census, which was up nearly 80,000 in the past decade. The county cannot continue to grow at that rate without every school being impacted by rezoning issues at one point. The October release went on to state, “For instance, prior to the recent annex at Oakland Middle School, a developer spoke at public board meeting about his plan to build 850 homes costing $350,000 to more than $400,000 each. Many of those homes would have housed two to three prospective students in the area, including Oakland Middle.”

Since the 2004-2005 school year, Rutherford County Schools has added more than 16,000 students for a total enrollment of over 47,000. During that time, the district has opened 13 new schools and completed additions / renovations at 17 other schools.

Read more about the past 2021-2022 Strategic Plan for the County Schools HERE.