TOP PHOTO: The Campbell County BOE Policy Committee met on Tuesday evening discussing and approving policy proposals on nepotism and student representatives. BOE Board Chair Jeffrey Miller, and BOE Policy Committee Chair Jamie Wheeler were both in favor of having two student representatives on the board.

By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- At Tuesday’s Policy Committee meeting, proposed changes to the school district dress code were discussed. According to Board of Education Member Brandon Johnson, when he campaigned for his position on the school board, issues with the dress code, as well as issues in school overcrowding were some of the main concerns he heard about on the “campaign trail.”

According to Johnson, the draft he presented to the policy committee on Tuesday was a “modified version of Knox County’s dress code policy.”

Some of the changes to the dress code that Johnson proposed includes “no hats” as well as “no sleepwear, pajamas, or blankets.”

Johnson said hats were a “safety concern” and that “sleepwear and pajama pants have no place in our school.” Other key points of the dress code proposed by Johnson were “that pants had to be worn at the waist, with no sagging” that “footwear was required,” among other items such as banning clothing and backpacks with ethnic slurs, banning clothing with gang affiliations, among other items.

Before proceeding with enacting any changes to the district’s dress code, Johnson said he would like to hold a “community input townhall meeting and then circle back” to the topic.  He gave “kudos” to Policy Committee Chair Jamie Wheeler and said when he was a senior in high school, and she was the principal, she hosted a meeting on the high school dress code with teachers, parents, students, etc.

Policy Committee Chair Jamie Wheeler suggested forming student committees at the middle schools and high schools so students could discuss the issue as well and “what they would like to see”. BOE member Brent Lester and others said they liked the idea of community input, and Lester suggested reaching out to the student councils as well.

Johnson said he would like to move forward in January with a community townhall meeting when it could be scheduled.

Wheeler said she would talk to the principals at the middle school and the high school to get input from them as well and then schedule the townhall when the topic will be revisited.

Next, the policy committee looked at the transfer policy, that according to Wheeler, would help with zoning issues and overcrowding at Jacksboro Elementary School and Caryville Elementary School.

She provided examples of the student transfer policies from some of the surrounding counties and pointed out that for student transfers, some of these other counties require applications.

“Anderson County policy has an application process … Claiborne County’s policy, the director of schools, or designees, the principal of the school reserves a number of enrollment spaces at each school to account for enrollment to the zone,” Wheeler said. She also suggested finding out what the capacity was for each school and that once it was full, it is full and cannot take anymore.

According to Wheeler, if implemented this could be a “long-term fix” to the overcrowding of certain schools.

Johnson suggested students be zoned to the schools in their district. 

Policy Committee Chair Wheeler and others said that would not work due to bus routes and how it would affect those routes.

Zoning by bus routes was another suggestion that was discussed.

Wheeler asked Director of Schools Jennifer Fields to provide the bus routes, as well as the capacity of each school so the issue could be looked at further.

Johnson said the board needed to come up with a plan by the start of next school year that “Caryville and Jacksboro” were too overcrowded” and “teachers were overworked.”

“I think one of the top five most pressing things this board has right now is overcrowding in our schools…we have to figure out a way that’s responsible to balance these to the populations,” Johnson said.

BOE Board Chairman Jeffery Miller said Valley View was getting crowded, too.

Lester suggested adding programming to the underpopulated schools, that “have room.”

“Offer some programs there that you go there, and you get this program,” Lester said.

Director Fields said she would send the committee members maps with bus routes and the capacity of each school so it could be looked at further. The policy committee will revisit this topic in January. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-12/11/2024-6AM)

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