A new elementary, Mountain View, would siphon off some students who live south and east of overcrowded Lakeview Elementary. Parents would have to provide a ride to and from school. Nearly all of Wise's recommendations are included in the district's school plan. It was drafted with input from the plaintiffs in Metro's long-standing desegregation lawsuit, which ended last year and was a catalyst for the school plan. The changes proposed for next school year are moves that could be made without new schools.
Many more changes are to come over the next four years as new schools are built.
The effort apparently has the critical support of plaintiffs' attorney Richard Dinkins. The biggest departure from the schools plan is Wise's new proposal to create three year-round schools next year. But Wise, long an advocate of the year-round concept, is proposing that the three schools also adopt a yearlong calendar. The concept, never before tried in Metro, is sure to be controversial. Some parents may balk at sending their children to the schools.