Work progresses around Clinton High School
A contractor is working on fixing problems with a sinkhole near Clinton High School.
Anderson County Director of Schools Tim Parrott said in an email that the sinkhole is in a corner of the school’s back parking lot, but not close to any building. The area also has an underground drainpipe.
A contractor is filling the sinkhole with grout, he said.
Parrott said he does not have an estimate of the cost of the work yet.
At the Anderson County Commission meeting Monday, July 17, Parrott said the hole was about 25 feet deep. and he did not know whaat caused it.
“We’ve been digging on it for about a week,” he said.
Regular classes are scheduled to begin at Clinton High School Thursday, Aug. 3, after a staggered start.
Parrott gave updates on other issues. He said the schools will once again distribute flu shots.
He said the school system had already hired most of the teachers it needed, but still seeks two math teachers for Anderson County High School and a French teacher for Clinton High School.
Last year, the school system had a little more than 100 new teachers, whereas this year it was about 58.
Parrott said he did not yet know what the enrollment numbers for the coming school year would be, but estimated the total would be 5,900 to 6,000 students.
Anderson County Commissioner Shelly Vandagriff asked about third-grade retention which has been a key issue in Tennessee.
The state has prevented students with lower scores on standardized tests from attending fourth grade, but there are exceptions.
Only three students within the school system had the possibility of staying in third grade rather than moving on, Parrott said.
He said it was because the parents didn’t choose any of the options for their children to avoid retention.
“It wasn’t on our part, it was on theirs,” he said.
Parrot gave rough numbers for some of the ways that students had been able to avoid retention. He said 73 students got an appeal. More than 60 students went to a remedial summer camp program. Out of that 60, about 10 to 20 students got a 5% gain, which allowed them to move on to fourth grade. About 45 to 50 students will get tutoring to get back on track, which Parrott said the school system had built into the schedule already.
He also said the softball field at Clinton High School is scheduled to be completed in time for the next softball season.
He also said 15 of the school system’s schools are under a federal program called community eligibility, where all students receive breakfast and lunch free. They qualify because the percentage of students who would receive free or reduced meals is over the threshold needed to qualify. At the other two schools, Norris Elementary and Anderson County High School, that percentage is less than the level needed to qualify, so only students who qualify for free or reduced meals eat free.
