RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — What happens when growth becomes too much?

“Ultimately, we have the elementary school that’s going to be opening in 2025 with the three high school additions,” said Dr. Jimmy Sullivan. “(There’s) a middle school right behind it and a high school arguably at the same time.”

Sullivan is the director of schools for Rutherford County and said growth is a topic he’s been thinking about for awhile.

“We began looking at boundaries and enrollment and capacity starting in August of 2022, all the way up through what’s going to be November 2023,” he said.

Last year, they hired Robert Schwarz.

“Change is inevitable and the district is trying to plan for that change,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz’s company, RSP & Associates, works to help school districts plan for the future.

“We had to understand what’s happening with the student data,” he said. “We have to understand what’s happening with developments.”

After analyzing data from enrollment to building capacity, the district has come up with a plan; Rutherford County Schools will soon undergo a district wide rezoning.

“I continually heard, ‘How come we just rezone different areas every one or two years?'” said Sullivan. “Can you not get a better plan together so you’re not rezoning the same streets every couple of years, or different areas every couple of years?”

Sullivan called this a rezoning reset that would allow them to accommodate more students within the schools they currently have.

“How can we look at this from a district-wide perspective and make sure we utilize our seats and make sure we utilize our resources and just try to do one fell swoop that will, hopefully, be able to hold for a couple of years while we get new buildings online?” he said.

Multiple public meetings are coming, however.

The hope is that the district can hear from those impacted and make necessary changes before everything is voted on in November.

“We want to give families, parents in our community, and just the community at large, whether that’s homebuilders, realtors, everyone to know that this is what is happening and what’s coming,” said Sullivan.

The district will be holding three parent input sessions.

The first session will be held Monday Sept. 18 at La Vergne High School starting at 6:30 p.m.

The second session will be held Tuesday, Sept. 19 at Stewarts Creek High School, and the third session will be held Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Siegel High School. Those two sessions will also begin at 6:30 p.m.

The district plans to review all the public input at a meeting on Oct. 25.

They will hopefully vote on the zoning adjustments at their Nov. 7 meeting where changes wouldn’t go into effect until August 2025.

You can view the zonings maps and the full report here.