Vision Committee members tour new JMCSS additions

JACKSON, Tenn. — There is an update on Jackson-Madison County School System’s new additions.

The Education Vision Committee members, along with county and city leaders, continued their tour Tuesday morning for a glimpse of system’s capital projects and proposed zones for new schools.

“To actually get to put eyeballs on houses and know that each one of them is a family that will potentially be affected by this, it really just puts more in perspective on what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re doing, which is to better education and better the community one kid at a time,” said Education Vision Committee co-chair and Madison County Commissioner, Jason Compton.

“We want to have world class schools, so we need to have world class facilities,” said board member Pete Johnson.

A school bus dropped the group off at the closed Malesus Elementary School. The building is being renovated for the new Cyber School program, professional development training, and possibly the gifted school program as well.

“To have a location to be able to twist and take our Cyber School program to that next level, I think is a great use of that building, but also to have that for professional development for staff. So it’s not just trying to make room somewhere for those things, it’s actually going to be a dedicated space,” Compton said.

They also drove past Pope School and discussed additional activities that may take place there.

“I believe that every elementary school should have a Pre-K. That was not in the plan, so we have an opportunity to talk about that,” Johnson said.

School board members and county commissioners say the tour helps them with being transparent and sharing information with the community.

“We’re all in this together to make Jackson-Madison School System the best it can possibly be, and whether that’s zoning new schools or renovating old buildings, all of those things come together into one system and that’s what were focused on right now,” Compton said.

The group also went back to Jackson Central-Merry High School to view the workforce development site.