First Of Two Reports
Image Credit: David Seal / The Tennessee Conservative
The Tennessee Conservative [By David Seal] –
After decades of neglect, The Jefferson County School System has renovated the playground at Rush Strong School in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. Residents and parents have pressed for improvements for years, some even setting out to raise money for playground equipment on their own.
The picture below shows one of the dangerous elements.
Some parents in the local PTO group were made to believe that fundraising was limited by school board policy. In reality, the fundraising policy for such things is made by the principal.
The Tennessee Conservative News reached out to Mr. Ben Willings, Principal of Rush Strong School with questions about PTO fundraising limits.
“We do our best to limit school teams, clubs, and support organizations to 2 fundraisers per year. We do this to try and help each organization to fundraise successfully without running into or thwarting the efforts of other groups. To be sure that I’m answering your questions thoroughly, I am the one who sets the policy here for fundraiser limits. Individual teachers don’t have regular fundraisers, but we address grant requests and other fundraisers on a case-by-case basis.” – said Ben Willings, Rush Strong Principal
In September 2024, two new school board members were elected to the board, Paul Hardy and Dawn Mayer. Hardy was immediately appointed to chair the new Maintenance Oversight Committee which oversees maintenance and reviews the capital needs of each school in the Jefferson County system.
Both Hardy and Mayer are no-nonsense board members that insist on accountability, quality standards, and fiscal responsibility. It did not take long for school officials to find the resources to renovate the Rush Strong playground and rid it of dangerous elements.
Previous board members from the Strawberry Plains district had the opportunity to act, but years went by with no efforts by the school system to correct the deficiencies until Hardy was elected and seated as chair of the Maintenance Committee.
As one resident stated recently, “It is amazing what one election can do to fix problems that have been neglected for years.”
” I am very elated over the near completion of the new playground at Rush Strong School. Playgrounds at school serve a vital role in a student’s social and physical well-being. It is very encouraging to see the much-needed update to a playground that had been neglected for so many years, as well as other areas around the school itself. I hope the students and our community are able to see that the schools moving forward, will have the school boards upmost priority in maintaining them from here on out. I would like to thank Dr. Arnold and the Maintenance Supervisor, Austin Bridgewater, in seeing this project through.” – said Paul Hardy, District 2 School Board Member
The twisted mess of exposed and rusty nails, radial tire metal fiber, and bare steel plates on park benches have been removed and replaced with safe modern equipment.
The next installment of this series will examine the newly renovated playground and feature comments from other Jefferson County officials concerning Rush Strong School.
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and past Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level. David is also a 2024 winner of The Tennessee Conservative Flame Award & has received an accolade from the Institute For Justice for successfully lobbing the TN legislature to protect property rights. David can be reached at david@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
