WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WKRN) — On the outer edges of Sumner County, some Westmoreland residents and county officials are frustrated with what they believe is a greater focus on other schools.
This week, it’s a roof leak at Westmoreland Middle School’s gymnasium that has some, including one county commissioner, calling for a change in priorities for the district.
“I feel like we get looked over a lot, as far as school funds are allocated,” said Kyle Rippy, a Westmoreland native. Rippy played sports for Westmoreland schools and his kids now go to school in town.
While athletic facility upgrades are underway at numerous Sumner County schools, Rippy believes Westmoreland is being ignored.
“The $29 million for all the athletic funds and you see all the stuff they’re getting ready to spend that on, and then you look up here and your roof’s leaking. It’s frustrating,” Rippy expressed. “The roof’s just kind of the tip of the sword. It’s been leaking for years, and [we’ve] been told it’s gonna get fixed for years. We got classrooms that don’t have heat, you got cafeterias that don’t have water heaters right now… it just goes on and on and on.”
“We’re taxpayers too, up here, we pay our taxes,” Rippy added.
Sumner County Commissioner, Jeremy Mansfield, reposted Rippy’s concerns on social media, saying in his own post that Director of Schools, Scott Langford, was focusing school resources on luxuries, not necessities.
Meanwhile, maintenance crews were at Westmoreland Middle on Thursday, working on the school’s roof. The district told News 2 the gym’s roof has been fixed.
“Over the last 10 years or so, 15 years, we’ve poured hundreds of millions of dollars into our schools… Westmoreland High School has received right at a million dollars to support their capital needs on campus,” detailed Scott Langford, Sumner County’s Director of Schools. “And I’d really like to encourage everybody to move away from an us versus them.”
Director Langford hopes the county commission will soon eliminate athletic booster debt for all their schools, which includes over $300,000 of debt hanging over the heads of Westmoreland High School sponsors.
Langford said improvements are coming to Westmoreland, the high school, specifically, in due time.
“I said last year, when we had the [bleacher collapse] at Beech High School, that we were going to lift the community standard and lift the facilities of each school up to the standard and quality of Liberty Creek, and we are doing that,” Langford told News 2. “Obviously, we had to start with schools were their stadiums were condemned.”
“We look forward to addressing the needs of Westmoreland High School. The athletic facilities at Westmoreland are in a really good place, so we want to continue to add and expand,” Langford continued. “There’s always going to be a small little group of [county] commissioners that are going to stir the pot, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.”
