July 13, 1998

Warren County School Board
109 Lyon Street
McMinnville, TN 37110

Dear School Board Member:

As a member of the Warren County School Board, you have expressed a concern for the children and young people of Warren County. We are interested in knowing your position in regard to the issue of students from Christian or other private elementary and secondary schools who wish to transfer to or from Warren County public schools.

In previous correspondence, we suggested that school board members who are genuinely concerned about all the students, children, and young people in Warren County, should take the time and effort to investigate this issue for themselves. We suggested that school board members might wish to contact Dr. James Abernathy of the Tennessee Department of Education directly. Also, Dr. D. Peter Consacro and Dr. Charles Smith of the Tennessee Board of Regents have expressed a willingness to share information concerning the recent TBR Policy Changes in regard to graduates of "non-approved" schools which was implemented at the June TBR meeting.

In addition, we recommended that concerned school board members might take the time to examine statistics from the Tennessee Department of Education and from the U.S. Department of Education relating to this issue and to speak with principals from other public school districts in Tennessee regarding their transfer policies as they relate to students from "non-approved" schools.

We are currently polling candidates for election (and re-election) to the Warren County School Board as well as current School Board members and we are wondering if you have had a chance to investigate this matter directly and, if so, if it has modified your views concerning current School Board Policy. The results of this poll will be made available to the general public.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Yours,

Walter J. Clark