Maury school board names new high school 'Battle Creek' with some hesitation

Mike Christen, The Daily Herald
·3 min read
An aerial view shows Battle Creek Middle School campus under construction in 2019 in Spring Hill. The Maury County school board plans to request funding for the construction of a high school on the campus, which would eventually house an elementary, middle and high school.
An aerial view shows Battle Creek Middle School campus under construction in 2019 in Spring Hill. The Maury County school board plans to request funding for the construction of a high school on the campus, which would eventually house an elementary, middle and high school.

Battle Creek High School will be the name of Maury County Public Schools,’ yet-to-be-built but fully funded high school, in fast-growing Spring Hill on the northern end of the county.

The name was approved in a 6-2 vote during Tuesday’s school board meeting. Board members Marlina Ervin and Chad Howell cast the dissenting votes after both shared concerns about the preservation of the name and legacy of Spring Hill High School.

Board chairman Michael Fulbright and board member Tommy Dudley were absent from the meeting.

The new 2,000-student high school at Spring Hill's Battle Creek campus on Mahlon Moore Road, an estimated cost of $70 million, will share a name with the middle and elementary school that opened at the more than 200-acre site in 2019.

The new school would accommodate a wave of new students as Spring Hill records about 11,000 new rooftops for single family homes, apartments and condominiums.

More: 'About to explode': Growth will define unprecedented need for new school buildings in Maury County

The vote followed a 6-2 vote on a motion proposed by Ervin to transfer the name to the new campus.

“I want it to be reiterated that there is no guarantee there will be a Spring Hill High School,” Ervin told her fellow board members during the meeting, emphasizing that although the school district plans to keep the current Spring Hill High School operating, those plans may change.

Marlina Ervin speaks to members of the press after winning the District 6 seat on the Maury County School Board on in a county at the Maury County Election Commission in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020.
Marlina Ervin speaks to members of the press after winning the District 6 seat on the Maury County School Board on in a county at the Maury County Election Commission in Columbia, Tenn., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020.

The school board previously considered plans to transition the current Spring Hill High School into an elementary school upon the completion of the new campus.

More: 'I am ecstatic': Maury commission approves $74 million to fund school capital, new high school

“I am thinking about all of the needs of the county,” Ervin said. “My ultimate hope is to preserve the legacy and the heritage ... It is not black or white in my opinion unless we have a solid plan. People think that that high school is preserved, but it is not.”

The sun sets over Battle Creek Middle School in Spring Hill, Tenn., on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021.
The sun sets over Battle Creek Middle School in Spring Hill, Tenn., on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021.

Ervin said she was uncertain that the school district would require two high schools on the north end of the county, and considering the school district’s shortage of educators, if there would be enough personnel to staff both schools.

More: Maury school board draws funding plan for new high school in Spring Hill

Board member Chad Howell expressed a similar sentiment stating that moving the Spring Hill High School name to the new campus was the only way to ensure that the school’s name will continue.

Maury County Public Schools board member Chad Howell attends a meeting naming Michael Hickman the next superintendent of the school district at Horace O. Porter School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, June 8, 2020.
Maury County Public Schools board member Chad Howell attends a meeting naming Michael Hickman the next superintendent of the school district at Horace O. Porter School in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, June 8, 2020.

“This would be the only thing that we could do to preserve that legacy 100%,” Howell said.

The new high school is planned to welcome its first class of students in 2024. The campus would bring relief to Spring Hill High, currently operating above its 1,200-seat capacity by about 50 students.

Sue Stephenson, a Maury County Commissioner, who represents the area, shared that her constituents were calling to preserve the name.

“My phone has been burning up with calls and complaints,” Stephenson said. “Battle Creek is the logical choice. Spring Hill High School needs to remain where it has been. For the next two or three years, Spring Hill remains the only high school in northern Maury County and that legacy should be upheld. Folks would like the Spring Hill School name to continue.”

More: Battle Creek Elementary earns STEM designation

Spring Hill High School, 1 Raider Lane, in northern Columbia is operating over a capacity of 1,200 by 50 extra students.
Spring Hill High School, 1 Raider Lane, in northern Columbia is operating over a capacity of 1,200 by 50 extra students.

Superintendent Michael Hickman said administrators and staff at Spring Hill High School said the name should remain at the current campus.

Bettye Kinser shared her support for naming the new campus Battle Creek.

“I think we are going to see a need for two high schools in Spring Hill,” Kinser said. “It still leaves a tradition. It will always be Spring Hill High School.”

Reach Mike Christen at mchristen@c-dh.net. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeChristenCDH and on Instagram at @michaelmarco. Please consider supporting his work and that of other Daily Herald journalists by subscribing to the publication.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: School board names new high school 'Battle Creek' with some hesitation