History of Lebanon Special School District

The Lebanon Special School District of Wilson County, Tennessee was created by a special act of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1901. Originally, the school district corresponded with the Tenth Civil District.

The Act of 1901 created a school board composed of three members to govern the school district. The board members are elected at large by the voters of the district, and serve for a term of six years. One member is elected each two years at the time of local general elections. These board members receive no pay for their services. The school board is responsible for the appointment of the Director of Schools.

There are no requirements in the law creating the district concerning school board meetings, but for many years the board has held regular monthly meetings. The board meets in the office of the Director of Schools at 701 Coles Ferry Pike on the second Monday night of each month at 5:00 p.m. This is always an open meeting which visitors are welcome to attend.

The Lebanon Special School District is composed of five schools: Walter J. Baird Middle School, Byars Dowdy Elementary School, Coles Ferry Elementary, Sam Houston Elementary, and Castle Heights Upper Elementary.

The largest portion of the funds comprising our operation budget comes from the State of Tennessee. The state sales tax in the primary source of these revenues.

The next important source of revenue is from Wilson County taxes. This school district shares in school taxes collected by the county on the basis of our average daily attendance of children compared to the average daily attendance of children attending county schools.

A third source of revenue for school operation is the tax levied on the people who live inside the Lebanon Special School District. A 14 cent tax is levied for general operation purposes.

The fourth source of revenue is the Federal Government.

An annual audit of all funds received and spent by the Lebanon Special School District School System and each individual school is conducted by independent Certified Public Accountants on an annual basis.