May 15, 2020
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
Rutherford County residents are encouraged to participate in the 2020 U.S. Census to ensure local public services get an accurate share of federal funding.
Field operations resumed last week in Tennessee.
Accurate census numbers impact funding for programs throughout Rutherford County — such as hospitals, fire departments and school districts like Rutherford County Schools — every year for the next decade.
For public education, census results specifically help determine how money is allocated for the Head Start and Title I programs, national school meals programs, supplemental nutrition assistance program, Federal Pell Grant program, adult education grants, rural education, special education preschool grants and for grants that support teachers and K-12 special education programs.
The count is mandated by the Constitution and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The 2020 Census counts the population in the United States and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Each home received invitations to respond to the short questionnaire — online, by pho or by mail — beginning in March, according to www.2020census.gov.
If you have not already responded, please do so by logging onto www.2020census.govor respond to the questionnaire your household received by mail.