those things. And I believe the default setting is in uh what you call a nudge. So if people haven't opened in uh let's say a few hours or 24 hours, then they get another email, hey, you got an email
waiting for you. So thank you. Um thank you for this. It's very informative. um very detailed. So I appreciate that. Can we go back to the slide of the audiences? So um to your point um thank you board
member Huitt Garcia for asking a questions about the continuous improvement evaluation and I appreciate um Mr. Johnson your response is that we're not only looking at it in terms of what the negative impact is but how do we then solve? So I I appreciate that and that's I'm happy that that's what
we're always looking for. So that segus into I'm looking at your audiences. Yes. And so I'm looking I'm I'm particularly interested in what it looks like, what the actual what does amplifying under media amplifying district impact and
priorities. Um looking at what that plan actually looks like. How do you what are you trying to do in terms of being more proactive instead of react instead of us being reactive? not you, but us being
reactive. Um, and you know, big elephant in the room. We had a we had a very um stressful past school year. I didn't notice. Yes. And so, um, how are you thinking? You may not be able to answer this now, but I would be really interested in
understanding how you and your team are thinking about being proactive with building relationships with each of these audiences. Right. And so, um, I'm just curious if you thought about that and if you need some more time to think about it, that would be great. Right. Well, I don't want to give away all the trade secrets, but you talked
about media. So, one way, the quick way we do it with media is through media advisories and press releases. Basically, you're telling the media, hey y'all, here's a story or here's a headline. We've done the work for you. Here's something good that's going on in the district. And more times than not,
they'll write a story based on that. Um, so that's one way, but the other way, uh, good old phone calls, maybe have to take people out to lunch for a turkey sandwich. Just make sure you have a good rapport, uh, with your media partners because you don't want to just, you know, we have a nice logo, but the logo,
there's people behind that logo. So, when the media has a person that they can relate to the district and where they can get information, uh, is very helpful to them and very helpful to the district. Yes, ma'am. suggestion for consideration in being
proactive and building relationships. Um being more proactive about inviting media in so they can see all this great work and letting us tell our story as opposed to someone else deciding what the narrative is. So thinking about
strategies perhaps where we can do that. So for instance, press conferences on a a weekly basis or a monthly basis. I I don't know. I'm not a communications person, but um and that's your place, but just being a little more proactive
and inviting because I think that's one of the things we need to do as a district to get in front of uh well, not get in front of but tell our story. It's a good story and so we need to be able to tell it and keep people informed and that's right now that's the best way to do it. I appreciate you. No, thank you board member for that. And
I'll just add uh it never stops with my office's relations with the with the media. Uh, like I said, some of them they're over there now, but it's the little things, too. Coming in, speaking to them. Hey, you got water, you got a plug, you got enough seats. So, it's
it's a continuous relationship that we value what they, you know, what they do and they value what we do. So, I would say it's a good relationship, but we always want to improve it every day. Absolutely.
Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Uh also, uh board member McKenna, this is just kind of a a framework uh what Mr. Johnson has presented. Uh I've asked the team to take this framework from this presentation and to
build out a comprehensive communications plan uh using this as a framework. So again, we'll uh get better as a school district with communication both internally uh and externally. So So thank you for for that. more questions.
I do um thank you for the presentation. Um Amber and um board member Garcia and Natalie McKenna, board member Natalie
McKenna as some of my questions. Um I am interested in the board members communication. Yes. Um you uh you posted a slide but the as
long as I've been on the board the board members communication and strategic communications skills have been lacking. Um we are board members and we have a
direct influence on our districts and we need to assure that we are getting the best uh service in the communications department.
Well, I would say uh I can't remember if two maybe three weeks ago I met with board chair and different staff. uh definitely gave her some um recommendations to help us help you all. Uh and unbeknownst to the board uh
months ago, I just created you all a 30-day media plan just that's just because how I'm wired. Uh hopefully at some point I'll get a chance to uh uh introduce it to you all or present it to you. But uh I think we got a great group and we can do some great things together and have a great school year. But the
communication department uh we're one call away. We love when you all call us. we uh we ready to move. So just let us know what you need. And also um I don't know about everybody else. I don't like lastm minute communications
because I am busy. I want to support the district as much as I can. Right. But I don't want to drop everything to support the district. Understood. We're always mindful of it. Thank you for that question. uh or that
comment board member love but within my office uh there's a little bit over 40 if you include the call center and in that bunch there are parents uh MSCS parents uh there people that have different needs who also need the
communication so we're always mindful and talking to them and we're working with our uh superintendent and all of these different organizations to get the right info and then get it out as quickly as possible but I'm with you I don't like late announcements Um, one final question. Yes, ma'am.
Um, I went to a community meeting a couple of months ago and in that um the community said um what is the communication for uh if they don't have
any kids in the district, we need to work on that. Not all community members are parents, but they need to know the same thing as parents do because they are part of the community.
Sure. Uh thank you for that comment again, board member love. I would tell anybody whether you're uh single, married, kids, no kids, if you sign up via power school and you're in our system, you'll be sure to get uh communication uh that you need.
What if they don't have any kids? I'm not sure if they could still sign up for power school. That's I never thought about that, but I'll uh churches churches elderly. Yeah. Now, we do have our our community partners. They are in our database.
Quite a few of them and also our media partners. So, they do uh have a place, but uh I'll look into that and see if there's somewhere they may need to sign up. So, we want to make sure they get that information. I would also like to add uh for Mr.
Johnson uh again, board member love, one of the reasons that I've asked them to do a communications uh plan is because again uh we haven't had one in a long time. Uh also that is a is a department
that was also depleted uh on last year. So I do want to speak to the fact that uh the communications department was a department that was uh depleted and didn't have uh the robust support that it had had uh in past years. Uh many
other individuals who are in that department are uh new to Memphis uh Shelby County Schools. So uh I do want to add that, but I also want to add something that we probably haven't done in years is provided uh media training.
and we probably need to provide media training uh for all senior level staff, board members and principles. Uh there was a time again I date myself all the time when uh I want to say Miss Janice Crawford uh who was the communications
person uh used to provide media training for all principles, assistant principles, again senior staff and board members. So as we start to build out our communications plan, we will take into account uh stakeholders who need to have
uh media training. So So thank you for that feedback to Marcus. That's real quick. Uh but again, just I do appreciate you and your department for everything that y'all done for us. And I do think as the board members, we we have to do a better job at
articulating our role to the public. So that's where you get a lot of the push and pull coming from. But I do want to seek how can we strengthen the uh communication with the business community because as you as all of us know they say when new businesses come in CIOS or whoever the first thing to
ask is what is the school system like and it's not about private versus public whether it's working with charter schools and so how can we again strengthen communication with the business community to let them know just like the good uh TCA results that came out how can we work with the media
better to just get the message out more it's always been said but just get just telling our story better, but is that but specifically articulating it to the business community because in return they it can lessen their concerns and we can u potentially get more support from that community as well. No, thank you for that question and
comment uh board member Porter. I think number one we need to solicit uh to the business community that we want to hear from them that we want their updated information, their updated contacts. Uh we need to find out who have been the I guess the legacy uh community business
partners and make sure you know they get the the red carpet rolled out for them and thank them for their service. And then people that come in as new uh businesses uh make sure that something uh contributing to the district make sure that they are highlighted and make
sure that they appreciate. Yeah. here cuz one thing cuz I received the Memphis Benjournal get the uh the yearly book that they do and u I didn't see one advertisement for Memphis Chevy County schools for in the positive way. Uh you have private schools that's that's advertising with them. You have charter schools advertising with them
but that's the I think we're the third largest employer now in Memphis we but according to them it's the third largest so because you have you have FedEx you have the federal government then you have Memphis Chevy County Schools employees. So, but just just get some
advertisement within that uh community within that organization as well so they can continue to get the word out. But we didn't have any advertisement. That's my point to Well, thank you again for that comment, board member Porter. I I say this with all confidence that not only is change on the way. Uh but a lot of the things that you've seen on this
presentation, change is on the way. We're working because a lot of that was not in place when I got here. So, I'll take that into account as we build out for the next year. So, thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair. May Murphy I was just saying in the entrance to we've got six committees board member Murphy
but I'm just want to just make that point that we need to be mindful of the time as well. Going to give her final comment and then we can move on. Thank you. Thank you. Um madam vice chair um question is I don't know if I heard it or not um how often is the
website um updated? Uh in some ways daily. when you think about the newsroom and different information that come in and stories. Uh but other than that, it's a large website, a lot of information. So, a lot of times we
may get nudge that somebody sees something out of place. But right, like right now, as we're getting ready to go into a new school year, we're updating uh new hires, new department changes, and different things. But we don't catch everything. So, if you see anything out of place, then we'll be sure to get on
it. But in some ways daily, some ways weekly, monthly, but uh it's fluid. One more question. Yes, ma'am. Um I I don't see as as much um highlighting the spare department and our spare children, and I need I wanted to see more of that going forward
because we don't highlight them as much as we should. Right. We we love our spare department. We'll make sure we uh the all that we've done, we'll make sure that we do more. Thank you for that. Thank you. No more question. Mo moving right along to the community
engagement plan. Miss Tequila Rucker. Good evening everyone. My name is Tequila Rook and I serve as the political director and community organizer at Memphis for All. I'm also a former educator with Memphis Shelby County Schools and a former president of the teachers union United Education
Association. I would like to thank start off by thanking board members that attended the uh state of uh save our schools community listening session we held in May. Um I've shared a one-page document outlining the feedback from next session to be uploaded to the board
document so that you all can see what the community has shared that they want to see happen in our uh district. Additionally, feedback from that section made it clear that community wants more opportunity to engage directly with the leaders. And so, in support of of that
and moving forward in a way that truly benefits our students, educators, and families, we believe it is essential to create a shared path forward, one that's rooted in collaboration, transparency, and trust. And I believe that starts with us.
Um, Memphis for All is an advocacy issue-based organization that works to hold the front lines to protect democracy and anyone not hiding under a rock is well aware that Memphis is under attack on various fronts. We know that Memphis Shelby County
Schools is being targeted for state takeover and this plans has been underway since before I started working there in 2022 and uh when before I started working here in this district in 2012. the state's uh leadership interests don't align with best with
what best serves the students, educators, and family of Memphis and Shelby County. We also recognize the importance of bridging the disconnects that exist because lasting change requires unity and we are stronger when we move together. Now, I've stood on this side of this podium several times
um in opposition of some of the things that uh have happened in this district, pushing for better implementation of things within this uh in our system. Today, I stand here in support of you all and wanting to move the district forward in a way that's uh collaborative
and what's best for our community. And so, with that, we believe in co-planning, co-f facilitating, co-hosting, and co-governance. like what can that look like if we decide to work with you or you all decide to work with us and we all get out in our community
and work together. And so what we know is that it's time to rebuild trust. There are some things that happened that have shaken our foundation and um trust has been lost in various spaces and
we're here to help you all bridge that disconnect because we have a pulse on the community and you have a pulse on what you have it on and together we can figure out where there's missing pieces. And so what we would what we propose is to co-host listening sessions with you
all in our district uh through in your various districts. We know that co-planning shows that you're not just listening, you're willing to grow alongside the people you serve. Um we believe community partners b uh be sorry
build bridges and we close the gaps. We hold trusted relationships and by partnering with us this would extend your reach and credibility especially where that trust has been lost. We know that collaboration equals shared leadership or it equals shared
accountability. So in of in often in these spaces we often work in silo. The board you're you have your decisions to make. We're on the front lines. We're fighting we're fighting for you. We're fighting against you. We fighting for the people. We we we on all the fronts, but we trying to figure out where do we
come together as a whole so that we can move forward because it's broken. Something is not working. And we believe together we can figure out what that looks like. So by co-creating solutions, we can move from blame to share ownership and then we can make real
change. We believe that together we can shift the narrative. Um in these sessions we want to reframe and reorient our story from crisis and disconnect to collaboration and care. People need to see leaders engaging with them,
including them and not speaking at them. We believe that this uh this will impact our students and that they are paying attention. They know what's going on from social media, from just being out in the community. they are aware of what
the adults are doing and it's not looking good. And so we want to make sure that they can see us as trusted leaders as well that they can look to you and be inspired to one day be a school board member or be an elected leader in our community because what
they know is that you were willing to come into a space with them and engage with them in a way that was meaningful. And I want you all to know like you're not alone in this. Several of you I've worked with or I've campaigned for or I supported uh at some time or another
before you even became a school board member. we are still here as a support for you all and we want you to know that um together we're better like we're stronger together and we want to figure out a way that we can work together if
we start off by um hosting listening session in each one of your district and that's and if everybody's willing great but if not we're open to work with whomever is willing to host a listening session we will co-host co- facilitate co-plan whatever it is that that looks
like um with you all as we figure out how we can course correct because what we do know is that January 2026 is not far away. And while we're preparing to hold the front line, we have to make sure that we have a foundation that's solid enough so that when we say no, you
can't come in and take over our schools, we've done the work for ourselves and we've shown up for our community. And that's what that's all I have for you all. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Thank you. Um, thank you, Miss Rucker, for that presentation. And I want to
thank you and all of the organizations that you're representing who held that listening session um and invited us to that. That was May. May. Yes. Yeah. May. Um, we did have an opportunity and thank you for putting together all of the notes and um the
action plan and I we did have an opportunity last month at the last committee to talk about that and I think um for the most part I'm not going to speak for everybody but what I recall is that we are all on board for doing this together because that's the only way
we're going to um one hold the front and ensure that the folks that are charged with educating ating our students are actually given the opportunity to do that. And what I appreciated is what I appreciate is that it's taking on a shared not only responsibility but
accountability. So we started that during the co um listening sessions just for a few people couldn't make it for various reasons but I think everybody they had previous things but most of us were there and others would have been there but for um not being in town or having some other obligations but I
think we're all committed to ensuring that we do this together that we're doing engagement in a meaningful authentic frequent inclusive and responsive way. And the only way that we can do that is if we're listening and
that we're then thinking about what are those what how do we then co-create solutions. How and part of that requires us to listen us to educate along with our administration and then for us to move together um in in solutionoriented.
So I am all for working with you all. Um and I want to say this I don't want it to stop. I hope we don't stop it just for this particular issue. I hope it's something that we can continue this kind of process and build it into the fabric of our work. Um because we've got to do
this with community and not to community. So I appreciate you and I'm fully supportive of it. Thank you. Thank you. And Miss Rucker, I I know we've done things together. I knew about the listening session. Um I had a family commitment that night. I think when I
saw this item on the agenda, I expected this to be a community engagement plan directed by the district that that had a plan for engaging the community. I think some of the things that the implication that our constituents don't trust us or
some of the the decisions that were made are or there's repairing need to be done I don't think is true across the board. So I don't I'm open to a listening session and and have great relationships with the the people that I represent. But a lot of the
the language that is used around the district right now and some of the the the were describing the landscape did not feel accurate and some of it was at our own hands. Now I I do not want I do I want our
communications team directing a community engagement plan. I would love you to be involved and I would love plenty of external organizations to be involved. But this was this felt like an odd venue. It felt like this was a decision that was made for a community engagement plan that
it it felt out of order if I'm just being real honest. And it has nothing to do with you personally or the work done or that I don't agree with the mission, right? Like we want control over our schools period. Like but the the process here doesn't feel um
it feels out of sorts to me. And as I' as I've missed the like sort of brainstorming session around the community engagement plan because I couldn't make it to bridges one night that that's that's not how you create a plan. So uh if there are additional if the chair of our community engagement
wants to work with our communications team and we figure out how to craft something together, I think that's great. But I I would strongly suggest that we evaluate some of the things that we're saying and not paint with broad strokes about what the people who have voted us in believe about our
leadership. I don't necessarily have a question. So thank you, Miss Rucker, for that. U I'm going have to disagree with um Commissioner Garcia for one thing because I don't feel like it was out of order when we have our community leaders trying to bridge the gap between the board and the community. So I I'mma
disagree with you on that one. I thought that was good because I was there and I heard everybody's complaints. I heard their questions and what their concerns were. And so with that being said, I don't think that they were out of order from that because they are the ones that's still on the front on the forefront coming to let us know what's
going on and they're fighting with us now, not against us. And so we want to make sure that we keep those lines of communications open. And the one thing I want to do is I don't mind having a hosting an event in my district because I'm one of the biggest districts as well. But I want to have transparency and I want to be honest with our our
children. And the one thing that they know in my community is that I am transparent with all the stuff I've said and did. I've held up to my accountability, but I still they still trust my judgment because they know that I'm not going to lie to them. And we have to be honest with them anytime we hit the floor. So, I am open to hosting
one in my district because they want to hear from us. They want to hear what we need to do and what our next moves are. And thank you so much. I appreciate it. More comments. Um, I asked the superintendent
and Joyce Coleman yesterday if Tequila can work with our family and community engagement person to get the plan working. This is not a I
versus the community. This is a us all. Um, any more questions, comments? I'm willing to host an event in my district next month. Thank you. Thank you, Tequila. And I
I'll I'll do the first one. We can move on to the next. Thank you so much, Tequila. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And we will connect you with our family engagement department chairperson, I mean director, and I want
to host one. So we will connect you so we and with communications so this can be a very strategic and thoughtout plan. But we thank you. One last I I feel compelled to to say this.
We are a board of the whole and the only reason we are divided in districts because that's how our electoral system works. So when we make a decision whether it's five, six, seven or all of us, it's one decision. And so I want to
make sure that you walking away from here, you understand that we all see the collective need for us to engage together our community. It's not district 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. It is the
Memphis Shelby County School District. And so I want you to uh I I want you to leave here with understanding that that this is us our our effort to ensure we're educating our entire community.
That is our responsibility and so I appreciate that. Thank you. Um next we will have item 2.02 ballet. Uh me
no ballet. Yeah, it happens all the time. I understand. Uh I understand that the hour is yet late. So I will try my best to go swiftly and pass it over to our uh founder Katie Smith. But I want to say thank you so much to the board um for making space for us and allowing us to uh to present. My name is Matthew Best.
I have the privilege of being the executive director of New Ballet Ensemble and School. And I'm grateful to to be here to get us started today. I want to just acknowledge some guests and our supporters and friends that we have here in the room with us. I want to acknowledge Deborah Northcross, our board chair. Uh Marvin Davis, our vice chair, Yolanda Parkson, a parent, our
program, who's also a board member, and Brent Hooks, a board member as well. Also want to thank Frank and Linda Smith, Henry Turley, Tanja Mitchell from the Uptown Community Association. Uh Jordan McKenzie from the Memphis and Shelby County CRA is here. I want to thank uh JW Gibson, a founding board member of New Ballet, as well as Brett
Lawson and Andrea Barry who've come to express their support um for us and for this project. Uh without further ado, I want to pass it along to Katie Smite, who I think is joining us via Zoom. Uh Katie is the founder of New Ballet Ensemble in School and this has been a dream of hers to work on this project for over a decade now. And I know so
because I was a student in New Ballet several years ago. And since I've been out and been an alumni and a graduate and done a lot of work in the community, Katie and I have been talking about this and she's been sharing her dreams for something like this for a very, very long time. So, it was a privilege for me to get asked to come back to Memphis to serve at New Ballet uh while she works
as our chief strategy officer uh in starting this. So, Katie, if you're there, uh I'd love to uh pass it along to you. All Sorry, I think we might be having some technical difficulties. Um, but I'll get started. Uh, Mim Arts is a uh public
performing arts middle and high school. Uh, something again that we've been dreaming about for several years now. Uh, thank you, Matthew. Uh, thank you board members and thank you Dr. Richmond for including us on the agenda. Uh, as we shared with Dr. Richmond last month, uh, this is the fourth administration that we've presented our plan to and the second to engage specifically around
Humes where we performed, where we've taught, and where we've now walked the now empty halls. Uh we're honored to be here with you today to share our vision. Uh New Ballet Ensemble and School has spent years researching performing arts schools nationwide. Uh as an active member of the arts schools network, uh we've toured more than 20 primary,
middle, and high schools building relationships with founders and leaders nationwide. Uh we're proud to be one of only two Tennessee organizations in the ASN. Uh Tennessee has two such schools, one in Chattanooga and one in Nashville. And we believe Memphis deserves one as well. uh with our national research, our
deep roots in arts education, and 24 years of creative youth development experience, we are uniquely positioned to lead this work. In 2018, our board approved the launch of a new nonprofit, the Memphis Midland High School for the Arts and Technology, or MIM Arts. We will also establish a foundation to
raise capital and annual funds for the school's success. Um we will we will launch with 60 to sorry we'd like to describe the school our planned community engagement and the preservation and extensive renovations it will take to rebuild this school and
first the mission vision and values which you can see before you. Uh we will launch with 60 to 70 sixth graders uh growing to 410 to 500 students in grades 6 through 12 matching closely with another peer school Denver school of the arts which is also grades 6 through 12.
Uh like so many of our new ballet graduates thriving now, MIM art students will be in a place where their unique differences are celebrated, where they are given the tools, the place, and the exposure uh to realize their dreams. They will thrive. Memarts will accept
students into the sixth grade, creating a platform for building cultural competence, culturally responsive education, and social cohesion. Students will be recruited from both the surrounding neighborhoods and across Shelby County. New Ballet's Pathways program, which we already operate in
nine MSCS schools, provides a direct feeder into memo arts. Arts partners for professional teaching are pro are pivotal to student success. And we also will expand opportunities for creative Memphis and Shelby County youth by reducing barriers together. Matthew. Yes, ma'am.
Miss Sm. is on now. Yes. Can you hear me? We can. Ah, well, Matthew's doing such an excellent job. I don't know that you need me to come in, but I'm happy to take over. Matthew likes me to.
Uh, as long as you're around for questions, Katie, that's all that matters. Oh, man. You were on the roll. You were doing so well. Um, I need just to know where we are now on the script, Matthew. I'm on SL I'm on slide four. Uh,
thank you very much. Yeah, thank you very much. Well, as Matthew I think just said, too many children cannot access an afterchool arts program in the center of town. It must be in their community or accessible via transportation. Memarks will address the
transportation barrier countywide by extending a school day and eliminating the need for a devoted guardian to make four round trips daily to school, home, and then to an afterchool program for pickup, drop off and pickup. For example, one doul donor helped transport
former student and now international star Lil Bach from Westwood to Midtown daily in 2008. That kind of support can only be scaled by building a larger program to serve more students with an extended day of freestanding art and
academic school. Memarks will include culturally rooted curriculum honoring our city's artistic legacy. I was privileged to know all of these artists with Elvis excluded. I did not know Elvis. Their careers reached stratospheric heights and I know how
they would be behind our efforts to see more young students across backgrounds and genders rising to the levels they achieved. James Williams pictured here, may he rest in peace, dreamed of a school like this when he returned home after touring the world with Art Blakey.
Here are some examples of great spaces nationwide and students at work. In the top left square, you'll see students at the Baltimore School for the Arts producing their creations in partnership with acting students. Next and to the right, private soundproof
booths, which are utilized throughout ASN member schools nationwide. The Sphinx organization in Detroit determined that the lack of private weekly lessons had been a factor in the low percentages of black and brown entrylevel orchestra players nationwide.
These schools aim to change this paradigm with once weekly private lessons. Other conservatories include costume and fashion design. You see the young woman with the yellow skirt next to the soundproof booths. Digital stage and lighting design. and even augmented
and virtual reality incorporation into all disciplines, including ensemble, music, theater, and voice, giving students access to great artists nationwide. Engaging in cultural partnerships will provide scholar artists with teaching
and mentoring, creating more artists jobs. And cross- sector partnerships will offer a range of support from academic tutoring to health care to family resources. In 2014, New Ballet was awarded the
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Briana Brown, then a senior in high school and a new ballet student from age six, accepted the award on behalf of her peers for excellence in arts education in a school setting. And
that was at Dumbar Elementary where we were housed at that time. One of only 12 organizations awarded Next W nationwide. We met the leader of another afterchool dance program from Los Angeles, Korea Town, who had begun a public school for
dance. Their academic and artistic successes inspired us, and we also saw the necessity of expanding to multiple arts disciplines. Just as we have partnered with Pathway Schools, Memo Arts will openly engage and seek to partner with neighboring
schools. We began engaging students with group performances from callus Korea and Valentine Elementary. New ballet development ran through the Orange Mountain family elementary led by a community member
serving listening the canvas parents when they bought voiced broader concerns other than the arts. We partnered across sectors to offer adult education and learning. New valet's grounding in creative youth development and her performances like Nut Remix will expand
into 38107 and the surrounding downtown and North Memphis areas through a robust community-based afterchool program. This is a proud neighborhood primarily of elders who care deeply about preservation and children in their community. And this is an incredible building, a Memphis treasure. Last
summer, LRK interns from the University of Memphis and Auburn volunteered to create these slides of the building layout and finish. As the interns envisioned Hume's Renaissance, they followed our value set to imagine a community drawn to the building as an anchor for the arts, community
gatherings, and resources. Our model schools for equitable admissions practices are the Chicago School of Fine Arts, the Baltimore School of the Arts, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts in CDC has been operating for 40 years. Made famous by its alums, it recently
underwent a $200 million renovation. The history of Hume, built in the 20s and added on to post war, is a grade 712 technical school and home to immigrant families in the downtown area with Jewish, Italian, and Greek students making up a large part of the population. The future of Humes is
everything we've covered here today and anchored in a great building and a proud community. The uptown revitalization under a HUD hope six grant with Turley Bells and Memphis Housing Authority did all the work up to Manasses but their
development ended there. HMS must not be left to decay further for the surrounding communities, but restored as a community asset so that the community work, repair, and the community can restore itself. Through our partners at the Uptown
Association, the CRA, Smoky City, and Klondike CDC, and community pastors will learn how the neighbors envision using the property around Humes and the spaces inside devoted to community offices and after school programs. The interns took our sister school Shy Arts academic and
arts program spaces, added middle school classrooms, and fit them into Hume's existing spaces, which you can see in your packets. Modernizing the rear entrance is vital to the students experience. It'll create a safe drop off and pickup area for parents, secure parking, and more glass
where students can witness one another's work and act. Bringing the cafeteria out of the basement will brighten the day for students between academic and arts periods, creating opportunities for cross-pollination. And now our last slide so you can get to your questions. New Ballet Ensemble and School is
working with the community redevelopment agency to begin a phase one environmental site assessment at Hume with costly cleanup ahead. Rather than negotiating remediation separately, we propose reducing our offer using the former North Side High School as
president. According to a commercial appeal article from August 15th, 2023, North Side Renaissance purchased the old high school in May of 2021 for $400,000. The CIA obtained the Shelby County Register of Deeds, and that's what we're
relying on for this, but we're, you know, if we're mistaken, please correct us. At $1.77 per square foot for the 240,000 square foot north side, the comparable price for Humes at 131,000 square ft is
$218,000. Humes requires more significant work, including removal of hazardous materials, ADA access, elevators, a new roof, waterproofing, and more. But we're committed. We estimate a $50 million investment to transform form Humes into
a performing arts and technology school and a vital anchor in this proud neighborhood. We believe in this vision and want to tell the story with you about how a vacant school became a national model for community renewal through the arts. Many thanks to all of you for your interest and support of
this ambitious project on behalf of the creative children's who will reap a lifetime of benefits and the North Memphis community itself as it seeks to conserve a historic treasure preserving their heritage. Thank you.
Any questions, comments? Um, board member McKenna and McKiss anymore. Thank you. Um, thank you for this presentation. Um, I think it's a fabulous idea. I just
full disclosure, the work that I do outside of this is in the Klondike and Smoky City area. So, um would love to see that building um do something for that particular community. With that
said, um my questions and therefore I think challenges that I'll I see um is I I hear you all talking about community partners. One of the things and I'm hearing um
faith-based faith-based entities. I'm hearing the Klondike Smoky City CDC. What I'm not hearing is how are you going to reach the actual residents that live in that community? And I think I've had this conversation that's going to
require like boots on the ground. If you want to if if the thing I've learned, if you want people to buy in, they have to feel like they were that something wasn't done to them, it was done with them. So the idea of co-designing so
going and knocking on the doors and inviting people in another entity there is the there is the Smoky City Neighborhood Association. So I did I didn't hear that. So I just you know this is information for your for your um
benefit I hope. I also heard culturally rooted and cultural partnerships and cross- sector partnerships. And I'm looking at the um partnerships here and you know have you all considered there there if you're committed to culturally
rooted partnerships um to name a few organizations MMI Angel Street Hadil Collage Cooler Kids with Princeton James Project Black Arts Alliance Blue City
Cultural Center. Have we have you all um spoken to them particularly I think Hadoo is in near in and around the area and so is Angel Street and so yeah I didn't I'm sorry oh that's okay and I just didn't see
them on your list of partners um I can answer those questions thank you Natalie and you've been so helpful in this process we have had a lot of conversations um yes we have spoken with Hadoo we've spoken with Memphis Jazz Workshop Angel Street listed under our
partnerships unless it didn't make that slide for some reason. Um, and there are other partnerships certainly like Prism. I mean there there are many more um even in addition to those you named DAX which is on the slide but we have we're
reluctant to put people who haven't agreed to partner with us on the slides because we don't want to surprise folks. I had a long conversation on the back and Dio around that. So I am in ongoing talks for example with Hattie Lou Echendio and I grew up together um as
younger arts leaders 24 years ago. So we've been talking um but Angel Street is actually performing with us in Nut Remix and they're signed on. Matthew could probably address that um better than I will because he's had those discussions. Matthew. Yeah, that's actually I actually
approached the podium when you started talking Katie. Um, yeah, Angel Street is going to be moving into a a new facility in this neighborhood actually. And so we actually talked to them about helping with the recording studio side of things as well as partnering with them around uh new ballet as well. I'll say this to to even art organizations like Collage
as well. We actually actively work with collage. One of the things that and again this is a much abbreviated presentation, but the only way this works in terms of having professionals come in from the community to work with the schools is to work with different organizations. So there will be dance teachers or dancers from Valley Memphis
or from Collage or from New Ballet or whatever. So there will be opportunities for folks from every arts organization arts organization to be a part of the teaching and the training of students in this school. Thank you. Um I have a followup. Thank you. Um this is
this is huge. This is potentially a gamecher and I want to ensure and I think board members I hope want to ensure that we do this in partnership and so the question becomes you you want to now purchase it. you want to purchase
it and then what type of school is this then wanting a contract school with the district being a contract school with the district because I know if it's performing if this is um performing arts and it's it is you have to what is it um
apply audition audition um then it's not a charter we can't do charter so what is it that you all are proposing um I have that. Thank you, Matthew. We
It is We've been trying for 10 years to work on a contract school. Dr. Whitelaw was actually at a meeting um and Lorie Phillips with me with John Barker um back in the old administration and Dr. Ray's administration. I also working with Brian Stockton and Dorothy Hopson
on this. So, I've been trying to arrange for a contract school with Memphis Shelby County Schools for I'd say about eight years. Um, and right now our urgency is to acquire the real estate. And I think I've explained this to everyone very transparently, the
administration and the board about the new market tax credits. We have an opportunity to receive those and it's a considerable amount of the construction costs up to half of the construction costs which we it would just be a
tragedy to let that go. Um, as they age out they'll become less. Um, so we won't have the same opportunity we would have if we were brought in by the CDEs this summer. So we feel like it's premature to commit to a district, but we
absolutely, especially with Dr. Richmond. We shared a lot in our meeting and I mean I wish that there were another Dr. Richmond who could be the executive director and principal of the school quite honestly because he really understands it. Um, I do want to be very
careful and our board wants to be very careful in those negotiations. Um, and as I think I've told many of you, we've even looked into a governor schools of the arts. Birmingham has a governor's school of the arts. It's been around for 40 years that's highly successful, one
of the top schools in the state academically actually. Um, and South Carolina, for example, has those schools. So, there are options, but you're absolutely correct. Tennessee law does not allow a charter school to audition.
So when you say very equitable, I'm sorry. So just to be clear, when you say it's premature to commit to a district, what other district are you all contemplating? Well, we're contemplating becoming a governor's school primarily.
Okay. I'm not familiar with that. So please educate. I mean, yeah. I mean, there the governor's school currently is only for the summer and it's at uh MTSU, the governor's school of the arts. So, we would work with the state to try to
expand that to Memphis knowing how difficult that could be. Um our other options, we'd like to continue talking to Memphis Shelby County Schools and even the University of Memphis schools as you mentioned in our call this week. Those are all options. But I went to
Central. I'm a Central alum. I have dreamed of this school being a Memphis Shelby County School. I just want to make sure that we own the building because raising this money, I know that the private foundations and the public entities that want to invest in the
school will want to make sure that the mission is carried out. And we've seen examples in other cities where superintendent have changed and boards have changed. And for example, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC has
been told they can no longer audition and they must accept the Georgetown student. So Katie, let me let me Katie, let me jump in there. This is Michelle McKisik. So u the former Hume school has been in my district. Um and I think the biggest
sticking point we all realize what a wonderful asset this school would be to the community as a whole. uh having the option of students from across Memphis and Shelby County attending it. But it seems like the biggest sticking point has been as you just mentioned the building and I I would like to hear from
the administration regarding uh the last time that we discussed this at length was um in the May board meeting and we were talking about um the building and the quality of the building. It's a beautiful old building, but it's like I
said, old, very old. And the third floor hasn't been inhabitable for quite some time. Um, for at least, you know, the last 7 years that I've uh been on the board. So, what is the status? Cuz that seems to be the the sticking point. Is that not what we're talking about here?
The sale of the building and what's going to happen to us? I'd like to hear from the administration um from Dr. Richmond or whomever you designate. I'm sorry. Thank you, Dr. Richmond. Board member McKisick. Yes. Um, this presentation was
done so that the board at the board's request so that everybody would understand what the plan is from New Ballet Ensemble. As far as the building goes, when we had that uh May conversation, there was a lot of talk about donation and as part of the
facilities plan, we are revamping the policy and creating donation criteria so that all donation requests will go through that same process and everybody will be held to that same standard. So without those donation criteria, it was going it will postpone this conversation
about Humes. is if we're still talking about donation, it will postpone that conversation um past this the tax credit period that she's talking about. So, uh if I may, my followup. Um so, Katie, in light of what you just heard,
so what does that mean for you now? I mean, what are your thoughts on all of this? Our our thought is to pay for the building at the same you know using the north side sale as a comparable
and to and we have I discussed this with Miss Stewart. I was advised to speak with her and we spoke extensively about her. So I did present this to her in advance. Um so that we can get the new market tax credit to try to get into this current round. um you have to be
shovel ready by Q1 or Q2 of 26 and so that's our goal. All right. Thank you, Katie. So, Dr. Richmond, at this point it seems like there's a lot of conversation that still needs to take place between the administration and this organization that I mean there's only so much that
can be had at this point. Uh that's a significant sticking point. Uh Keith and Amber and get a market sale cost of that building. I'm told that Grayson has offered a million dollars of that price. So why
and I taught at Northside High School for 35 years right in front of that building. I know what's out there. I know who live there and it doesn't appear that it will look like us or the people who live in that community that is given or sold to these folks. I don't know what is the price they're willing
to offer for that as So to answer the question, um, I'll start with board member McKiszik. Board member McKisick, we were operating from the standpoint, and Miss Stewart, correct me if I'm wrong, there was an
offer on the table for $750,000. That was the initial offer or request. And with that being the offer, there was a counter offer that if there were any hazardous chemicals or material, those
monies would go toward that. Our concern was if those monies went toward that and let's say there was over that threshold, we could possibly end up paying someone to take the building versus us uh
revenue generating off of the building. After that offer was made, uh staff was asked to meet uh with New Ballet. Uh we met with New Ballet. I met with them. I've shared that uh I want them to be a
partner. Uh but we're in the middle of uh our facilities plan. We're in the middle of setting criteria for either donating property or what would that look like long term. Uh and part of us coming up with those metrics for
determining donating property would be an outcome of the committee meetings, the uh the ad hoc uh committee meetings that we've done a board resolution for, we've done a charter for. And so staff
and I have not wanted to make that decision uh in isolation even though we understand uh that time is of the essence for New Ballet. My suggestion to New Ballet was, hey, I think even
thinking about the environmental concerns, you're getting a property that's only going to appreciate and I would love that if you want to purchase the building, if possible, for us to be
able to move forward. However, I continue to say we'd love to have them. I don't want them to be a competitor, okay? I want them as a partner and really part of our portfolio because I
see the usefulness and the utility and the need for that type of school in that area. I always have. Uh I've told them we'll look at charter. We'll look at innovative schools. We'll look at even doing an approach that we've done with
our CTE programs where we could look at kids who are in some of our surrounding schools. We bust those kids there in the morning and in the afternoon to help with building out that program. I've talked to them about several ways that
we could partner because I thought that was what the board asked me and my team to do. Uh and so now we're at the point again the board is going to have to decide how we go about either donating
property or if we want to consider giving them the the property at a reduced cost is what I'm hearing which I don't think we could solve here because there would have to be I guess a formal bid process uh in order for us to be
able to do that. So hopefully I've answered the question. Okay. First clarifying question. Do we have a formal offer that says $218,000, which is what I heard based on the north side numbers? No. Okay. Um, thank you for this
presentation. I've had the chance to meet and see this all the planning and vision and community support that we have. Something that struck me in the comments and it is not the only community member or partner uh that has said this is yeah I started
conversations four administrations ago. I I talked to this person and I got sent here then we had 18 conversations and then we didn't do anything. We just stop we just didn't make progress. I'm of the mind if we had a policy right now I I do
know we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. I understand that we cannot donate it in this moment and we we do want to make sure that as we embark on a big facilities plan that we do have criteria in place. I think that the figure that you all come up with is data driven. It is it is based on something
that we've done on the p in the past and I do not want to miss the opportunity to revitalize a building to offer programming to students that we don't offer. I would love I do not want them to be a competitor, but I more than
anything I don't want us to lose the opportunity. So, I will publicly say if we get a formal bid, even if this needs to be a special call meeting, I intend to support the sale of the building and I have a lot of trust in everything that I have seen that you're going to engage
the community and move forward and make this a a wonderful project that is great for Memphis kids, period. So I I would love to see a formal bid. This has my support. I agree as well. Just to echo board
member Hu Garcia just said, I've said seen this presentation several times. I think many of us have and I agree. We don't want to make it a competition and we do want to provide an opportunity. I think they have some amazing things that they're going to be doing in our community and I would definitely want to move forward in in support of them
making an offer as well so we can and and also a special call meeting if needed and we can move forward with this. Um I have a clarifying question. Um uh
um the gentleman that was speaking, I don't know your name. Matthew. Matthew. Um you said you have been trying to get this school for eight years. No. No. The the dream of a professional milling uh high school for over 10
years. Kate, it's something that Katie, our founder, has been dreaming of for a long I remember about 10 years ago when Dorsy was superintendent, he wanted to turn Humes into a performing arts school. Uh you
had a conversation with him. Yes. Yes. Board member Love, we did. We talked with him and with Brian Stockton at length and that's when we really started in earnest our partnership of going into schools
Um and honestly he he upped the budget for the performing arts office after our conversation. So he was on board but again you know administration's turnover. So he and I did not specifically talk about
Humes but there was a plan that I know um Linda Scalar and Drew Davidson worked on for Humes and Dr. Richmond I believe um you you also mentioned that to me the other day. I remember that plan. Um
um my daughter is in the performing arts program too. So I support the arts and anything I can do to make this dream a reality. You have my support. Any more questions?
Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Um I did have several questions. Um, my first question is what's the the real value of that of of that building of the property? The appraisal is $1,420,000.
Um, that was the appraisal prior to the vandalism. Okay. Now, next question. Uh, what will the district be responsible for if we donated the building? If we went through the process of donating the building, what would we be responsible for if donated?
If we deed the building to another entity, then we are no longer responsible for anything at that property. Okay? Be because I am in agreeance with everybody else with the performing arts because I came from a performing arts school and I we spoke when I saw the presentation and I think that this would be something good for our children. And
so I don't think we should be delaying it any further because it's been delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed and we'll be sitting here for probably another few years trying to figure it out. And I don't think we need to do that. So I think that we need to take whatever the proper necessary steps is to go ahead and move forward.
Thank you. I have one quick question. Um Katie talked about the timeline. Can you go back over that very quickly because I know that there's you all have a timeline that you have to meet in order to qualify for the tax.
Yes. And um Brent Hooks has been following along with me, our board member who's there. We have met with Truist Bank and have secured their interest in funding this project through new market tax credits. We're working
with a consultant to try to get in the round that is September to December of this year. It could be as much as $14 million towards the renovation of this building. But all
of the CDEs are choosing organizations like ours, nonprofits only now this summer. And we're not a very good package if we don't have a building.
So, we need we need an agreement or to purchase the building as is for $218,000 um so that we can obtain this building. And I just want to tell all of you I really appreciate all these questions and input. It's been it's been great.
Commissioner Love, if I could, could I speak to a comment that Commissioner Williams made? I want to address the question about who this would serve. Um the you know one of the things Katie and I have talked about a lot is making sure that the primary audience is serving folks that are in the neighborhood and a lot of these schools across the country particularly Baltimore School of the
Arts does an incredible job of making sure that these schools reach a diverse uh student base. So it would not be a lot of students from not from outside the neighborhood that don't look like our students in this school. Um that's why the audition process in itself is equity based and has a proven track
record at several of these schools. some of these schools around the country do turn into places where the elite send their kids and and we would be intentional on making sure that does not happen at this school. Thank you. I um
I have a question just for clarification again. This is a fabulous program and it's got my full support. The one thing we do have to do is we can't jump over our policies. And one of the things it says is that we have to have it
appraised. So I don't know where the $218,000 is coming from, particularly with when was that appraisal done. July 2024. Okay. So, I don't know what the the
internal process is, but I do know that part of what we have to do is have it appraised. And so, what how quickly can we get this done so that we can so we can pay to have it reappraised? Um, and that would take another 3 weeks
or we can just rely on this appraisal. that 218 that that Katie was speaking of was her doing the math of the square footage cost that we sold North Side High School for to North Side Renaissance and then applying it to um the square footage at Humes is what she
was saying. So what was the if the appraisal was in July of 2024, what was the square footage cost there? Appraisal at one was it the same as North Side? Cuz North Side was done how many years ago? North Side, the boards agreed to the purchase
sale agreement in 2020 and it closed in early 2021, right? So, off the top of my head, I'm not going to know. Okay. So, but the 2024 appraisal square footage amount is based on something different than what that was. So, the 2024 the July 2024 appraisal of
Humes is based on the Hume square footage. And I can do the math to get you the number, but it's going to be much higher than the cost of the north side square footage. Okay. the north side appraisal. I'll have to look back, but it was more than $400,000. Right. Okay. So, can we get full
information around that? So, in terms of of treating this in a similar way so that we can move forward with that and again, I think board member Huitt Garcia asked for something in writing. Okay. Um, I will give that to you as
soon as I get the full offer, the official offer from Could you, for the benefit of all of us, give us the clear process for us to sell the building? Absolutely. Thank you. And timing, how quickly we can get it done cuz we don't want them
to miss the opportunity. Um, any more questions, comments? Quick quick question because I threw it out there in sort of a a passion of a special call meeting, but can this go on our regular July meeting if we have an offer in writing? Like it is is that
timeline work for our regular business meeting at the end of the month? Okay. Cuz I heard September through December, but Okay, cool. Thanks. We have to comply with our policy. You want to say anything? Um, no further
business. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you. We'll keep moving. We'll go right into policy, governance, and legislation committee. Thank you all. the date that um we would like to have those policies in front of the board. So, if you noticed on the first page for
May, the second page, I'm sorry. On the second page for the month of May, we completed six policies. Those policies have already been approved by the board and they're outlined on the second page. on
the next page what we were proposing to present to you in the month of July. We are moving those policies to August except as noted on the third page. We are bringing um these policies before
you in the month of July. We were originally scheduled to bring these policies before you in August, but we want to bring these before you this month. And then the last page, these are the policies that we would like to
present to you for the month of September. Also, at the bottom of the last page, we've outlined several um public chapters that were recently p a few um new laws that were recently
enacted that we know we will have to make policy revisions around and they are outlined on the bottom of that page. The one that I would like to mention um is public chapter 494 DEI. That's going
to be specific to our MWBE program and we will have to work with the consultant who developed the MWBE plan or the small business plan to have some additional revisions done for that. Also to this list that's not listed on
um this particular page that you have in front of you. We would like to add strategic allocations as well as policy number 4003 conflict of interest. Any questions? Any questions, comments?
Did you say strategic allocations under conflicts of interest or separate things? No, that's two separate. Okay. So, we're just putting a policy together on a process for strategic allocations. Yes. Okay. Um I have a question. Um
a policy is three months. Um and we used to get our uh strategic allocations in next month. In uh July
Yeah. Yeah. In July. We're going to do a resolution this month. You can do a resolution this month. But if we look back at
when the strategic allocation process was originally developed, that dates back to, I believe, 2018. Yeah. And it was based on one specific resolution that was for the 201718 school year. And in that resolution,
there's some specific language around requiring the board to look at um the effectiveness of the program and we haven't done that. So, we can bring a resolution forward that's at the will of the board or we can develop a policy to
help support a resolution, but again, that's at the will of the board. And I believe um Commissioner McKenna wanted to provide some additional information at the top of this particular committee meeting. Oh, going back to governance. Are we
going back up? But your strategic allocations. Oh, strategic allocations. No, I think you said it. I just think we need to um um move forward strategically with our strategic allocations. So I think there is a possibility to your point um Commissioner Love for us to do a
resolution as um to take care of this year as we work on the strategic allocations policy. Is that what you're suggesting? Okay. If it's the will of the board, years past, we did a resolution every year. If I'm not mistaken,
we were only able to locate one resolution and that was the original resolution that was adopted, I believe, in 2017 18. Um, we do not have a record of any other resolutions. You may have adopted one, but there's no record in
board docs. Any more questions, comment about this business system review. So I think this becomes relevant after I talk about the governance update if you
all if I can move it back up for member love to number two. I appreciate that. Go back up. It'll become relevant. Okay. So if I can. Yes. So let me move up to 2.01 01 back
to section two and then we can come back down to 3.03 and then you'll understand. Um so going to 2.01 governance update. Um again we put out the RF we put out an RFI to ensure that we were getting the
information that was resubmitted. Um it went out on June 25th. it. The questions were due June July 2nd and then the RFI is due July 16th. Once
we get that, then we will share all of the responses with the full board. So, we can then make have a discussion as to which organization and or consultant we'd like to use to do our governance training. If you recall the RFI, which
is a request for information, it sets out um that we would like to have governance training in and and part of that governance training is revisiting our mission and our vision and and allowing us to set our goals. Once we
set our goals, that will allow us to then work with the superintendent to um do a strategic plan. Um, if you recall, we are at the end of destination 2025 and so now we have to figure out where we're going moving forward. So, I just
wanted to give you all that update. Um, any questions around that? Okay. All right. 2.02 governance training and goals. That was that um board relations training. You all received a a a poll about having our
board relations training. We have all agreed to August 15th. It will be held at TSBA in Nashville. Um, what I do need to know from the board is the time. Do we want to do 8:30 to 5? I just needed
to know time frame. Yeah, I don't get up 8:30 either, but I mean some people are early. I'm sorry. Yeah, it it's a full day training. So, I just need to get back to TSBA with the times. They're on board. They're
ready to go and lock and loaded. They just want to know the time. Yep. Go ahead. Now, I was just responding to the query. I guess are you going to send it out because I'm thinking if we're going to start at 8:30 in the morning, we have to drive up the night before. Yep. Okay. Yep. All right. Would you all like me to
poll you all on the time? Yes. I'll pull you all on time so we can get it right. I have a child in Memphis Shelby County Schools I have to take to school. So I will be doing that and I will join join
you late or I will Uh, we'll start later. So, all right. I will, but I can put in an email. I cannot drive up the night before either. I'm my daughter. Understand? All right. So, I'll poll and we can come up with um ways to make sure
that everybody's included questions. All right. Now, getting down to 3.03, business systems review. We have a policy. Marie, I don't remember the policy number for business systems review. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we have a policy of
business systems review and what that policy requires us to do is to go through governance training to be involved in um governance training on an annual basis before we do business systems review. Business systems review allows us to calendar every year the
different systems that we would like for the superintendent to provide us with um the KPIs um and and it's a way for us to understand the um operations such as HR, such as our procurement, such as our um
academics um all of those different systems that make the district go. And so, um, I would like to I I think I'll ask Maria to send everybody a copy of the business systems review so that you all can take a look at it and see that
that's the work that we have to um calendar for this year as we begin to um look at our different systems and um determining the alignment to our academic um to our strategies and our goals. So, that that's what I wanted to
just update everyone on. Any questions around that? Okay. And then I will hand it over to Miss Stewart. 3.04 2025 legislative agenda review. Okay. So for and I think
we skipped one. We should have some policies that are coming before you. Okay. So we do have some policies. You want me to go over the policies first or the legislative agenda? Are any of these policies statutory revisions?
Um, one and the other. We have nine policies that we would like to bring before the board this month. Eight were discussed in the policy retreat. They're specific to the board. They're in that 0000 section and one which is um a new
policy that's required by state law around student suicide prevention. We are required by law to have a policy in place on this. It's not a new law, but it is a law that we just overlooked and
we're bringing it before you this month. Okay. Go ahead. And I think going through these first and then you can go through the legislative update and sort of give us a preview of the policies that will be coming forward. Okay. All right. So the first policy and you should have a copy of this and it
should also be included in in board doc. So the first policy is 000000 school board meetings. Again we discussed all of these policies in the um policy retreat that we held previously in the year. The basic it's just basic cleanup
language and it's beginning on red page one of your document. And again, as we discussed in our policy retreat, we're adding language regarding the duties of the chair as well as the vice chair. We've also clarified how a special call meeting can be scheduled. If you all can
remember um a few months ago, there was some confusion around whether or not the co-chair could the vice chair could call a special call meeting. So, we've add some clarifying language in the policy around that. Also, um we've added
language that specifically states that if the majority of the board members request to have a special call meeting, then it is the responsibility of the board chair to schedule that meeting. So
again, that's clarifying language. In the absence of the chair or the vice in the absence of the chair, the vice chair can call for a special call meeting. There was some confusion around that previously as well. So, we've added that language to clarify. On red page five,
we're recommending revising the timeline um that the agenda is provided from 24 hours to 48 hours. And that's based on state law. And on red page six, also during the policy retreat, um you all ask that we move spotlight on the arts
as well as special recognitions from the board work session to the regular business meeting. Any questions? Okay. The next item is 00002, board member qualifications and elections. Beginning on red page nine,
we're just adding language regarding the requirement for board members to participate in orientation as well as ongoing development. And this again is based on recommendations that were provided by the board members during the
policy retreat. The next item is 00004 officers and duties. That's on red page 11 and 12. we need some input um regarding the duties of the vice chair. So if you look on red page 11, we've
provided two I'm sorry, on red page 12, we provided language for two different types of scenarios. Um the language reads, "If the chair and vice chair are absent at a meeting, either the ranking member with the longest continuous
service on the board will serve in that capacity or we can allow the board members at the meeting to elect a chair prom." And we just need your recommendation on the language that you would like to have in the policy. Again,
that's on red, page 12 under item B, duties of the vice chair. Sorry. Um, sorry about that. Real quick question for this. If you have a situation where you don't have a longest ranking, um,
then perhaps we may consider keeping both of those in there. It just in case we don't have a longest ranking. Yeah. Right. So, I would keep both of those in there. Okay. If that's the will of the board. Yeah. Okay, we can Okay, so we can keep
both and we can massage the language to make it flow better. The next item is um policy number 0005, method and election of board members. Beginning on red page 14,
um we've added language regarding the timing of elections for board officers. We state that the election will be held at a regular or a special call meeting in September. And if in the event that
we're in the midst of a county election, then the officers will be vote voted on after the newly board members are sworn in. So again, if it's just during the regular cycle, then you will vote either at a regular um call meeting, a regular
business meeting or a special call meeting in September. But if it's during the time when the county is holding an election, then you will vote on your um board officer either in after your um officers after I'm sorry, after your
newly elected board members have been sworn in. On red page 15, we've also added language addressing filling the chair and vice chair position in the event of a vacancy. And again, this language is based on recommendations that we received during the policy
retreat. Any questions on that? And I want to go back and clarify because I stumbled on the language again for the election of your board officers. We're recommending that you do it in a voting meeting either in September, but
if you are aligning with the Shelby County election, then you will not vote on your um officers until your new board members have been sworn in.
Okay. The next item is policy number 0012. um board policy development, adoption, dissemination, and review. It begins on red page 17. It's just cleanup language to add um the board district general
counsel as a responsible party. If you can recall a few months ago, you did pass a policy that um places the board district general counsel in a position where he's also an employee of the
board. and you have specific departments under your board, district general counsel and policy at this point falls under his position. So, we've added his name as a responsible party. Any questions or concerns?
The next item is policy number 00016 and it begins on red page 20. Um the current policy requires the district to provide orientation for school board candidates and we're
revising this policy to address only those school board members who have been elected to serve as a board member. So currently, if you are a candidate to be a school board member, according to this policy, the school district is supposed
to provide them with some form of orientation. We don't do that. We haven't, as long as I've been here, I'm not aware of us ever doing that. So based on the information that we received during the policy retreat, we were asked to revise this to only
reflect on those individuals who have been elected to serve as board members. We've also outlined language that's specific to local training requirements and that's just um orientation and maybe professional development opportunities
that the district can provide. And we've also outlined those state requirements that TSBA will provide. We've added language in this policy based on your request during the retreat that will address um reasonable expenses
for travel, lodging, fees, etc. And based on the prior policy, I think it was 00017 maybe. I can't remember the number. I didn't write it down. I'm sorry, but
in order for your travel to be approved and paid for by the district, you have to have prior approval by your board chair. That's currently in policy and we're just bringing it over.
There are some exceptions. STSBA conferences, fall district meeting, and one annually required schoolboard training academy meeting. Again, all of this is based on information that we we received during the board policy retreat.
Any questions or concerns about that? Okay. The next one is policy number 00017 and that's the board conference travel beginning on red page 20
23. You ask that we repeal this particular policy and incorporate the requirements into the policy that we just discussed. So everything that we discussed that's in policy number 0016
was or currently is in policy number 00017. So we're just shifting that language over and we can repeal this policy. Does anyone have any questions around this? I do have one question. Anybody else?
I have a question. Um, who um is in charge of the uh the food allowance? The food allowances would be under
finance. And I think I know where you all are going because you brought it up in um the policy retreat and I think um Chief Langston is prepared to talk about it. You all did ask about aligning our PDMS
with the GSA um PDM rates and I'll turn it over to Mr. Langston quickly. Yeah, that was my question. We will align it with GSA standards and it'll be done as of August when it's
when this is in uh this policy is voted on. Is that something that's specifically referred to in here? Should we should we state GSA? We can state GSA standards. Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Okay, the next item is 0025 constituent services. This is basically just cleanup language and we've included the board district general counsel as a responsible party. Again, because the board general the board district general
counsel is an employee of the board, we've added that language to the policy. And the last item um for policy revisions is a new policy 5024 student suicide prevention. Based on
current law, the school district is required to have a suicide prevention policy that includes language around intervention um prevention prevention intervention and postvention. So intervention pretty
much is just informing keeping parents, students informed and then you have post vvention that in the event of a suicide on school campuses then we should have some specific um processes in place to
address that. Again, it is required by state law and we looked at um the state model policy and we pretty much adopted their policy with some revisions. So, I have a um question and maybe this
is more for u Mr. Langston. Is this um there's the intervention there the prevention intervention and postvention as she said are there dollars associated with any of this? And if so, where would are there any dollars additional dollars associated?
Thank you for your question. As of now, no ma'am. Um there's no requirements particular in Tissa. Um it doesn't mean it's not coming, but currently not. So I just want to make sure that we're staying in compliance. And so just how do we intend on doing that given um and
who is going to do that given our nursing shortage, our behavioral specialists and that sort of thing. I just I'm just want to bring that to our attention. And if I may add, we do have a mental health team and Dr. Goings if she's here
um to support if you need some additional questions asked. How will this policy be communicated to the parents and general public? department to try to get the policy out to parents.
As you know that we do have the um parental right acts um here in Tennessee. So all parents must have informed consent. So we have to as a district we have to be do our diligence in making sure that our parents are aware of the policy and not only that um
any education that we provide to students does also um include informed consent from parents. we do is in the department anyway we provide suicide training to students in grades fifth, 7th and 9th and we have to get um
parental consent for that for those trainings and part of the policy is also teacher training. So they have by um state law they must have two years of um suicide training annually. Bo board members, this is also part of
our larger work around uh MTSS uh our social emotional learning. Uh when we're talking to students about uh responsible decision making, when we're talking to students about self-awareness, mindfulness, being able
to manage uh stress uh and things like that. So again, we see it as a it's a policy, but it's still part of our larger work around uh mental health uh and student wellness and social emotional learning.
Yes. So it is something we've been doing all along anyway. We just want to uh make sure that we have a policy. We have procedures, but we want to make sure we're in compliance with the law. I have a question. Like we have the hotline for the kids that have weapons.
Do we have a hotline if a child knows that another student has the possibility of thinking about suicide? Okay. Yes, we do have a hotline. Well, the hotline really is our crisis line is for staff members to um when their
students who have are expressing suicidal thoughts or behaviors. uh there is a process and procedures like I said earlier in the um in all schools and it's in their procedures and policy manual of what the process to take students like I said we earlier we do do
training with our students on how to recognize these signs and then how to seek help and then we identify those trusted adults for them and we receive calls throughout the mental health center we receive calls really daily
that we respond to for students who are expressing suicide. So, we're doing a great job. It is a double-edged sword. Um, we do provide the awareness. However, once you provide the awareness, we are going to get those students you um, you know, who are in those
situations expressing suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Has the suicide rate for our young people increased since the pandemic? It has dramatically. Um I've been in 30 years in school mental health and since
CO I have never experienced especially here in this district any um completed suicides since CO yes we have seen um in this district uh since CO probably about seven completed suicide not on campus
not on campus but we have experienced that across the district. So to your answer to your question, yes, we have and our our numbers mimic the um the national average unfortunately.
Thank you. And to our communications team, this is another thing. I think board member McKenna made the statement that you have a board utilize us to get the word out that there is prevention, there is help for
our young people and adults also. I had a question. U do we have a policy around um bullying or cyber bullying or is that strictly done at the the school level? Because I know the state just created some regulations around that for us as far as students not receiving the
driver's license if they're found bullying or cyber bullying. Right. We do we do have a policy and that policy is required by law. So it does include cyber bullying as well. It just doesn't mimic, you know, what the state has put in place. Does it mimic?
Does it align with what the state has put in place? We don't mention anything about the driver's license in there because we're not in control of the driver's license. That's something that's done outside of us, but we can take a look at it to see if we can incorporate um that type of
language. But again, that would be an action or a disciplinary action that would be taken outside of the school district. Yeah, cuz like I said, the last board meeting, um, a lot of times often times our parents, they don't hear the laws that's coming down from Nashville. So,
if we can just again just get that word out about this particular law that came that that's from last year, I think it it'll be worth it because again, like I said, a lot a lot of parents can't control their children do outside of the home, but um they're they're really cracking down on this cyber bullying.
Yes, board member Porter, we spoke at length this morning in cabinet meeting about uh communicating out new uh statutes and policies uh to the general public and parents and students. Miss Stewart, if there's a way to board
member Porter's statement, um, is there if there's a way we can identify in the policy the possible repercussions just say because I imagine we have to report something in order for the state to not
grant the license or to revoke it. I'm taking a note. Okay. I just have one after thought regarding travel. Um and then we can move on to the next thing. Um as far as like I know board office used to have like a credit
card or something when they're reserving rooms and things of that nature. Is that going to be required to be put in policy or how does that work? Because every time we do the travel lodge, ask for a debit card every time. I know usually when we get to the desk, we can do that, but as far as reservation so that things
can run a little bit smoother and we're not consistently doing that every time, is that possible for someone to be designated that so that travel arrangements can be made a little more smoothly. So, are you saying that you as an individual board member, you have to use your personal credit card? Every time we
reserve, it's understood that when you get there, you give a card for incidentals, but every time it's something needs to be planned, it's give me your card, give me a card. Okay. I will have to defer to our superintendent on that or to Tito Langston.
It's me again. Um, so as it relates to a a credit card, the district, no individual is a district has a credit card. The district has one card for travel that is maintained in the safe of the in the finance office. Their credit
card for board members or any members who are traveling. If you um book your travel at least 10 days in advance, it should cover everything. Now, in the instance where it's not 10 days, then then you're kind of on your own and you
can get reimbured. But if you do it at least 10 days in advance, the finance team can cut you checks or get you direct deposit for any in even incidentals and we can use credit card authorization forms that can go directly to hotels in the instance. So if you're
traveling and you're using your personal car, you you shouldn't have to. Again, if it's booked at least 10 days in advance, we can use credit card authorization forms and it shouldn't be an issue. And we did for that. We did add language on um page 21 under item C, the third
bullet down, second sentence. Um expenses approved by the board chair shall be paid directly by the board or reim reimbursed to the board member. So that covers everything that Chief Langston just mentioned.
Thank you. um just as a um possibility to consider is just to clearly outline for board members what the process is and because I don't think I knew that. So, um that would be helpful so that we we're held
accountable for our timeliness and you all can get done what you need to do do. All right. I appreciate that. asking for additional language to be included in the policy that you are asking for some type of process to be
put in place for the board. I agree and I I think that would should be for all employees though. I think if you don't have a credit card, they will hold a certain amount on a debit card and I don't want any professional development or travel associated with
being an employee of the district be a there be a financial barrier to that. So, so we know if there is a credit card authorization form for incidentals and then let's just make sure that it's not we're not missing opportunities. Um, and
then also suggest if there are board members or employees who need additional funds. I think we should think about what it looks like to support employees or board members who need assistance or if there are barriers
um to professional development or training or things like that. I don't think not for tonight. We don't have the time tonight, but I do want to make sure that um everybody getting the same may not provide the same access and I want to make sure that we focus on the outcome training and um exposure to what
we need to be great board members and employees. Thank you, board member Hua Garcia. Are we done with policies? Yes, ma'am. Okay. And then I think the last thing is the policy calendar. I think you all should have it. If you all recall when
we uh Several months ago, we did the proposed policy calendar as a result of the bienial review that we um did. And so um I've asked Miss Stewart to give us a status update on what we have completed
thus far and we reviewed um the policy calendar already. Oh, we did. We did. Oh, y'all are quick. Thank you. Okay, I'm done. And so you did the statutory stuff, too. So, the only item left for me would be um the legislative agenda um
information. We are hosting a meeting on this Thursday. I believe it starts at 10 o'clock. You all should have received an invite. I I've already received confirmation that several of you will be in attendance. But during that meeting, I think there are approximately 20 maybe
21 um laws that were passed that have a direct impact on education. We're not going to cover all 200 of those laws. We're just going to try we're going to try to just give a highlevel overview of um several or the
majority of those items during the call. I think it's going to last between an hour to an hour and a half. Um, just FYI, during the legislative session, we do provide ongoing um,formational meetings to let staff and others know
where we are in the legislative process, the bills that are being passed. And we've already hosted one meeting where we covered some of the legislation that were passed. But with new people coming on board, we felt like it was very important for all of us to know um, some
of the things that would be impacting us. For example, um for the upcoming school year, only your SRO's, SSOs, and a trained school administrator, your principal will be able to conduct searches of a student. In our policy
now, we speak to any individual can um conduct a search. We also have a cell phone prohibition that was recently enacted by the state. we have to align our policy um with that particular law as well. We do have a draft that we're
going to be discussing with principles on Thursday. Um I don't know if we'll be able to slide that particular policy on the agenda for the upcoming um board work session. If so, I would love to bring it before you and have it approved
this month versus trying to have it approved next month. If we are able to bring it, we will be asking you to suspend the rules. But again, we have some additional work to do on the staff side before we bring it to you. But we are working hard to try to have it in
front of you this month. The training that you're going to have on Thursday, is it Thursday that you're doing? Is that is that open to just staff or is that going to be something that people can anybody We sent the invite out to staff. We've
also um sent the invite out to our teacher unions. Um and that's all. There's no way for me to invite No. Is there a way that there's could be a link into that for anyone in the listening public who might want to be
educated on what the statuto revision? That's just something you may not be able to do now, but just think about it as we move forward in legislative session. And I would like to consult with superintendent before moving forward with anything like for this particular meeting. I would like to have
it more controlled because of the types of questions or you know feedback that may be given during this meeting and if we open it to the public I don't know how we would control like inappropriate conversations or anything like that. So we would need to do some additional work
around that. I yeah, please have that that conversation and let's think about it how we could possibly do that at another time. Okay. And um my last comment is just FYI,
our legislative 2025 legislative report was featured on channel 5 news. It was either channel 5 or channel 3 news. So kudos to um staff for assisting us with that and to my team for developing that
particular um report. Kudos. I do have one thing that I would like to say about the student school board member um legislation that um and I'm saying this because I've had a lot of of folks particularly students who are
interested in being a part of that process of developing that policy. So I just wanted to let you know and let people know um in the listening public that there is a process that you use to engage relevant stakeholders to develop the policy and that will definitely be
inclusive of of youth. Yes. And we did not add um the charter school policies or the charter school laws to this particular document, but we are in the process of revising our charter school policy and there are
several laws that impact it. And you just triggered that thought because we do have a policy advisory committee meeting scheduled for next Monday. You just stole my little thunder. One last thing though for the committee meeting. Thank you. Thank you.
All right. Any other questions around policy? If no other questions, this committee meeting is adjourned. Thank you. We will roll right into the charter schools committee meeting. Um, we just have just uh two items on the
agenda. Going to keep the presentation fairly tight uh in case there are Q&A, but we also have auto budget finance, academic committee, and some the heavy hitters coming down the pike. So, um, Miss Orlando Parker, if you would please. All right, take it away. Yes, ma'am. Good evening, everyone. Um,
definitely try to keep it brief. Uh, so this evening, I'll be bringing before you the recommendations for the amended round of charter authorization. Uh, and so we can go to the next slide, please. So, uh, our recommendation uh is to uh adopt the denial of the following
charter applications. Dreamcatchers charter school, Hillrest High School, Kirby Middle School, and Still Our Rise Academy. It is also recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education adopt the approval of the following charter application for Kip Cordova Collegiate Elementary. Now, Kip Cordova Collegiate
Elementary in the initial round was actually named Kip Creative and Performing Arts. Um, the applicants reached out in the initial round seeking to adjust the name of their school to align with the other network schools and so they took the opportunity to amend
this information in the amended round. Now, we're before you today because for amended applications, we have 60 days uh to review the application and for a decision to be brought before the board. And so, the July 29th date is that actual 60th day, and we have to make a
decision for approval or denial of these applications uh based on that 60-day timeline. And looking at the description and background, we did have the same five applications in the initial round. They were denied. they were uh afforded an opportunity to amend the applications. They all submitted amended
applications. The office of charter schools provided guidance uh for those applicants for the amended round. And there was a second round of review as required by state law, state board rule as well as board policy. And we had about a 100 plus individuals on the
charter application review team uh that uh reviewed these applications. Next slide, please. So, as we continue, we know that the TDOE uh produces an application and scoring criteria that all LEAs across
the state of Tennessee are required to use. And so, that is our base layer for recommendations. After the TDLE rubric, then we layer in Shelby County Board policy. Uh board uh members, you have a blue folder this time. Last time it was yellow, this time it's blue. And so you
have a folder with all of your supporting documents. I know that it's very extensive. It is very robust. And so please know that the office of charter schools is always available for any 101s for any questions that you may have related to the information that is in your folder. And looking at the gap
analysis, we know that charter applications are for a 10-year academic period. And as an LEA, we do not have that opportunity to approve based on contingencies or to have uh any term less than 10 years at the LEA level. And
so these are binding documents on the school and the sponsor. And therefore, we use this for continued monitoring, oversight around a school's performance and academics, finance, and operations. So if not adopted, approving applications that don't include the
information that is needed can lead to accountability and compliance compliance concerns for the district. Now when we talk about um approving applications uh in this amended round, applicants do have an opportunity if denied at this
last local round to appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. And we'll talk a little bit more about that as we continue on. Now, the last information on this slide I would like for us to call attention to because this is new information. Okay? And so with this new information, with
the passage for public chapter 275, which came into effect July 1, there are now direct pathway options for applicants to go past the LEA and actually uh apply to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. And so
those terms are if an LEA's denial decision has been overturned by the Tennessee public charter school commission for three times within a three consecutive year, then sponsors can d apply directly to the commission
for a 5-year period and they don't have to apply to the local LEA. Okay? And so I wanted to make sure that we shared this information because this is new legislation. This is new information that has come about and so we wanted to make sure that everyone um is well verssed on the information. Next slide
please. And so when we look at our previous outcome outcomes we see the three bullet points now those are the number of applicants we had in the last three years and how many submitted an amended application. Um but when we look at the
chart that is information related to the new law that I just stated that came into effect July 1 and that is around appeals. So last school year last cycle we had one school to appeal to the commission and then that appeal was
overturned by the commission. So they did not agree with the LEA's decision. They voted to open that school and that school is going to open under the commission. The year before that we had four schools to appeal. Two of them were overturned and then the other two were
affirmed. That means that they of course agreed with the LEA's decision. And then the year before that we also had two that appealed to the commission and then um both of those were affirmed uh and so actually one of those schools ended up coming back uh to the district. Next
slide please. All right. So this is the fiscal uh impact slide for each school. And so on this slide, it is for their year five enrollment if approved. Now for charter schools, we know that most all charter
schools grow their enrollment year by year by adding a grade to reach their capacity. But in the neighborhood analysis that's in your folder and in the summary documents, you can see where the school starts um with their enrollment, where they seek the first
year in those documents, but then you see where they plan to be in year five and how many students they plan to seek uh with that uh enrollment capacity if approved. And so we look at year five as our benchmark of the potential fiscal
impact to the district as that's that fiveyear midway point of a school's charter term. Now this number is definitely going to increase in later years should the school reach its approved capacity. So when we look at
Dreamcatcher Charter School in year five they are seeking 410 students in year five. Now, at capacity, what they are asking for is 1,000 students, but that $5 million is going to come in year five
with a loss of around 410 students. And so, our benchmark points are years 1, five, and 10. When looking at our schools and we're looking at uh the fiscal impact to the district, Hillrest High School, it will be around $7.1 million. Kip Cordova Collegiate
Elementary about 6.5. Kirby Middle around 6.2. 2 and still our rise academy around 6.1 million but remember that is at our midyear midway point within that 10-year term which is at year five. So again when they reach their full
capacity that will be additional funds that could be a potential loss to the district. Next slide. So again this just shows we had the first round that uh concluded in April. We have the second round. We're bringing recommendations before you now. And then
we have the final opportunity for an applicant to appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Now, at the bottom, I wanted to make sure that you saw that if the commission overturns the LEA's decision, there is a
30-day mutual agreement window where the sponsor as well as the LEA can decide that, hey, we want to be authorized under the local LEA. If neither party agrees to that agreement within the 30
days, that school automatically is authorized by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission because the commission is the one who overturned the LEA's decision. Okay. All right. Next slide, please. Thank you. So, this slide just um provides some information to let
you know the supports that we provided to our applicants during the amended round. We had two meetings with them. The first meeting was a whole group meeting in which we talked about the logistics and what the process looks like. And then we had a school specific meeting for each of the applicants. And so what we did was we allowed them to
ask uh questions related to the feedback that was provided to them in the initial round. So they were given two opportunities to meet with us and of course we were always responsive to their emails and to their telephone calls. Next slide please.
All right. So as we look at uh state board rule, state board rule um provides guidance as to the approval of a charter school. Um now when we look at this, we know that in order for a school to be uh
recommended for approval, they must meet or exceed the standard in all applicable categories based on the applicant type. Okay? So in order for them to be recommended for approval, they must meet
or exceed the standards in all of those categories. And so we have four academics, operations, finance, and for those schools who are current operators of other schools or who have operated other schools, we have portfolio review and performance record or past
performance. Okay, next slide, please. Now along with the TDOE scoring rubric then we factor in board policy 1011. And so when we look at board policy 1011
here are the various factors that uh play into uh decision making as well. But again, in order for an applicant to meet the standard and be recommended, they have to meet the TDOE rubric first,
then board policy 1011. And so with that, um, there are five items that are outlined here. And what I will say is that over the years, um, with my four years in the office of charter schools, there have been various iterations to the particular, uh, charter application
and the rubric. And so many components of what we already have here listed in board policy 1011 have been embedded into the TDOE's rubric. And so some of these items uh overlap. Next slide please.
And this is just uh images to let you know. We have our fiscal impact reports. We have our neighborhood analysis. And those things are directly connected to board policy 1011 as well as we have our EPDR that the district produces each year that talks about regional seats,
quality seats, and capacity seats. Next slide. All right. So now we are going to get into our recommendations for uh our five schools. But before we do that, I want to talk about charter applications and
contracts because this application and our charter agreement go hand in hand. That's why it's important that we have all of the information that is needed for our charter applications uh when we approve charter schools
because these are binding documents and again um this is for the oversight uh and we want to make sure that the schools are actually doing what they said that they were going to do for the students and the families in the communities in which they serve.
Next slide please. All right. So, here are our recommendations. Uh, the first the next few slides are just some summary overarching uh information. Uh, you have the application summary and the rationale, all of that in your rubric.
All right. So, here's a list of all of our schools, the applicants, the sponsors, whether they're new start or ASD transition schools. We have the grade levels in which they're seeking to open. We have their model, the neighborhood in which they are seeking
to open, and we have whether or not they met the TDOE rubric and whether they met board policy. Again, you have to meet that TDOE rubric before we shift to board policy 1011. Next start, please. I mean, next slide, please. Excuse me.
question. Okay. So, I think so you've given the overview. Did you want to go through the um just what officially what the district is is recommending? So, let's do that and then Okay. All right. for Dreamcatcher Charter School. Uh uh the district is
recommending the office of charter school's recommendation is to deny Dreamcatchers Charter School uh as it did not meet the TDOE rubric nor board policy based on their academic model, governance structure, parent or community support and demand uh
recruitment and enrollment, facilities, fiscal operations and sustainability, and overall missing or incomplete documentation based on the uh initial round and the responses to the feedback in the initial round for Hillrest High
School. The recommendation is to deny Hillrest High as they did not meet the TDO rubric or board policy based on their academic model based on the community support and demand for them to operate Hillrest High School. We do know
that schools and communities want schools in their communities, but there was not demand for Iota community schools to be the one to continue to operate Hillrest. There was missing and incomplete documentation in their application as that they failed to even
uh respond to some of the information listed in the initial RAM. Uh past performance is an issue as well for Hillrest High School as Hillrest High has been a priority andor federal CSI school uh for the duration of its
charter term uh with the ASD. As we move to Kip Cordova Elementary School, the recommendation is to approve Kip Cordova Collegiate Elementary as they met the TDOE rubric and board policy related to the areas of operations, academics,
finance, and past performance. The only concern that we had related to Kip Cordova is just to ensure that there is that parent and community supported demand and that they are able to push forward the creative and performing arts arts model in which they are proposing.
Kirby Middle School, our recommendation is to deny Kirby Middle based on the TDOE and not meeting board policy as well. Similarly to Hillrest High School, uh their academic model, their past performance with being a priority or CSI
school for the majority of their term, they too failed to update some of the information in the application um that was requested in the initial round. And then finally, we have uh Still I Rise Academy. And our recommendation is to uh
deny Still I Rise Academy as they did not meet the TDOE rubric nor board policy. uh just uh issues and concerns related to their academic model and programming. I would like to say that this is an opportunity charter school
and they're proposing an opportunity charter and I do have a slide that I think would be beneficial to explain what an opportunity charter school is. Okay. All right. But I'll go to that slide in just a moment. So as we uh continue with still our rise just
basically the parent and community support and demand their recruitment facilities uh and just uh the overall um sustainability of the school based on the information that was provided in the
application. Okay, next slide please. Okay. So, if we could um Is this the one explaining the opportunity? No, ma'am. It's not. Keep going, please. Yolanda. Okay. So, um
keep going. Keep going. Next. Next. Next. There. Thank you. All right. So last year 49134 uh came about um because um now we are
uh able to open opportunity public charter schools and it's a specific type of public charter school in which you serve at risk students. And so the grade bands for an opportunity public are 6 through 12 and at least 75% of your
students have to be enrolled in this particular criteria. And so as you can see the list of criteria at the bottom uh whether they are high school uh dropouts, adjudicated youth, uh pregnant uh teens or parents um just various uh
categories related to atrisisk students. And so the last applicant still our rise is applying as an opportunity public charter school. Now opportunity publics can be residential but they can also be traditional school settings. This applicant is applying as a traditional
school setting not a residential school. Thank you Miss Parker. Um I don't know if you want to go back to your uh last slide but I want to make sure we address that. But there's some questions already waiting in the wings and I want to be sure and honor um my my colleagues here.
Uh there's a lot of information. Thank you so much for um going through that and that's why you have your big blue folder this time so that everyone can go through it in detail and reach out to you if they have any questions. And of course, we'll be following up with our work session. And then, as you
mentioned, the vote needs to take must take place on at our board business meeting on the 29th. Correct. Yes, that's correct. Okay. So, with that being said, uh let's now get to the questions and um we had a question from uh board member love. What
is the probability that if we uh go with your recommendations, the state will uphold our vote? some Miss Love I wish I vice chair love
I wish I could um definitively say that's why I wanted if you can go back to maybe the slide that had the chart right after the recommendations I wanted to provide that context so that you can see it's really not a rhyme or a reason
um as to when or how the uh recommendations come or are sustained. ained. Yes. But they've they've upheld four out of seven. So I mean just statistically 57% of our decisions are upheld. So they
agree with us more than they don't. So I think that's a pro I think optional choice state where they want to see expansion. I think generally that is their orientation. the fact that they are agreeing with an LEA nearly 60% of
the time is is I think a reflection of all the work that we do to get strong recommendations. So I mean I don't think we have a formula but just looking at the data I was looking at the same thing.
Um thank you Amber. I have a um question. Yeah, board member McKenna. Piggybacking on that, the stakes are a little different now given that new law. So, it says if we um if they overturn
three of our decisions, can I think you had it somewhere? It's the slide before that's actually was going to be a question of mine too, just to clarify that. So say a charter school comes to us one year say 2025 they're denied are
they are they denied three times by us and then they go straight to the state. So it's not the denials at the LEA level it's the overturning at the commission level that starts the count for the one
two three. So at the LA level, we can make the decision to deny. If it goes to the commission, if it's affirmed and upheld, then um it doesn't count against us. But if the commission decides to
overturn us, for example, last school year, I'll do our most recent. Uh we had that one denial and then it was Wooddale Middle. And although the co the commission agreed with our review team's recommendations, the executive director
can still make a decision to overturn our decision. And that's basically what happened. So let me finish the question I had. So with that said, how many are we are you recommending to deny? Four or five?
So we're recommending to deny four of the five. Okay. So worst case scenario those four go up and they get over it gets overturned. We have met that three denial. We have. Okay. That's what I wanted to be clear that we understand.
Yes ma'am. Okay. And then the next question I had I get that you may not be able to with any clear defininity to tell us uh what the likelihood is that they'll overturn. But my question I would ask you all to do is if you go back to the chart where you
show that they they have to tell us do they tell us why they're overturning and if so I noticed that we have a two-pronged approach. So, how many of those overturned where they actually did not meet the the TD the Tennessee DOE
requirements and and then they overturn? Did they meet them and we didn't see it the same way? I mean, did they think that they met them and we said they didn't meet them? That's what I'm trying to figure out. Like, are we assessing this the same way they are? because if
that's the first prong before we get to ours, we need to understand how they're assessing. So, I will say that um the ones that were overturned um two of the three were ASD schools.
Okay. Yes, ma'am. All right. Dr. Richmond, you had the mic. Yeah, I want to just kind of uh share too charter schools has has been a department that was under me this year.
And what I've shared with staff is to operate with integrity and to not base their decisions on hypotheticals. Apply the rubric. And if the rubric says to deny,
I have instructed staff to deny. If the board chooses to do something else, then we respect the board. But I have instructed my staff to apply the
rubric and to operate with integrity. And Dr. Mirman, if I may, um, let me be clear that that wasn't the question. The question was understanding how they're how they're Yes. But it's for if we start if we
start operating off of hypotheticals, and we start not denying schools that we know should be denied, we're not operating with integrity. And I'm saying that too because earlier in the year
we denied a charter and I want to go on record as saying I instructed staff to apply the rubric and to do based on the rubric what was the decision that should be made and they made that decision
and we respect that and it and and definitely want that to continue. I also want us to understand what's going on. I I I'm the last person to say switch it because of something political, but because if that this is about students
and if we don't think that charter school is going to meet the the necessary things that we need for them to do for our student outcomes, then absolutely deny it. But I wanted to see I want us to understand that um we're
moving into something different and we need to understand what we're moving into and and I want us to be stellar like you are on the reasons why we are denying them. Absolutely be stellar about it and be honest and be truthful and transparent about it. Okay.
Thank you board member OT. I just want to say thank you so much Dr. Alrea for all the work that you're doing. I'm hear hearing great feedback of how your office and under the leadership of Dr. White Law are doing a great job of working with our charters and I appreciate you for that. I know you and
I had a 101 um and you went through everything for the school that's going to be in my area and they sent in an amended documents and you helped them with recommendations and I think that if the other schools are doing the same thing and you're helping them guiding them with what needs to be done for them
to be in compliance that they could potentially do that as well if they're doing it within that timeline. But I just want to thank you for all the hard work that you're doing and um just notice that you know there's good great words going around about what you're doing and the partnership that we have with our charter schools. Thank you. We have an amazing team. I'm
not sure if they're still here. They are. So I don't want to shout them out. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you all. Thank you so much for all that hard work. And it it's evident as by the big blue folder and and so but it is it's it's very thorough if you know you want to look at the
applications and see where those gaps were that were not corrected. Um it's it's all right there in black and white and sometimes even in color. So um if there are no more questions on this point I want to make sure that everyone gets that opportunity we can move on to
the next one which actually um Miss Stewart already uh addressed 2.2. to the charter compact. But uh if you want to just repeat that information since it's there. Yes. As um Miss Maria Stewart shared on
Monday, we will convene um our um policy advisory committee which is connected to our charter partnership council. Now that we've had those meetings, we've received feedback from our charter operators. uh we have some draft policies and so we're going to work
through the committee uh with them uh to revise those of course definitely and work through the process before they are presented to you all as the board. Thank you so much. Chair, did you have Oh, yes. Yes. All right. If there board
member love, um I didn't see on the agenda the charter operators who have uh their contracts renewed for rent. Never mind. She's one step ahead. always board
member love. All right. If there are no further questions, the charter committee meeting is adjourned. Thanks, chair. Um, I did speak with uh Chief Langston. I do I'm going to a community meeting in North Shelby in Millington. So, it's a 35minut drive
from here. Um, I've given him a list of of questions that I have regarding some of the agenda items so that they could get into that the I think the public may also have. Um, and then I've also asked um there was a recent news article about potential of title $1 being lost. I
asked him if he could provide a just an opening um update on where on where we're at with that. Um, and but he will walk us through the agenda item. So, I'm sorry I do have a 35m minute drive, but um you're you're in good hands with coach
Porter and Chief Langston. All right, this is start our budget audit budget finance committee meeting. Uh turn it over Chief Lex. Thank you. Um Mr. Porter. Um so 2.01 board members at not not this past
Friday but um Friday right before the year ended. We got great news from um the federal government. Um Dr. Richmond actually called me. I don't know who was more excited, him or I. I don't know if he if he's
ever heard me that excited or I've heard him that excited. He asked me u is this what I think it is and it certainly it was. So again, we got a letter from the federal government. Um the team I I still want to give the team credit for working hard putting together a
relication to try to um get the funding back. But this was no um we can't really take credit for it. We'll take what happened essentially was there was two other states who sued the federal government for these ESER funds. They
won the the lawsuits. So in a con and for contingent of them winning what they the federal government basically said in their letter is that now all the rest of the states who had extra funding to be fair and equitable they will give all of the funding back. So, as of today, um
when we got that letter back, um the team was instructed, we b we've pulled down 18 of the $55.6 million. We got about 37 more to go. Most of it is tied up in in construction. So, as of March
of 2026 is when the funding ends, but uh working with uh myself and Miss Stewart, we fully expect to kind of finish off these areas of funding so nobody decides to change their mind. So, uh, great news story on ESA. Now, now hold your applause because
shortly after shortly after we learned about ESER, we got an um another email that said that Title 2, Title 3, Title 4 funding is currently paused. Um, title two um funding is what we use for professional
development. So that's where we have our instructional academic coordinators form the instructional coaches and title two um is roughly about $6.5 million. Title three is where all of our um funding for our English as a second language federal
funds come from. That's the majority of where we have our bilingual culture mentors and our um staff that is translating for our students who have English as a second language. Um that's about $2.5 million. And then title four,
if you'll remember board members last school year, we did a lot of instruments and things of that nature for student support and things of that nature. Um Title 4 is using used for student supports. That funding is on pause as well. So when you see that $17 million
that hit the uh article, that's related to those things. Title One Part A, which we get about $95 million, fingers crossed, isn't affected at this moment. Neither is our USD funding for federal one um for federal food nutrition is not affected. But currently, um again, we
haven't been told that we won't necessarily get the funding, but is it it is on pause. So, what we're doing now, um it affects about um some close to 100 positions. Again, most of them is bilingual culture mentors. And then we have our academic coordinators um that
we are u looking to kind of do some additional moving of funding. So as I know more um I'll update the superintendent and the board. So I'm hopeful that it will be in an outcome like this that we were in. So that's the latest I know about title two, title
three, and title four. Um going down to 2.20 if it pleases the board. Head start. So, Head Start is one that we've been um grappling with for months now. Um I wish I had an answer around Head Start and and I hate to say it. I I
expect that we might not have an answer until school starts. So, what Dr. Richmond has instructed myself and I've been working closely with Director Gordon is coming up with contingency plans around what it looks like, be it if we get all of the funding back, some portion of the funding back. So, we're
currently running scenarios based on um what that looks like. Um we wanted to have it today, but it's involved some deep um numbers driving. So, I'm hopeful by work session that we can come and present to the board a few scenarios of
what it will look like and maybe by then we'll know exactly what we'll look like. So, we're working on some contingency plans around Head Start. Um, I have a question for the superintendent. Um, Head Start starts
um in September. We we start with the school year. So, right now we're working just like what Chief Langston stated that we currently are funded for 3,360 students. That includes first aid fund
one and VPK. We're planning to move forward with those students. We're still waiting. Chair uh Coleman, myself, and Dr. Crane, we had to sign a confidentiality agreement saying that we will not disclose any information in our meetings
until they send the approval letter. So that is the one of the reasons why we have not come before you but yeah we will be starting as soon as we get that award. Um second question the parents know this information.
We cannot say anything to parents because we have been instructed to Are you keeping um a log on the parents? So
we are work we have placed children in classes. Yeah. Just we're still doing our interviews. We're still placing children in our classrooms. Currently right now we have filled 30 I mean 2759
slots out of our currently funded 3,360. Let's pray. So, but but I will ask uh the we're looking at various scenarios, but really we're approaching the situation like um hopefully we'll receive the funds, but if not, we're
approaching it in a way that uh we would ask the board to support uh what we've been doing and to support hopefully the difference being that we've received the 55 million that we thought we were going
to lose. But we still have to also look at various scenarios, look at where we can cost save uh in some areas where we may still have some unfilled positions. That's the balancing act that uh my team
and I will continue to do in order to assure that we're being fiscally responsive uh responsible, but we're also addressing the needs of our uh families and community. and we should have that proposal to Chief Langston by
Thursday so he can put the dollars and cents with the proposal. One more question. Um this is directed to Bill Wright. uh um he doesn't have to give me the answer now, but um I've been
talking to a lot of elementary school principles and the attendance rate is horrific in the um uh elementary schools, kindergarteners in Pacific.
What is the prek department doing while they are in prek to get the parents to understand that it is a a state law that they send
their kids to school every day. So we have incentive in attendance incentives just like the elementary schools. We shout out those parents. We award those kids who have perfect attendance. We have monthly parent meetings where the family engagement specialists are actually working with those individual
parents, providing them with whatever resources to mitigate if there is a issue with transportation. So, we do the same things that the K12 students are doing. The only thing is that we're not having the mandatory
start meetings like you would normally have with uh because prek is not mandatory. I would like to talk to you offline. Yes, ma'am. Because um what you said, I appreciate what you're doing, but it isn't working
as effectively as the school district would like for it to be. Uh, elementary kids don't drive theirelves to school. They don't get ready. It is the parents responsibility to take them to school
each and every day on time. Um, Miss Gordon, I had the opportunity to sit with you at the table a couple weeks ago at the SPL meeting and I want to say thank you for all the work that you and your team are doing. Um, and when the time comes, because we we talked about early literacy, we did a
SWAT analysis. I learned a lot from from your team and there were a few other um organizations that was there that was also contributing to early literacy within our district. So, I'm very appreciative of that. I learned a lot that day. And when the time comes, definitely I want to just uh of course
inter um Dr. Richmond look at some of that marketing so that people know that we can send our three-year-olds to prek because mom will be there. So, I just want to thank you for all the hard work that you're doing and and it was a great opportunity to sit in and I'll be sitting sitting in at the next meeting as well as it pertains to early literacy
and things that we can do for our students. So, absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Gordon. Have has there been a conversation had with the county commissioners about our students that may not be able to get in? You know, I know we're limited on what we can say,
but is has there been a conversation with the uh county commission? So, we briefly talked about it a little bit in the SPL group because most of the organizations that sit within the SPL is
also a part of the first a consortium, the seating success partnership, the urban child institute partnership. So, everyone is very much aware of where we are. We are ready to pivot to what other organization if it's not the district
how do we support just like we did the flip and change when we severed our collaboration with quarterly leaf we are ready to do whatever that is to make sure that we get the word out to those particular parents if there is a seat
shortage on the district side chairman can can I piggyback off that a little bit um when I was um sleeping in at the county commission the other night when they was trying to approve the budget. One of the things that was in contention was universal prek. Um and
what was in contention about it was they were talking about raising the tax rate to um to add money for universal prek. So they didn't quite get there because they didn't raise the tax rate. What was on the table was an additional about seven and a half possibly $8 million. Um
I don't know if they we'll be watching closely to see if they do a budget amendment later down the line, but by virtue of them not raising the tax rate, um it hasn't Yeah, they need to do a budget amendment. Yes, ma'am. I have a um question going back to um
Commissioner Love's question about parents. I I do recall last year sometime and you all doing some surveying about barriers and while I understand that it is if you have a a kindergartener a 5-year-old they're not getting themselves to school but we have
to ask the question too why and so I think we've done some preliminary work with that and a lot of the things that are that are the wise are not things that are within our control correct and so I think this is an opportunity for this board and our superintendent to
be sort of the nexus of that information and and bringing the relevant systems around the table to let them get the to give them to share our data with them and say here are the issues both qualitative and quantitative data. Here
are the stories why why um you know so and so can't get to to kindergarten. I don't have transportation. I have I'm on third shift. I'm the only parent so I can't get my child there. Although I want my child there. I don't know many parents that don't want their their kindergarteners in school. So, I think
this is an opportunity for us to bring those other systems around the table and that we're the convenor and let's have those conversations because one, we don't have the resources and we don't have the expertise and it's frankly not our role and responsibility when those other things are. So, I I just want to
be supportive in that way. How can we be supportive? But may I add, a lot of times what happens with our pre-K parents, if I transfer my, we'll say K12 child, there's an opportunity in the K12 school to receive that child. But if I
get to and we'll say Hawkins Mill and they're full, my prek child cannot get in the program because there's no space available. So a lot of times what happens is those pre-k children are sitting idle waiting for a space available because my parent has moved. A
lot of times it's not that I don't want to bring my child that may not be an opportunity and then they want to hold in the slot where they are and because they do not have reliable transportation they can't get them there. So if I've transferred and moved to Hawkins Mill
but yet and still I still live in Raleigh, it's hard for me to get there. And a lot of times that's our issue, which is why we put piloting transportation year two in our Head Start grant because we do know that transportation is the majority of the reasons why a lot of our prek children
don't get to school and and and also anecdotally um kindergarten, first grade, and ninth grade, and Miss Davis can help me if I'm wrong, are normally
the grades where we see uh spikes in uh student attendance. Uh and normally kindergarten and first grade is because parents are still uh being nurturing to their child. If they say their head is hurting or their tummy is hurting,
they'll allow kids to stay at home and they'll stay home with them. And then when students get in in ninth grade, again, it's because of that transition year. So if we just track the data from year to year, normally we see spikes in kindergarten, first grade along with uh
9th grade. Any other questions? We'll proceed. The last item is uh FY27 budget planning. Um so board members in August uh I think what we alluded to is what we
will bring a budget plan in August um sooner than by policy says October. What I wanted to do was um briefly open up the floor to see if if there's anything that board members specifically wanted to see in the budget planning as we
bring it in August. I know um Borman McKinnon and I have had conversations around maybe bringing our department heads to um to the board so they can explain their budgets instead of me being on on the hot seat um all the time explaining their budget. So that's one
of the things we'll have um we'll incorporate that into the budget planning, but I wanted to open it up to see if board members wanted to see any other things while we think about planning for FY27. I think when uh board member McKenna uh proposed it, I think she was getting
back to what we used to do uh during our business system systems review where each uh department head would present uh their budget. I would like to see those items that we are expecting a return on the
investment. Like if it's a 5% return or if we're looking to move 50 children, what that return on that investment, you're asking us to invest in something, what are we what outcome are we looking for from
that investment? And I would like to see the same thing, but um the communities are so different. I want a SWAT analysis on the regions
that superintendent uh talked about last month. And um I want to see the budget reflected of the SWAT analysis um regionwide so we are getting the most bang for our
buck and supporting the kids in that region. I'd also like to incorporate how do we incorporate the community sooner? um particularly understanding our budget
and our budget process. So, I really appreciated this past year the budget 101 ones and I realized that was very high level and and and and I enjoyed that you gave buckets but how do we get people to really understand what those buckets are and and the the things that
we have to think about the trade-offs that we have to make considering the limited resources and then understanding our revenue generation. Um, we, you know, we we got a lot of people that come, well, you got that's $500 per
child, so then you can put that towards that. Um, we just need to understand and make sure the community understands as we spend money. No further questions. This mean a journ I apologize academic board member rote
Dr. Whitewall take us away. So, we have quite a few items and I'm I'm going to ask um the leads I'll read through real quick and if you have any questions they can go ahead and answer because we have wonderful executive directors. Uh but due to the sake of
time I'll go ahead and read those items and then you have any questions we'll pause and then let each executive director or director answer those questions. The first one is the power words the speech screening. This comes from uh executive director uh Gordon. It is recommended that the Shelby County
Board of Education approves the contract uh to power words uh therapy in amount not to exceed 129,000 for the speech screening services for enrolled prek students. Again, this is to provide speech language screenings to our prek
children within 45 days of enrollment as is required. Again, if you look at the description in the background, early identification of communication difficulties in children is particularly important uh for providing appropriate intervention that could prevent later academic failure. And Head Start
requires a program to complete or obtain a current developmental screening to identif identify those concerns uh for those child's developmental, behavior, motor, language, and social, cognitive, and emotional skills within 45 days. If
you go to the next uh slide, it gives you uh the previous outcomes and what has been uh noted around our return on investment. Uh and it just said uh during the 2425 school year uh 188 children had the autism diagnosis which
often includes speech and language impairment as well. And then 311 children were referred to determine eligibility for IDA and that's how important this particular contract is. Again the expected outcomes that identify children who are at risk. If
eligible the children will receive the ongoing services and again the financial impact is 129,000. Any questions for uh executive director Gordon? Next item. Next item comes from um Executive
Director Gordon in the prek department. Again, it's recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the contract of RCM Healthc Care Services in the amount not to exceed 258,475 for nursing uh screening services for up
to 5,600 preK students for the 26 2526 school year. Uh it's the first option renewal. The nursing service are mandated by the federal government to provide it to students. Again, this is to provide required health screenings and medical procedures in our children
uh to our children in the Memphis Shelby County Schools early childhood program. Again, the description and background talks about uh requiring the health screenings for children within 45 days of the enrollment and that the school nurses usually are not at individual
centers. So, contracted nurses are vital uh for the additional testing and treatment for children. Again, if you go on to the next, in the 24-25 school year, four nurses provided uh these services to our children enrolled in the Head Start centers and community
partners. The number of children diagnosed with chronic health conditions in 2425 was 534, which we're seeing an increase. And so again, our expected outcome is to ensure that all children are up to date on their age appropriate preventive and primary health care. Any
questions? Director Glory. Yes, ma'am. They do. They do the hearing, vision, height, and weight. And then if there's any students, we'll say in the centers who may have diabetes. So, they help with the insulin, but they're also there in the in the centers
just like they are in the elementary schools. Also to add additional context, we're having to pay for these preK students, but we partnered with WellChild for our uh odd grades and our health promotions
program under Carisha uh Johnson provides it for our even grades and our ninth graders as part of our EPSDT screenings. Thank you for that. Next item. Next item, curriculum associates is the I Ready and Teacher toolbox. Again, uh Dr.
Maples uh will be able to dig deeper if we have any questions. Uh it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approved the one-year contract and the purchase to curriculum associates in the amount of $2,847,860 to purchase the I Ready assessment and the intervention tools. Uh the I Ready
teacher toolbox and online platform will provide grades K through 12 with both the universal screening assessments and curricular resources to support intervention instruction align with the Tennessee Department of Education. Again, the purpose is for
our RT RTI uh squared A is a problem solving approach that integrates this assessment, highquality instruction and intervention along with accountability to address the needs of those students who have been identified as at risk in reading or math. Again, it gives the
description and background and it goes back this aligns to our lit literacy success act. Uh so just wanted to make sure that everything that we do aligns with that act and it's a requirement to utilize a state approved vendor for the K through3 universal reading screener
assessments. And again this online platform provides the opportunity uh to support students. Again on the back you will see exactly uh some outcomes that we've been able to make sure that uh we're able to report in 2425 school
year. The total number of students uh accessing the I Ready was 65,000 a little bit over 65,000 in ELA and over 65,000 uh students in math. the number of minutes uh you'll see that we had over
uh 19,830,137 minutes in ELA and even in math it was uh much higher. Uh again the total number of teacher or district assigned student lessons uh throughout uh we had 137,133
lessons for ELA and 192,352 lessons in math. And I think that you can see that um through our results is paying off. We're moving the needle. 2324 you see uh some of those same results. In 2324 you do see a higher
number of usage by students in ELA compared to math. Uh you see the number of loginins for the number of teachers. Uh the login were not available for 24 through 25. And again you see the lessons uh that again that the teacher and or district assigned student lessons
that were assigned to our students. Any questions? And then you see the expected outcome on the next slide where we're trying to make sure that uh we improve as we administer the universal screener. Teachers will utilize the instructional groupings report to provide intervention
remediation and enrichment uh to help us to make sure that we're providing additional practice opportunities. So I'll pause here. Any questions? And Dr. Maples can uh dig deeper for us. Question is, how does this correlate with the 10 ready?
Dr. Maples. There it goes. Okay, now it's working. Good afternoon, uh, board member love. So when we think about the 10 Ready, it's two different type of assessments where that 10 Ready assessment is, um, assessing their grade level standards. We're looking at this is an adaptive
assessment. Um I think it's going dead. Yes, it is going dead slowly but surely. Um and where the this adaptive assessment is actually looking um at the skill deficits. So what are those underlying
um below grade level standards that um they're struggling with? So we do have a linking study in place um that shows uh what what the um impact of and what the the connection of I Ready assessments and the I Ready usage um and how that
correlates and how that impacts TCAP 10 ready. Um, do you see a um um the I forgot what I was going to say.
Do you see um kids that are truent take the test more or they are scored more uh lesser than the kids that are in school? I would say that we haven't done that
analysis. Um but that's definitely um something we can look into because you're speaking just to the body of students that are truent. Yeah. Okay. And below basic. Okay. I have a question. I'd like to also add though u TCAP and
uh I Ready are two different types of assessments. Um TCAP is more of what you would call a summitative assessment. is at the end is a summation of all of the standards that students should have been taught throughout the year. When we're
talking about our ready, it's a universal screen or assessment that we provide at the beginning of the year. And then based on where students are, we provide tiered intervention, whether it's tier 2 or tier three intervention. And then we have what's called our
formative assessment which we will be assessing students formatively and looking at how they're doing on the various standards in hope that in real time we can be adjusting and teachers can be instructing uh and helping
students to get better on those standards that we'll be assessed at the end of the year on the TCAP. So, it's three different types of assessments that at different intervals throughout the year are assessing students in hopes
of helping them to do well at the end of the year. If you recall last year, we didn't have a formative assessment which would have allowed us to be better informed about where our students were throughout the year so that in real time
we could make adjustments around instruction. So when they say uh the teacher says that a student um surpass a grade level or two that is because of
this. It could be this. It could be this or it could be uh what other assessments have we have we used for us to I think board member love it is most likely that they're referring to the I Ready because it does give the grade level that
they're performing at and then we also include it on the report cards as well. I understand now. Yeah. I I would like to add um Dr. Richmond and board members that um the linking study that Dr. Maples referred to Curriculum Associates has done this
for many many years and they have enough data in the state of Tennessee to compare it to TCAP results and the two are highly connected and what we've found now this may change under the most recent linking study that they're doing
that if a student is at the 65th percentile on I Ready um particularly with ELA they are much more likely to be considered proficient when they take the TKIP. So, we do have some data that we can use um to try to help do some of
those predictions. I have a question about the total number of teacher toolbox access loginins for 2425. Can you tell me why we don't have any um information available and then what does that really tell us?
Thank you, Dr. Maples. So yes, at the time the company did not have those uh numbers available because it's been uh difficult to track at certain times, but really that that shows us um we had a very limited MTSS
RTI 2 academic team. And so this was one way of monitoring not only are our students accessing it, but we know that um the teacher toolbox is what our teachers should be accessing to pull down that curriculum for intervention. So it starts to give us a picture of hey
are our teachers actually leveraging it as well you know when we cannot get out into the classroom and see or get out into their planning. It's another way um to support that um that implementation. Thank you.
The next one advantage learning and network leader uh Ker uh will be able to help us to dig deeper. It is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves $466,695. It's an amended contract with Vantage
Learning, a webbased writing tool that's going to be used in all 6th through 10th grade English classes that builds writing skills through prompts, instant scoring, and feedback. Again, this uh was originally approved for our soup schools at $138,395
uh the platform, but we definitely want to expand the access to all of our 6th through 10th grade classrooms, which brings the total to $466,695. So, that's an additional $328, uh,300.
Uh again the gap analysis what we wanted to pull out here without this platform uh students risk slower writing growth due to inconsistent feedback and that's what we want to do in limited practice and so this real-time scoring is real critical for our students. If you look
on the back you've seen this data uh from the previous if you go to the next slide from the previous um work session and committee meeting uh that I think Dr. Stanford brought uh to us and it just talks about it gives you the focus
the content development and you can see how we were able uh to improve year-over-year. So again the expected outcome students will demonstrate acceler accelerated growth in writing through frequent standards aligned practice and we'll be using real-time data uh to deliver target instruction
and feedback questions. Okay. The next item, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health uh and Substance Abuse Services. Again, the it is recommended that the
Shelby County Board of Education approves a $100,000 renewal grant contract for the 2526 school year with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Again, this is a statewide program providing primary prevention service to
students in grades 6 through 12 who do not require substance use disorder uh treatment services fall into three categories and it talks about selective indicated as well as uh universal uh serving the general student population.
All services must align with the student I mean with the Tennessee Office of Prevention Services uh and definition of evidence-based prevention programs. So if this is not approved, the district will uh again lose funding for our substance abuse prevention services for
our atrisisk students. And so again some of the previous outcomes on the next slide. Um, our school social workers are trained in the state's approved evidence-based curriculum, which is positive action. And so, it provides early prevention services to students
who are at risk for violence and substance use abuse. And so, each year there are between 175 uh to 250 students that are involved and that are enrolled in the program. And we do have that we can provide to the board. uh we have a
list of schools that we worked with in 22, 23 and 24 and so we can provide that information uh to the team. We also to the board we also have the number of students enrolled the intervention sessions and the number of schools
served in 22 23 we served 23 schools 23 24 we served 26 24 25 we served 22 and we also have the intervention sessions listed. Any questions? Um,
is the students um enrollment going down or up? Director Goins. Actually, I could have I could have added could have answered. You gave me the cheat sheet, but go ahead. No, it's okay. So this year the numbers
are lower than the previous year only because we got a later start. Um once last year the contract did not get approved until I think September. So this year though we we have it on the
agenda for July. So hopefully it's approved by the end of this month and then we can begin um providing the services in August. Um, Angela Whitelo, do you have another word for every
students? I hate that word. Understood. But I understood, but the um, every students we we can work on that word, but I think we're using words align with the state. Align with Yes. align with the state. But I But I hear
you. Yes. So, let us uh cons let us work on that. bring that to senior leader and then we can maybe bring it back here that we'll put at risk in the parenthesis but maybe we can put another word but I think we're trying to align it one
oh no this is tier two tier two they're targeted students I have a question we talk about the number of schools do we have the number of students that are repeat they have to come back into the program
yeah the way the program is designed through the state. They cannot be repeat. So there we have a database of all students and before we actually provide services um we have to send the names into the database and if they have received services they cannot get the
services again and that's per the state's requirement. So is there are you partnering with somebody else to help them if they can't get the services again through this program? Yes, they can always see the social worker that's assigned to the
school. We have the wellness centers and if they do need to be referred out for something that we cannot provide, they are uh referred out to community uh agencies. So, it's just one and done once that year or that period, how long are they in the program?
So, for the middle school, it's eight sessions. For high schools, it's 10 sessions. And these are kids that are at the tier 2 level. So they're not tier three where they um it's more intensive. It's more of a education and prevention.
You're welcome. I have a question and it'll just be pervasive. This is a one question for all of these academic contracts. I'm really looking forward to how we're going to align our um dashboard align these contracts with our
priorities and and Dr. Dr. Richmond with your five A's. So, so that we can be clear about the spin because I think to Chair Coleman's point that we're doing we're putting we're putting resources here and what happens to the student if
that doesn't take the first time. What are we doing? And are we are we are we monitoring those students to see what happens at the end? And that can give that will help you all to say we need to put some deploy some additional resources in this place and space
because we don't want to lose those students to some of these things. So I just I'm just really I'm really excited about us aligning this work to our priorities and these outcomes. So thank you as you all give some thought to that.
You're welcome. you uh you were probably listening to our senior leader meeting uh this morning because Dr. Richmond that was one of our assignments and and and actually network kinder is looking at how do we now combine both groups how do
we look at student support and then how do we look at academics and align the work uh so you are you're on the right uh page and we we know that we have that work ahead to do no that just means that Dr. Richmond and his leadership team are on the right
page. Thank you. Thank you. All right. The next two uh items are are similar, but we did break them up. Uh one is dual enrollment. Uh if you go ahead, dual enrollment in this understanding between
our college partners, Christian Brothers, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Tennessee State University. Uh so here we're recommending that the county I mean that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the memorandum of understanding between MSES and the following college partners for
the 256 uh66 school year CBU which is a three-year agreement southwest which is a one-year TSU which is a 5-year and middle college and it gives you three-year agreement as well. And then we talk about MSES and CBU uh middle
college the 200,000 MSES and Southwest Tennessee Community College this is 300,000 for students who are taking dual enrolled uh classes MSES and TSU 95,000 and the textbook cost will also be
incurred which may vary per course for each partnering college. uh the dual enrollment courses provide our eligible students the opportunity to earn both college and high school graduation credits uh upon completion of courses. If you go on to the back to the next
slide, we give you the previous outcomes that we had over 3,146 students who participated in the dual enrollment courses in the 2425 with 94% of these students earning uh college credit. Uh the dual enrollment
pass rate has remained above 90% for the past 5 years. Uh so we're excited and 142 students were enrolled in courses through through CBU. 2,115 students were enrolled in Southwest Community College and eight students
were enrolled through TSU. Again, um these expected outcomes, the expected outcomes will include that we want to increase the number of episodes uh that students have to attain and students will earn college credit which will shorten their time uh to complete an
undergraduate degree. Uh so again, I'll pause here to see are there any questions. All right, that's Juliet. The next one is local dual credit and it's an understanding again with our partners Christian Brothers and
Southwest Tennessee Community College. Again, it's recommended that uh the Shelby County Board of Education approves the memorandum of understanding between MSES and the following college partners uh CBU 5-year agreement and Southwest for one year. Again, the local dual credit courses are high school
courses aligned to standards at our local post-secary institutions and students have the opportunity to earn both college and high school graduation credits. And so this is our long sta longstanding partnership that we've had over the years. If you go to the next uh
slide, it gives you the number of students who participated on the in the 2425 school year. 9,789 of our students uh participated in local dual credit. 1,126 students um banked college credit uh
with CBU uh and then the remaining students pushed uh pursue industry certifications that will convert to prior learning credit in one of the 37 courses uh in Southwest. Again, expected outcomes. We want students to increase the number of episodes that they have
attained and then they again uh earn college credits. Any questions? Are we offering the classes the courses that our students want to take? Great question. Katrina, can you
Dr. Taylor? I'm sorry. Good evening. Thank you for the question. We do uh as endeavor to offer collegegoing courses that students are interested in. We also base the decision
on students future uh aspirations as well as those that satisfy graduation requirements and can be transferable to one of our partnering colleges or colleges across the nation that may
accept um certain dual credit courses. All right, we'll go to the next slide. Now, I know y'all love to hear Dr. Stanford, but I'm going go on and read this tonight real quick. So, so I'm not so so I'm not going to be able to read it like Dr. uh Stanford,
but I definitely uh want to This is uh coming from her her preview of work. is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the purchase um of computers in the amount of two $28,262 uh for computer hardware uh as well as I
mean for uh for the computers and the computer hardware will come from Unisar uh computers uh around $4,100 and this is for Alcie Elementary and so the total is $212 $362
uh uh this is for 300 laptops s as well as 10 carts. And again, this is based on the RFP uh that we had to uh make sure that we were in alignment with. Again, this is to directly benefit students by increasing their engagement through
interactive learning, project-based learning opportunities. And so, the new laptops will enable teachers to fully implement blended learning, improve content instruction, and increase student engagement. If you go to the back and just again previous outcomes,
uh, laptops have been able to enhance the lesson for students, increase student engagement. That's an area that we want to continue to grow and this will also help students and help schools to benefit to improve content instruction. Any questions? And this is from uh the
grant C 2.0. Next item, Code for Kids. Code for Kids will bring it to you. Is recommended again that we approve the one-year contract with Code for Kids. This is to address the state uh of
Tennessee's computer science mandate that requires all K through 12 students to have access to computer science. So, this uh particular organization will be helping us to ensure that we meet that mandate. is an education service that delivers curriculum and service to support districts in meeting the
Tennessee computer science mandate that requires all K through2 students to have access uh to computer science uh coursework and we will be starting this in middle schools uh this year in grades 6 through 8 and they'll have access to computer science coursework
and this is our first year implementing this contract. Okay, thank you. Any other questions? All right, this meeting is adjourned. You move on to the next committee. Oh, we have one more miss. It was in your packet.
I don't think I saw it. I'm sorry. Where? Okay, this this is just real quick. This is just one. Remember last month we brought you We brought you one. So, I'm sorry. We wanted to add the supplemental registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. This was one contract that was
not ready. uh at the last board meeting, but we wanted to bring it. And uh again, it's for 188,000 for all staff and they will again provide us nurses uh to help with our 504 and our IEP needs. And then
if you go to the next slide, it gives you the the data and we showed that on last month. And again, this is just one contract that was not signed that we needed to bring over for this month. And that is it. All right. Thank you. Any other
questions? All right. Now, this meeting is ajourned. We'll keep right on moving if that's okay. Thanks to everyone that had to participate that has to go. We're we're moving on to our procurement
committee meeting. procurement committee meeting where 2.01, Mr. Rudolph. Oh, I I can take us through I can take us through these. Uh you can go to the next slide. Come on, J. Just in case they got questions. So, it is
recommended that the Chevy County Board of Education approves the acceptance. This is a grant approval for $22,339.35. This is a grant that's going to be reimbursed the district for supplies that's purchased with the general funds in response to CO 19.
There's no questions. We'll go to the next item. We're getting money back. That's right. I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry about that. Next item. Next item is asset management software maintenance system. So, board members,
it is recommended that the Chevy County Board of Education approves the award of contract to Frontline Technologies Group LLC. It's in the amount of 193,85423. This is a renewal of our Haze asset management software system. This is a system that we use to track all of the
fixed assets in the district. So, um everything from our computers um to our laptops and things, anything that we uh is a fixed asset, we use this to digitize it. Is this a local vendor? Um
this is no this is not a lo local vendor. This is a again this is a software that we use to track the the items. So, it's a a computer software where we have house all of the um items in here. This is not
a local vendor from my understanding. No, this is a this is year three that we've now used this um again it helps us house all of the thousands of assets that we have in the district. Next, next item. So, board members, um, in conjunction
with us getting, uh, USDA, uh, money for school nutrition, this item is a board approval for us to be able to, um, administer uh, breakfast and lunch. So, it's recommended that the Chevy County Board of Education approves the 2526 agreement to administer school lunch
programs for the Memphis Shelby County Schools. Um, the Tennessee Department of School Nutrition requires this of of the boards for us to be able to have um to be reimbursed for the meals that we pay for or we administer to to the students.
Clarity, this is not a part of the 17 million, correct? No, ma'am. This is not so this is the USDA. This is part of the 95 million we get from USDA. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I'mma get you out this year to taste some of this food
that we Yes, ma'am. That's right. Next item. So, board member, this next item is 806 Technologies Incorporated. Is it is affectionately known as title one crate. So starting about three years ago when
we had got ERSA dollars um we used to this used to be a paper process. So one of the requirements in finance we do is we work with our nonpublic or u and our charter schools to be able to do reimbursements and track of things of um
that's used to be paper in nature. So now this is an efficient way to get documentation from our charter schools as well as our um nonpublic schools so that when we're submitting documentation to the state of Tennessee or to the federal government, we this is a user
friendly platform to do so and it's $125,000. It's this local. Ma'am, this is a a well-based platform that Let me know when we get to the local vendors. Yes, ma'am. I will
next slide. Uh board member love, you'll remember this group. Uh you well, you'll remember this item. Next item. This is a renewal of our K Kev group. So it is recommended that the board of education approve the contract for Kev Group in a co in a
amount of $128,533.90. This is for our school funds online and our school cash online payment system. So essentially board members what this item allows is that our parents when they go to schools if they don't have cash they can pay for field trips,
student fees and things of that nature with this cashless system. Um if they don't have cash. How is this uh contract going? So love I can say as a parent that has been great for somebody who don't carry
cash. It has been a something that has been efficient and our parents have enjoyed the opportunity um to be able to use this. This doesn't means that we're completely cashless as a district. Um parents still do have the opportunity to u use cash, but this is has been a more
convenient way for parents to be able to pay for things like field trips and school fees without if they're in the absence of having cash. Um all schools are utilizing this service now that we piloted it three years ago. Now all schools have an opportunity to use this.
Great. Yes, ma'am. When I say opportunity, again, as a parent, if you don't have if you want if you want to use cash, you can still use cash. But again, we this is an opportunity to provide to parents if in a convenience for them to be able to use uh debit cards, credit cards, and
things of that nature. All schools are using this. Yes, ma'am. All schools are using it. All parents are taking advantage of it. Some schools more than others. It just depends on again which parents want to use cash in this. So all schools are using this. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And this system is one of the
reasons why we've had the audits that we've had because it allows for our schools to track these things. Well, right. Um good audits that I've seen. Well, um we we've had some this has been a more efficient way to to better audits
for our schools. We still do have some opportunities being full transparent with audits in our school. As a district, our audits have been going well, but we're working to get our schools. But to your point, this has been a better way to track what you you wanted to use. You you want to operate
with less cash as possible if you can. Um it just helps us be more preventative in a way of um preventing fraud. I appreciate that. And particularly since we've been doing this for three years and so now that we've piloted and we've gotten all the kinks out, we're
going to deploy this across the whole district. Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you. I have a question. So the parents, they know that this is fully operational, that they don't have to get them run to the bank at 6:00 a.m. 6 a.m. I I testify. I've done
it. Have to go to the bank because they need that money, field trip money. So they just can go online and do it. Yes ma'am. So we've been working in conjunction with schools to roll this out. So again with this being upcoming year three all parents are fully aware
that we've been using this platform for some time. And what we've noticed is over the the course of since we piloted it year one that the uptick has been increasing and it's um becoming a great return on investments for parents who again don't want to drive in the cold or
the heat at 6:00 a.m. to go to ATM when they forgot um their kids field trip money. So do are we knowing that all of our schools are using this? Yes, ma'am. So we have data that shows all of our schools are using it. Um, and
you know, we what I hear you saying is make sure that parents have an option. So, we'll make sure that we communicate it um with and schools can communicate it when we do gear up days, registration and days and things of that nature. So, we'll put a blast out to families so they can know that this is an option.
We'll continue to communicate it to them. Thank you. And they can use it at home and they can use it at the school. So, absolutely. So, if most of the time when I use it, it is at home. So, um, you can use it ahead of time for again things like student fees and field trips. So, when they go to the school, they
just go in the in the office and use the use it in the office. So, if parents don't have access to u computers and things of that nature at home, then yes, they can go to the school and do it as as such. Again, this is a way of not to use cash, but if you have a credit card, debit card, or
thinking things of that nature, then you can use the cashless online system to do it. The cash app cash app card is got numbers on it. What? Yes, ma'am. You can use your cash app card, too. Thank you.
Next item. Um, Dr. Ilia, since you're sitting at the table, I'm going go ahead and let you go um with these items. All right. Good evening, everyone. Um, we're going to go over the schoolbased probation liaison program.
It is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the renewal for the 2526 school year for the school-based probation liaison program. A collaboration with juvenile court and Memphis Shelby County Schools. The program has an allocated budget of
25,000 to provide stipens to recommended liaison providing services to those students on probation. Um the purpose of course is a collaboration with juvenile court and the purpose of this moou is to administer the policy practices
procedures associated with implementing a school-based probation liaison program. Uh the program increases the communication between MSES and Memphis Shy County's juvenile court by providing names of students who are actively on probation and in need of school ser
school support services. The liaison work closely with the probationaries daily to provide supervision and counseling to improve attendance behavior and academic achievement. Next slide please. Um we can skip the description and
background um if you don't have any questions uh because of time we can go to the next slide. Um our previous outcomes this past year we've had a 100 students that are have been enrolled in the program. 70 have completed the program. 28 active
students two inactive one graduated which is included in that 70 completed. Um our expected outcome is to reduce the recidivism rate, increase contact with probationaries daily, increase school attendance rate, increase academic success, decrease number of suspensions,
exposions, and gain advocacy for probationaries. Uh to note in 2324 we had 67 that were enrolled in the program. So that number has uh risen for this past school year. Next slide.
And the financial impact the program has allocated of 25,000 through safety and security. And I see any questions. Okay, we can move along with youth court. the number has went up because there is
um an increase in crime in our communities right for our youth. So the lists that we get from juvenile court are going to be the kids who are impacted and have committed a crime. So um from this year to last year unfortunately it has
increased. Yeah. This year it was 100 enrolled this year. It was 67 the previous year. Well that's because depending on if they're a senior or not. So, uh, we didn't have many seniors. We probably
had about four seniors this year and some of them are still had to complete the program through the summer and so we have a complete total if the other four had graduated as well. What What's the grade band for these young people?
Um, so we have middle to high, but we're all is we mostly see them in high school, but we work with middle and high. So it depends on um when juvenile court sends us a list every week we determine uh if the students are in
school enrolled and then we assign a liaison to them. So if they're not in in if they're enrolled in school but not actively going to school are they assigned someone then? No. So that means that they have broken
their probationary rules. So a part of that is that you have to be in school, you have to be enrolled, and you have to be going to school. So when something like that happens, we then have to get with the YSD to let them know, hey, so and so has not been in school in 2 3
days. Um we need to figure out where they are and then juvenile court would then take it on from there. Um, I have a question piggybacking off of uh um Chair Coleman. How many uh
roundabout how many students uh you just gave an example round about how many students are not enrolled and are truent and are on probation? Okay. So, this year we had
only two that were inactive from this past year. And so, um, what happened is usually when we get the list and we vet it, we do our best to try to figure out where these students are located. And so, if we know, we will call the parents
and say, "Hey, we need you to enroll in school." And they do. But there have been two incidents for this year that we couldn't find them. we didn't know where they were or the parent just said, "Hey, I had one. They're not coming back to school."
Um, based on the uh comment that you made um lastly, um roundabout, give me an estimated number of how many phone calls you made to get the kids
enrolled in school. Oh, that's going to be a lot. So we get a list of about 20 kids weekly, but that includes kids across Shelby County just in general. And so through that list, we
have to vet which kids actually belong to MSCS. And so that number is hundreds. It's it's high. Of the 70 that completed the last program, have any of them been repeats back to
you? No. No. So once they complete the program and they get back or they get in trouble again, can they come back through the program? Yes, they can. But it also depends on
what they did the second time. But we haven't seen any repeats thus far for this past year. Okay. Thank you. Mhm. So, our next program is going to be youth court. It is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education
approves the MLOU renewal request for the 2526 school year for the youth court program in collaboration with juvenile court in Memphis Shelby County Schools. The youth court program allows students the opportunity to learn about the justice system by receiving training
from attorneys and judges. The program also provides youth offenders with the opportunity to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends using restorative interventions. Um, youth court, I'm sorry. The the goal of youth
court is to use positive peer influence to ensure that youth that youth who have committed minor offenses repair the damage they have caused to their victims and to our community and receive the help they need to avoid further confrontation with the juven justice
system. Youth court volunteers empower young people to make an active role in addressing criminal offenses of their peers and expand access to justice. Volunteers will be credited community service hours up to 60 hours as well as receive an ongoing intensive development
and team building activities which will cultivate their leadership skills. Uh and we can go to the next slide. Um previous outcomes with our youth court. Um I have a little bit more detail. Participating students graduate
from the program with community service hours that will be counted towards college admission. Students with cases heard through youth court program have ma have maintained a 0% recidivism rate. So for this past year we had 78 student volunteers um 26 high schools to
participate. Uh we had about 108 80 open cases and 100 108 of those have been closed and heard through the youth court program um with no rearrest. So that's a phenomenal thing uh with youth court this year and with communications. We
want to get more student volunteers involved in the youth court program. Not with our typical schools that we see who allow kids to volunteer, but across the district. We want every school to participate. every high school to participate. Dr. Elliott, I have a question as it
correlates to the youth court in the last Okay. What qualifies a a um complaint or um yes, a complaint to go into youth court as opposed to going to juvenile court? So, schoolbased is going to be more of
your gregous offenses. Youth court is going to be a minor offense. Maybe a theft under 250, under 500. It may be a small assault, they got into a fight, um something like that. So, with
schoolbased, it's just going to be something more heavier. The offense is going to be you may have an attempted theft over a thousand, an attempted murder charge, something of that nature. So, I I I get that.
I get that. The the question I have, this seems to be working really well. And is there a way that theft amount of money is really completely arbitrary because I can have a ring on that's worth $5 or I can have a ring on that's
worth $5,000 but it's still they took my ring. So it's just so I I so and I mean that's what it is, right? So, yes. And so, and so the question becomes, how can we, cuz this looks like
it's working peer-to-peer, and it's also uh um the the piece of the um the restorative justice piece. How can we work with juvenile court to think a little more broadly about what can get into youth court as opposed to um it
being a complaint that they have to go to to juvenile court? And then the question is is that something we can I know we have a mandatory reporting um policy, but I believe there's a way for um it's
sort of the deferred prosecution model, right? if you do this then you can you can um avoid going to um youth to juvenile detention or juvenile court. I just want us to think broadly and innovatively with our partners at
juveninal court because I know they really want to right do that right and I and I agree but juvenile court have to set the parameters around which kids will go into which program based off the laws that are set within the state of Tennessee. There may be some
conversations that we could have to see if we can squeeze some smaller offenses in it, but we also don't want to hold our students liable to have to try those egregious cases, too. So, that's why we say we're going to do minor offenses. I I I overstand I really do. I worked in
juvenile justice work and so I really I overstand it. But I want us to free our minds, help um and I know that Judge Sugarman really wants to to eliminate having so many people in his court. Yes, ma'am. So, so I appreciate that.
Yes, ma'am. Chief, did you want to add something? Yes. So, I want to say the first program that we that Dr. Elliott talked about was schoolsbased probation leaison program. And I think you you comparing
it with youth court, right? Yeah. I'm trying. Okay. So that program contains students by court who are on probation. Okay. And with the youth court, these
are students that create minor misdemeanor offenses and they are judged by their students of their peers and they have to make restitution on that and we've we are seeing more
progress with that because now students are being judges and lawyers and defense attorneys. So they play those roles, but they are also judging their peers and that's why we get the the greatest
results from it. Now we can go back and look and see because they're not going to allow felony cases. Okay? So most misdemeanor cases are those cases that we can we can address in youth court.
I understand. We still have to follow the state law. Okay. And do we have any more questions? Okay, we can go to the next one. And I I'm sorry. When you put this up on board doc, please put your data because it's
excellent data. So, please put your numbers. Yes, ma'am. so that we the public knows what good work you guys are doing. Yes, ma'am. And thank you to communications for putting that out there for us uh to get more volunteers. Um so, board member love, I think this is the one where you have some questions
about local vendors. This is our enhancing school capacity to address youth violence grant. It is re recommended that the Chevy County Board of Education approves the contract to YMCA in the amount of $215,040 for a one-year term of professional
services for the enhancing school capacity to address youth youth violence grant for five high need schools. The contract is based off RFP 020725MT enhancing school capacity to address youth violence. Um the purpose of the of
the services is to one reduce the incidence of school violence through improve school safety and climate. Two prevent youth violence, delinquency and victimization and targeted community. Vendor will use the evidence-based practices to include conflict resolution, anger management, alcohol,
drugs, relationship building, and parent engagement. Next slide. Um so to give a little bit background on this grant u we've had this grant since 2223 school year and um with it's been
in five high school needs for preventing and reducing school violence um across the five schools with um students who may be at risk with inside the community. So the main focus of this grant is to prevent outside inst
incidents entering into the schools while a particular vendor will provide resources for families, our students, preventions and interventions for our students inside of those five high need schools. Next slide. Previous outcomes in 2324
uh we had 63 referrals with 501 sessions. um 81 referrals in 2425 with 1,153 sessions. Uh the expected outcomes is to improve school capacity in those five high need schools, enhance and expand
partnership between MSES and the CBOS's. Expand opportunities for family engagement with school personnel. Um improve community between home and school to enhance protective factors. Uh build effective and harmonious relationships with the students and communities to build bonds. And so the
financial impact would be $215,040 um which is grant funded. Um I have a question around the data. If we could add um what the true outcomes because this is just telling me outputs. This is telling me how many referrals
and how many sessions not telling me the impact and outcomes of what happened of those. Is there any way for us to Yes. So, we have to do a full report in um the OJJ OJJP, a report in there that asks particular questions so we can get
that information to you for you to review. Okay. And I want to say that I appreciate this partnership because I appreciate as we've been talking about parents and what's going on and in terms of supporting their students and getting to school. Um this is a great I think um partnership because they do have
expertise and in root causes of violence and serving communities and that's that's their area and so us partnering with them is a great a great thing for us to start looking at digging into other people's expertise and resources.
Thank you. Question what are the five schools and how are they chosen? Okay. So, at the beginning of the grant, uh they were chosen by with MPD data, uh by zip code. So, originally we had Raleigh Egypt High
Middle, um Hamilton High, Hamilton K8, and then we had Sherwood Middle. But over the past two years, the data has changed. So, in turn, we had to change schools. And so, um, Riley Egypt Middle will stay the same, Sherwood Middle will
stay the same, but Grand View Heights, Riverview, and Central will be added for this school year. Is this the same program y'all had at Raleigh, Egypt, but you took it out? No, no, no. I didn't take it out, Miss Love. So the vendor who was supposed to
provide services didn't have the capacity to take on Raleigh Egypt High or Middle. Um I had a conversation with him and the grant didn't provide the much needed
funds for um his staff. Um, Miss Love, so we did a new RFP for this school year and they and I asked for the money to be increased and they allowed me to
increase those funds and so we did meet the need of what was asked cuz we do truly need the services and they didn't um respond. No ma'am. Yeah. Um, where is Raleigh Egypt on the list?
So at Raleigh Egypt was taken off because they had seen their incidents go down. Raleigh Egypt middle they have risen uh this past year and there several factors that play because of course they were not in that school.
Um but they were pretty high. Is this to address the needs of the community or the school? It's both. So the vendor is supposed to have extracurricular activities in the afternoon visit communities but also
during the day provide interventions to those students. Um the district does it for the school? I'm confused. Both schools are on the same campus
serving the same number of kids in the same community. One is a high school and one is a middle school. Tell me what I'm missing. The data is different at the middle school.
The data for the schools for the school for that for Raleigh Egyp Middle is higher than the high school. So the community data is the same. Right. Right.
Um, I know, I know, I know. But also note that if we have a student that's in any of these schools and they have siblings that go to different schools, they we we are able to meet the meet the need of those students, too.
So, you were basing the data on the schools, the schools and also the community. What percentage are you basing the data on the community? So this data is given to us by MPD. So
which based off zip codes they give us data of high needs with youth involved violence. I see Raleigh on the news every day. But that that's why we're still in the middle school. But if we have another
school that's in a zip code that has a higher need, we have to make a move because Raleigh Egyp High incidents on a school level have gone down. I I get what you're saying, Commissioner Love. And again, this is the the the
quandry we're going to keep hitting is that we cannot control the factors outside of our school building. What we can do is we can serve as that conduit and that convenor to help to work with these other systems to get them to
understand that we've got to do this work together. So there are things that need to happen in the community that we can influence. It's a sphere of influence and sphere of control. And so I hear what you're saying and um I was basing my uh feedback on the
community and the school which is a higher need for the schools or the community and I uh so the we look at we look at it so if we have to make a decision it's going to be based on the schools right
the schools that's what I was getting Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Uh next we have the Raptor visitor management system. uh a few months back we brought to the board where we were going to we purchased uh computers for
every school that are dedicated to Raptor. So this particular ask is going to be for the licenses for this upcoming school year. Um and it's recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approve a one-year annually renewable contract in the amount of $138,845
for the Raptor Visitor Management System, a cloud-based school safety platform. The system will provide software subscription services to 166 MSES sites, including four early learning centers, 91 elementary schools, 27 middle schools, 37 high schools, and
seven administrative sites. Um, the purpose is to strengthen campus security by implementing district-wide visitor management system that screens, tracks, and documents all individuals entering school and administrative buildings. The system emphasizes restricting access to
individuals listed on local and national sex offender registries, creating a safer environment for students, staff, volunteers, and visitors. Um, Raptor Technologies offers a proactive layer of protection through the real-time alerts and reporting with over 2,800 registered
sex offenders currently residing in Memphis area, which is a 4.6 increase from the prior year. Raptor ensures enhanced monitoring to prevent unauthorized access. The platform supports compliance with the district safety goals and improves accountability through digital documentation.
Next slide. Um listed is just going to be some data numbers that we had uh with Raptor from 23 24 and 2425. Uh we have to note that Raptor the main
reason we have Raptor is for uh to for to screen sex offenders. But note that we also use them for visitors to come in, staff sign in, student sign in and etc. So this is a list of everything that's tracked and also our faces use it
for their volunteers. Um, in an email, give me the scenario of a sex offender alert. So I can tell you now.
I don't want you to tell me later. Okay, it's not a secret, but I put it in an email. I know what I can and can't say. Uh, next slide. And so, the financial impact is going to
be um $138,845. And this is going to be coming from our public safety grant. I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Um, this I'mma get you off the hook this time. I'm talking to the Central High
graduate Tito, Doc, Dr. Langston. Um, some of our schools when you enter our buildings and you trying to get to the office, you
go through some changes before you can get to the rapture. Chief Jackson, what are we doing or are we considering doing anything? Because I know I can name a lot of schools that I can
get in the building and I'd be down the hallway before and I've been in buildings and because people are rushing, they left their ID in the car and they're not checked.
Yeah, it happens. What What are we doing to prevent things like that? I I'll take it. So, is it is it elementary or secondary? Okay. Yeah. What what I'd like to know would be uh if it's a secondary school,
it's it's a all it's a problem for all schools, but particularly if it's secondary because I know we've um hired screeners and those screeners when I come even I go through the this the screening.
Well, I won't call the school, but the the screening is here and the office is down here. Okay. where where you do your rap. Okay. So that I got you. Walk all the way through a school building.
I some of them you go in, you sign in here. We have to go around the corner to the main office. I got you. Okay. Just the logistics. So the logistics. Okay. Like the logistics. I follow the logistics. It's the
logistics. I get it. Okay, then logist. I must give a shout out to Miss Puit. My grandson goes there and everybody knows me, but I have to show my ID when I'm picking my grandson up early.
when he call me out. All right, best for last. Um, this is the sale of former Denver Elementary to Capstone Education Group for $1.6 million. Uh Capstone Education Group has been operating Denver for 10 years for the
ASD and now as a Tennessee state charter school. Um the appraisal is 1.6 million, the offer 1.6 million and the 10-year maintenance cost would be 4.1 million which we will avoid by selling.
We can go to the next item. This is a donation from Yu and Kesler of a dehumidifier to Shrine School. So, the dehumidifier is valued at $85,000. And the dehumidifier will go in the at Shrine there's a a room with a a
swimming pool they use for therapy and it'll go in there to help control the temperature because the kids can't use it if it's too hot in there or too cold in there. So, this will help regulate the temperature. Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Next item, please. This is the Herbert
STEM Center classroom naming rights. Herbert STEM Center is the White Haven STEM Center that was named Herbert STEM Center last year about mid 2024 by the board. Um that table you see there are the donors. Um their names will be
displayed um on plaques outside of classrooms. Um, so that's just some of the donors uh that were promised naming rights. Yes, ma'am. I am perfectly fine with naming
of the facilities in any way that is in compliance with our policy. I'm just the language used. The following donors were promised naming rights. Is that the accurate? That's not what we mean. I should change that language.
Okay. Right. Change that language. And so it went through the it went through the process as as outlined and I'm I'm absolutely sure it did. And so based on that, this is what we came up. You're asking us to do correct.
Okay. It would um if you could you send everybody an um an email about what that that process was? I will. so that we're clear about how these recommendations came. And I just want to say this is phenomenal the the
opportunity that we've had. And I want to thank each and every I want to thank the the the donors. I want to thank school seed. I want to thank um whoever and everyone who has something to do with making this happen. This is going to be a state-of-the-art STEM building
at one of our historic high schools. And this is the kind of work that I'm looking forward to as we do our facilities planning. So Oh, wow. Okay. All right. They were shooting for October, but they're going ahead of schedule, so it's very likely that I mean, they'll
definitely be in the first semester of school. Okay. I would love if it to the board if we could have them come so we can thank them for this because I think this is the first time we've done something like this, isn't it? is the same kind of the same kind of team did a courtyard at
White Station High School, but this is way bigger. This is $9.6 million they raised. Yeah. And this is a testament of how community can work, help us do our our footprint and our buildings, our facilities. So, thank you.
Next item, please. This is the sale of former Graves Elementary School land to J&J Investment Properties. The offer is $190,000 on a $190,000 appraisal. It's 11 acres of vacant land where the school used to sit uh down in
the top part of White Haven. Oh, single family housing is the proposed use. Okay, going back to the White Haven STEM Center because I did get some um complaints and they were saying that they were short 12,000 square ft um and
they would it was shortened to 11,000. It was it's a whole back a bunch of back and back and forth about what they were promised. The the building is built but some stuff was shortened. So Tito, I need you to answer that question because they were saying some of the stuff was switched
from 11,000 ft² to 12,000 ft² and building C was in building B. It was a whole bunch of confusion about it. So I need you to straighten that one for me. So my question to them is what is the solution they are proposing? They want the original uh plan.
I don't know how we do that with a building. Question I'm asking. Yeah. So, so back in when this first started back in 2022, I believe um was the the original site plans of this in 2022 was for roughly about $25,000 ft.
At that time, the proposal was to build for about 11.6 million for 25,000 ft. Back in 2023, uh what happened was the school seat and and Mr. ours who helped create the donations for this building. They came
back and what they one of the things that happened is that um we needed to regulations change and we had to build a storm shelter on all new buildings um and which cost us about a million dollars. You'll remember that the board approved the additional million dollars.
In conjunction with that, the only thing that was raised was $9.6 million. $9.6 million only gets you to 20,000 square feet. Now, I had a m Miss Stewart and I went and met with the White Haven community as well as school seed and Mr.
Myers to talk about um there could there was a lack of communication which um I took ownership for which probably wasn't my fault, but I took ownership for it as administration at the time that we should have just um noted to White Haven in their community that they were
getting a lesser uh school than what they originally the original plans were. And again, the only thing that's different is to get to 25,000 ft, you need an additional $2 million. As I just alluded to, um we're going to do walkthroughs in the next week where
they're finishing up the building and it's slated to be finished by possibly um in the next few weeks. And to build an additional 5,000 ft at this point, the only thing you can do is one, you're going to need an additional $2 million and you would have to do an addition to the building because the building is
done. Essentially the only thing that they're losing is some of the classrooms. Maybe they just do what we call value engineering when the money is laid. So they've lost a little size to some of the classroom. And the stemasium is a little different. But when I tell
you that it's a state art facility, it's 20,000 square ft versus 25,000. But again, the only thing that's different is that instead of 11.6 million that was not raised, they raised 9.6. 9.6 26 gets you to 20,000 ft instead of 25. All right. Thank you so much. And I
would like to do that walk through with you when you can go. Yes, ma'am. Thanks. I want to make sure that So, I heard you that if they want that additional 5,000 square feet, they can we can they can we they
whatever can raise an additional $2 million and we could. So, there is a solution. We just so but not but again it has to be something that they're invested in and they do. That's correct. So again one of the it's
one of the if you hadn't met with them before one of the power most powerful councils is the White Haven Council. What uh what I what was explained to them again if they want the addition of 5,000 ft again one um the building is almost done. They've had to do an
addition because there's room on the site. It may it can it can be done but again they unless the board chooses to do anything different they would have to raise $2 million. Capital all right this is the lease of former
Northwest Prep to Mace Charter School. They are currently leasing and have been for two years the building. This is just the renewal of that lease for $295,247. Um, I will let you know that while we were sitting here, we received an offer
for purchase, but of course, I haven't reviewed it because I was sitting here. Um, so in the meantime, we're going to lease it to them while we review the offer, make sure all the negotiations are where we want it to be before we bring that. Okay.
Next item, please. And Miss Love, this is the sale of Westside Middle School to Frasier Community Schools. The offer is $555,692. If you add that to the capital, the capital already invested by them, you'll
see that down at the bottom, the 671,000 plus the rent paid already, the 272,000. All three of those numbers equal the appraised value of $1.5 million. Um, this one might not be on this
month's business meeting simply because it sits on the same property as Westside Elementary. And we will have to subdivide that so that they're just purchasing the middle school and not the elementary school. Also create a use agreement so that our elementary kids
can still use the auditorium because the auditorium goes with the middle school. So those kinds of things might take too long to actually see it on this month's agenda. Okay. And next finally Yes ma'am.
I have been working on this for about five years. Yes ma'am. You have I didn't have Michelle and Dr. uh Rodri. That's right. and Tito.
Um the last one I believe, no, next to last one is the we we heard this one before, the Ridgeway High School gym floor replacement. Uh the cost is $272,480. And I did reach back out to the city,
Miss Coleman, as you directed. Um, I spoke with Scott Morgan, who's over public works. I'm waiting on his response. Also, John Zena was just, you know, promoted and he now is over public works as well. So, I've reached out to him and the city finance department. So,
I'm talking to all of those people so that hopefully when this comes to work session, I'll have the answer you want because that is a lot of money to pay for. Yeah. Let's let's please clean that ditch out prior to um school. Well, prior to putting the
floor in. Yeah, cuz that's a major investment. Absolutely. We will. But are we asking that we clean the ditch out or city? So, the city needs to clean the ditch out and repair that fence because in the flooding, I don't
know if you did you walk back there and see that fence, those limbs and trees and whatnot rip the fence apart, too. So, I'm asking them to fix all that. Um, but if that fence isn't fixed, then I'm going to fix the fence before school starts because I don't want kids walking over there near it.
Oh, there you go. She right there about that. And the last one I have is the Sheffield Elementary School playground installation. I believe we heard this one before, too. We just moved it to this month because last month was so
busy. It's a $200,000 $200,746 for the playground. They don't have a playground for the K5 kids. They only have a playground for the prek kids. So, the schoolbased funds, they wanted to put a playground there. So, that's what this item is. This will be in their little enclosed area.
It'll be right beside that little enclosed area of the prek playground kind of on the side where the prek is right right back there. I was just concerned because you know that open field is not in
No, it's not where that old raggedy swing set is. No, it's further. It's closer to the building. Okay. It's not raggedy. It's just antique. It is. It's ragged. I do I do have one thing. if you're done with this. Um I just want to for the
record board work session. We do have some more business around the um facilities ad hoc facilities committee. So we'll bring it board work session just okay there being no further business. Have a
good evening. Thank you for staying. I got I got my phone. It's in a 15.