Twenty twenty six work session for the Rutherford County School Board. We will be opening the meeting with a brief moment of silence or prayer and the pledge of allegiance to The United States flag. No one is required to participate or be present for any of these, and being in this portion of the meeting is completely voluntary. Our prayer and pledge will be led by mister Stan Vaught tonight. If you'll all just join me in a moment of silence, personal reflection, or silent prayer. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First, we're gonna take a look at the agenda. And does anyone have anything any comments or questions or anything you'd like to add? If not, we'll move on to the consent agenda. There's quite a lot there. Any questions, comments? Okay. We only have one speaker tonight, but I'm excited to hear this program. About six weeks ago, Barbara Long with the city schools, contacted me about a program
out of Nashville and it was the Nashville Anti Human Trafficking Coalition. And, she said that I needed to hear what they had to say and they had a great program. And, we did a Zoom meeting and I really liked what I heard. And they have a program they'd like to share with us tonight. So mister Herring, would you mind coming to the podium introducing yourself and any of your fellow members of the coalition? Hi. This is Monty. I'm the director of education recognized with the National Anti Human Trafficking Coalition. With me tonight, I have Mary Trappin, who is our executive director and founder. I also have Christina Meadows, who was our director of operations and rescue.
And we have Israel with us as well too, who was Mary's executive. I wanna thank you to the Rutherford County School Board for the opportunity to be here tonight. I would also like to spend a special thank you to Claire Maxwell and to Barbara Long for their leadership and support in making this conversation possible. Again, my name is Monte Herring and I serve as the director of Educate to Recognize at the National Anti Human Trafficking Coalition. I have a video to show you, but before I do, I wanna share why this work is so important to us. Our founder, Mary Trapnell, grew up here in Rutherford County. Many of you know and respect her family.
But what many people don't know is that there was a moment that changed the course of her life. And it happened at a truck stop here in Rutherford County. Not just in Rutherford County, but less than one mile from where we are tonight, right across the interstate. Standing there as part of her missional community outreach group, she learned that young girls were being exploited, trafficked, bought and sold at that truck stop. She didn't yet have the language for what she had learned because human trafficking and exploitation were not terms people commonly used then.
Even less the awareness to recognize the warning signs. What Mary experienced is the reason the Nashville Anti Human Trafficking Organization exists. And more specifically, why our recognized program exists. To ensure families, students, educators have the awareness and language to recognize the signs of exploitation early before harm starts or escalates. In In other words, prevention and early intervention. And now, nearly thirteen years later, being here tonight feels like a moment of coming
full circle. Returning to this wonderful community, not just with awareness, but with tools, language, and education. Truly an honor. The video you're about to see is based on a real life case NAHT was involved in. Helping a young girl and her family through a peer to peer recruitment situation, which you learn more about in our presentations. But for tonight, I want you to understand that this is a common and often subtle tactics predators use. And every day, more and more of our young people are falling victim to it.
Yeah. It's a deal. Aren't you gonna get in? No. I can't afford anything here or anywhere, really. Hey. I I totally know someone if you need a little extra. What this video shows us, among many other things, is that human trafficking recruitment and exploitation does not look the way we're accustomed to seeing it portrayed on television shows and movies like Taken with Liam Neeson, Nor is it the white van with an open sliding door. In our communities today, exploitation often begins with grooming. A gradual process where trust is built, boundaries are tested, and secrecy is introduced.
And increasingly, technology is the vehicles predators are using. It is how they are reaching and engaging and manipulating our most vulnerable population, our middle and high school students, Using social media, gaming platforms, and messaging apps. That's why education matters. And I don't know if your parents were anything like mine, but growing up, whenever I went outside, my mom gave me the speech. Right? She told me not to run into the street. She said, I better not see you chasing the ball into traffic.
And I definitely better not hear that someone else saw you running in the middle of the road. My mom wasn't being paranoid or dramatic. She was being proactive. What she understood were the dangers of traffic and believed that prevention started with awareness. And she made sure that I understood them too. But how often do we hand a 10 year old a powerful technological device without ever having a conversation about the risks that come with it? That's also why we provide parents with a practical resource you have in front of
you tonight, what we often refer to as an anti trafficking parent kit. It's designed to quickly get families up to speed on key information without being overwhelming. Inside, the parents will find a national child identification program insert along with NAHT's own guide that includes conversation starters, tips for online protection, warning signs to recognize, and guidance on how to intervene and ask for help. The kit also includes a two sided family safety plan. One side is focused on recognition, the other on prevention.
With simple questions, family can work together to answer. It's meant to help parents move from awareness to action and begin to have these conversations in the home right away. Tonight, there's three things I want you to remember. One, educating students helps them recognize unsafe behaviors, understand healthy boundaries, and know when and how to ask for help. Fact, the average age that a child in Tennessee is targeted, assessed, and groomed is
13. Two, educating parents creates conversations at home involving internet safety. How and why to set healthy boundaries both online and in person? These are two core elements of our presentations. Fact. Every zip code in Tennessee has a documented human trafficking case. As you see, the bubble has been busted. There is no bubble. Three, educating school faculty ensures they are equipped with awareness and clarity around how to support students and their families and the appropriate next steps.
Fact. Educators are often among the first adults students confide in when something feels unsafe. Making awareness and clarity around next steps critical to prevention and early intervention. I wanna share another first hand example of how awareness education truly makes a difference. Three weeks ago, on Christmas, just passed in 2025, at 11:00 at night, one of our staff members received a phone call. It was a mom. She was completely distraught. What she told us was that her son had become a victim of online sex
distortion. He had been communicating with someone he believed was a young female. Images were exchanged and in a very short period of time, a span of three days, the situation escalated from sending photos to demands for money. He had emptied his bank account. Sextortion causes acute fear, shame, isolation and psychological distress, all known suicide risk factors for adolescents, especially young boys who are the targets. According to the Tennessee Department of Health Suicide Prevention annual report, suicide is the leading
leading cause of death for Tennessee youth. With deaths among ages 10 to 17 increasing by forty seven percent since 2019. These predators had told her son in graphic detail everything that they were going to do to his family. Horrible things. If he didn't continue to pay the money. These people had all of his personal information. They knew the family members names, phone numbers, and addresses. To this young man, there was no reason for him not to believe they were gonna follow through with their threats.
He was suicidal. Then she shared something remarkable with us. She told us she and her son had both attended one of our education awareness presentations just before this week. She attended the parent presentation and her son had been at one of two presentations we conducted just that Friday to middle and high school students. Through tears, this mother told us that it was because of the awareness education, her
son knew that it was not too late to reach out for help. She learned how to respond appropriately and what those next steps were. The faculty of that school learned how to respond to the situation and how to support both the student and the mother. That call at eleven was not a failure by no means. It was an absolute success and why we are passionate about the work we do. I wanna share one more example of impact. This next video was a testimonial from Chrissy Betbees of the Saint Cecilia Academy.
I'm Chrissy Bedbeys, Director of Personal Counseling at Saint Cecilia Academy. We're so grateful to the Nashville Anti Human Trafficking Coalition for speaking with our school community. Here at SCA, we want to ennoble young women, equip them to live Christian lives in the modern world, and empower them to lead lives of integrity. NAHT's Educate to Recognize program fits perfectly with that mission. Monte and Christina offered sobering statistics about human trafficking, but they also give concrete steps that young people can take to build healthy relationships, recognize early warning signs for human
trafficking, and look out for each other. Their message of hope and redemption inspired our students, parents, and faculty. They could barely leave after their talks because so many people wanted to keep this thing with them. Our school and the Nashville community are fortunate to have NAHT working along the entire human trafficking spectrum, from prevention to rescue to restoration. Thank you, Monte, Christina, and the entire NAHT staff. You're a true blessing. And now I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge Tris Sutherland, the Human Trafficking
Task Force director for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, TBI. She is here with us tonight as a partner and available as a resource should anyone have any questions after the presentation. We work closely with Trish and her amazing staff to ensure that our work remains current and aligned with the trends and tactics impacting students and families. We also partner closely with the Rutherford County vice unit, including detective Sam Day, who unfortunately cannot be here tonight due to a prior engagement. And we have worked together on multiple sting operations in the Rutherford County and Murfreesboro
area, which included Christina Meadows, our Director of Operations and Rescue. While we have deep relationships here in Rutherford County, it's important to understand that the work we do was never in isolation. We partner with local organizations and agencies and school communities across the region because the fight against human trafficking is not the responsibility of one organization. It's a collective effort. When concerns arise, NAHT's role is to support and quarterback care by working within existing federal, state and district policies and by utilizing trusted local resources.
Our goal is to ensure that the right supports are engaged at the right time in partnership with the communities we serve. NAHD's Educate to Recognize program exists to come alongside schools, providing age appropriate, non graphic awareness education, grounded in survivor informed insight, and focused on awareness, connection, and safety, all leading to prevention and early intervention. I wanna be respectful of the time that you have given us. So in closing, what I'd like to do is circle back to Mary and the
truck stop. Mary speaks often and she has asked many questions. The most common one is why she started NAHT. She shares the story of what she witnessed there, but almost always the next question comes quickly. What about the children? What about the children? What about the kids? Were they rescued? And while we may never know every outcome, what I do know and what we know is that those children were not seen in vain. Mary carried each and every one of them with her in her heart where they
were watered, where they grew, and where they became the reason this work exists today in in the Nashville anti human trafficking coalition. And that is why we are here tonight, not simply to ask for the opportunity to speak in your schools and protect children before harm ever begins, but more importantly to ensure that no children are bought and sold in Rutherford County. Not one more town. Not one ever. When students, families, educators understand the dangers facing our middle and high school students and
share a unified focus in fighting against them. Communities grow, pathways to help become clearer, and vulnerability to exploitation is reduced. This is how prevention happens. And it's work we are honored to do together. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Anyone have any questions of mister Harry or any of the staff? Thank you again for coming and bringing this important, important work that you all do. And, we appreciate this so much and, I hope that we can bring this to
Rutherford County. Thank you. Thank you. Mister Tidwell. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. Mister Tidwell has a question. Yes. Do you guys have a curriculum? Are you guys already in schools currently? We have been in a lots of schools here in Davidson County. We've been to CPA multiple times. We've been to Montgomery Bell Academy. We've been to Saint Cecilia's. We've been to Curry Ingram. We've been to Harper Hall. We've been to Lipscomb, Belmont University, Vanderbilt multiple times. So we have curriculum that is for age appropriate.
Sure. We have some that's for middle school. We have presentations that's for gear for high school students, for college students as well. So is it is it like an ongoing thing week after week or is it something like an event? It's a it is a yearly ongoing. Okay. Because every year, the 10 the trends and the tactics of predators change, and the methods of how they operate change. So it's a yearly, education. So it's something that we present to the students. We always present to the parents first. And you'll see that in the package that you have in front of you. We always present to the parents first because we want the parents to get on
board and we want to have the parents be able to answer the question when their kids come home. So we have a parent presentation that stays appropriate, then we have a student presentation. We follow that up the following year with the same presentation with new information that we've gathered with TBI and through Rutherford County Vice Unit. My last question is, who's the lady in the video again? Chrissy. Chrissy. Yes. Alright. Feddeas from Saint Cecilia's. From where? Saint Cecilia's academy. It was one of the schools that we presented to. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Yes. You're welcome.
Miss Rosales. Yes. Thank you. So kind of in a vein of thought what you're kinda going on. So is is Marfory Marfory's Varsity Schools doing something with this group? Is can is there something that here in Rutherford County we can look at, review, and kinda bring this message to bring it to our parents, to children, even if it's just a one day informative. I don't I don't know if there's plans already or not. But There's not. This was introductory for me and for the board. I think the board would need to approve first any curriculum that goes before students
the board needs to approve. Second, the scale would be my next question. Just because we're so large, are we targeting how would we target our middle high school? We just we've got about 31, 32,000 middle and high school students together. So it's just scales different. Yeah. So I'm wondering if if we could do something I I I understand about all the curriculum, But if we can just do something, start out with just an informative meeting to the parents.
Mhmm. If that's something that we can start out as a as in for like, one night, two night, and we meet at a high school or something a convenient location, and we open it up to all the parents and run the county service. We do parent night series. Yep. To parent night series. Yeah. We can do that. We will love it'd be great if we could start at least with the parents. Yeah. I don't know what the cost is or what that is all until involved. I know budget is always height. So I don't so There's no direct cost associated with our presentations. Okay. Great. But having said that, you know, if there's any donations that are made, they're made
to the educate to recognize program. It helps us to continue to do the efforts that we do. Is that something where we got to vote as a board to initiate, to forward with? I think it would help to show board support. Yes. Okay. Well, I am very supportive to bring something here from the board to start with educating our parents. So, I think I shared this with you. Two years ago, a friend of mine brought two pieces of legislation against human trafficking,
especially towards minors. And he asked me to write a piece of article about it, which I did. And it got published, through a publication in in here in Tennessee. So we'd love to share that with you. So we'd love to bring this type of program to our parents. So if we need to put it on the agenda on the board and whatever information we need to make this happen, whatever dialogue, let's get it going. Yeah. Normally, I would say no. But since this was board initiated and brought by the board, I'd feel more comfortable or voted on it. Okay. Okay. Then, yeah, we'd love to Thursday.
For it to put it back. Miss Claire, thank you so much for bringing this No problem. To us. Is it very much a big topic? Barbara Long. Thank you so much. Thank you, Barbara Long. For sharing this, but however we can bring it to the board. Let's do it. I agree. This is very important for our parents and for our students. Any other questions or comments? Thank you, mister Herring. You're very welcome. And you'll find additional hopefully answers to your questions in the package. Okay. And mister Tittle, you got one more? I don't know if you have our emails. I'm sure you probably do. But can we see some samples of some of the different age appropriate curriculum as
well? Oh, absolutely. To us. So I can send those to you as well. Great. I can get your contact and send that. Thank you. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Yeah. Mister Bob. Mister Bob. Okay. Yes. So what you will find out also in your package is that when we work with the schools, we ask that there is who is a counselor, a student, faculty that's gonna be our point of contact. They act as that point of contact when we do parent presentations and student student presentations. The reason being, if there is a student that comes up afterwards and discloses information, we wanna be able right then and there to have that faculty member know exactly
what to do and who to contact. So when we do our parent presentation, we also do a faculty presentation as well, to make sure that the faculty and that we have clearly identified who the one, two, or three people are gonna be. That's gonna be our point of contact. Great. For that. Awesome. But I will send you all that information. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Mister Wallach has got a question for you as well. I I don't know that I've got a question for him. I just think it's extremely important. I'd like to get some input from doctor Chastain or somehow how we could if if we're gonna vote to push this forward, let's come up with a plan.
And I think it needs to be incorporated into curriculum somehow, somewhere, some grade, some something. I I don't know that we need to go off half cocked doing this, that it would be appropriate to route it through instruction. Right? Yeah. I was just asking doctor Martin and mister Evans to get with our counseling department and see if we can get with Christine Bryan to see what are our schools doing and how can that be supplemented. I was doing that the same time you were bringing Well, I'm I'm sitting here reading body language. I'm thinking we're all on the same page.
I put it on record and and I don't want it. Make perfect sense. Very nice. Okay. Yeah. Good. Thank you. Super. Any other questions from anybody on the board? Well, thank you all so much. I appreciate it. And you will be definitely in touch. Absolutely. We got lastly, each of you should have a little rectangle box there, which is a metaphor. You should also have a card that informs you of how to order it. But just so you know that those pedophiles are made by members that go through our program, that are on staff. And so they're little pieces of hope, but they're made from our members or by
our members as a way of acclimating them and getting back into, society. So enjoy. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. This is great. Thank you. Okay. Next, there will be no public comment. That'll be for Thursday. And we go up to our first board item, which is a resolution supporting expanding financial literacy instruction. Alright. And this was brought by a board member. Mr. Reid is out of town this week, so I will read this. So this is a resolution supporting expanded financial literacy instruction. Local school boards across Tennessee are being asked to partner with the Tennessee Financial Literacy
Commission to strengthen financial literacy education for students of all ages. Currently, Tennessee requires financial literacy instruction at the high school level. However, there's no comparable requirement in elementary or middle school grades. This resolution affirms the board's commitment to prioritizing financial literacy instruction at earlier grade levels in Rutherford County Schools. Research and best practices show the foundational financial skills such as budgeting, saving, and responsible decision making are most effective when introduced before high school. By adopting this resolution, the board expresses intent to ensure that Rutherford County students receive
age appropriate financial literacy instruction by the end of fourth grade, and again by the end of eighth grade, creating a continuum of learning that prepares students for high school, post secondary education, and adulthood. And then you have the actual resolution, before you as well. Any questions? Miss Neswell? Yes, mister Zales. Thank you. So I asked to put this on the agenda and there was a resolution attached to this that I submitted. Yeah. It's Okay. Great. You got a copy of it. So, I didn't see it. Oh, here it's buried underneath.
Sorry. My apologies. So, the Tennessee the potential financial financial literacy commission is a state commissioned. And so they were here in Rutherford County a few months back, and I was under the impression that we all got an email from them. I don't I that's what I thought. If you did not get the email I'm sorry. I didn't initiate this. So, but so this was an invitation by them to come to listen to this
presentation where they've done a huge deep dive into where we the Rutherford County stands in regards to home ownership, and all kinds of things of financial metrics compared to the entire state of Tennessee. And what they're finding out is that in many communities, there is a, there's not there's a correlation in between homeownership and financial literacy in our, in in the population
that lives within that county, where it doesn't really, it doesn't quite bridge the gap in homeownership and that. And so they're wanting to they're trying to educate everyone, including those who are going through the school and young people that when they graduate, if they understand what why is there importance in understanding your your, your finances and learning how to budget, why would that be important to have to be able to gain a home, to own
a home? And so they have a, a resolution that they've also presented not just for the school board, but also for the county. And this meeting that I was invited to with this in presented presentation that they did, involved lots of key players within our community. There were county commissioners, mayors, and others that are involved in the city or in the county that were listening to this presentation. So I'm bringing this resolution as us in good faith wanting to partner with them
in trying to promote financial literacy that is age appropriate for all of our kids. And currently in high school, you are required to take a financial literacy class, but it is not required in middle school and in, elementary school. And they're asking for this financial literacy classes to be in grades fourth and eighth grade because they believe that if you start young, by the time you graduate, in high school, that you have a better understanding of and having a financial literacy that
can set you in a path of trying to own home and all that and having a a strong and good, score. Oh my gosh. My mind just went blank, but it's all related to that. Okay. And I spoke to doctor Sullivan about this before I brought it before the board, and he he was in favor of this. So I just decided to submit it. Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Okay. Next up, we have the instruction. Alright. So this is our annual charter review committee.
So this is following policy 1.901. So bear with me while I read just a part of this. So if necessary, this if we have a letter of intent, which we do, the board shall appoint a review team to assist in reviewing and evaluating charter school charter school applications. The team shall be comprised of members of the administer administrative staff for the district, community members, and a member of the board with relevant educational, organizational, financial, and legal experience. At the board meeting in January of each year, The director of school shall make a recommendation to the board on which members of his or her administrative staff should
be appointed to the team. And so you'll see the recommendation there below. And then on Thursday, the other part of this is the board shall name the members of the team at the meeting, but then also select a chair. So it would be my recommendation the way we've done the last couple years is for Doctor. McCann to be the chair. Since that is what he does all day. Would you see the members there? We've tried to use people their expertise, have a couple new members every year. And then the way we have parents is parents apply and then we do a
random choice of who was chosen. Oh, okay. I was wondering how we chose our parents. Yep. That's how random. Okay. It's two. So Michelle? Who who who sent the letter in? Noble Education Initiative with Rutherford Collegiate Prep for a k 12. High school? Yes. Okay. K 12 is what they're looking at. Now that break is over, we're gonna schedule a meeting with the Charter Commission to discuss their current structure and bring it back to the board to see what the
board wants to do about who is the authorizer for that school. But Yes. And I also thank y'all for serving on this because it's a it's it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. So thank you. All those who have a good question. Yep. Any other questions from anybody? Comments? Okay. Next, legal. We have transfer student under discipline one. The board has been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. Students expelled for possession of THC according to policy 6.318. The board may deny admissions of any student except those in state custody when a student trans system while under suspension or expulsion.
Director of school's recommendation is to admit and place into alternative school. Cost for this request is 30,000 and is at no cost to the board. Engineering instruction reviewed the request and has no objections. Next, b. We've done softball. Now it's time for baseball. Christiana Middle Baseball scoreboard request. Doctor Kyle Nicks and Christiana Middle School have been offered the existing Riverdale High School scoreboard. Christiana Middle will be responsible for relocation and installation. The cost for relocation and installation is $6,350. Engineering and construction has reviewed the request and has no objection. Okay. C? Maples development landscape easement request.
The Maples development adjacent to Whitworth McKinnon Middle School has requested an amendment to the agreement allowing them to landscape. This agreement does not change or alter our easement agreement. The development is to enlarge the parking area and needs to make adjustments to our existing agreement. Engineering construction review their agreement and has no objections. Okay. Next. Is transportation contract termination pursuant to section 8.1 of the Rutherford County Board of Education bus contract. Transportation department has received an email notification on January 2 from Mindy Patterson for bus two fifty one requesting voluntary termination. Mister Lee, do we have all of our routes covered currently, or do we still
have some uncovered ones? This will make the fourth route that will be open at this time, but we are following our procedure to reissue these routes and offer them up for new contractors. So currently, with this one added, we would have four. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Okay. Eleven financial. Thursday, we'll have a review of 2025, kinda where we are so far. And then I was going to director's update. Of course, students return tomorrow. So glad to have them back. I know parents are glad for them to come back. I know they are.
Okay. In general discussion, I would like to say that during our December 11 board meeting, mister Vaughn asked to consider extending the director schools contract, TCA 49 dash two dash two zero three states, no school board may extend the contract without giving notice fifteen calendar days prior to the scheduled meeting. The meeting will take place on 01/22/2026 and I've given public notice. I wanted to let you know that since Christmas time I have gone out not four or five times and gone to church and have had someone come up to
me and tell us what a great job that schools are doing and that they're very proud and I'm very proud. So these scores are out. We, you know, we can just sit back and realize that we have done a good job. This county is doing a great job and I'm very proud to represent this And I I think this is the the right time to extend doctor Sullivan's contract. So I'm glad to go into talks. Any questions, comments? Okay. If that's everything Miss Maxwell? Yes. I'm sorry.
Yes. I have a question. Mister Botte, you had mentioned or talked to the board about potentially, going back to the county and talking to them about the count getting the bus contractors on the county insurance and and what that look like. Do you have any update on that? Or What do you usually say? What do you usually say is that? Because that was on my, highlighted list here. I've got three items to bring up. But what I was going to suggest from the dialogue that I have had, I I I think there needs to be a motion to come from us that we
specifically ask, route it through health and ed, route it through budget, and send it to, what's Ed's commit what Interest management. Yeah. But it's called something. Risk management. Risk management. Thank you. I had a mind blank there, Trey. Thank you for that. But send it to risk management. And and if the board would so do this and I don't know that necessarily needs to be me, but I think, Brian, you know, from a budgetary standpoint, the I think the dilemma, Caleb, is that the loss runs were so exorbitant.
The reason they wanted to get rid of it. So my question is, what what can we do? What can the school board offer to limit those loss runs? You know, can we can we put a deductible on it, you know, that the drivers themselves, the contractors themselves have to pay the, I don't know, first 5,000 of a claim? I'm I'm throwing something out there, so nobody get excited. Anybody that hears me right here, just don't get excited yet. I'm trying to figure out a way to navigate this because if we can if
we can offer insurance back to the contractors, I think there is a potential of over a million dollars savings. That that's what I'm after. I'm after that million dollars because it that that'll go a long way to this budget year. So I don't mind working on it. I think it needs to go through, you know, our finance, something. Don't wanna leave Trey out of it if he wants to be. I I don't know what the ideas are here to do it, but as the bus liaison, I don't mind talking to the contractors myself, because what they've got now
I mean, you know, it's okay, but if we can as Michael Smith told me, he thought the coverage, if you broke it out, was about $500 or $600 a vehicle. You know, and these guys, we're paying them $4,000 So even if we can adjust those loss runs somehow, you know, and put it out on bids I know they're getting close to getting ready to to formulate this thing. So my preference would be that we as a board route it through health and ed unless y'all tell me do it a different way and, all of us stand
together, that we would like to be able to offer that, you know, starting January, July 1 this year. Mister Tidwell. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm definitely interested in the ideas, especially in the savings. What is the deduct is there a deductible now, Trey? Or or is the school just taking care of everything? It's all on the contractors. They don't take care of anything. Let me rephrase my question. Prior, when they were in the county Prior, we were on the hook we were on the hook up to 300,000. Then after that, our insurance took over.
There was no part by the contractor to have to step in? Contractors have never paid anything till this year. Did not know that. And and yeah. To kinda follow that back up without madam chairman, I don't wanna get into back and forth, but I think he Caleb and I are on the same wave right here. I think that was the problem is in in I know some of y'all hate for me to say this, but 40 ago this year was when I first served started serving on the county commission. And that very first year, if y'all can believe this, our health insurance policy in
this county had a zero deductible, and it was in the red. And the county commission moved it to a $100. And then three years later, we moved it to $2.50. And now look what health insurance has done. I I mean, all of us. I I every one of you is shaking your heads. We've all had to deal with the deductibles. So, Caleb, to follow that up, that logic that that we went through forty years ago for health insurance, it seems to me we ought to be able to use some of that logic on the for the bus contractors and to the bus contractors,
if that makes any sense. And if they want to pick up a reinsurance policy that covers that deductible or whatever we want to call it, then then so be it. You know, that would be kind of up to them. I don't know. I'm trying to think outside the box. I'm trying to save us some money, save the taxpayers some money and and and, you know, ease this burden. Because some of some of our contractors are paying as little as $2,500 a year to $3,000 Some of them are paying $18,000 There's a huge discrepancy. And and with that out there, it's going to be very difficult to get young
people interested in being bus contractors, which leads us to something The young people I'm sorry. I'm gonna interject. The young people can't because they have to have three years lost run record. And without being a driving for a contractor, that's the only way they're gonna get the three years. You you you say we're in a catch 22, so we need to figure out something here to promote. If we're gonna stay in this model that we've got, and I've and I'm okay with it, then we've gotta work with them somehow and work with the insurance companies,
I think. So thank you for bringing that up. Mister Tidwell. Yeah. Just a final, note on that. I I think that judging from all the differences and what I've heard back from contractors as well that they would be willing to bend a little bit. And if that is a deductible or whatever we're talking about, whatever makes this happen, to kinda go back onto the county insurance. I think that's gonna be a win overall for the contractors in the county. I've been, you know, nailing that for a while. But the, the question of whether or not they should have deductible, I I do
think they should have some skin in the game. I mean, I I did not know that was happening prior, but it wouldn't affect you. The deductible don't affect you unless you are, you know, you have a loss. But if you have a loss, then there's likely, you know, if you were liable as a bus contractor, then you have some fault in that. And if you have some fault in that, then we all have deductibles for that. So, I'm open to that, and I think, just some conversations I've had, so why I didn't wanna let this go, I think there'd be a lot of people that
would be overall. I think they'd mostly be on to that. They're probably not gonna like having deductible, but like you said, the the rates are all over the place. So you're getting a lot of, a welcoming for any kind of changes to get some back on county insurance. So let's as quickly as we can discuss and and come around onto that, I'm open to hearing more thoughts about it. Doctor Sullivan. For our scheduling purposes, I'd like to put it on the agenda for Thursday if everyone's alright with that. Just because, Health and Ed's gonna meet in January, we're I don't know when this
is gonna go out for an RFP, so I'd like to get it done this month. And because anything we can have going in this budget season would be very helpful. So we'll add this to Thursdays. Any objection to that? Okay. Any other? Yes, mister mister Bob? I had two other things. Trey, can you give us an update on the appraisals on the McFadden properties where we stand there? Two of those owners have called me today, and I told them I'd try to give them a update this week. The board has authorized mister Reed to handle all that, and I've had no conversations with him because Okay. Alright.
So we'll ask him He is out of town. Well, he'd be here Thursday. He won't. And the money, technically, hasn't moved yet. It goes to budget on Thursday. Alright. So And then full commission a week from Thursday. Okay. So good enough. So it's on the agenda to flow through then. Whether or not it passes, I'm not sure, as you all heard on in December. Well, that's fine. That's fine. Yeah. Third thing that I want to bring up is is the movement on the DMUCS property. You know, we've kinda had that on hold for a couple of months now. Jeff called me during the holidays and wanted to know, do we you know, are
we gonna pursue it? You know, he signed the contract with us. I would like to bring it up whether you bring it up Thursday night or we put it on the agenda for the twenty second. I think we really need to talk through that. One request I would make that if you did, if we were able to purchase the property, what, you know, do we need to ask Rob what the tentative school zones would look like? Could we pair that site with the Poplar Hill Middle School and, again, use it as a feeder school and create that three school complex?
Because one thing I'm gonna add advocate here for is that neighborhood type situation. After what we've been through, the the the two controversial deals, the people that I see them getting the most upset about with us is rezoning. Every time it comes up, somebody's mad, somebody's hurt, somebody's put out. You know, some people say, well, that's just life. That's the way it is in Rutherford County. I can again, going back in my memory, the reason Blackmun became such a success
was that it was a three school complex. It was a, you know, model for the county to find, to follow and then Segal and now you've got Rockvale and Stewarts Creek. And that's where you can say what you want to, but that's where everybody wants to buy a house. If they can come to Rutherford County and they wanna locate, they get in one of those complexes where they can stay there. And it just boggles my mind that we would let the Dismukes property slip through our fingers knowing that he's, you know, he's in a position, needs to, will sell
the property this year. You know, I'm not wanting to abandon the Lee property at all. That's not what I'm saying. I think you hold it in your back pocket. It comes around as an elementary and a middle school later on, but I firmly believe that we need to expedite that and move forward. If the County Commission votes it down, it's on them. It's not on us. They'll have to explain it to the parents why we have to go through rezoning all the time. But I I I just think it's, it's been light in our lap. If we don't pursue it and pick it up, I just think we're foolish at
this point in time. So whether or not we put it on the agenda Thursday night or we preferably, I'd like to do it the twenty second and get Rob to look at the tentative school zones because I I I really think that would make a difference in especially for me to look at that and see if they could parallel. So, anyway, that was my three comments. Well, thank you, mister Vaughn. Anything else? Okay. If we have nothing else, we are adjourned.