##VIDEO ID:V41J1-LTiTo## Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr but Von you know I appreciate we have two law officials that officers that come and protect us every board meeting and I'd like to recognize him and have him come forward to lead us into fledge surprise Derek arson Shane B we appreciate the work you do and thank you for doing that if you leave us thank you Al 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 thank you for your service ma'am thank you I won't ever the into that I'd ask you to Bow your heads for a moment of silence please thank you next up we have the agenda approval of the agenda look it over any changes next we have the approval of the consent agenda take a look at it any changes last minute changes I I was say Madam chairman the the two bids that are on there i' kind like discussion we can pull those to number 14 instead of financial report Just Tab that um Financial okay yes I see now put those under Financial are you Rec to be yes VI Item B under item five Item B okay perfect is there anything else sir you want to as part of that I will also um just the consent agenda in general we had a request back in the fall to because there's not really a portion that'll fit so we had a request from the board approved seagull High School to have a co-op with Rockville High School for lacrosse it did not make enough students to have between seagull and Rockville so they are requesting to have it between seagull and Oakland instead because that will make um but we've got to get it approved before the season starts so I'll add that to the Oakland already has lacrosse don't they oh did you already put it on here oh you sure did under Human Resources never mind perfect Dawn loves making changes to this addition or this agenda so much because it is it is so cumbersome never mind you're good Don you're ahead of me you're good thought i' read that yep you're good never mind okay so we're good okay uh we do not have a speaker tonight we do have a speaker at our on Thursday for our board meeting next we have Rutherford proud and so that'll be Thursday that'll be Thursday as well and no public comments today and then under Human Resources uh signing bonus incentive for hard to staff subject areas and there are no changes from what we had last year the 2526 signing bonus incentive for hard to staff we have our job fair coming up in two weeks and this is just to get approved for the job fair coming up just for uh Mr VA and Mr VA yes yeah would you tell him what some of the areas that have been hard to staff have been um yeah Dr anything go for it so our most popular area is our ESL and sped the sped we had 72 so far this year on signing bonuses and 46 on ESL our next most popular area would be our Ela and our mathematics us see around 30 one 32 employees and uh then our next area would be our chemistry we had two employees with chemistry or retirees we had three retirees that were in the hard to fill areas and then we had uh about 35 of our student teachers who student taught in our buildings last year that came on board that received a signing bonus so um we have about 223 uh total which would be about $15,000 um to help us uh with our recruitment areas in those hard to fill areas and as well as our teach now program that helps us to uh help them have the license the same amount for each position it is so our I was pulling that up a onetime signing bonus of $4,000 paid two times 2,000 in the fall and 2,000 in the spring so that they have to finish each term student teaching is a little bit different that's when we added this will be our third year offering to allow us when you have a new teacher anything helps and we were losing student teachers so if they student teach we want to keep them so they can get both if they're in a hard to fill then they get an additional $1,500 $ 750 in the fall and 750 in the spring and then for a retiree if they come back in a hard to staff certified the retirees can get an additional $5,000 so a retiree truly to get those highly qualified teachers in one of those areas they can it's helped us we I've been asked more than once do we still have that program to retire yeah we do calling all chemistry teacher yeah yes M Shar I know that we're going to Sunset the law about the retirement one more year one more year we got one more year right now I sure hope that stays in place yes we need we desperately need that to stay in place sure hope how much is it that the Rees can get hard to feel he can't on board at the same time no you're thinking I can't do that which I know your math it's more than what you're getting paid now guaranteed yes you're getting my attention you're getting a little bit closer guaranteed you're going to and it is pretty neat I've received our because we are unique in that we're an educator Preparatory program and so we're basically like a college one of the only two districts in the state that is like a college so we got our collection vacancy data yesterday and this talks about vacancies if you have a vacancy that goes an entire school year and so there are I think it was 63 63 districts that reported zero vacancies most of them are very small rural districts and this is not to say you have zero vacancies at one point but a vacancy is filled at some point during the school year and so us and Knox are the really only two big school systems on here that have zero vacancies we are also the two school systems that have an educator Preparatory program and so I I think that helps that we are growing our own um through that so it the work our Epp program does truly does help so thank you for the board for supporting that because it is a a financial investment but we're getting teachers out of it oh it's definitely working you said that this program sunsets in one year the retire isn't that right that's yeah we have one more year end of the 26 fiscal year you know Brickstone closing I just wondered you know a lot of those they got a lot of skilled people there maybe that you know we could maybe reach out to them it'd be good opportunity good idea any other okay move on to what you were just talking about theak seagull and Oakland high schools are seeking approval for a co-op to be formed between them pro lacrosse seagull high school students would join with the established Oakland High School lacrosse team for the 24 25 Spring season number 10 legal number 10 legal so tsba Board of distinction program recognizes school boards for their work school boards that seek this designation must meet specified requirements in four key areas planning policy promotion and board development one of the requirements is an annual review and maintenance of the entire policy manual so we're finishing up with that process have we submitted that y so just submitted that um tsba board distinction again so we'll wait we'll wait to hear back from that so number two under legal number two this is just termination of architect Services agreement so we have Central Magnet School stem building and then 8814 South Church Street and then probably in the next month or so we probably need to talk about 814 sou Church Street to determine what we need to do with that building what we want to do with that building yes M sure um so how Mr Lee how much longer when when they go through the process to be approved do they have to go through that process again even though we've canceled their contract how long no and basically all we're doing right now they're in limbo um we've stopped work we've stop we've had them stop work on 814 and Central magnet and we're not going to move forward with them so we need to pay them for their services that they've rendered and because it's a contract we need you all to vote that it's okay the answer to your question is when we get ready to do the next projects then we can consider them along with the others to see which way we go once they're approved is there a exp typically we do this every couple of years thank you okay and I'll say just for transparency we probably will look at other Architects for church for not Church Street for Central from just to see where we are we need to look at it all we can I'm sorry that that was going to be my question okay wait a minute the and if I'm wrong but that money at Central has got to be cor sounds crazy it got to be spent in a timely manner correct M so what will be the plan about engaging the next architect we put out RFP you already put out RFP I'm looking at you I don't know which one of y'all look at RP wise we have a couple architects of the board approved in se3 okay so we can work with any architect Church Street there is nothing but as M mentioned this arit projects projects already completed so we're just you're looking at getting another AR Church Street no no not Church Street I'm talking about centr we're going to consult to see if we can do something different yes I think we're all in agreement Church streets kind of yeah Li either off the space or look to sell right figure out what the direction is there but Central is my concern now is Expediting that how how that will be handled we will we will be working with CTE to see which direction we need to go okay are they going to you got a for sale sign in Church Street property not yet cuz I think that's something we need to determine because we do have I think when we bought that it was $80 $90 a square foot and so we have needs as a district potentially that we could use not for student use because that is part of what the issue is is you have different codes for students I think that's something is a board that we need to determine and look at or we could use it for something is probably a good buy but not for students so Mr tided uh it's just on that same topic knowing what the use was for uh the Church Street proper proper have we gave it any more consideration about potential plans for upgrading Daniel mcke or have we looked at that any deeper it'll be part of this budget process okay can we uh are y'all at Liberty to say what the problem was at Central with this to do away with this contract it's over budget huh it's over budget it's over cte's budget okay okay next we have uh student discipline number three board has been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline the student was remained 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 transfers from another school system while under suspension or expulsion director of school's recommendation is to admit and place an alternative school um I'm going to go back and I'll tell the board we have changed our processes as I told the board back in the fall as far as we now have a different tiered system for keeping students at are alternative schools longer um I'm going to go back and look at space I'm concerned we may not have space at the alternative schools as it was when I originally reviewed this so as of tonight my recommendation is to admit in place an alternative school it may not be that on Thursday so let me look at space I was going to asked you that if we had space is becoming a com a harder commodity at our alternative schools but that's because we are keeping the students longer not because infractions are up but we are keeping the students for a longer period of time I think that's great thing I think it need to be kept longer have we had a large large enough sample size to is this keeping them from yo-yoing back and forth to soon we just started a new tier in January okay yeah that is too soon hopefully it will be fruitful and staying there longer will make difference middle schools because the middle schools we have a cap on seats and so we have them limited to the number of seats so that's where we're struggling the most okay M Maxell yes Mr tid uh Dr suan I think that as you mentioned it's not the infractions it's but the program works better when they corre longer part of the issue we were having previously is it was so packed that people are coming and going so Y correct okay next for you policy adop [Music] this is the first reading of two readings from our January policy meeting these policies below recommended on the first reading the policies will be brought the next scheduled board meeting for a second and final reading so policy changes a policy 2.88 purchase orders and contracts as language of exemptions from purchase order requirements and this is to align with County government B policy 4.63 promotion and retention adds language regarding request for attention to be in writing pursuant to State Board of Education regulation policy 5118 background investigations as language regarding background checks and FBI rback program for employees and other individuals having proximity to students D policy 5.500 discrimination harassment employees that was postponed from a meeting on 10:15 24 but we updated language to match state and federal guidelines e policy 6.24 attendance and non-resident students and clarifies to geographical boundary for non-resident students any questions okay number 11 engineering and construction first we have is Thurman Francis gym Auditorium sound system Dr Mark G is partnering with the experienced Church to replace the gy and Auditorium sound system the cost for this replacement is $2,619 70 being completely covered by the experienced Church engineering construction has reviewed this request has no objections and continued donations from experiened church in the partnership so thank you very much to them thank you so much they've been phenomenal that's a great partnership great church it's great number two Roy walren School nutrition painting project School Nutrition department has been reviewing options to upgrade the appearance of the cafeteria serving lines for a couple of years currently they're requesting to begin a second School serving line project with Rory wal Elementary cost for this project is $6,717 55 it will come from the fund balance it will not require additional funds engineering construction department has reviewed the request and have no objection reminder this is fund 143 fund balance that we have to spin down not fund 141 number three Rocky Fork Middle School softball request principal Jennifer Clark is requesting to install concrete around the girl softball back stop to improve the fan sitting area this Project's being donated by GP concrete an estimated cost is $567 and at no cost to the board engineer and construction review the request and has no objection that's awesome too that's good number four Wentworth Buchanan baseball field request principal April sneeg requesting to install artificial turf at home play to the baseball field the cost for this project is 4,000 is being funded through the baseball account the requested at no cost of the board engineering construction is review the request and has no objection I got a question about that one yes Mr is that going to infringe on Title Nine you know what you do for one you got to do for the other they're fine we work with them okay number five smura high school adjacent lot development engineering construction has been approached by the city of asna GMC design and Southeast development concerning the plans for the adjacent lot engineering that me to discuss the T dot approvals and the effects in our campus um we'll be discussing this with the board and possibly re um requisition of motion on 35 acres of land that is mostly in a flood plane so Trey I will turn it over to you yes all right John if you'll pull these drawings up well this is Kroger but the property we're going to talk about I'm going to request that yall take it option is the property behind it all right so if you'll notice on the screen uh aerial view kind of helps when you can see the existing layout of the property but we're all familiar with the field next to Smyrna high school but it also includes a wooded area the town of smna has been involved with Kroger and Southeast Eastern Developers for some time uh on getting this property developed uh they approached T dot they did not have a lot of Hope in their request but they did approach T dot about possibly having a northern entrance close to mburg road across from chicken pipe T do has been against that for years I think every small developer you know and large developer for the last 20 years has tried to get in exit out of there and they've been turned down this developer was also turned down but they approached T dot at the entrance on Bulldog way it is currently two and a half Lanes depending on where you are going in toward the apartment complex that is a uh uh the school board and the developer deed that over to the city to make it a city road this developer approached T dot T dot is going to allow them what's called a cut in the fence which means the fence that's along the road is T dots and it they have to allow the fence to be moved in other words they're going to open it up they're going to make it five Lanes three going in two coming out or some semblance thereof to get out of there one of the requirements that t dot has never liked about our layout is MC Williams Drive that parallels Sam Ridley which is where currently if you turn in at Bulldog there at the light you would turn left as soon as you go in to go to the front of the school T dot has never liked that alignment one of their requirements for this development is that has to be closed in other words we would lose basically MC Williams Drive in working with the developer where their new road comes out of Kroger about a little that right there where John's got his cursor they're going to cut in a new entrance into our parking lot we're going to designate it bus only and we're going to make access over to MC Williams it's kind of hard to see between the trees in front of the school the grassy area there's a roadway there that kind of goes on a little bit of an angle we're still working on that alignment with transportation we met with them last week um to make sure that we can get buses through there and I've asked for two bus lanes wide uh all of that all of those changes striping Paving closing off the entrance building this all of this will be at the developers cost this will not cost us anything they're also going to move up where they have the what I call it the Middle Road of their development they've got three roads the Middle Road they're going to rework our parking lot there to cut us another entrance into our parking lot so we would have multiple entrances that would line up in a T intersection so that we can get rid of some of the problems we've had where they come out and you've got a why or or or something else so we're we're working to make the uh access to our campus flow better also make it safer and it work in conjunction with the developers across the street Kroger's is coming quickly they think they have a couple of Partners uh for these out Parcels already uh they are going to have a f fuel Island like they do at most Kroger but they're going to put it it's kind of in the middle up against the fence uh they're going to not have it in the parking lot down John go all the way down all right now go over one other way to your right that's the fuel Island so they're going to make the fuel Island like it's an out parcel instead of being being in the middle of the parking lot like it is over on Nissan and it's a booger to do anything with they're setting up their deliveries for the trucks to go all the way to the north to the apartments then they would Circle and then they would back in to the Kroger on the side there's no access there there is a potential that their other developer Southeastern would do some condos or something they're still working with the city that leads me to the property in the back in the back behind the apartments adjacent to it's off the page you'll have to go the other drawing there um it's in the back there's about 35 Acres there the majority part of it's in the flood way which means you can do nothing part of it is in the flood plane meaning you could do certain things with it but it is subject to flood that area because it is along the creek in that Horseshoe Bend it does flood quite often in the development deed to this property when this property sales this 35 acres is offered to the school board at a cost of $10 we can get the whole 35 acres for $10 the town of Smyrna does has expressed an interest in partnering with us they're looking to extend their Greenway they have gained this week permission from CSX to there's a bridge next to [Music] um that gummy just went had one of those moments um the little restaurant that's been there for 100 years got the best ice no it's on the other side of Amy Hut the little restaurant's been there forever sells the best ice cream in town Karen's kustard having one of those moments there at the creek yes there at the creek they they have worked in agreement with CSX to allow them to build a path underneath the railroad along the creek to extend the greenway across 41 which gives them access to the neighborhoods behind them that's something they've been trying to do for a long time and they' never had all the pieces together they've asked that if the board decides to buy the 35 acres and they're asking for your support to spend the $10 to buy the land that it could be a good partnership between them and us to get some Greenway some practice space some other things out of it I think it would be a good way for us to work together um really the only thing I need at this point or I don't necessarily need it the developers asking is to know the board's intent if we intend to exercise our right to buy the 35 acres for $10 that's what they would need to know because it affects future developers and whether they could maybe put part of their uh they wouldn't build a condo back there but they could make their green spaces and some of that kind of stuff back there and if we exercise that right it could potentially change what they do I don't know that it's not going to kill the deal it just changes what they would like to do I'll buy it for $10 um now I do have Randy Harper here tonight with GMC he's the design engineer that's working with both developers he came in support of me in case we I got too deep in the Wood Weeds and couldn't answer a question um go ahead well I'm just curious out of C curiosity um I mean $10 is pretty affordable but anyways that's besides the point but if the city has intent to build something on it why when they offer to just buy it why are they coming to us and then we're partnering with them that's what they've done they've asked me to ask you that they would like to partner because I've been working with them on the development so are they buying the we are we are yes because we're the only one who can buy it they can't buy it okay well it either we buy it for $10 or the developers get to keep gotcha after the last couple of months that Karen's custard has had I think they need a break I think this I think they need all the help they get if they get foot traffic instead of vehicle traffic they may is she the one that that that somebody's like car yeah yeah yeah that's terrible and our our school children go there a lot I think I think it would be a good deal sounds like a good deal to me if I understand correctly there's there's two issues or two points first one is will we exercise the option for $10 then the second one would be are we interested in partnering with we don't have to have an answer on the city of smna the first one's critical the second On's yes and I'm informing you that the city would like when they would like to be considered when we decide what we would like to do they would like to be considered a partner okay uh what's the time frame for we have a year from from it's written notice is that not right Mr from the day we get no they have to give us written notice that they're buying the property which I would expect probably in the next few weeks cuz I think Kroger's is ready to go and then at that point we technically have a year but they they've asked that we give them some kind of indication on whether we would exercise that right yeah I think it depends on whether or not the commission would fund it [Laughter] what type of ISU I'll fund it Bank of but here commission we could handle this we got a real estate man here and I got cash money I have but I I think the biggest hurdle that we've had to work through is the the closing of Matt Williams I mean of bulldog at M Williams or MC Williams at Bulldog is any drawback that you know of not to buy by this 35 Acres no sir we've got athletic things we're kind of using it now RC's got some things back there there you know there there's we're kind of utilizing it so no I I I don't see that there's any drawbacks to it at all let me ask you a question where Kroger is is is that the field that smart used to park at ball game football games and stuff and boy I hate hate that got away from us cuz man that would be but we're going to have paved parking there that that's where I was going to go I think there's they're going to have free paved parking yeah right I didn't I'm not we're not going to encourage the patrons to go over there and park but spaces are available they'll Park you're good I'm trying to get clar to M Maxwell yes I'm sorry you're next Mr Lee if they do the the first cut across that you're talking about for the buses and you'll have to forgive me I'm not I have not been to Smart high school during drop off but if we're going to close that off to just buses is that going to create an issue with parents dropping kids off the parent would still be able to access the other end at the light and they would come up and make a loop and go back out so I I don't it's going to take them going right now they can come in either way they can come in at Bulldog or they can come down in at the apartments either way they drop off in the front the buses go through there and the cars go through there they put the cars on M Williams is where the cars line up and the buses line up in front of the school but it's not going to change that with it should not I don't think so it may logistically it may make it diffic training the parents may be the hard part but it it can still work it's going to be that this was the way that my grandparent used to drop me off complaint other than anything else and my other question in general just because I've had a couple of parents over the last couple years even before the construction started contact about lack of parking at Smyrna they're getting most of their parking back that they had before yes once we're and it's just about all back now we we don't lack much we just have a 50 spaces in the back but they've pretty much got most of their parking all of their parking back Mr you're welcome this was smna city right um that I mean trade they have been wonderful to work with throughout this process anyways I mean I'm glad to see we're furthering the partnership but when we were building the annex smrna was a partner in helping us get these things done is that correct yes sir very much so I think it'd be great if we could extend some of that back okay any other questions yes Mr V General observation you you hit my mind just took off like a man but since he's sitting here would there be the opportunity maybe to work with the school board the city of smna and the developer and look at some opportunity to reconfigure those two out Parcels on uh Bulldog drive to accentuate the parking at least for a ball game or something I'm not saying for free but I'm just asking the question is that a locked in design right there the actual two squares yes but what goes in them no they don't have anybody there for that yet I'm just thinking out loud right here if there's an opportunity to do some type of reconfiguration right there to to acquire some more parking as you've heard from two different board members here parking's always been a concern there I don't want to get muddy in the water tonight but I would like for you to pursue if we could pursue that it wouldn't it would be the developer more so than the city but yeah we can keep it what I'm thinking is if the city's wanting to partner with us on the 35 Acres maybe there's the financial uh wherewithal I don't know I'm just thinking out loud Partnerships they're especially when they get three or four away they get a little difficult but I think everybody can come out of for them parking requirements with the square footage for the school to be able to access more parking somehow I I don't know just hanging out loud right okay keep it maybe like a lease lease those like a year lease or something until they put someone in those those lots oh I'm thinking about us bu I'm just going to come right out I'm just going to come right out they don't have those out partial sold yet so there is a potential if that's what you're looking at look we got a 2500 student High School down and and parking's going to be a premium and before you get into relationship and and we've got problems 5 years down the road with they do sell those out Parcels if there's a way to work something out that prior to I'm just trying to look in the f I get I don't want get sideways here just I don't know which can fund that but we'll see well it doesn't hurt that asked the question we can find out okay number 12 is that that you were you done I'm sorry no thank you Mr Reed y resolution time Ved to expedite Clos borders inre fundance for ESL services that was passed by the board of January 23rd 2025 has been a request made by Mr Rosales to resend that motion so that will be before board for vote Thurs night want to add talk about that [Music] tonight the second resolution is one which Mr TIG will propos and this will be something on the agenda for Thursday this is um the elimination of diversity equity and inclusion initiative from Tennessee K through2 education settings and what this resolution says is whereas the rord County School Board is the local government body responsible for providing a public education to the students and families of rord County whereas diversity equity and [Music] inclusion the initiatives have been embedded in various aspects of K12 education across Tennessee and whereas many many businesses and organizations including prominent companies in education and other sectors are re-evaluating or scaling scaling back their diversity equity and inclusion initiatives due to concerns about their effectiveness legal risk and alignment with core organizational objectives and whereas the Supreme Court's decision and students for fair admissions Inc versus president and fellows of Harvard College has triggered National discussion about the role of diversity initiatives in both higher education and K through 12 settings with many stakehold holders calling for a reassessment of policies that prioritize demographic characteristics over individual Merit and achievement and whereas tennessy code annotated 49-1 d302 G directs the Tennessee State State Board of Education to implement policies promoting educator diversity including strategies for Recruitment and Retention of minority Educators setting local goals based on student diversity and monitoring educator diversity across the state and whereas the policies derived from TCA section 49-1 d302 g emphasize aligning Lea Staffing efforts with the demographic composition of of their student populations thus influencing local education practices and priorities related to diversity now therefore be resolved that the rord county school boards the rord County School Board of Education calls on the Tennessee General Assembly to delete TCA section 49-1 d302 g in its entirety eliminating State imposed requirements related to educator diversity goals recruitment strategies and Statewide monitoring systems that prioritize demographic characteristics over professional qualifications and academic outcomes and be it further resolved that the rer County Board of Education urges the Tennessee General Assembly to reev evaluate existing policies and rules stemming from TCA section 49-1 d302 g so that's the resolution that'll be before the board for your consideration Thursday night I just want to say um it's been very volatile in the state due to the voucher Rule and honestly I really would hate to see us take up any more resolutions I'm sick of them I'd like the politics to be gone and let's just get back to the business of taking care of our students and giving a worldclass education M Maxwell M Max yes uh well of course we've seen Dei has been a failed thing over the past uh since it's been implemented mainly over the past several years but it's really a political term that's resulted in potentially discriminatory practices inefficient procedures uh and two years ago when I got on the board I inquired about this requirement from the state now it's my understanding the RCs is has not implemented any of these or actually imp implemented them uh or hired any individuals on this basis uh but because it was mainly implemented by the State Board of Education during a teacher shortage but more specifically U i' would like to make three distinctions about this particular topic uh diversity we we are a diverse school district and that is welcome it's very natural it's great uh hiring practices based on the factor of race versus Merit is not and that's part of the de political portion that we are dealing with Equity as presented in Dei is about the lowering of Standards which I oppose uh but we are all for equality of outcome that's fair inclusion is often and I want to here's a very important distinction inclusion is often a word used in special education that is something that is appropriate and apprpriate use of the word however the inclusion portion used in Dei is as it relates to Dei it has been used in educational circles for such things as allowing boys into girl sports or girl spaces this is not a political issue this I believe was a political agenda but I do not think this is something that is purely political it's not done for political we are required by the State Board of Education and according to the TCA 49-1 302g to implement this so this is something that directly would impact us impact us along with other school districts so I think there's value in sending this resolution I've talked to some State reps about this um so I I don't bring something here without making sure we have some support for it uh but that is those three distinctions I'd like to to make and I wanted to make sure I got that across to tonight so that we can understand exactly what this is about and not all the stuff that follows around it so I hope that clears things up do we have any Dei issues no do we hire the best candidate always okay yes Mr PA qu there's nothing in our policy manual deals the only thing that does is relates to the TCA the Mr Tidwell referenced and so it and I pulled those just before in case there was a question I was going to ask that question when when was 491302 uh imp or passed you know Jeff I just I just wondered I this first I've I seen seen of it is is the state is the state legislature taking it up this session about rece I don't think there's any pending legislation on this this year legislation related to it I Mr Tidwell may know more than I know about no I mean the legislation is already in effect this is this would be that's not what I'm asking you're asking for a resolution to resend it I'm asking you is it on the agenda is it has there been a bill filed is there a reason for us to endorse the recension of this that's what I'm asking sure a lot of times we come out and it appears that when we do resolutions it's in support of something you know a piece of legislation has there been leg legislation filed related to this so there's two purposes to understanding behind resolutions one is in support of a current bill uh like the public comment Bill resolution that was done back in January another is to show the direction that a school board has on an opinion and what that unanimous vote if it's unanimous or this the majority of that school board would ask for so what we would be asking for is that it does get resined this particular portion as to your question as to if there is a bill currently no is there reps willing to run it potentially okay that's I didn't sure thank is any we can get a copy of what that says yeah it's vague so it is 5.10 to set goals for educator diversity that take into consideration the diversity of the student population and that comes from State Board of Education policy 5.70 TCA 491302 G also connects to higher education we have a um one I didn't mention Mr Tidwell we are an educator Preparatory program I mentioned earlier as an EP and so they report based on completers based on um race so that's something that just to connect but those are our only two and then School District goals has the exact same wording that is 1.70 it says to set goals for educator diversity that take into consideration diversity of the student population has the same footnote of one which is Again State Board of Education policy 5.7 TCA 491302 G Miss Maxwell yes M rales I'm not for Dei but um I I understand your intent of what you're trying to do I get it I understand it but at the same time if there's not a bill right now being taken up they're they're not going to be filing anything right now all we're doing is just giving them an opinion and I get what you're trying to do um I want to I want to support what your attention but it's not going to go anywhere right now so will it be possible if we can take this where we can talk to them so they can carry something so that gives a reason for us to really carry something of worth so that it really does stand and it's something that's strong cuz right now if we even we vote on this they're not the the deadline for filing has already passed for any new bills right but there's nothing that's being filed I was told it was February 1st that was the deadline it's the six do you know if someone's carrying something up right now I know someone's interested so I can't I can't speak I'm not going to speak for the State Rep and say whether not he'll carry or not but it is six till someone files it and then we can because it it's not something right now that to be honest with you here in Weatherford county one thing that I've been told is that as far as representation diversity we cannot get enough people in a diverse as diverse as we are um we're not getting enough people applying at all um in a lot of our schools our staff does not represent the demographics within our schools so this is not something that is really currently an issue with us so with that I would like if we can wait till February 6 to see if there's something filed and then bring this up and then it makes sense for us to do it then because there's already M Maximo yes Mr I appreciate that I appreciate you saying that uh but the the difference is is if we're going to do it later there's no difference in not doing it now and there is still a deadline quickly approaching so we could potentially have it done this year um so there are some other factors and there's lots of support I would imagine especially what we're seeing um down even at the federal level down that there is going to be support for such a bill if it were to pass as far as matching the demogra I understand what you're saying about matching the demographics but I mean I look I'll just tell you my own personal story here all right so I grew up in kol and it was probably primarily you know white students but we had many different colors of Educators and our Principle as well and that never was a factor for me so I I don't understand or believe that you should match the demographics of your body to the educator I think any good educator can educate any group of students and any principal or other administrative individual can do their job uh no matter whether they're matching the demographics so I think the whole thing's a farce um and for that reason I I continue to believe and as we're seeing at different levels that are X in all this it's not useful so that's kind of where I'm I'm at on I I would rather just move forward with it and you know if it doesn't happen this year then they will at least know where we stand moving forward and that'll give us ground throughout the year versus US running it in like June or September or something like that I don't think we're doing that at the district we're not just hiring people just to hire we're hiring people because of their Merit um but again I we can't control who's applying through in and who we hiring I'm just saying that it's not an issue here in wetherford county and also um I'm not really sure about one thing about Dei that I'm not really certain about is that um if we go this route I'm not sure if I'm in agreement to say that we're going to do away with um Black History Month Or Hispanic characters month month simply because in our curriculum it's amazing curriculum I think it's um we learn a lot but es like for example for um on the Black History Month we learned a lot about slavery but there's things that the the the the black that the community within the blacks have contributed for example not many people know why Nashville is even called Music City there's a reason why it's called Music City and that's something that I learned through Black History Month and it's because of the Fisk singers that went to um and sing by the queen um a lot of people don't know why we even have a FIS University and how that came about and um it's a it's it's not a really um it's a sad story of how it happened with a slave a slave mom who was going to drown her child because her daughter was um spying on her and so I'm not saying those are things that I want to talk about to say that to pin races against each other but there's just history that we should talk about or hear about in um and unfortunately in our curriculum it doesn't bring these things so I would like some clarity in the sense that I wouldn't want to take away those Hol those special times simply because in a culum it's not talked about and I feel like we need to con we need to highlight the things that are being contributed within the Black History Month Or Hispanic History Month and things like that so this that's just my two cents about it that's yes Mr tiwall Francis what has that got to do with this because that's part of Dei as well and I want to make I want to understand Black History Month is not part of Dei well um today um it was said in the administration did away with Dei and that included um away those history far as I understand those are totally separate executive or this this is as it's written has to deal with mainly in as far as the de portion hiring equity which is lowering of Standards I mean it's all laid out here and uh the inclusion Port so this is different than I just want to make sure that is not included because right now it was included earlier and I just I just want to make sure that's not what you're trying to do it's all I'm saying it's not even close to what's being presented so thank you Ma got an answer for um Mr B yes joke over here so the general assembly in 2019 passed legislation to address Tennessee educat diversity in the T in the state TCA 491302 G requires the commissioner to recommend in the State Board to adopt a policy to address educat diversity so the policy must include and that's where these policies come from and then the yes and then the State Board policy was adopted in 2021 so that's those are the dates of where it came from any other questions okay we will move on to the book review and there are quite a few there are and I would like to bring your attention to one of them 34 the body of guide for occupants is a non-fiction title that is anatomy and physiology it directly connects to High School curriculum especially in the anatomy and physiology it does discuss the reproductive system but that would be appropriate in anatomy and physiology it would meet the state standard for connecting to anatomy and physiology and biologies it would not be eligible for be to be reviewed so it would be it should not number 34 if you number them 1 through 34 it is the body a guide for occupants there are I think on your view two copies that's had four total circulations but it is anatomy and physiology it's used in our Cur culum and well it's connected very much so to state standards in biology so that is one that absolutely needs to stay is probably not eligible for removal because of its connection okay I like to say one thing about the books I know it's been a issue U especially across our state but you know we've got a mental health epidemic on our hands uh with our students and I just encourage every board member to really take the time to evaluate these books and you know I've been around dealing with kids all my life and I've seen the impact that some of the uh information that's contained in certain books have been detrimental and it's it's always been my position if if we have anything that causes the kid to stumble you know that's we allow that to continue on that's on us and I know these books and we've got tremendous Librarians and I have the world respect for them but it comes down to to a vote every vote that we have is on us and the votes the The Librarians are not going to be the one voting as we are and you know we've got to be responsible for what we got the answer for our own decisions and I just encourage you really to take the time and look at other ex of these books to to really see the the detrimental effect effect that some of them can have and uh you know anything that causes a kid to stumble you know we can't control what goes on outside the school or anything like that but one thing we can control it's his books and uh I was talked to Mr Lee today I I wish we could get get rid of the social media and he was talking about we we could block the students from getting on their personal devices during the school day uh to me I think that would be a great thing you know we can't we can't do anything about social media outside school but we could take it away from when they are in school and I just think I don't know I just see the epidemic and we've lost we've lost our kids and we've got to do something to start taking them back and not continue to run down that Hill that snowballs running down that hill and it's been a gradual gradual possession progression over the years and uh the kids nowadays are paying the price for that because we didn't people didn't stand up and say hey this is this is wrong but this is our opportunity to do that and I just encourage you really to stop and think about it and make your decisions on these books as uh as you feel necessary Madam chair yes Dr Justine can you update us on um how many Librarians participated how many are taking the bonus that's what we're calling 22 22 [Music] Librarians and i' after looking at this um in order to expedite things tomorrow night or Thursday night rather sorry there are 10 that have been recommended for removal that we could probably put them all in one group and not have to do do those individually and so that will cut down on the number of books are they all taking the bonus yes was that 2,000 I'm just trying to wrap my head around where I mean we would love for it to be 2,000 but I I think it's just a thousand was it one it $1,000 thank any other questions okay next to financial financial report so we have pulled those two um from consent agenda I'll also part of that is when we do have bids the board can accept bids um but I'll tell you the student transportation services um is one for example even though we accept bids that doesn't mean that we actually move forward and use those bids it won't be our recommendation to use those bids for transportation we is that bid for example we said 10 or more um I think that's what we did for RFP 10 or more it would be more feasible for us to actually purchase our own buses as a hybrid for those new routes um I'll go into more discussion on that because I have the numbers uh on Thursday of what those prices are and I can email you what those prices are we got that early last week um and that would just be for our my proposal would be just for the new routes for the new middle school for what we were looking at doing for the new routes that we look to take on um probably eight buses roughly for the new middle school and special education routes as well so kind of a hybrid type yes M Shar he just he just answered okay the new Middle School I did want to ask you one thing U regarding buses real quickly and not specifically this but uh I was told about a year ago that they were having a real hard time with the um we call them short buses but the sped buses getting parts is that is that still a problem or it fluctuates okay sometimes you know and it's it could be the 90 passenger this time or the shorter passenger next time the parts availability is better but it's still like everything else it's across the board okay and a lot of it has to do with the age the it's the same fight we have with hbac parts after about 3 or four years they don't stock the parts you know they start short stocking the parts because they're using them to build new so we have trouble getting parts for hbac equipment it's they it at times it is yes okay thank you madam chair yes Dr suvin if this is better to have on Thursday just let me know I'm just curious couple of questions one have we looked at all at the parent responsibility Zone with the new schools coming on board okay so will you okay okay has there been any discussion about um or have we engaged with our current contractors at all to see if any of them are in a position or interested in purchasing more buses to accommodate the new routes versus us cuz my we haven't okay cuz one of my concerns is just us purchasing eight buses is one thing but having a place to park them a mechanic hiring more staff having our own bus drivers though so it's not just the bus themsel it's okay sorry we have all that factored into our proposal as well okay so we'll talk about that Thursday okay thank you and that's been in consultation with our finance department at the courthouse as well so okay okay director's update we'll do it Thursday okay I guess I can add one we're supposed to have um executive session Thursday to discuss um I'll come back to you um to discuss uh school security measures since we're potentially done a little bit earlier today if yall want to do that quickly it is just two minutes I just wanted everybody's thoughts real quick before I started getting quotes on something good okay Mr Lee wanted I just wanted to make sure cuz we moved a we moved both of B items I just wanted to make sure there was no questions on the chiller yeah not particularly other than how you write those specs I'm trying to gather information just in general for my for that particular Chiller yeah we involve any of them it depends on what brand it is we involve the manufacturers once we know what the problems are so that we can get and you can tell by I mean we had eight bids so I mean they're fairly competitive but yet typically typically we know some of it we involve our purchasing agent and we also involve the suppliers to help us we buy enough large equipment that I call them the middlemen the buyers for the equipment that represent the manufacturers and they represent three or four different manufacturers they're very eager to help us write the specs but we it is always a requirement and they know up front we do not take bid specs where only one unit can fulfill the deal correct it it has to be open to all and and those are the Curious questions that I have year years ago there was a particular school system U that had the bid specs written uh for school buses and it was a one requirement the difference between a Thomas bus and a bluebird bus was the cross members were on 15 in and 17 in if I remember correctly and the school system went 20 years didn't know that either one of the buses would work because the bid specs were slanted I know we don't do that I'm just trying to get a realm of how we approach this you know what what is the good business practice that we in my opinion it's multiple manufacturers bid on the same thing which gives us the best price of course it does yes and and and like you and I would do for our own personal house we would pick up the phone and call three different suppliers anyway probably unless we were just in love with somebody that had given us great service over and over again so that's that's only reason I mean if you can show that that's but not a big discussion on that thank you any other next we go to director's update nothing and uh Mr VA uh do you have something for us tonight or do you want to wait till Thursday no we can kind of go over it tonight U Butch and I had a new member what is it orientation or education or whatever at tsba last week and I spent uh several uh hours watching the debate with the voucher bill which that was the big you know topic last week obviously the passing event trying to get a little bit of information related to it I don't uh there was a couple of concerns that I wanted to make sure we understood or that was posing a question to me um and and one of them was you know how how it's going to impact uh I did a little research the number of let's see what do they call them Dr suan u 1 2 3 4 schools are rated 1 2 3 4 5 and what is it it is it a rating system or is it a classification system or what the private schools yes yeah based on what their classification is it's it's a classification right and only one twos and threes are eligible for the voucher we have several fours and fives in this County which was interesting to me to go down through the list and look at how many private uh institutions we have um the $2,000 um I made a few C CTIC comments about that I'm not going hold those back tonight but the what we had to do as a board uh there was a little bit of concern uh at least on and I'm speaking from me right now U whether or not we had to quote unquote endorse the voucher bill for our teachers to be eligible for the $22,000 I think there's a little bit of verbage that's been cleaned up about that is that your sources telling you the same thing it is I think our concerned now is what's defined as an educator what is defined as an educator uh so you know unless something dramatic happens I cannot see us not maybe participating in that uh but um you know those were the th those were the big things I it was interesting I think from Butch and I's standpoint uh we were at a table with uh two very small school districts in East Tennessee and just discussing the different problems you know Rutherford County is very unique within the state you know and it and and I think we get maybe frustrated or concerned sometimes when people you know maybe our legislators don't listen to us and hey this is our problem you know but it's not Statewide uh we there there was and and I think I had told some of y'all this back in the fall some of the discussions I've had with representative Terry uh and representative rud is that there was going to be some money for growth not a significant amount of money it was $25 per student uh but I think from talking to a couple other people there will be more funds there now how they're going to go about us being able to get grants uh for that I think the jury's still out until that final uh edification of what the State Department of Education rights but uh I plan on doing some visiting this summer once the dust settles and see if I can it went from 7 to 17 to 1.2 very quickly didn't yes yes yes so anyway it was a that's what I know right now and and I've asked U uh tsba for some you know giving me an update of of the other pending legislation uh what did you say the final uh file date was the sixth six the sixth so jury still out whether or not something else is going to come down the pike so maybe Thursday I'll have a little little something else but anyway hey s I'm sorry do you know if the infrastructure funding is that a onetime expediture it is a one toown roll out it is for this year okay I understand it now my also my understanding is there's going to try to be some reoccurring money um and this is something I didn't know now you may have known this but I thought it was coming directly out of the lottery money it's coming out of the the betting money MH Mi and they're setting up a different fund uh it's not Co mingled and I was under the assumption it was Co mingled but it's not so uh everybody bet on the Super Bowl more money for education I think that was the only thing I will say we were told it would be between 7 and 17 million for our County and we're hoping to be able to use that that to Parlay with our County Commission into a high school so to then here it's going to be only 1.3 is oh that's very disappointing yes very might pay for that Chiller I guess I don't I don't know that it'll pay yeah probably going to pay for the chiller maybe that in the HVAC unit at Riverdale yeah I wish I had better news about that but we I guess we just have to sit back grin and Barett and do the best we can State gives us anyway that's thank you what that's wor one thing you know I've learned a little bit about politics but to be H with that voucher anybody makes a less than $172,000 household income I'm telling you that these people must be living a lot higher on the hog than I do but there's a lot of folks not making that yeah I mean 172,000 that'll get most people that I know anyway but maybe maybe it's not but I think the designed it TW it woodn't um the lower socioeconomic group but man that's to me that's not lower socioeconomics 172,000 it's pretty good in something I'm concerned just to watch for during this legislative session twaa today um did not pass at least through the first one the transfer bill or transfer allowing transfers right um I think that is great at first but it has been rumored that if twaa did not pass something then the legislature would do like Florida and allow kind of an open transfer and so just watch um I know there's been a representative who has mentioned multiple times that that is and so now that twaa has kind of made their stance we'll see did the second one pass tws today or God I know a bill has been filed in the legislature yes and so now that twaa voted it down I expect that to get a lot and that could completely disrupt um How We Do Sports in middle and high school man it'd be terrible it would not be a good thing so surely surely not just just something to keep an eye on we thought rezoning was fun just wait to get principles and Coach that high school's going have to h a recruiter right school recruiter yeah so the NCAA already you know ruled against lost against Tennessee the nil so that's already part of it now go ahead Mr Mr VA we we could probably buy some rental property with all the if this transfer comes back you don't need rental property you can just go are we in general discussion yes okay thank you um I'd like to thank everybody who came out to the ribbon cutting last week um our County Commissioners and the City of Smyrna it's a fabulous facility and um the children there uh are going to have a great time in it and it it's beautiful thank you Mr Lee for all your hard work on that and um y'all I got a prized 3D Pitbull from one of the teachers there so that was the students project the design was their project class project of the year and whoever won the design that's what they printed out so we may have to auction that out for one of one of our auctions or something if I could get rid of it but uh get let loose of it but thank everybody coming for coming out and if you haven't seen it you need to go out and see it because it it's it's pretty spectacular yes Mr tidal Dr Sullivan can you give us some up-to-date growth numbers from May just kind of where we are today it don't have to be tonight yeah I do on Thursday Thursday I'm just curious tell you right now we're actually even or down um from where we were so I've reported that to health and education last Tuesday so we're pretty even we are growing at the high school Level Elementary is down so yeah part of that Charter School enrollment part of it is just a decline in enrollment um if you look right now we're actually we had so many kids early graduate as well which will help us overall CU we get funding for them but we're we had over 6630 something yeah we had 632 kids graduate early which we expect to continue to increase as we have 4x4 but it's definitely uh definitely slowed this year and depending what happens um over the next three or four months I think we'll determine some more things as well miss maell I have a suggestion for our policy committee that we're meeting that we're getting ready to have um and that is um talking about like enrollment and charers and all that so we've had Smith Springs come and speak before us but we haven't had other charge School come speak before for us so I would like to change the part that yeah let me real quick I think that's fine but a charter school also should not be able to come and publicize what they do unless our school system is going to go to their board meetings and publicize what we do so I think that is a there needs to be a fine balance because it is not an open recruitment as well okay I agree I agree but I think what M Rosales is I was just saying give us an update of what they're I'm not saying to recruit or there are questions I'm just saying for them to come and give us updates yeah there were some issues that this board's aware of and the the strategy behind that I did not appreciate so I don't know what you're talking I'm sorry the board's aware of some issues going on with the charter school that particular and so the strategy behind that they're we can discuss individually okay well whatever you recommend Dr Salin I just think is I think what she saying I'm trying to step on anyone's toes at all I I was just saying that we had one come and give a a presentation and uh or just an update and whatever and we haven't heard anything AG from the other one um I wasn't yeah we what it's your recommendation I think an update would be absolutely appropriate I think that would be great yeah I I was n saying to help recruit or or anything that was that was not my intention so I apologize just to be available if you if you took it the wrong way I apologize oh it definitely was it was a a reverberating comment and conversation in our district amongst principes among staff the next day oh I'm sorry I was not aware of that part so um sta am I wrong on that I you guys I know to put you on the spot it was a it was an interesting conversation we can I'm so sorry I was not trying my all that we don't have to bring a policy we don't have to bring up a policy I just wanted if we're approving these um these uh these Tarter schools then like I've reached out to one of the Tarter schools I didn't hear I don't hear anything from them and then I reached out to Smith Springs they talked to me and they came and spoke and got gave an update and I just think it'd be great to have an an update that's all I was trying to say and do but outside of that I'm not trying to add any more to that so I apologize for anything that no um came across the wrong way okay Mr Tidwell and then M Darby okay m i me can I just sorry clarification I guess I'm I'm a little confused we because and I'm asking as a board member because I love to invite our schools to come celebrate their different things and such I guess I'm confused because we approved Springs cor right they're part of the Rutherford County School System so I'm I guess I'm I'm confused as to why it's an issue or what's different or what was offensive about it I think it's an issue when you are one recruiting for teachers so they are approved by our Schoolboard but we are two separate entities they have their own School Board um as you are aware we're having some issues with the Department of Education in that school um the timing of coming and speaking to act like things are great MH when we are having issues with oversight and with compliance and I will just leave it at that so that that is a lot of the the timing the timing of the issue when there are compliance issues when retherford County Schools is on that form from the state department telling us of all those issues so going forward I think uh maybe it would be better if there are issues and you would rather not have that school come speak at that time to do that I just think to publicly kind of admonish them for being proud of their successes would be like admonishing ourselves for being proud of ours so and I can respect that perspective think the difference is they have a different board but they still answer to us and they still serve our students they don't answer to this board and I think that's what's different they answer to their board they are authorized by this board but they have their own board of who they answer to this board can authorize and this board removes their Charter that is all the Rutherford County School Board does r County School Board does nothing else for them AC car is the same rther for Collegiate prep is different but Acorn Springs that is as far as rord County Schools operates so going forward are you wanting the board to not have them present based on their students I think it's fine to present updates I think it when it moves into presenting different things right in the middle of I I just question the timing of that the timing and the public display seemed not genuine to me based on what we were working through when I was still trying to get a meeting to discuss the other items okay so there is no issue if one of us invites yeah that's fine yeah I think I think that'd be a good update okay yes Mr we've been showered with gifts from all of our schools uh and we really we really appreciate that we try to sport some of that tonight uh that we could and some of the gifts that to still keep coming for those of us that have multiple schools we can not stack the shirts yeah um but we are very thankful for everything that our district does it is a very high performing District we're thankful for everybody in it um so I just want to give a shout out and thanks from the board yes thank you thank youall amazing it wasn't wonderful and if there like to say one thing you know when Mr B and I went to the training you know it was it was so good to be able to represent Rutherford County with all these other school boards from all across the state and I mean there's nobody there that stacked up with us you you know we got the best school system anywhere and boy when they find out you from RF County these old boys we sit with you know it's like man you know and you know I think people realize how good a school system we got we are the Envy of the state we really are we I ought not to say this but I had to laugh we were sitting two tables over from the bunch at me from mempis after everything they've been through the last two weeks I got tickled about that anyway that enough said I hate to say it but that's right when they the state announced they were going to go in and take over and move to Jour it was a little bit funny it was okay got to move to ajour second we're done