to the May 14th 3:30 meeting for the Rutherford County School Board. We'll be opening the meeting with a brief moment of silence or prayer and a 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. Today's prayer and pledge will be led by Mr. Caleb Tidwell. All right. You may bow your head. Father, we're just so thankful to be gathered here once again to be able to look through these decisions we have
a lot of big decisions to make today and Father we just ask for your guidance and your wisdom that we do what's best for the district. We also pray you be with all the graduates and their next steps and all the pathways that you have for them. I pray Father that you help them be able to celebrate
their accomplishments so far and then have them be able to look forward to the future ahead. Thank you for your goodness in Jesus' name. Amen. >> [laughter] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America [cough] and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First up, we have the approval of the agenda. Any comments or questions? Move to approve. Second. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. All in
favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have the approval of the consent agenda. Any comments or questions? Move to approve. >> Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you, Ms. Sharp. All in favor say I. I.
Any opposed? Motion passes. Next up, we have public comments and we have one uh lady that would like to say something tonight. Her name is Mary Watkins. If you'll just come up here to the podium and when you start speaking, you'll have 3 minutes. Right here? Mhm.
Okay. Uh like you said, my name is Mary Watkins. Uh I retire I mean, I graduated from Holloway High School in uh 194 uh '64 and also retired from the Rutherford County school system as well. But I was
just concerned I yesterday I got a call and um and I looked at y'all's agenda about changing the name of Holloway High School to uh Holloway Learning Creative Learning Academy and I just wanted to voice my opinion on that. I'm hoping
that it wouldn't happen because I feel like uh that pretty much represent the African-American community. We do not have very many schools left that um represent our community. And I just really hate to see that. I would just
wanted if any way they could still let it be Holloway High School and add that to it somewhere down there rather than just changing uh that name. And uh and everything. I just wanted to voice my opinion up on that. Uh and I think I was thinking there was
more people but I think because of the time change and everything, we do not have very many people uh because I did get some phone calls uh concerning that uh the name change of Holloway High School to that name. So, I just wanted to voice my opinion. I don't know how
much that means but I feel like there's other people feel the same way. They're just not here today. So. Thank you, Ms. Watkins. Thank you. We had another lady that wanted to be here but due to the time change, she wasn't able to be here. So, she asked me to read her email. So, I said I would.
Good afternoon, Dr. Sullivan and members of the board. The board meeting time was moved to 3:30 and as I'm unable to attend. My name is Clarissa Smith and I reside at 2305 Armstrong Valley Road. I'm a long-time community partner with Rutherford County Schools and I'm here tonight in support
of placing the Demukes property on Blackman Road under contract for a future Poplar Hill School. During tonight's work session, I heard discussion that we may not need a high school for another 8 to 10 years because there are other county priorities. Respectfully, your responsibility is to forward plan for our students, not focus
on unrelated county issues and not wait to react after overcrowding has already arrived at Blackman, Rockvale, and Stewarts Creek because honestly, that is where we are today. Mr. Butch Vaughn mentioned the Blackman School Complex and how it became one of Rutherford County's first community school campuses. The vision began in the
mid-1990s when leaders secured property and planned ahead. Blackman High opened in 2000, Blackman Elementary 2001, and Blackman Middle in 2002. Today, Blackman is not simply a group of schools. It is a connected community. Now, we have the opportunity to complete
that same vision for Poplar Hill. Poplar Hill Elementary opened in 2025. Poplar Hill Middle opens in 2026. In just three short years, those first Poplar Hill eighth graders will begin preparing for high school. If we do not plan now, where would their community be? Will we
disperse them among already rapidly growing Blackman, Rockvale, and Stewarts Creek or will we give them the opportunity to continue growing together within their own community school complex? One of the most meaningful traditions at Blackman is the annual move-up pep rally where incoming eighth graders walk
across the road to Blackman High School and are welcomed with excitement, encouragement, and school pride. It sends a powerful message to those students, you belong here, this is your community. So, one day, where will Poplar Hill's move-up pep rally be? Hopefully, just across Blackman Road on the future campus of Poplar Hill High School. I
also understand there's been a discussion regarding the city's vision for a future interchange on the property, but a vision is not a funded project. Interchanges are largely dependent dependent upon Tdot funding with the state typically funding approximately 97% of the interchange project along with years of studies,
approvals, and long-term planning before becoming reality. My family businesses were directly impacted by the I-24 interchange project at what was the Manson Pike now Fortress Boulevard and Medical Center Parkway. So, I understand that process personally. Tonight, I urge this board to place the Demuth this
Demuth property under contract, complete the inspection process, and if the property passes inspection, move forward with the purchase. We began building the Poplar Hill community before Lee Road. We owe it to the students already enrolled at Poplar Hill Elementary and Poplar Hill Middle to finish the community we started for them. Thank you
for your time and consideration. Clarissa Smith. Okay. Uh next, we do not have any uh RSCS difference. We took care of that on work session. Next, we move to number eight board item Blackman Road property.
Yes, Ms. Sharp. Um would it be okay if we went to number nine and talked about that? I really think because first, because these people are going to they're they're going to want to uh hear us talk about it and we may be
on number eight for a minute. Um but there was some discussion on Facebook from um former Holloway students and they evidently miss where um Miss um Drayton >> I don't have Miss Drayton that Miss Drayton was in >> with you all if we move to nine first
and then get to eight? Okay. All in favor say I. I. I. Okay. Yes, absolutely. So, let's move on to number nine then we'll come back to eight. Okay. Because I think that most of them are probably unaware that Miss Drayton is in favor of this. Yes. But my question is, Dr. Sullivan, is this
something that we have to vote on today to give It is not. >> people time to No, it is not. I did ask Dr. Martin to go call Dr. Super Con real quick about the suggestion to add Holloway High Creative Learning Academy cuz I don't think that's a
a bad suggestion at all. Um I'm waiting for her to get back real quick. So, that's that's where she went uh real quick just to check. >> Okay. So, this because I know that they're going to I think >> be a good Yes, Mr. Eaton accompanied Ms. Super Con the other night and Ms. Super Con is also a graduate of Holloway. I don't
know exactly when she graduated. >> 2000. 2000. 2000. Yeah. Yeah, 2000. So, but we definitely want to be we want to be and we want to hear what you have to say and we wanted to listen to what the community has to say. So, Do we want to
postpone this to our next meeting? >> Would you like to? It would give the community time if they wanted to come to one of our regularly scheduled meetings to talk about it as well. Mr. Bott. I was kind of along with what Kay was suggesting maybe
Dr. Super Con and um the community could meet and come back with a different recommendation next month. It's I I I just hate for all of them to come to the board up here and testify and get all that. I think they can probably work it out at the at the school level on the school level. Good
idea. So, I'd be prepared to make a motion to refer it back to them to have a community meeting at the at the high school and try to come to some type of resolution and then bring back to us next month
>> Yep. for naming recommendation. Does that sound okay? Second to the to your motion. >> Let's let's That was a motion. All in All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. So, we're going to defer this right now. We're going to defer it back to the school and they can
have community outreach meetings and you all can we can work this out. Okay. Thank you and thank you for coming and and bringing this to our attention. We appreciate it. Thank you. It's a proud school. Okay. Now, number eight. Thank you, Ms. Sharp.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, going back to number eight. Um and before we talked about Blackman Road, I am glad to report that Lee Road got closed yesterday. So, that's now closed. So, All right. I think two or three years in the making. We had lots of hoops to jump through on that, but finally it it got closed. They had a lot of family issues
involved with that whole matter, but it's now closed. So, that is um school board property. Great. So, um So, and then turning and we got that one done. So, now now time to talk about another one. This is the Des Biggs property. So, this is a contract which
um was presented by the landowner to the school board back some time ago. Um he remains willing to sell that to the school board. Um this is 85 acres on Blackman Road. It's very close to Poplar Hill complex. It would allow a three-school complex in the area with the two of the new elementary school and
the middle school. Um the contract that has been signed would have to be redone and redated and and resigned again if the board decides to move forward with it. Um this contract, like all of our contracts, does have an inspection period on it for 180 days,
and which gives the school board time to test the property, check it out, investigate it, make sure the geotech is appropriate on the property, make sure there's no wetlands um that would interfere with the school would be on the property, allow for a survey to be done, and those type of issues.
The um also, the contract's contingent on County Commission approval for funding, uh cuz everything has to get approved by funding from the County Commission. So, those type of matters would have to be addressed again in a new contract with Mr. Des Biggs if the board decides to go forward with the property. Um
you really could use the same format of the contract you have now, just do a new version of it, um have it redated and resigned if the board decides to move forward with it. But, that's um, before you for consideration um, and if you have any questions on it, let me know. Yeah. I'd
like to make a motion that we move forward with this contract and to renegotiate it and just do whatever's necessary. Um, this property we've got to have, you know, the it would last have the three school
complex. And I was heavily involved in the the Blackman area, the three schools and it's just unbelievable the difference when you can communicate from school to school to school and the kids can once they're
even elementary school. Um, they were they were always the blaze, you know, it didn't matter. And it just helps them grow up and let them give us a identity and the whole neighborhood buys into it and it's just a
um, it's just a win-win for everybody. So, I'd like to make a motion we move forward with this. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Salas. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Any discussion? Any comments or questions? Mr. Chairman.
Yeah, I mean I'm I hate to just reiterate some of the same uh, questions that I had about it before, so um, could you explain, I know that we received back in January 9th, all the board, the county commissioners, city council, received the plans for this interchange. And as I'm looking at
the plans, it's like a diagonal line that goes through the top part portion of the uh, the land. It leaves 63 acres at the bottom. It's like a 10-acre island up top and you got 12 acres of right-of-way for this interchange. What do they look like or what happens
if the board moves forward with the purchase of this property and then TDOT decides to move forward with their plans, which like you mentioned is a long-term, got to go through a lot of red tape, it's been a It's been in the making for quite some time. It gets funded next year.
What What does that look like? Is that eminent domain? Do they come and take that portion? Is there >> TDOT would cut What TDOT would do and I understand that that with respect to that whole interchange between Almaville Road and and city Murfreesboro, there's this choice lane project now underway
where they're getting a contractor in place to to build these choice lanes. And I've been told that the um decisions with respect to interchanges that to some extent going to be is going to be delegated to this choice lane contractor, which has not yet been selected by the state. Uh
so, that's a new thing for the state. Uh we haven't been down that road before with respect to that in Tennessee. Typically with TDOT projects, if they want to acquire your property, they'll contact you first and say, "Hey, we need right away on your on your property. Would you be willing to sell it to us? This is what we've done our appraisal.
This is what we think the land's worth. We're offering you this price for it." And if you can come to an agreement, you sell the property to TDOT. If you can't come to an agreement, TDOT has the right to condemn the property. So, if you um acquire this property for a school and you cannot reach an
agreement for TDOT with TDOT as regards to where the interchange or overfly pass or whatever you have hits the property there, then the state Tennessee would have the right to condemn the property if it chose to do that. Whether it would do it or not, I don't know. So, that would be
something you won't know until the time comes on it. Um You know, you've seen I think a lot of board members have seen the maps and drawings. We have one Can you pull up one of those maps we have? Um Do the one that shows the 12-acre. Is it
12 acres? Let me get my glasses on so I can see. So, I'm sorry. Go back to the 12-acre one. Yeah, that's it. So, so with respect the to the And this came from the city of Murfreesboro. Um So, with the interchange location as
they are have currently drawn it on their major thoroughfare plan that they have been approved and adopted, and they've been working on under with the city for some period of time, and whom and they met with TDOT, and TDOT has I think tentatively indicated that this
location of interchange was okay from a location standpoint. I don't think it's been funded yet. Um but this is where the interchange would cross over and hit onto the district's property. If they have to have an interchange, which is an interchange is where you have exits on and off the interstate,
it would take about 12 acres for that. And you see how that would impact the property there. So, and that would leave maybe 63 acres to the south of that and 10 acres to the north. And you know, from you may want to make I mean, who knows if this will happen or not, but say it you have to assume it it
does happen, then is the 63 acres sufficient for a school site? I think would be the question on that with respect to whatever topography, wetlands, or whatever else you have going on on I don't know there's any wetlands much on this property. I don't think there are. But you would have to make sure 63 acres
is sufficient for your school um campus there. Um and that's in part of the worst case situation if the interchange came across and hit the 12-acre area. Um go to the 6-acre version. Um
This is uh so, if you don't have an interchange, um you have kind of what could be a another prospect is a flyover pass with a bridge from the new Cherry Lane extension over the interstate where it ties into Blackman, which is just
basically a bridge across the interstate without the ability to get on and off the interstate from the west side of I-24. And in that case it's a much smaller impact on the property of 6 acres is what they're projecting there. So, you have a few more acres to work
with on the south side. Um in that case, you've got 66 acres. Um I'll go back and just so the board understands, I think many of you've seen this, but um can you go to the the the first exhibit I sent uh Do you have one more that has the
drawing the the whole road? Okay. This is the Stones Battle Parkway plan adopted by the city and this was put together by Kimley-Horn. This shows kind of the Stones Battle Parkway extension. Um and Cherry Lane ex- Cherry Lane extension is what this was known for for
a long time. At some point, the name got changed to Stones Battle Parkway. This is where and if you go down to where you see um I'm sorry. Keep in the first page if we can. Um You see the crossing point there at um
see at um Old Nashville Highway and when it gets over to Blackman, it kind of just ties into Blackman Road. Most of growth of this is associated with the north side of or maybe say the east side of the road. There's really not much growth
planned on the Blackman side of it. The Blackman just kind of stubs into Blackman Road is what um this was planned to do. But this is what the city has been working on for um a number of years and I did call TDOT to get update of where they state where TDOT stood on this. I
did not get an answer answer from TDOT as to where um anything stands on this for certain. Um but um I think what um I have been what has been told to me is that, you know, that um
the city has met with TDOT and talked with their engineer Paul Degges. Um and he agreed that this location was sufficiently far from the other exit to be okay for a location there at um the Dismukes property.
The um in February 2024 things changed and um with respect to what the T.D.O.T. hoped to talk to of to the city of Murfreesboro with and that's um when they talked about the choice lane
project and that has developed into a a selection process that won't be adopted till this fall. So, you have a choice lane developer chosen by the state in the fall. And once that is done, that person gets more involved with this and T.D.O.T. will be more free to make decisions with
respect to this interchange at that point and that will involve the the participation of this choice lane developer. So, um if for some reason um T.D.O.T. um does not approve the interchange in the next few years, the
city has indicated that it would still be uh it would still plan to require a flyover bridge to connect Stones River Battlefield Parkway with Blackman Road at the location of this mix property. And if you you have a flyover bridge, you're talking about that 6-acre portion
we looked at a minute ago. So, if you're talking about specifically specifics with respect to how this um road may impact the Dismukes property, you see those two drawings which were was one where um go back to the one with that has the
interchange. You have that one which is 12 acres, the other one is 6 acres. So, so in the worst-case scenario, you got 63 acres south of the area you still got to work with and you know and this board will have to determine what's
going to be sufficient for the campus the school is looking to build. Um I appreciate that. Yeah, I think that the the one of the 12 acres is the one that Darren Gore sent out to all of us, but um yeah, I you know, my I guess my next question, Trey, what do we typically look for in
acreage for a high school including the ball fields, parking lot, all the things. With sewer, somewhere between right around 70 acres. If we have sewer. If we have sewer. Yes, sir. And if we don't? It varies on the soil type. We would
have to We'd have to do the study to determine how many acres we'd need. Okay. Um Well, thank you for all that information as far as the city's go. I know that one of the councilmen had contacted me and said they'd vote on uh as far as the city's plan, even as
far even as recently as last week to kind of move forward with this thing. So, for me, again, nothing's not nothing much has changed. Um obviously, the county's got a lot that they're worried about for their budget. They're looking at the building this jail. We're trying to get the high school built. Um I'm
glad the Lee property went through. That could have maybe changed things there, but um you know, we have We are planning to put a high school on the Lee property. We got a lot of expenses coming up for things we're doing. We're doing McFadden. Um we just bought purchased property around it trying to build a new
McFadden, possibly a new Daniel McKee, and putting a new high school. And that's going to help relieve a lot of this area. So, uh judge that with the 5-year plan that we talked about the other night. And, you know, nothing really much has changed for me on this property. I like the idea of getting out in front
of something. Uh it just doesn't feel like it's the the right time, the right price. Uh and we're going to be, hopefully, blessed to get the high school built. So, that's where I'm at. Yes. Miss Miss Rozell. Thank you very much. Um >> [clears throat]
>> there's still a lot of unknowns at the end of the day because the funding for this road is not there yet. Um there's a new process that's going to be starting with the state that's going to be using a third party to make decisions for
where the choice lanes are going to be. And the delegation still has to be the one who is going to be voting on the funding for for these these things. So there's still a lot of unknowns in regards to that.
Second of all, yes, we're moving forward with the leap property, but that doesn't mean we have to put a high school there. We should be putting high school where it makes sense. It makes sense right now to put a high school where the popular communities at. We already got the elementary, the middle, and now and
hopefully we'll get this high school because the middle school the kids there that are going there going to be split between three different high schools. They're not going to go to a particular high school that is that is specifically
for the popular hill. And the other thing is that I have been spending time with the parents because I my daughter goes to popular hill elementary school. I've sat in multiple PTO meetings, parent teacher meetings where they have voiced their
concerns and and and wanting a high school. At first, to be honest with you, they were not sure about going to a new school because there was a lot of unknowns. But now that they are there and they're very happy and pleased with the leadership
with with Dr. Eden and then now they're going to be I believe it's going to be even provide even a more cohesive school program for them with the middle school with Dr. with Ms. Need. So they
are wanting to have a community of their own where they can call it popular hill with the addition of the high school. That's something that's been said multiple times, many times. So if we're wanting to talk about and hearing what the community wants,
I've heard them loud and clear. They're wanting a high school. So I'm glad that we're moving forward with this project. Mr. Ball. If we don't buy this property uh, out there, there's not anything left to buy to build a high school.
If we let this get away from us, then you can forget a high school in that area. Um, Mr. Desmit is doing us a favor for selling us this this amount of money. The man could get
uh, probably almost twice that for what it's worth. But, he really would like to see a school come in there and um, he's been over backwards to help us. And, uh, I don't want to make a mistake
of not buying this land. And, you know, the um, the funding forward and all like that, you know, that's up to the county county commission. We've got to we need to tell them this is what we need. And, this is a piece of property we got
to have. And, uh, so, I I I just ask that you vote for it because we can't afford to let it get away from us. Yes, Mr. Ball. Uh,
Jay, if I asked earlier tonight, did you were able to get in contact with any of our legislators? What did you get any feedback from them? I talked to some of them. They I have no no they did not have any definition any defined time period of when this will be funded. No nothing concrete that would
give us any indication. Other than a general idea that the state was generally supportive of it, but nothing detailed as far as when funding would come. I asked about priority list and where this stood on priority list. They didn't tell me on priority list where this really stood. And, I think the Choice
Lane developer thing has really held up them moving forward with anything. I think that brings a different level of participation or whatever. Dr. Sullivan, I'm going to put you on the spot right here. This just I mean, seeing this map is really opened up something for me. Can
you pull up the zoning map for Poplar Hill Elementary and or Poplar Hill Middle? Is that How difficult is that? School website, go to transportation. Can
Yeah, somebody help me with that. You got to input. Yeah. All right, James to the rescue. You don't spend any time on this part, do you, Mr. Evans? Uh Poplar Hill Elementary and or the new
middle school zone. I'm I'm wanting to see how this kind of affects that area. A little bit. I think I know, but I want to make sure I know. So, this is the Poplar Middle School only for choices. Great. So, that that shows it right there. So, you got I-24
dissecting it. The reason I said that The reason I wanted you to bring this up and us visually look at it, th- this may be This is a blessing that the city's going to do this. Because then it gives another Th- Th- There's always been problems, if y'all have
never noticed this, with us or the school system having property or zones on either side of I-24, there's always those choke points. You know, the bridges we got to go back and forth on. This gives us a second one. You'll have Florence Road, and now
you'll have this new What do you call it, Jeff? Uh Stones Stones Battle Parkway or something? >> Battle Parkway. >> what the city's naming it now? So, this is a great deal. Uh it adds uh an area back and forth, you know,
between the zone. Cuz if I'm understanding that right correct, it's all pink. That's going to That's just going to help traffic flow back to those schools having that second second crossover right there, not just depending on Florence Road right now or going all the way down to Baker Road,
you'll have a sec- a third one in there. So, I think that to me it's probably good news. Also, too, the you know as well as I do when that road gets under construction, there's about 500 acres to the east of the interstate that is the balance of
the Disney property and I think the Toone farm and then the Waldron's own another couple of hundred. So, there's about 500 acres right in there. If you're looking at three to four units per acre, you're looking at another 1,500
houses in that general area. So, the I'm like Butch, it's well needed and I think this is almost a blessing to have this the city designing that road. And I mean the flyover, I'm not in favor of that exit, personally, but the flyover
would just make it even better. So, I would go back and reiterate the points I made the other night that that you know the the success of our school district is trying to take care of those parents and take care of those students and keep them in those communities and this is a
great opportunity for us to continue that community aspect. You know, we've been 50 years tearing our communities apart, now we're putting them back together one by one. So, again, and I do advocate for this. Anybody else?
Any other comments? Ms. Darby. I've spent some time talking to some of our commissioners and Mayor McFarland. And from everything I've been told, aligns with what Mr. Reed said, there are plans in place for this to happen.
We have a five-year plan and there isn't funding in place for everything on our five-year plan because you you plan and then you fund for the things you can do and you continue down that road year by year. So, the funding not currently being there isn't an issue for me. Um what is an issue I have several
issues. Um we paid a lot of money to RSP to do a very large growth study on where our growth is, our capacities of our schools and up until this very point this board has
all been in favor of us putting a high school at the Lee Road property. Stewarts Creek is basically at capacity. La Vergne has been over capacity. A high school at Poplar Hill, while I would be really happy to have one there eventually
um is not where it is currently needed. It will not relieve La Vergne High School. It will not relieve Stewarts Creek the way we need it to as evidenced by building Poplar Hill Elementary and still being over capacity at Stewarts Creek Elementary.
So, I I have an issue with that. Um the property the Dismukes property butting up to the interstate is not an ideal location to me for a school. Um I think that presents some
some safety risks, some noise road noise, just a lot of issues. It's not my favorite place for a high school. Um and I've heard some people say that you know, there's there's not land and this and that and I have been fighting for a couple years now for us to make some kind of an arrangement to have some
kind of real estate expert consistently and proactively working for us to identify potential pieces of land to start those conversations because we could be having conversations with someone who's not ready to sell today, but may sell in 5
or 10 years, and it might be something we don't need today, but need in 5 or 10 years. And I I still I'm going to push the issue. The fact that this board constantly dismisses that and doesn't place that as a priority puts us at a disadvantage. We're being reactive instead of being proactive
about our land choices. Um and in a very quick search, there are five or six still very large parcels of land in and around the Poplar Hill schools. Have we engaged or talked to any of
those landowners to see if they're interested in selling? Ones that aren't budding up against the interstate, ones that don't have a potential interstate exchange about to run through it. Um the Baty farm still has over 300 acres. Have we talked to the Batys to see if they
would be interested in selling more land to put a high school there? I mean, there's a lot of unknowns here. Uh I would be fine postponing this vote to explore some more of those options, but as it stands today, I don't think this is an ideal location
being up against the interstate and all of the conversations, knowing that currently there are plans in place that have been in place for an interstate exchange. I just I I can't see why we're in this
mad rush to do that. Um and I'm certainly not in favor of pushing a high school at Poplar Hill in front of the one on Lee Road, simply because of capacity issues at Stewarts Creek and La Vergne. We've been trying to address this for years. And now all of a sudden,
Poplar Hill needs the high school. I mean, if we want to talk about people that don't have a high school, talk about Rocky Fork Elementary Middle, Rock Springs Elementary Middle. They don't have a high school. So, why once again have we started to
finally correct some of the issues on the north end and now we're back to talking about not doing it? It's extremely disappointing because when I look at the things that we do and the decisions we make, I look at them as what's best as a whole for this county.
I'm not just up here fighting for zone four, it's for all of these students across this entire county. And it is a shame that we spent all of that money. Why did we if we're not going to listen to the experts tell us about where our growth is, where we need
to build, why did we do it? Oh, okay. I'm just going to say >> No, let me answer this. >> Okay. Nobody said we're not building at Poplar Hill, Kate. This sounds like this has gotten political all of a sudden and there's nothing about that. The county school board looked at this
property 10 years ago. Mr. Dismukes did not want to sell at that point in time. Mr. Batie ultimately did. This board, prior to me being here, decided to build Poplar Hill where it is. This is being proactive. This is
being proactive tying up this site before it gets away from us. Did we talk to the Did we talk to the Baties? Yes, ma'am, I sure did. I talked to John L and John L's recommendation was that it needed to go on Jeff's property. It made more sense to put it there than it did
on the balance of his farm. So, to say that we're skipping over your district, as I said the other night, hey, if I want to be selfish about this, Caleb's district, my district, we're in good shape. But this is idiotic if we do not purchase this and plan for the future to
be that three-school complex later on. And by the way, Riverdale has been a very successful high school sitting right here on the interstate. So, those two arguments don't jive too good. I'll let you respond and then I do have a comment and then Ms. Sharp. Go ahead,
Ms. Darby. I'm not saying to not buy property in this area. What I am saying is that as a whole being proactive is having somebody that we are working with on a consistent basis looking for properties all across
the county. That is the point I'm making about being proactive. This particular property is is not one that I think is the most ideal and we can agree to disagree on that and that's fine. And it's not about my district. It's about where the growth is and where we need to
relieve the overcrowding. I've said it before and I would say it again like we had converted closets at Stewarts Creek Elementary to make room for students. Like so that's my point. It's not about not wanting to put a high school at Poplar Hill. It's about doing them in
the in the priority order that makes sense for where the growth is in the county. So that is my point. It's not it's not about saying that this isn't being proactive by looking but this is not the only piece of land that exists
and and honestly I I don't Mr. Reed, did you have a conversation with Mr. Batie? I have not spoken with Mr. Batie. >> Have you talked to anybody else in that area that has land out there? I I've not been asked to do that yet. No. I I want to just want to say
I felt really really good when when Mr. Dismukes came to us and was willing to sell us the land because here I thought we have another opportunity. I want to tell you when I signed that paperwork the other day for Lee Road, I just wanted to dance. I was so happy. I have
said all along that we were going to take care of that north end. We are going to build a high school there and it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's I'm going to twist every arm down at the county commission to make it happen but we are going to get a high school up there. I'm just excited that we can fulfill the three school
complex at Poplar Hill, which is what we have said we're going forward, that's what we're going to do. But, this in no shape form changes our plans for a high school on Lee Road. That is exactly what we're going to do. Ms. Sharp.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Do we have sewage connectivity at Poplar? Do we have that now? No, we possibly >> We don't. Yeah, we don't. So, if we if we do something with the city, because the city's already voted on this, we're
going to run with this plan that y'all are talking about, we're going to go awry with the city. You think they're going to give us a sewage bin? No, they're not going to give us sewage to the that next property that we buy. We're going to run awry with the state. All you have to do is go out to the
website, the Tennessee transportation website, and all these projects are out there. Now, is there a way that we could work around that? From looking at the maps, why don't we just buy the 68 acres? And not put a high school there, put a
CTE hub there. And Mr. Vault, we did have a drive-by shooting at Riverdale before way before you were on the board, before anybody else that's here on the board, we did have a drive-by shooting. So, that is a real possibility. Uh believe it was before Dr. Sullivan was on the board,
but if we don't want to get in trouble or be good neighbors to the city and to the state, maybe we need to look at purchasing the smaller part of the property and leaving whatever property that the state may use
to them and put a CTE hub there. That CTE hub, which I've been talking about y'all the whole eight years that I've been on the board, would relieve overcrowding with our students who could go to the CTE part of the day and then do the dual enrollment.
And you wouldn't have the problems with the kids being out in the football fields and the athletic fields and the sports and have that. So, I This is not going to leave alleviate overcrowding in Smyrna or La Vergne. So, I'm not for it.
I just want to say I don't think we had a drive-by shooting at Riverdale because it's by the interstate. It's not because it was by the interstate. It's It's It's because We had one on Patriot Drive, too. I'm just saying it's the world that we live in today, unfortunately.
Ms. Maxwell. Yes, miss. I'm just going to point out that Rutherford Collegiate Prep is literally like right by the interstate and has been there now for 2 years, no issues. Madam Chair, that's Thank you for reminding me, Ms. Rosales.
They paid for that and they chose that site, not us. And we also just approved them to put a high school in the very same area that we're wanting to put another high school in. We just gave them permission to build a high school in the same zone. It's not Ms. Maxwell.
>> Y'all Y'all are approving these vouchers coming in down there. You know, that ought to take care of your overcrowding. You know, they ought to be able to take care of that. Ms. Rosales. >> Yeah. I think we need I think it needs to be cleared in the air. It needs to be
said since this is on recorded that there are schools very close to an interstate and has not caused issues or problems. Rutherford Collegiate Prep, yes, I didn't vote for that. I was not here, but they chose the location location to be so close to the
interstate. I live within 5 minutes of that school. There's been zero issues. No break-ins, no drive-bys, no nothing. So, to say that the excuse that it's close to the interstate to make it a point of not to buy something, it's not
it's not um it's not an it's not a good argument considering that we already have schools that are close to the to the interstates. We live in a safe area. This area where I where wanting to put the school at, it's safe.
You see Riverdale is by the interstate and there's not been any issues either, right? Exactly. So, I just want to clear the air since this is on camera and making an argument about being close to the inter- interstate considering that
schools have been built next to interstates and there have been no issues. Any other comments or questions? We have a motion on the floor and we do have a second. Yes, Mr. Tidwell. Jeff, um this is when you say you're going to go back and
redo the contract, are are you going to go back and negotiate anything or you're just simply updating to the current dates? Um I would do whatever the board tells me to do. If you don't tell me to do otherwise, I'll just repeat the same contract you have before you now and just be redated so that it would
recommence so you would have a full 180-day inspection period. You have the right to two 30-day extensions, which is what we normally have, and then we close 30 days thereafter. And all that is subject to county commission approval through funding. Uh
and what was the price per acre that we paid for the Beatty property? >> That purchase price is the purchase price was 8 million 500,000. This is about 85 acres, so it's about $100,000 per acre. Okay. No, I'm saying for the Beatty property, I'm sorry. >> For the Beatty property? >> Yes, Beatty property.
>> 76,000 an acre. Okay, what was the Lee Road property that we just 80,000 an acre. Okay, and then you said 100,000 an acre for this? >> This is 100,000 an acre. Of course, these are I would say the price of everything has gone up like everything. Land is not getting any
cheaper. So, it is normal to see prices escalate over a few years. It's been a few years since we closed Beatty, and it's been a few years since we put the Lee property under contract. Do you think there is any appetite cuz at the minimum we talked about the the
flyover bridge the city plans to go through with the Stones Battle Parkway. That's the minimum. What's more likely at least on the the county city and state plan is for the interchange to go. And of course the note that we talked about the choice lane provider and how that could affect
the process and all that. But it seems likely to happen. You think there's any appetite to go back or maybe this is a board question to go back and ask for the acreage that is below the interchange line?
I don't know. I'd have to discuss that with Mr. Dismukes. He has called me this week. He told me of course he's older in age, and one of the things he wants to do is get this property sold so it's not on his family to deal with after he not with us anymore. And he would like to
get something dealt with this soon. So, I know in his mind he wants to try to sell the whole farm. Whether he would sell anything less than that, I don't know. We'd have to broach this subject with him discuss it with him. He does not want he selling this property for houses is not his ideal choice.
And he's not really he does he's not really agreeable to any kind of intersection coming across this property. He really wants a school there on this property. That's what his preference is. That's why I offered it to us despite having other offers from private
developers. He wanted the school system have a chance to buy it. And that's why he has held off doing anything otherwise with it to give the board time to decide what it wants to do with regard to the property. But if the board decides it wants me to go back to him
and offered to buy something less than the full acreage. Um I'm certainly glad to do that and we'll and we'll do that. Question. Yes. We have a motion. My motion is to just redo the existing contract.
I call to question. I just need I put a question out on the floor. If there's a second, we can stop discussion and move forward voting. Is there a second? Second. Okay. No. Yeah. Yes, the motion.
You got to vote on the question. >> Okay. Okay. Yeah. Vote on the question. Okay. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Okay. Now, Butch, you were going to restate your motion to My original motion just like Mr. Reid
redo the contract. Just redo that contract. Update the date. Just update the dates. And just for clarification, Madam Chair, is to move forward with the inspection period? Yes. Perfect. >> Everything would be Okay.
Roll call, please. Mrs. Rosales. Yes. Mr. Vaughn. Yes. Mr. Tidwell. No. Ms. Sharp. Yes. Mr. Vaught. Yes.
Mrs. Darby. No. Mrs. Maxwell. Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Thank you. Number 10, legal. All right, we have Wilson Elementary
Technology request Principal Angela Barnes is requesting to enter into partnership with Wilson Banking Trust to purchase five ViewSonic boards and carts for classrooms. Wilson Banking Trust will donate 15,000 in exchange for a 5-year marketing agreement. Again, this is very similar to what we do for scoreboards, or not scoreboards, for
marquees out front. Okay. Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Mr. Bond, thank you, Mr. Bond. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Transfer student under discipline number one. And so, the board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The
student has criminal charges. According to policy 6.318, the board may deny admissions of any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from another system while under suspension or expulsion. Director of Schools' recommendation is to deny. So moved. Second. Thank you, Mr. Bond.
Thank you, Mr. Sharp. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. All right. So, we will have two recommended motions. So, let me read the first. The policy below changes are recommended on the first and final reading as notice must be given to bus contractors in
writing at least 30 days prior to implementation on any revised policies that explicitly pertain to buses. The policy change is policy 3.400, student transportation management, and it adds language for payment of insurance premiums and rules for leasing
or rental of buses by contractors. Uh the since this is a request on first and final reading, the first motion we would need is a motion to suspend board policy 1.600 to specifically waive the two reading requirement for the above policy as presented. So moved. Thank you, Mr.
Bond. Second. Thank you, Mr. Bond. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Number two. And then, the second is the recommended approval to adopt on first and final reading of [clears throat] the above policies as presented. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Bond. Second. Thank you, Mr. Sharp. All
in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, engineering and construction. We have Blackman Middle football Okay. We discussed in policy committee that would not start and take a effect until next academic year.
Okay. So, we need to make sure we have that clear on the record. The The 3.4 was the add as the language as a language for payment of insurance premiums and rules for leasing or rental of buses by contractors. And I think to not disrupt what we have in the last few days of this year, that
would not take effect until next academic year. Correct. Correct. That's why we had to have it on this board meeting agenda cuz the next one's July 4th. Or June 4th. Yep. Correct. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Reed. Okay, now engineering and construction.
Blackman Middle football storage building request, Dr. Jessica Jackson's requesting to purchase a 10 ft by 16 ft storage building to be utilized by the football team. The cost of the building is $3,905.17 will be funded through football funds at no cost to the board. Engineering and construction has reviewed the request and has no objections. Move to approve.
Second. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Dr. Sullivan. Yes, sir. We need to back up. Blackman >> I forgot. I did I forgot the gym floor. Sorry. Thank you. >> Check the bottom. Yep. All right, let me
go back to the gym floor. Thank you. Yep. I'm going to go back to the Blackman Elementary's gym floor. All right. So, Blackman Elementary Wilson Bank gym floor agreement, principal Lori Gober is requesting to enter into an agreement with Wilson Bank for gym improvements not to exceed
10,000. The current request is to sand and install a new floor with logo at a cost of 7,200. The request is at no cost to the board and engineering and construction has reviewed the request and has no objections. Move to approve. Second. Thank you, Mr. Rosales. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes.
Okay, now we >> you, Mr. Siegel High baseball field naming request, principal Steven Wains requesting to name the baseball field for the current baseball coach Craig Revis. Coach Revis has been the coach since the school opened in 2003 and at that time had 634 wins and numerous district and state championships.
Engineering construction reviewed the request and has no objections. I make motion to approve this. Thank you, Mr. Vaughan. Well deserved. Yes, it is. Second. Thank you, Mr. Rosales. All in favor say I.
Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Oakland High greenhouse installation request, Dr. John Marshall is requesting to reconstruct the greenhouse removed from La Vergne High on the campus of Oakland High. This greenhouse was disassembled and relocated to Oakland with the coordination of both schools and the engineering department. The cost for reassembling and connections to
appropriate facility utilities is estimated to be 10,000, be funded through various school funds at no cost to the board. Engineering construction reviewed the request and has no objections. And we discussed this on Monday, um, just as a reminder, La Vergne is changing their programming and moving to, um,
have animals in La Vergne. Okay. Move. Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Darby, and thank you, Mr. Vaughan. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. We discussed this budget amendment, uh,
every year we have funds in 141 that pay for cafeteria, which is fund 141, cafeteria's fund 143, such as electricity, water, those different types of things, and those are called indirect costs. This is fund 143 budget amendment, this fiscal year 25-26
centralized cafeteria fund amendment increase is 99,105.04 indirect cost, decreases 34,570 restricted fund balance in the amount of 2 million to budget for indirect costs that are accumulated in fund 141 being reimbursed by fund 143. Indirect costs are incurred for the
benefit of multiple programs, functions, or other cost objectives and cannot be readily identified as having been incurred specifically for the school fund service program. Indirect costs are calculated annually by TDOE and child nutrition programs use the unrestricted indirect cost rate. Fiscal year
2025-2026 unrestricted indirect cost rate for RCS is 11.19%. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Second. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. All in favor, say I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. All right. Next is a amendment to
increase fund 141 in this budget's revenue and expenditures in the amount of $5,556,938 to recognize the awarded summer camp grant for fiscal year 2025-2026. Thank you, Miss Miss Sharp. Second. Thank you, Miss Darby. All in favor, say
I. I. Opposed? Motion passes. All right. Do you want to hand out documents? How do we want to handle the documents? I'll feel. Yeah, go ahead and do those. Yes. Yep. So, I'll go ahead and so, one part, so that everybody is aware, Thank you. um
and our board, I talked to them beforehand. So, we got our updated revenue and expenditures from the county at 3:39, and obviously, we've already started our meeting. And so, I will forward you the forms that we are used to seeing here as soon as we are done. This is the I had Miss Williams in there
printing the updated Excel documents that you were used to seeing, or that we went over on Monday, just in the event that we didn't get them. And then, as soon as she printed them, we got them. Or does this have it already in it? That does not. So, >> This is Excel, correct?
>> And all you're going to see additional is the expenditure side, because the revenues are not completed yet. Okay. They're not completed from county yet? From county, yes. Okay. I I did not get those. Okay. Did he send those over yet at 3:39 yet?
Has he sent those yet? Let me see. What's a hold up? Um Nothing like the 11th hour. I will give you uh so let me kind of go over that real quick. So the private act in the private act so county government's controlled by the private act. The private act sets up the
accounting and um purchasing portions for the county government and the school system. And in the private act we have parts of a centralized accounting government. As part of that, the school system has certain powers. Um but our school
system, of course we don't set revenue, we can't control revenue, we don't have our own payroll staff. Um don't write checks. Part of that is Mr. Runyon and his team can't input our expenditures or our revenue for the next school year. So we submitted ours on Monday. Is that
correct? And so then we have to wait for the county to upload them onto the forms that you all are used to seeing. This is normal. Um so those of you who've been on the board, this is we've had the Excel documents year after year after year. This is what we normally present. We normally get them about an hour or
two before we start. Um we just got them a little bit after we started this time and they're still not all complete. It's still the exact same information um but it's just not in the format you're used to seeing. And so that It is frustrating. It's frustrating for me because I always get told as a director of
schools I'm a CEO and I'm supposed to be a CEO, but I have no control over payroll, I have no control over revenue, and I have no ability to write checks. And so that's not really a CEO. It would help you if you had the information, wouldn't it? Yes, sir, it would. And so
That is the private act. The private act does require we have a statutory requirement to pass a budget by May 15th. So there's so everybody is aware that is our statutory requirement. So just so everyone's watching, I'll give you kind of a quick overview. Our budget was discussed at our March
workshop. This is not a really exciting budget which is I guess good news that is not an exciting budget. Um we discussed it at our March workshop. We had our board March board meeting um was where we discussed 143. At our first April board meeting we discussed um 177
and all those priorities. We discussed 141 at our last board meeting in April. Then May 7th we discussed all of them again uh at our budget workshop and then again on Monday. So, just a couple highlights.
We have a 2% cola increase for all employees. So, that's just a lift to the table. Additionally for all classified staff there's a 1.6% step increase. So, all classified staff will increase 3.6% is their raise.
The certified staff is different based on what their year of experience is, but the average for all certified staff is 1.6 as well. So, the average for everybody is 3.6. We have increased our insurance lines um
by about $6 million. So, that means of our let just we are just shy of $600 million budget. Over $70 million of our budget is an insurance. And so, we had a a teacher advisory committee meeting yesterday of what could we do to have higher
percentage raises and higher salary. 11% of our budget goes to medical insurance which is not abnormal, but that is a huge portion of our budget that goes to medical insurance. We also have in this budget um classified stipend that if someone has a bachelor's degree they would get an
additional $1,500, a master's degree $3,500, and a doctorate $5,500. So, that's a new um addition. A highlight I I to thank Dr. Chastain and her team. We are transferring all regular classroom positions, so the entire 6th, 7th, and 8th grade are being
transferred positions to open Poplar Hill Middle School. And so that's the second year we have now opened an elementary and a middle school K through 8 by transferring all classroom positions. And so that's huge to do without a tax increase to open two schools and serving
almost 2,000 kids without a tax increase. And so I don't know that's been done. So I know that's painful. Dr. Chastain, calling all the principals when they don't want to answer your phone call cuz you're transferring positions, but I greatly appreciate that. We already talked about um private act, how we don't control revenue. Um we
can't enter revenue and expenditures in our local gov. Um there are just a couple changes from Monday that I want to make everybody um aware of because the the numbers are just a little bit different. 143 and 177 are exactly the same. Correct, Mr.
Runyon? 143 and 177. Mr. Runyon found out today, so our revenue was a little bit less. Right? Revenue because of the fast or high performance us getting the 1. 6 this year or 1.4 this year cuz it's
the next year. Oh, yes. So So yes, the letter A grade that were we that they only prorated at the beginning of the year or are they paid out in I think it was December or January. Uh they prorated that amount. It was supposed to be close to 4 million.
Uh and and we got the prorated amount and now it's been appropriated waiting on the governor to sign the appropriation in order to fund the rest, but it's supposed to be here before June 30th to us. But we went ahead and budgeted it in and
this 26-27 budget. So So that has been reduced on both sides. Reduced, yes. So it's going to be increased whenever I do a budget when we do the final cleanup, I'll put it in this year's funding and reduce it out of whenever I do next year's budget
amendment, I'll reduce it out next year's budget. So, just a So, that and that's good news. We talked about when we got the $4 million award awardance of high performance that it was going to go into fund balance unless we figured out a way to figure out cuz
we got 2.6 instead of the full four. Um we went ahead and figured out let's budget it as revenue for next year that way we could control it. When he found out today that they were going to go ahead and give it to us before June 30th, we have it budgeted as revenue for next year, but we're going to go ahead and get it this year now. So, we have to
remove that revenue now, which means we have to remove that textbook line. Yes, sir. Yes, [clears throat] Mr. Scott. Yes, Mr. Scott. I just want to thank TSBA working on this. Reached out to the heads of education chairs of education on both sides to help them understand that this problem
that we're having cuz it kept going into fund balance. And so, I know Nolan Cowns had helped me with that. So, I'm glad to see that it actually came through, but we knew a little bit earlier it was supposed to. We just hadn't got the final word. Yes. So, Governor signing off on that would be great. >> It'll be good. >> Yep.
And so, what we'll be able to do with that then is when we get that allocation and we'll go ahead and purchase more textbooks this year instead of waiting till next year. So, you're going to see our textbook line decrease from 2 million to 1 million instead. So, we're going to be able to go ahead and purchase more textbooks this year
instead of waiting till next year. So, that's the trade-off portion. The only Dr. Scott, let me interrupt you one more time, but that is supposed to be the way it is going forward as well. So, I know that in the past Yeah, that's the idea. So, it got changed this year. Awesome. Now, as long as there's nothing
else that pops up that's that's an issue, it's supposed to be that way moving forward. So, maybe that'll be helpful in budgeting as well. Awesome. Um and connected to that, we have fought and the board knows this. I've included y'all. We have fought extremely hard to get changes to TVAS done, um which was the thing that was going to
reduce our ability to get high performance. I'm still trying to get it in writing, but as of right now our understanding is they've reverted back to the old T boss formula to where more districts could earn letter A grades. And so, it's been a big push and so,
greatly appreciate the support and help you guys did in letting me push on the Department of Education respectfully to get that changed. And so, I'm still waiting to get the official wording cuz I just want it in writing one more time. Um, so I'm I'm waiting on that, but I expect that pretty soon. So, that should give us another option to earn
additional funding and get the recognition we deserve. The last two, and this is new and I told every board member and one of them is is simple and the other one will come back to the board to officially approve. Uh, we are losing a valued member of our staff. Um, she is
retiring after 54 three 53 years, 50 something years. Um, Mary Howell is retiring. She is our student information, one of our student information analyst. And so, attendance is requesting one additional person. Um,
and this is new for Monday, uh, to replace somebody with 50 something years is going to be tough. And so, uh, attendance in our central office is what brings in and validates all of our TISA formula. And so, we are moving to a new student information system next year.
I don't want us to lose funding because we don't have the right staff and we're moving to a new student information system across the state. It's I don't want to lose funding for that. And so, if it doesn't work out, then we we can get rid of staff always an additional year, but talking to Dr. Chastain today, she was
like, we really we really need an additional position. So, that is a request. A second one I don't have a job description for, so if the board decides later in June you don't want to fund it, that's perfectly fine, but in order for me to even have the possibility, I have to have it in the budget. And so, the second one is, as you all know, TWSL has
changed their transfer rules. One of the things that was somehow I missed is that it is a one-time transfer rule. That means even if you move, you still only get one time to transfer. And so, if a student transfers one time
in high school for any reason, they pick up and their parents move to a different neighborhood, different house, in a different zone for us, if they have already moved, they have to sit out a year. That is going to be extremely tough for
families and parents to understand if they're during that gray band. And so, we're going to have a lot of compliance issues with TSSAA, making sure kids are eligible. We did athletic director interviews yesterday. We invited an administrator and one coach from every school to sit in on those interviews,
and compliance is one of the big concerns. And so, I've requested and talking today an athletic compliance director. I don't have a job description, any of that, and so that'll come before the board in June to decide whether or not you all want to approve that or not. But before I could even move that far, I had to make sure that
we had a position budgeted for that. And so, those are your only two changes that we have discussed. Um last thing that I will say, revenue could change if the tax rate comes back different in June. Could go to our favor, could go to a negative so
that we have to go from our 2% raise and either go further into the deficit, budgeted deficit, or it could go to the negative to where we have to go to a 1. 9 or 1.8. Um this is a reappraisal year, so every 5 years you have this type of of thing happen.
And that >> need a first motion on the two positions? No, cuz it's included in the budget. Um but I will have to come back and get a full like job description, salary, all those different types of things. You guys know just I'm transparent, so I'm going to tell you any changes that I we
have made today, which is not necessarily normal. So, that's where we are. And then, Mr. Tidwell just asked me earlier, he's got the couple of >> Yes, Mr. Tidwell. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> Buses, you asked me to >> Yes. Um, buses. We did go ahead because I know there were discussion about um,
buses and transportation. The only thing that is bus that is budgeted for this year is the $4,000. So, anything that is done before this year is $4,000. Uh, we do and looking at our funding, we did go ahead and put um, up to $500
where they have to be a separate board motion for next year, but it would have to come after July 1st. So, next year could fund up to $4,500 per person. But, it would have to be after July 1st and the books have to close. They have to write checks. You're probably looking more towards August and the county
finance director would have to They would get their 4,000 this year before July 1st, but the extra 500 would have to be later on, but we have the funds budgeted for that. We basically increased it by by about $175,000 roughly. Okay.
Yes, Mr. Tidwell. I had a constituent um, reach out to me and asked several different questions. One The main overarching uh, question was about enrollment and we've talked about that several different times throughout the year. I mean, I know that you've brought that up. Uh,
and there's some different pieces that the block schedule, if you're comparing it year-over-year and you have a lot graduate halfway through the year, what that looks like. Uh, we've talked about some of the birth rate. We talked about COVID and what we saw during the RSP presentation. Um, but just because it was brought up
today and there was really kind of honing in on the budget that we were not properly allocating the funds based on a loss of revenue. I know that there's a statewide issue going on where a lot of enrollment is dropping. >> Yep. Uh, I think Murfreesboro City has lost 300 students this year. And so, I just wonder if you could speak
to that and kind of just put that on record here for everybody. Yeah, so at last we were of course this is countywide we're down um, about a 200 students. I'll have final TISA numbers in June to give us the final allocation because it's an average. That is not
abnormal. We're actually holding steadier than we have been. Most of that is in your kindergarten levels. You have talking about the block schedule. Kids are do have the ability to graduate earlier, but even though they graduate earlier, if they're graduating December, we still need that position. We can't
just lay off teachers in the middle of December. We have to reallocate what they're doing. The good news is and our team has been working on that through tomorrow, we still get funded for those kids and that count for enrollment. And so we've made sure that even if they graduate a year and a half early, that we have a way to
code them. And I was talking to the assistant commissioner of the state two days ago about making sure we code them correctly. And so our enrollment will increase by about 175 kids on the next TISA estimate just because of those kids. So it's going to look like we have
a big jump on that. So I'm curious to see how our actual enrollment actually looks once those early graduates from last year are included in our count. Um Home school is increasing. Uh the that's a nationwide trend as well that
impacts our enrollment. Education savings accounts definitely impacts enrollment. It's not impacting us as much. Our private schools don't have as many seats. We are a high-performing district so it doesn't impact us as much. But to think that those don't have some impact would be naive. The state hasn't
tracked it so I can't give you exact numbers, but our enrollments and I hear those questions. I have a couple county commissioners who always say your enrollment's going to decline and then I always counter with just look at the news and see the the growth. Those two like don't go together. And so I respect
those perspectives and I just I guess we're going to see who's right in the next 5 years. With a dropping enrollment of 200 kids, you still have the cost of living adjustments and you still have the inflation portions that where our budget is compared to what all of inflation and
cost of living adjustment I think they factor out pretty well. Yeah, and I still feel like we do budget conservative even though we budget in a deficit. You mentioned at the budget workshop we are never in the negative. We're always adding to fund balance each time. So I do feel like we're in a good position but I did want to get that
question out. >> Absolutely. Don't mind the questions at all. Okay. Yes, Mr. And speaking of that, do do we have preliminary kindergarten numbers for next year? When will we have that? August. August 15th?
Yeah. It's all It's like It's like It's like Easter. It's a surprise. Yep. Thank you. Yeah, and a lot of it too is you have We have dual enrollment areas with Murfreesboro City so the kids enroll in both, figure out which teacher they like
best, and that happens in sixth grade and kindergarten the most. Okay. So you've got three. So the first one is our general purpose school budget. Um and I want to make sure I have these numbers right. Just understand if we have to come back and
do a revision that is not That would not surprise me at all in the next couple weeks because of revenue numbers changing at the county level. Um so just that would not surprise me. Um the general purpose school budget revenues
of $589,527,360 and expenditures of $599,502 or $502,398 with a budgeted deficit of $9,975,038. And so I'm pretty sure I appreciate a recommendation to move that to health
and ed. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Sharp. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Hold on, Brian's looking at me funny. Okay. Brian may have updated numbers in the since then. Can you give me the uh
the expenditure amount you have? 599 502 398 It's 598 684 955. All right, Brian's going to give you the numbers. I'm sorry. Brian's going to read this. >> [laughter] >> This this presentation has changed so much in the last 24 hours that Brian, why don't you read all the numbers for everybody?
>> Sure. Sure, hold on just one second. Let me get up to my summary page. That'll be the easiest. So That's a decrease, so that's a positive thing. I don't think anybody's going to be upset that the numbers are decreasing. Our deficit it has stayed the same because the revenues and expenditures have have have changed
pretty much uh a wash, but your uh revenues for uh fund 141 is 5,888,000 700 Oh, sorry. 588,709,922. The expenditures for fund 141 is
598,684,955. Which is a budgeted deficit of 9,975,000 and $33. Saved $5. Say it all again. The whole thing? Yeah, all both numbers. Okay, revenues 5,000,000 588,709,922. The expenditures is 598,684,955.
And then your budgeted deficit is 9,975,033. 33 Thank you. Dennis, I just sent it to you. You can pull it up. Or it's in the middle of sending. I have a 30-second delay on my email. Just in case.
It's in the process. Yeah. Okay. Okay, just that. Yes. Okay. And I apologize that it is a it's frustrating not to be able to enter these numbers ourselves. So, there's Yes, there's the numbers. All right, can we have a um to go back and do that one with those official
numbers just to be official? >> Sure. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Bond. Thank you, Ms. Sharp. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Okay, next is fund 143. This has not changed and so same as presented on Monday. You have
revenues of 26,844,250 and expenditures of 35,388,150 and as a reminder, we have we have a large um fund balance and we have to have a plan to spend that down even if we don't actually spend it down. So, that is for a deficit of 8,543,900.
Wouldn't surprise me if we actually put money back into fund balance again. Okay. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Bond. Thank you, Ms. Bond. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. And then last is a fund 177 and again
this is a appropriation from the county commission that is not required. So, hopeful I haven't heard any discussion about this changing. So, hopeful it'll stay the same. Uh fund 177 education capital projects with revenues and expenditures of
$19,354,969. I entertain a motion. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Darby. Thank you, Mr. Stansberry. Um Madam Bond. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next director's update.
>> Uh graduations, of course, have gone great. We are two down with nine more to go. Um >> [laughter] >> every day I am happy for our graduates to move on and I am happy for less students in the building, as you all know, with discipline in May. So, every
day their parents are probably happy that or not happy they're not coming to to school anymore, but I am happy that they are moving on. We are all happy for each other at this moment. Uh at the next board meeting, Mr. Lee is going to be presenting kind
of a tiered plan for us for HVAC. And so, from CMTA, we met yesterday for a couple hours because that's just continuing. We've We've made a lot of progress, but with the price of just continuing to get out of control, we still We've got a lot of facilities
that we need to continue to look at. So, we've got some ideas on how to be able to do that, looking at federal returns and then state incentives. So, we're going to go over that, still us paying for it ourselves, but kind of taking a targeted approach over the next
5 years to try to attack even more of this. And so, excited for Trey to go over that. He'll have that on June 4th. And then, our next meeting is with health and education on May 26th at the
courthouse at 5:30. That will be a joint meeting with budget. With the transitions going on with county government, um I would expect hope that health and education will pass it, and then it would not surprise me what is normally what happens is
they pass 143 on that Tuesday and then 141 and 177 get pushed to that next Thursday for time for questions and then the final budget hopefully will get approved on June 22nd at 9:00. So those are kind of our next steps, but again don't be
surprised if we have to come back and change revenue numbers at some point based on tax rates. But that's all I've got. Okay. I have got something. It's that time again and it's we're going to have to vote in August on
our evaluation, board evaluation, superintendent evaluation. So I'm going to I have to announce it on camera and I need to reach out to TSBA of which I did today and let them know that we need the tool and
and vote on the tool as well. So I'm pretty happy with the one we've used, but it's up to you all. So but I am officially putting that out there. Second of all, I got an email this week from a contractor and I'm just kind of wanting to see if we can study this. Uh uh
It's it's about a sped bus drivers and their lack of aids on especially to our behavior school, Simon Springs. It is an issue they hire them, they quit. It's not
enough salary for them to stick around. So I don't know that we we need to possibly incentivize that and maybe even do a sign-on bonus. I don't know what that would look like, but I would like to see if we can make that happen and I was going to ask Dr. Sullivan if you
could look into that because it's in their IEP. They have to have a bus aid and we can't keep them on there. So we need to do something I guess drastic that that makes it worthwhile. [clears throat] So uh that's all I've got. Anything else here?
Okay. Well Move to adjourn. Thank you. See you at Siegel.