recording whenever you're ready. >> Okay. Uh welcome to the 2026 uh annual state council meeting of the Tennessee Military Interstate Children's Compact State Council. Uh it's 3:06 p.m. I'm calling the meeting to order. I do not
believe that we have any guests. Um unless Kirsten Godish is a guest. We didn't recognize that name on the list. Okay. All right. Um, Nathan, if you would please call the role.
>> Sure. James Bo Griffin here. >> I'm here. General Baker >> here. >> Tiffany Campbell. >> Tiffany Campbell.
Anyone from Arnold Air Force Base? Ela Lines here. >> She's our Air Force fellow. >> Okay, great. Uh, Dr. Clark,
>> Allison Clark, anyone from Arlington, >> Dr. Combmes >> here? Uh, let's see. Is Gregory with the Army National Guard. >> All right. Um, Miss Hyfield
>> here. >> Dr. Horl here. Jean Luna. Anyone with Clarksville, McGomery County? Deb Munis on Mark Reeves.
>> I'm here. >> Colonel Snowden. Laqua Garrett's his representative. >> She's on. >> Okay. Dr. Stevens is Katrina.
She just she's tried the password again. I just told her I'd try to call in and I think she's going to do that. >> Counter is present. Um and Captain Torres, >> any woman from Naval Support Activity Mids South?
>> Jennifer Lendy is on. She's the slow. >> And Madame Chairman, you're on. So >> is Carissa Poe on from Blueest Star Families? >> Okay. We do have quorum. Is that what you're seeing as well? >> We definitely have a quorum.
>> Great. >> Josh, are you showing the slide deck? >> I will in about a minute or two here. >> Okay. >> All right. Nathan, your official comment about the minutes.
>> Oh, yeah. Uh, let's see. I I ask uh well I guess we have to take a vote on that. I move that the recording of this meeting serve as the minutes. Therefore, >> there a second on that motion. >> Second.
>> Please state your name. >> Ted Horl. Second. >> Thank you. Um any any conversation or discussion on this? Okay. Instead of all in favor, if you're against, please say nay. It's easier to count.
Okay. So, we have approved this recording to serve as the official minutes. Hey, >> Deiana, real quick. Katrina is saying uh it automat she called in but it automatically muted her. So, there should be another call. Can that be unmuted?
>> She should be in here now. >> You there Katrine? >> This Carissa? Yes, I was able to join via phone. It won't allow me on the computer for some reason. keep saying the password is incorrect. >> Okay, so Chris is on and I see another call-in user that could be Dr. Stevens,
but she would have to unmute herself. Dr. Stevens, are you on? >> I am on. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Oh my goodness. >> Thank you for your persistence. >> I was dedicated. Thank you, Ted, for
helping and hanging in. And now I shall mute myself. Okay, perfect. Okay. Um, if you have your own printed slides, we are on slide six. And it's just a reminder. Um, we already know what the
purpose of the compact is. It's to level the playing field for active duty military children as their parents uh PCS to and from Tennessee to make sure that they get credit um and equal equal opportunity um in the schools that they
are going to. Sorry, I'm operating off of two computers because why not? Okay. Um I don't believe we had any guests unless I'm missing somebody that uh has
been added in. So we are on slide eight. Um slide eight is where we elect the officers of our state council which for the past several years has been myself as the chairman by default. So you don't
have to vote for me. Uh and then also uh James Bo Griffin has served as the vice chairman and Nathan James as our secretary as he is our POC and all things at state board of education. Um we are all willing to continue to serve
for this next year. Um if there is not any discussion or or not any nominations from the floor then we can accept this slate um without objection. Any comments?
Okay. So, let's just by affirmation that the slate of officers is adopted. Josh, am I driving the slide deck now? >> I am for you. >> Okay, great. Awesome. Okay, so we're
moving on to slide nine. Um, Laquia, since uh the garrison commander is not on, do you have any comments on his behalf? He is our our newest council member. >> Um, can you hear me? >> Yes.
>> Um, just that he's eager. He couldn't be here um today, but he's eager. He's really hands-on and about solutions. So, anything that's needed, let me know and I can get it to him. He's uh like I said, he's about solutions and getting after the action of any problem that's
problem set that's out there and that's pretty much what I have for him. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I was able to see him yesterday. >> Oh, that's great. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Okay. Um now we're going to move on to
our partner reports. Um Chris, do you want to give us an update on um the Tennessee PTA? Sure, absolutely. I'd love to. Um, and for the record, I am actually the president-elect of Tennessee PTA now. I'm not the vice president of FDC. Um,
>> congratulations. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, we are I am very passionate about this and absolutely love getting to share information as we travel across the state. We, um, have included information about the compact and about the programs um, as we do what we call summer
leadership training. So, it's included in our programs as we talk to units about programs they could put on for their schools and their school environment and how to start. And um we have restarted our newsletter and I just wrote an article as well for the newsletter that should come out in our April letter about um the compact and
about how do we support military families that will include this and I'm very excited to see that come out in April. >> Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions for uh Christie? Okay, next slide please. Bissa.
>> Hello everyone. So here uh with Booster Families, we will continue to provide resources to our families and letting them know about uh you know what resources are available for them with the victory as they um of course get into here to Fort Campbell and and as they're about to leave. So we'll
continue sharing um the information. >> Thank you. And uh Chris's organization puts on a great event for month of the military child that she has invited us to set up at um and so uh Karen and
Laquivia uh from Fort Campbell and I set up at that last year and it was it's a great event for military families and we appreciate being a part of that. >> You're welcome. We we'll invite you again. We're working on the plans for it right now. >> Okay. Thank you. All right, Mark. Uh, no
wrestling tournament today. >> No wrestling tournament today. Um, both my sons have graduated now. So, first first time I haven't been in a gym this time of the year in a long long time. So, um, no, it's pleasure to be with everyone. Um, Mark Ree serves as executive director of the Tennessee
Secondary School Athletics Association. Um, you know, for us, it's it's privilege to to share any information like this that could be a benefit to our students and the families uh that they that that we serve. uh we have about 500
uh give or take um member high schools and about the same number of member middle schools and a pretty robust distribution platform uh for when there's information that can be shared uh to highlight opportunities. But then also for us, it's very important that uh
that we're being proactive in making sure that we're removing any kind of obstacles that there would be in terms of eligibility for families who uh might be relocating due to military service or deployments. And so um with some some laws that have changed over the last
couple of years, uh certainly we haven't run into any of those problems and we're committed to making sure that that would still be the case. >> Thank you, sir. General Baker. >> Hey Deanna. Um,
>> hey Council and everybody. Thank you for the work you continue to do. You and Nathan and Bo and and Deb and everyone uh for for the work y'all are doing in this space. Um, I've got two or three things I'd like to talk about quickly and I know Nick Atwood who is the chief
of staff of the Tristars and Stripe Council as well as the director of military and veteran initiatives for the state. um has got some other things he wants to talk about later that will kind of dovetail with what I want to kind of update the council on. And one is is
that we've started uh about three years ago uh having a student at various schools across the state uh participate in our governor's veterans day program as well as our governor's memorial day
program. Uh now those are two recurring events each year that we we uh put on either at the state capital or at the last couple of years out at the Tennessee National Guard headquarters. Uh and we've found that a lot of students uh in these schools will write
essays about what veterans uh and service means to them. Some of them coming from uh military uh families and some not. But uh we feel like that's a great step forward in educating that next generation and also bringing them into the to the forefront of what we're
trying to do when we recognize veterans uh on those two uh at least annual occasions. Uh we've also started to look at the coalitions across the state. Uh this is an effort that started about 18 months ago to identify different
coalitions that are veteran centric across our state. They have a great one there in Montgomery County. It's been established now for well over 10 years. Uh Sher Pickering, who was the executive director of that coalition, uh works with our outreach team and uh we're
trying to to establish a relationship with those coalitions as they are all local and all organic uh to make sure they understand what's going on in all aspects of our department. It's just another means of communicating uh with them about what we're doing and finding
out what they're doing. And this is another way we can promote Purple Star Schools. Um in addition to that, as y'all well know, we have a close partnership with every county service officer in all 93 counties that have service officers. Uh they are locals
that are embedded in the communities. They talk to their veterans. uh they talk to local leadership on a consistent basis and are able to promote uh Purple Star Schools as well as other u uh initiatives that we have going on inside of veteran services and across the state
uh with other veteran centric organizations as well. And I I'll say for the last thing here, um, and Nick, I'll let him get into some of the details, but as being the the the chair of the Tri Stars and Stripes Council, Nick being the chief of staff,
uh, he's working an initiative now, uh, that he will give some great detail on uh, for Purple Star Schools with the Department of Education, uh, he's already made some initial contact with them, and I won't steal his thunder, but I will just say uh, that I think there's
some opportunities for us going forward both as a state agency and as the council which is all volunteers appointed by the governor uh that can really be beneficial uh in promoting purple star schools uh and you know advancing the opportunities that we feel
are out there for military connected students. Uh so excited about that. Uh I will apologize. I am working on my vitamin D intake today. Uh the VA said it was low so I'm trying to get it up a little bit and get a little sunshine. So, uh, appreciate being on the council.
Thank you all for the time. >> Thank you. >> Jennifer, is your uh is your commander with you? >> We did have a walking break today on the installation and there's always fires that have to be put out. So, I'm imagining he just got wrapped up in
something. um and definitely would apologize for not being here, but I will say he's absolutely fantastic. He's been a rock star since he's been here. Um and supports me in anything that we have going on um as far as like schools and our local schools. So, absolutely love him, but I'm sorry he couldn't be here.
>> Thank you. >> Okay, we covered Colonel Snowden. Next slide, please. Um did Michaela Gregory join us? Okay, next slide, please. Okay,
I love it every year when we get to hear from our school lay zone officers because they make our job uh in enforcing the compact a lot easier. I would say probably anywhere from uh 90 to 98% of the time they resolve at their
level before myself or Deb get involved for consult which is greatly appreciated. Next slide please. Jennifer, would you like to go ahead and speak about um your activities on your installation and in your community?
>> Absolutely. It's me again. Uh my name is Jennifer Londy. the school leaison for naval support activity mids south. Um and I'd be happy to share some of our mix three best practices that we've been using in our area for years now. Um there's some tried and true ones that I kind of stand by. So first I have to say that intentionally going out and
networking with like our community schools and our partners has been critical. We maintain strong relationships with our district leaders, our counselors, our registars so that we can ensure that the contact is really understood and applied consistently. Um, and that has been just like one of those standalone pieces that we have to just
continue beating the drum on. Um, I also actively champion the Purple Star School Award mentioned on the call already. We absolutely love that here. It's encouraged our schools to really utilize supports for the military connected students and the recognition has kind of like elevated awareness and really
strengthened accountability across our districts. Um, and it's just made it so easy for families to come in and look and see like, okay, where can I really be supported? Um, and so I absolutely love that it has taken such a strong hold in Tennessee and especially in our area here. Um, and then because school staff turnover we know is consistent.
It's something that I've dealt with in my 12 years in this role constantly people coming in and out of the schools and being hired. We treat mix three education as kind of like an ongoing process rather than a one-time briefing. Um, so regular re-education and refresher engagements um, constantly
just to make sure there's continuity and compliance regardless of the personnel changes that come. like we know we're always going to have somebody hopefully in that front office or somewhere that's going to be relevantly like aware of mix three. It's going to be fresh on their brain. Um and those are really the three main um pieces that I kind of lean on
heavily each year. And as long as we're doing those, I feel like it kind of has like a really great understanding of mix three in this area um and with our local schools. And it's why I believe that our um mix three kind of issues that arise have gotten less and less because our
schools are just really educated on it and they've really leaned in to learning mix three um utilizing it and supporting our military families. So that's everything I have. Thank you so much for letting me share. >> Thank you Jennifer. Next slide please.
Laqua. Yes. >> Hello again. Aquia Garrett here, one of Fort School leaison officer. I am also the state lead for Tennessee. Um, one of the things or something that we're constant in doing here um on the installation as well as with our
surrounding counties is um building synergy with our school partners. Uh just recently I had a counselor's training with Montgomery all of Montgomery County middle school counselors as well as their um lead trainer uh that trains that works in um
with the counselors and that we talked about um resiliency and how to build resilient um students and also teaching them how to become resilient so they can teach resiliency to their students not just the military connected but the the total um student body. We also talked
about Mig Three and how it's a positive to the to the to them as well as their district. We um also build relationships and with our MFL flag, we supervise them, but we also empower them to reach
out and be a part of the school. Not just someone in the school, but a part of the school and a part of the the student body, military connected students and assist with that purpose are. As you guys know, last year for U Montgomery County was recognized as the
full district within purple star. So, that was a huge accomplishment um for us and for that district. Currently, we're gearing up to um for month of the military child as well as our purple update, April 15th. I know you'll talk about that later, but we trying to do
something across the the district, Montgomery County, Fort Campbell, and all the surrounding areas with getting out the same month of the military child shirt. So, that will be coming out the registration, the order forms for those shirts. Um the biggest the other biggest
takeaway that's been a success for us here for camel is working across the enterprise. So before a student um comes in, we're giving them the information on MC 3, helping them understand what it is um that m the needs of Montgomery County as far as registration and that way we
can mitigate issues before they arrive. So Diana, that's why you haven't had a lot of um cases because we're trying to mitigate them before they even arrive here to Campbell and that's working with our other school leaison across the enterprise as well as across joint
services. Um and that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you, Karen. >> I don't want to repeat everything Mr. Quibby said, but also with the Mick 3, we've mitigated a lot of issues because we handle a lot of transitions,
especially this time of year. And just uh giving those parents the information about the Mick Three because a lot of parents coming from installations uh aren't familiar or aware. So that that outreach and that information and also um I also man a lot of parent
information tables. I attend PTO parent night meetings at the school and I also share my big three information at those uh avenues because a lot of parents like I said were not aware but it's just sharing that information with parents really helps.
And Fort Campbell hosts an amazing event called Kidsfest during month of the military child and they let me join them last year and we had an 80s theme and Louvia was the mistress of ceremonies for the whole thing and she was wobbling on the 50ard line with some MPs which I
have video coverage of. Thank you. >> Thank you Karen. All right, Elaine Lane and um I I live in Florida and I'm the installations school on program manager
for Eglund Air Force Base and also Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. Um I'm not physically there but um we have some very proactive ways in providing the military interstate compact information prior to arrival. So any
military member that gets assigned to Arnold Air Force Base, I welcome them with an email and provide the military interstate compact family guide and the compact rules. if I find out that their
student is in middle or high school, um I will go through the compact rules and talk about the different sections as far as enrollment, placement, eligibility, and confirm that that student is ready to graduate with their peers. Um I have
uh I do go TDY at least once um a year to Arnold Air Force Base and I do meet with those principles and um many of those have received the purple star school of distinction and they are very very excited to have that distinction
and um I've been invited out for their month of the military child events as well. So, there's some great things going on in that local area and we're constantly leaning forward to help um assist those families with a smooth transition into the schools.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you, Elaine. >> Deb Munis, your time to shine. Deb, Deb, your mic's on. Deb, can you hear us? Text her really quick.
Josh, are you still showing that Deb is on? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, am I for some reason Deb. Okay, >> she's unmuted.
See that? All right, let's um let's go ahead and skip ahead um to Nick Atwood slide on number 20. Is that 29?
Yes. >> Hey, thank you, Deanna, and it's good to be with with everybody today. as Commissioner Baker gave me a nice little intro there. You can you can see my title and he talked briefly about the TriStars and Stripes Council, the
Governor's Council. And so I want to take just a quick second and for those of you who may not be that familiar with the Governor's Council, it was reconstituted from Governor Hasslam's old armed forces council back in July of
23. So, the council in its newest form, you know, is is a little over two years old. And I've been in this job as director of military and veteran initiatives for um
a little over a year now. And one of the big things that I noticed when we when I got on board was by the governor's executive order that reconstituted the council, 13 members. They're all uh appointed by
the governor uh all volunteer. There are four members of the governor's cabinet that sit on that council. So, obviously, Commissioner Baker as uh heading up Department of Veteran Services chairs the council and then we have Commissioner Thomas who heads up labor
and workforce development. We have um Commissioner uh actually the agent general, Major General Warner Ross who oversees the Tennessee National Guard. He's on the council. Um Commissioner Marie Williams heads up the Department
of Mental Health. And um so those individuals make up the the cabinet members of the council. And then we have uh Mayor Golden, West Golden, you all know there in Montgomery County, the mayor. And we also have Senator Rusty
Crowe and Representative Jay Rei. Those are our three um state the two legislators uh state legislators and then our locally elected uh official Mayor Golden. We have a representative for higher education and we have uh
several members who represent the business community. Some are prior service, some are not. We have a a military spouse of a currently serving member on active duty and that individual right now is Miss Tess Partridge and her husband Tyler commands
the 101 Combat Aviation Brigade. And then we have Marilyn Childress. She comes out of East Tennessee. She's our representative of military coalitions. And so I just wanted to give you all a little bit of background of the council.
Forgive me if you already have that, but for those of you that that didn't, I hope that was somewhat informative. And I want to come back to the four cabinet members uh here briefly or here shortly um as as we move along. So I'm on here
today to give you all an update on a purple star school initiative. So going back to when I got in the seat by the governor's executive order, the council was charged with developing a strategic plan. And there were other things in the EEO, but that was a big one. And we
jumped right in and began finalizing that strategic plan, working with council members and then some committees that were formed as subsets of the council. So we do have an education committee, we have a suicide prevention
and there are about uh three others uh other committees that focus on specific areas and uh we were able to get that uh strategic plan complete and Commissioner Baker and I sat down with Governor Lee
last I believe it was late spring, early summer and the governor loved the strategic plan. He said, "Yes, approved. Go forth and and accomplish as much of this as you possibly can." Well, part of that strategic plan, the the the
TriStars and Stripes Council deemed it uh a worthy goal to expand the number of Purple Star schools across the state of Tennessee. And so in that uh strategic plan as one of our objectives
uh specifically the goal is to expand the program in our most heavily populated metropolitan areas across Tennessee. So think Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and the Tri Cities. So that's the specific
goal that's that's embedded in the strategic plan and that's what we've been uh getting after. Then from that I met Nathan and then a little later on I met Deanna. And the question has been okay how do we expand the number of
purple star schools in Tennessee considering it being you know this worthy goal deemed by the council. Obviously there's been a ton of work done between Deanna and Deb and in this in this uh you know space and that's why
we have the presence that we have today. So, uh, that really became the question, how do we get after this? Now, I can tell you from meetings with the governor's team that there is a high
level of um support to see purple stars expanded across the state. And the update that I want to give uh the MC 3 today is that recently we uh held a meeting with um Deanna and
representatives from the Tennessee Department of Better Services, which was uh kind of technically me and Commissioner Baker's deputy, Mike Scholes, who's a retired Brigadier General. We were on the meeting. Uh Deb and Deanna, as I mentioned, were on the
meeting. Deb, we had Dr. Luna Veter who was on there from Clarksville Montgomery County Director of Schools. Bo Griffin was on there out of Millington. We had Ra Douglas who serves as the uh chief of staff for the Tennessee Department of
Education. Deb Null who was on the call as well. She is an assistant commissioner uh over postsecary workforce CTE and military readiness for the Department of Education. And then we have Mr. Dan Shoemaker
uh also um with Department of Education and he's heading up uh a senior coordinator position of military readiness and the update is the purpose of that meeting was to figure out okay how do we
move forward and really attack this this initiative and I think there was a lot of excitement. I think uh Deanna and I want you to feel free to chime in if I leave something out you feel is important and commissioner you're you're
more than welcome to do that as well but but the so what of the meeting is that what what we took away is that there is a a huge desire on behalf of department of education to elevate purple star
school program and to get after expanding it across the state. And so we had our first meeting. I think it was very positive. There's a ton of support. We what is what is expanding, you know, the program across the state look like?
and and ultimately we're going to have to have more meetings. But one of the things that I believe we determined is that the Department of Education has a person on staff that we believe can can
uh focus uh in addition to the military readiness, I think Mr. Shoemaker would focus on purple star schools as well. And then this comes back from my early conversations with Nathan at board of education
having the accompanying resources to go along with a with a dedicated individual. Whereas before we've had Deanna and Deb using their expertise and knowledge and and just hard work and but doing so in a volunteer
um you know status in addition to everything else that the two of them have going on. So what what the update is we would be looking at the department of education. So, we're elevating Purple Star School to a department level um
capacity and then having a dedicated individual and then the governor's office looking at an investment of resources to accompany uh whatever's needed, you know, as far as this effort uh is
concerned. And that really, I guess, is the gist of the update. And the so going back to my original kind of lay down of the council makeup, one of the beauties of the council is that if you remember there's nobody from
the department of education that sits on the council, but the governor's intent is that the council serves as the center of gravity and can pull, you know, virtually any department, any division within a department into the council. so
that we can leverage their their expertise, their resources, you know, whatever that happens to be. And so we've we've done that. We're doing that with Purple Star Schools because Department of Education is really not represented on the council, but we have
that ability through the through the executive order to get after that. And so I really believe that we're on the cusp of a great partnership and and really applying, you know, net needed uh
resources to this effort so that we can see the the number of purple star schools just blossom across Tennessee. And so specifically, we'll be focusing to start on those uh highly populated areas. But I believe the long-term
evolution of this is that we would just continue to expand the presence of of purple star schools. And you know, if the sky being the limit, we would have every school in Tennessee a purple star school. But um if you all know a little bit about strategic planning, you have
to you have to be bold, but you al also have to be realistic. And so that's why we've started with, you know, those six he most heavily populated areas in in Tennessee. And um I think there was one
other thing that I was going to going to briefly mention. Uh it's kind of escaped me now, but but in essence, that's really the update that I wanted to provide. Oh, I know the final thing I'll leave you with. So I was just up at Fort Campbell yesterday. We were taking a look at the Eagle conference room
because the next quarterly meeting for the Tristars and Strikes is going to be on Fort Campbell and we are going to be sending out uh invitations for both folks that are local who want to attend in person and also we'll be sending out
uh an invitation with a dialin link. So, wherever you are, if you're on this call today and you can't make it to Fort Campbell on April the 21st and you want to dial in and just listen in from, you know, from the comfort of your home or office, uh, about what all we've got
going on with the council, we we've got a lot of really great initiatives, things that we've been working on um for some time now that are beginning to to come to fruition. and and I believe you all would would find it quite
informative and and we'd love to have you a part of the the Governor's Tristars and Stripes Council meetings. Um there's an opportunity if you dial in to ask questions in the chat. We keep that monitored so we can answer your questions there. If you're in person,
there's an opportunity uh for you all to to have a public comment period. So you can step up at to the microphone um during the meeting and you can you can address the council and in however manner you choose. So I just leave you all with that and then pinning
any questions that I'm happy to you know to answer. Um that's that's pretty much my update. >> Okay. So I'll I'll jump in here. Um, so Nick, um, where where are you all in the
process from getting closer to the possibility of the budget item being for Department of Ed effective, let's say, July 1st? Is that still with are you guys still within that time frame?
>> I I believe we are, Deanna. I haven't spoken with uh the governor's office, but I I do know obviously the governor has submitted his base budget because of where we are in the in the collaboration. Um we we haven't, you
know, landed on a dollar figure as of yet, but I I know obviously they're going to start the negotiations for the administrative amendment. So we we still have time in order to land on that
number and and get that request made so that the department could could go ahead and see that plus up. So I can that's kind of really a doout for me. some of the things that I've been thinking about uh leading up to um to this call today.
But yeah, I I could I could make that a do out easily and get and keep you, you know, apprised of kind of where we are in that process. I think the next step in addition to that Deb is also our idea is also um touching base with RA at
department of education to see about you know our our next meeting um so we could maybe begin to finalize some of these uh some you know some of these next steps and you know we had talked about adding a few people uh like Nathan into the
next meeting so we can um you know really get after that. So that that's that's uh I guess I can make that a do out for you know for you. >> Okay, Deb, are you able do you have any comments um on this topic that I saw her pop in? Nathan,
>> yes, >> do you do you have anything to add? >> Oh yeah. uh the u and first of all I'm you know perfectly perfectly happy for there to be resources put into this. It's uh the last several times it's it's
been a matter of you know we we order these things and and get them in and uh try to try to help with the cost of volunteers to get out uh and and hand them out or we ship them all over the state. um is the concept also
uh that the MIC3 appropriation would no longer come through the state board of education and uh or since that's a matter of statutory law um have you heard or is this just strictly about the award?
>> The governor has not said Mick 3 is moving to department of ed. Um, so when we were were originally set up in 2011, um, you drew the short straw and state board got us. Um, just >> not a short straw. I happen to quite
like you all. >> Okay. Um, so the the way I'm visualizing this and uh Nick or Deb if you're able to chime in, correct me if I'm wrong, we would literally just pick up the purple star element and move it to Department
of Ed um which would they would be responsible for running the whole process um ordering and supplying the banners, ordering the certificates from the governor's office um and I guess support
any travel that will be required for presentations, Nick. And is that what you is that what >> Yeah, I I think these details will work themselves out quite easily because as I understand it, does isn't it the board
that actually um reviews the request from the school and then from the board of education, the purple star is awarded, right? >> Yeah. Deb does all the work. Um, and so when you gave me credit for that, I I
don't do hardly anything. It's it's been Deb. She reaches out to the schools. She hand handholds the holds their hands through the process if they're missing stuff. And then yes, our our state council actually in this meeting will approve the applicants um to move
forward. So that the whole process I'm imagining would be picked up and moved to department of ed >> and then and then we've we we pay for the items and then bring them in and either ship them or like this year we actually can can take care of mileage
and so on. So sounds like it'd be the last year or if Nick if this is happening in the supplemental budget u amendment then maybe we we won't need to worry with with ordering it. But we need to know quick because I was just talking with Casey today about it. He's like, "Well,
I think we need to order 43 of these things." >> Yeah. I'm not expecting that we would start start this until the next uh >> fiscal year. >> The next uh we're looking for applicants period, which we don't start until September typically. And when I say we,
I mean Deb. >> Yeah. I I think that probably the biggest, you know, these are details that will will obviously need to be worked out, but ultimately the the gist of the initiative is to
have a person dedicated at Department of Ed in the same fashion as Deb. One of the reasons Deb is instrumental in this process is is um you know gleaning all of the knowledge and experience that she's acquired over all these years and
and the work that's already been done um and then just you know continuing that that process and whether the funding ends up being transferred to board of education for those resources or whether
it remains Nick, there was never any funding. It just I just took it out of our budget uh because it deserved it. No, no, there was never any funding that came with it. Now, now the MIC3 dues are like 12 grand a year and we just take that out of our
budget, too. So, there's >> there was there was never any appropriation. We just did it um by squeezing pennies. So yeah, it it's lovely if uh lovely to have someone dedicated to the process and and lovely
if there's uh if if there's um you know money attached to it as well, but no, there was never an appropriation for the purpose. >> I just I just want this is I just want to add that Deb did send me the list for the ban school year already. In fact, I
just saw it. So um I hope that helps. Thank you, Casey. Casey puts a lot of time into this on the state board side. He's he's the one at the logistics that gets everything ordered and to the right place. And um state board's been very
good to us. Um both on the compact side and on the Purple Star side. Deb, are you able to speak? I see you're logged in. >> Yay, you're there. >> I know it has been a dilemma. Um,
I love living rural Tennessee. I love living rural Tennessee, but nothing is predictable as far as internet or anything electronic. So, um, and I have to say Casey has been an angel. I tell
you what, I just send him numbers and he just makes all the magic happen and gets those out to the schools. So, um, Casey is definitely, uh, my guardian angel in this world. So,
um, Deanna, do you want to go back through and and do the purple star stuff now that I have my act together? >> Yes. And if any of the state council members have any questions or concerns or suggestions pertaining to the topic
of us moving Purple Star School or potential of moving to the state board of education, would you please just send me an email related to that? Nick, thank you for being here. If you want to stay with us through uh the big the Deb's big
spiel, >> absolutely. >> All right, Deb, take it away. We're on slide 23. All right. Um, here you can see the history of where we have been and then
uh where we are up until uh this year. Uh we've continually grown. Um and it has been such a pleasure to watch schools come on um and then people to
understand what MC3 in means to schools in Tennessee. So that has been awesome. Um you can go to the next slide. All right. This is this year's class.
You can see Clarksville. Um we have a new district coming in, Compass Community Schools. Uh Cumberland um high school. Uh Cumberland has some other schools in our in our program.
Um and then Knox, uh this high school was in uh previously uh then didn't come in on the renew renewal date. So I put them in as a new school.
the next slide. Um, I was really excited uh to see the schools of excellence come back in. There was some question um if they were going to be back and they are. Um this
year it Dan and I uh had two uh preks um apply to come in and we kind of did this just to see how it worked out and they had beautiful applications, beautiful applications. Uh and I think
that's a great place for the knowledge to start. Um even though under the Tennessee Mick 3 those are not um schools that fit into the definition of um following the MC 3.
We also have uh um West Middle School comes has come in and I think that makes them a total school district as well. >> Congratulations Dr. Stevens. >> Okay. Sorry.
>> So, um, we have we have quite a few schools that are I mean, you look at Titan, we have quite a few schools that have kind of grown into being full districts, which is which is awesome.
Um, next slide. Um, is there a motion to approve all of all 46? So, moved by Ted Horl, second by Bo Griffin. >> Um, is there anyone that does not
approve of these schools? Please, no one say yes because I have I have them all. The emails are going out. I'll just tell you at 5:30. They're already scheduled. Everything attached to it, they're going out. So, >> and nobody's nobody's even allowed to
say yes. Don't you worry about that. >> Okay. You You'll mute him for me. Thank you, Nathan. Um, so, uh, like I said, at 5:30 there will be emails going out to the superintendent, principles, and the point of contact. Uh, it will contain
their press release. It will also talk about there's some changes coming um and um just an appreciation for everything they do for our military kids within their system.
Um I am not going to be traveling. Nathan, are you going to have uh someone traveling this year? >> Well, I I'll be the someone if you if you do decide you want to. Last year was a was a tough budget year for us, but uh
I can I can help this year if you change your mind. >> But if you don't change your mind, I'll try to do as many as as I I can. And uh any that I don't go to, we'll ship them out as we have before. So, >> and I have a little more flexibility. I
might be able to travel um Nathan where you can't. We work >> well, especially around the uh the old seventh congressional district. Yeah, I can go to Clarksville schools. >> Yeah. No, that'll be fine. Happy to do that. Um, and yeah, sorry that last year
is just uh we had uh we were about $130,000 down and our our entire below the line budget for the state board of education last year was $470,000. So, uh it's just slightly over half million this year. So, um, yeah, any any
place or way that the state can put resources into this program is beautiful. And if it doesn't happen, we'll continue to do what we can out of out of our ability. >> Yeah. Um, at this point, I don't know
because, um, I've kind of taken a position and it started out with three hours a week and it's moved to five hours a week and now it's tw and now it's 20 hours a week. So, uh, and I am retired, you know. Um, so, um,
ones around on this side of the state are easier for me to go to because I can go there and come back and then do what I need to do in the evening. So, um, as we as we get closer, you know, but I have told the districts that in that
email that the, uh, banners will be sent to the schools. Um, >> that makes it easier. Yeah. Why don't we do that? and and just like we have in the past, as you find out about dates where they're going to hold a ceremony,
then I'll I'll I'll pick ones that that I can go to and uh and we'll just we'll plan on uh um you know, just getting our staff together and having a shipping party like we do most years. So,
>> okay. All right. That' be that'd be perfect. I just kind of warned them of that um because you know we hadn't kind of figured that out yet. Um but I have to tell you every single district that
we take out a banner to um they love the banners. So and the board of education provides that to them and they they are beautiful banners. Thank you guys for doing that. you and Casey,
you guys, you just really make the make it kind of a nice event when you get to go there and hand them a banner and and they get to see them. So, >> Deb, next slide. >> Deb, if I may, I wasn't aware until uh
Nathan pointed it out that that was basically facilitated or funded by the state board of education. So, let me also say thank you. We we do love getting the banners and it's always meaningful uh to celebrate with the families. So, thank y'all for making that uh special for everybody.
>> It is. They are. They're very nice. And having worked in education for so many many years, I know anytime that a school gets to hang a banner that shows that they go above and beyond. That's always at a special occasion. So,
>> and Dr. Stevens has found herself muted again. She said to pass on her thanks and she let out a loud woohoo when all our schools were approved. So, uh, she's she's grateful and excited >> times. Yeah, I I love doing it, Deb. So, even, you know, whatever happens in the
future, if you all need a funky, I'm happy to help. >> All right. So, um, we've approved. So, uh, next slide. And Deanna, I think this is back to you again.
>> Yes. Yes. Um so um this is also posted on our Facebook page but it's the upcoming training dates that are available for people to take at no charge um through the national organization. There is the 101 for for
new people who aren't familiar with the con compact and that's Deb requires that as part of the uh process for purple star applications and then there's a refresher course 2011 um that people can take also and print a certificate off and post it in a prominent place in
their offices. So please share that out with uh people within your networks. Uh Josh, can we skip ahead to slide 31? Thank you. So, um this is just a
reminder as to where military children um are located in our state, but more than that, the locations that we have the one and two off military children that happen to be children of military recruiters.
So, um, while, uh, Nick was and I were having conversations about Purple Star School, this has always been something that, um, we have had challenges with is trying to get with the organizations who
have service members on recruiter duty in communities that do not have a military installation or have a well-known u military presence. And so, um, the ones that are not highlighted do not have an active duty or, um, guard,
um, presence in their communities. And so, Nick kind of captured this. This is, this is what our the big goal is is try to get, um, communities that have the one or maybe two off um, military
service members in their community. Um, now that Paris, where the Coast Guard is, is in my congressional district, I'm going to go visit them soon. So, um, next slide, please.
Um, thanks to the excellent work of our our participating school districts and also our school layone officers, our cases um this last year as far as people reaching out to Deb and I for help um
with placement of their children was very minimal, which thank you very much for that. That means that um the word's getting out that people are becoming more familiar with um the compact that the military installations are are
educating their service members and families on the compact and the tool and the benefits for them. But these were the three basic topics that we had um this past year. And the one that seems
to keep popping up every year um that is compact related is if a student takes a high school level course at their sending school that qualifies for high school credit. Um them keeping that
credit when they move on to the receiving school. And one of the biggest rules in the compact language is what you had what the credit you received at your sending school stays with you all the way through. but we were able to work with the school system and get
those resolved. Um, one that has also popped up and it's it it was more frequent during COVID, but it it still pops up from time to time where um students are transferring into Tennessee from a private or home school.
We we are strictly the compact language strictly applies to public school systems. So, we cannot um uh we cannot adopt or accept credit from a public or a private or homeschool program under
the compact language. Um next slide, please. Okay. Um the next several slides are just the statistics that I collect from uh DoD and DODIA every year um for you all to kind of see um where the impact
is. Um, it is constantly accumulating. So, I've included the link there. So, it update it updates real time. Here's the link in case you're curious to see where that money is um and how what how it falls. Next slide, please. Um, and then
the next several slides are statistics on the ages of active duty military children, the number of military children across the services, the number of guard reserve children. You just I'm sorry, Josh, go ahead.
You can tell I love a spreadsheet. Okay, next slide, please. Thank you. Um this Okay, you can pause here. So, um state council members received a survey from me um prior to October of last year
regarding the proposed uh dues increase that the state of Tennessee tax dollars um pay to the national organization for our membership and it's tied to statute. Um that is money that comes out of
Nathan's budget. Um, this is our history of of dues and this was based uh most recently for this current budget year on the $1.15 cents per active duty school age active duty military child that resides within the state of Tennessee.
Next slide. The dues increase did pass. It's a 4% increase um based on um the numbers uh of military children, active duty military children that were in our state
um at the end of 2025. And you can see it's a significant jump annually in um the amount of money that uh the state of Tennessee pays to the national organization. And just for clarification in case
people are not aware, um the nothing is funded for what Deb does or what I do for the compact. We're strictly volunteers. Nathan houses us. He covers uh the money that goes to the
national organization, but there are not operating funds um within the state budget for us. We we do this out of our love for military and children. And I'm not saying that to get out a pat on the back, but just want you to know that I'm
concerned about fiscal responsibility. Um much like other people are. And um based on the survey results that I received from the the members of our state council, I did register a no vote on the dues increase and I did state
that it was the majority decision. Um but it still passed. But I did get my my comment on the record. So, um, Nathan, I'm I think I sent this to you in advance so that you can kind of see how it was going to fall the next
several years. Um, next slide, please. Um, just a couple of pictures from this uh p the first slide is of Cararissa's Blueest Star Families event that we attended in April. And next slide, please. Couple of
highlights, literally highlights, colors um from uh purple up month um in McGomery County. Next slide, please. Um so our state recognized purple up day for month of the military child be
Wednesday, April 15th. And uh the on the the graphic to the left is the Clarksville McGomery County School Systems parent calendar where they actually put the date on the parent calendar. So knows at the beginning of this school year when purple update um
is in the school system in Clarksville McGomery County schools. Next slide please. Um just some ideas on what to do um for purple purple up month. Um, I would love it if each city represented here on this
call could get some kind of proclamation from your local government about month of the military child, whether it's at a city council meeting, a school board meeting, a county commission meeting. Um, if your state representative or state senator will record a video about
purple purple up month and post it or you all can share it on your Facebook pages. If you could get businesses or government buildings in your communities to light up purple for month of the military child. Um, the more stuff that you all do, the more awareness we get
about military children and the more I can brag on the state of Tennessee to the national organization. So these are some ideas um and the l the links are live so you can click them. Next slide please. Okay. And then this is our landing page that state board of
education hosts for us and keeps updated. As always there are resource links across the bottom. The link to get you to the toolkit for purple up month of the military child etc are accessible from our landing page. Um next slide
please. Okay. I do not believe we have public on. Next slide, please. Do any members have anything that they would like to uh mention or discuss pertaining to uh the military interstate
children's compact in Tennessee? >> Yeah, Dian, I had a question. Is there a sample proclamation that an organization might use to recognize purple up month? >> Yes, I I'll send it out to all of you. Um, I submit one to the local governments in Clarksville and McGomery
County each year. And yes, it's I can send a template if if you don't want to use it, don't use it. But yes, I'll I'll put that on my my doout list. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I do love what um Naval Activity Midsouth does with the signing of the
giant proclamation with the commander out there. I I love watching the pictures from that. But yes, I'll I'll send that out. Any other questions, discussion? All right. Well, thank thank you all so much for taking time out of your after a
month of school being closed time. Just kidding. Some of you it was two plus weeks. Um but uh with without you, we cannot continue to have um the level of knowledge about the compact across our state and our great partnerships. So,
thank you all so much. Um, if you need anything, you can email me and I will get a sample proclamation language out to you guys by, let's say, Monday. Okay, thank you all so much. Uh, thank you Josh for being our facilitator and
thank you Casey and Nathan for everything that you do for us. >> Thank you everybody.