001good evening my name is Amelia crony I am currently a senior at Brentwood High and I've attended Williamson County Schools since kindergarten my experience in this environment has allowed me to reach the top of my class as a happy well-adjusted individual and represent my County as a National Merit finalist I will be speaking against the discussions over removing Pride flags from schools in truth I scarcely ever encounter Pride flags at school however when I do I am filled with a sense of relief they let me know that I do not have to be continuously wary about speaking of my identity additionally a displayed pride flag serves as protection from bullying it lets students who would wish to cause me physical or verbal harm on the basis of my identity know that hate will not be
002tolerated it is it is recognized that lgbtq youth pay significantly worse mental health and suicide risk due to isolation and harassment Pride Flags displayed in schools Aid to lift this burden in a subtle but highly appreciated way therefore as a student of Williamson County Schools I am against the removal of Pride Flex thank you our next speaker is Laura C followed by Spencer List my name is Laura C I'm a resident of Franklin and a proud product of the Williamson County Schools the most valuable thing I learned in our excellent school system was the diversity of identities experiences and ideas my classmates teachers and I brought to our classrooms I learned alongside classmates whose families religious beliefs and backgrounds were quite different from my own and these skills have and learning how to get along
003with people from all different walks of life have served me really well in my life and career I'm disturbed by recent Trends in this County where a small group of mostly newcomers are trying to impose a vision of what they seem to think the Williamson County schools are exclusive bigoted and downright mean with this ugliness they seem to be determined to make a national embarrassment of Williamson County Schools This Time by wanting to ban small Flags in teachers classrooms seriously are we going to police the small personal touches that every teacher puts in their classroom look at every picture support for a football team whatever this is nuts and I hope that the board will stand with the values that I was raised with true Williamson County values of kindness welcome and room for difference
004value supported by the vast majority of our citizens thank you thank you our next speaker is Spencer List followed by Melanie McDaniel hi my name is Spencer List and I'm a senior at Independence High School a teacher who displays a pride flag sends the message that their classroom is an environment in which students are not heterosexual who are not heterosexual or cisgendered or valued a pride flag's purpose within a school is not to impose political ideology but to encourage and support diversity equity and inclusion a flag does not impose a certain sexuality or gender upon those who see it but reminds them that not everyone around them is heterosexual or cisgendered their pride flag allows lgbtq plus students to feel safe and supported by a teacher not favored a teacher acknowledging one group of students
005does not inherently mean that another group is not valid being lgbtq Plus in Williamson County is often an isolating experience so even something as simple as a pride flag can help those students not feel so alone it can be assigned to a student that their teacher is someone they can come to in times of need that their classroom is a place where they can be themselves that they are protected from bullies Salvador Dali said what is what is more important is to spread confusion not eliminate it there is nothing to be gained from eliminating lgbtq plus representation from Schools students already know it exists thank you apologies Melanie McDaniel is not here tonight so their next speaker is Eve Boger followed by Amy Duncan my name is Eve Boger and I'm here tonight representing Wilco
006Iris a non-profit organization that provides a safe space for queer Youth and their allies and serves students throughout this District I'm here to urge you to listen to lgbtq plus students who are telling you that seeing a pride flag in the classroom really matters to them to their mental well-being and to their perceived safety from bullying at school these visual affirmations are not part of any curriculum or teaching or discussion nor are they a political statement you will hear requests tonight from outside groups advocating for this board to enact a policy delineating what flags and symbols should be banned in the classrooms I would caution the board against enacting any type of policy that is pushed by outside groups allowing outside groups to dictate School Board policy sets a dangerous precedent please do not cave
007to this knee-jerk reaction and instead let's focus as we always have at Williamson County schools on building tolerance and inclusion amongst diverse groups thank you thank you our next speaker is Amy Duncan followed by Becca Ripley hi my name is Amy Duncan and I'm the mom of four kids and for the past 16 years we've lived here and raised our kids here in Williamson County and Franklin and Brentwood as our kids have grown up they've looked around to find out where they belong and for my LGBT kid have a pride flag in their classroom has meant a lot they look around they feel insecure they are struggling to find where they fit in and who their people are so it really means a lot and so I would just urge you all to listen to
008these students that are speaking to you tonight and to hear from me as a mom that this is not a flag that represents sex this is a flag that represents belonging love inclusion and so I just urge you to listen to the students thank you for your time tonight I work with Wilco Iris as well and we want to be a resource to you guys and so if you ever want to hear from our students and we would love for you to hear from our students please reach out and don't hesitate thanks thank you our next speaker is Becca Ripley followed by Avery cloud hi I'm Becca Ripley a parent of two grassland students I'm here tonight for the same reason as everyone else I want our students to feel safe confident and comfortable in
009their educational institutions and in our Williamson County community at Large I have deep concerns regarding the safety and support of our lgbtq plus community members especially our young ones for this reason I fly a pride flag in my yard last month my children and I pulled into our driveway to find all of our signs stolen and our inclusive pride flag beaten to the ground I had to report a hate crime to the police did I feel hated not really but I only had to imagine that residents of my home were part of the lgbtq plus Community we have a responsibility to to make our vulnerable community members less vulnerable we need to lead with compassion and acknowledgment of who they are that they belong and that they're loved for who they are there's no shortage
010of guidance available for talking to children in age-appropriate ways about the pride flag you can find all kinds of helpful information for example that pride is an acronym standing for personal rights and defense and education the you know what I was just going to quote some kids but we've got live ones doing it right here thank you thank you speaker is Avery Cloud followed by Lucy Wingo hi my name is Avery Cloud I'm a senior at Franklin High School and I represent Wilco Iris and when I walk around school I constantly have to look over my shoulder just to make sure that I fit in with the other students but when I walk into a classroom and my teacher has a pride flag up in their room I know that I have a space in
011that school that I can go to to truly be myself seeing a pride flag has no negative effect on any student the same way seeing a Spanish a Spanish flag in your Spanish teacher's room has no negative effect on a student most students don't even notice these Pride Flags but those that do are given a sense of security with the teacher that has it displayed something as simple as a pride flag has allowed me to be more comfortable with the teachers that have helped me through high school and there's no sensible reason to ban something that doesn't display any kind of negative message and does not have any kind of negative effect it's not about persuasion it's not about indoctrination it's about welcoming and acceptance please listen to the people that are actually in your
012schools thank you thank you our next speaker is Lucy Wingo followed by Lisa Church my name is Lucy Wingo I'm an 18 year old student at Franklin High School I'm here as not only a student but as a representation of many students who are tired I don't want to be standing here right now but I am because this group of people continues to antagonize and belittle an already marginalized minority of students that are just minding their business I guarantee anybody listening that the removal of the very few Pride Flags represented at WCS schools is not going to change anything about the lgbtq plus population at any of these schools it will only make them feel even more unsafe than they already have so now as children and students we have to step up and become
013the adults that provide these children with a safe and accepting Community where they don't feel threatened or endangered because spouting this rhetoric and this appeal about the influence of our community has been done time and time again these kids are already bullied what on Earth gives you the right to come here and make our lives and just to take time out of our Lives just to re-emphasize the fact that we are not welcome we're not going anywhere we have a strong Community full of love and acceptance and equality and I am grateful for the lgbtq plus community that Williamson County has provided me thank you our next speaker is Lisa turich followed by Elliot Franklin good evening y'all my name is Lisa Church my boys went through Brentwood School skills Brentwood middle Brentwood High loved
014them name me a teenager that doesn't have angst hormones are surging trying to figure out who they are where they're going what they're going to be why in the world do we need to have a pride flag in the classroom to make kids feel like they're safe doesn't that mean that the teachers that don't choose to put a pride flag up are unsafe why do we have unsafe teachers in Williamson County oh my political action committees Pax we don't need to have any politics Pride pack no it says politics to me equality pack Equity pack Ricky's Pride Human Rights Campaign and the black lives matter pack we do not need politics in the classroom we do not need teachers being pitted against each other because one chooses to have a flag and another one doesn't
015every teacher needs to make two students feel safe we do not need Flags in the classroom thank you our next speaker is Elliot Franklin followed by Rory rothschalk good evening TCA 49 6101 sets for certain requirements regarding the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the American flag in Tennessee Public Schools the U.S flag represents Unity Freedom equality patriotism courage sacrifice hope and resilience however other flags in the classroom such as the pride flag could be distracting and might even cause increased bullying last week alone Two school boards approved a new flag policy for all school buildings in Temecula and Central Glen California that only the U.S and state flags be allowed I ask that WCS consider a similar policy speaking of bullying I noticed that the work session a few members mentioned bullying statistics
016might be incorporated into the superintendent's annual goals I think that's a great idea and there was also mention of cyber bullying which again I think should be included however there are current board members who have been reported to the chair and the board attorney for cyber bullying with screenshots and nothing is done we also have Sitting board members who continue to harass community members such that one neighbor even had to relocate nothing was done I look forward to hearing your positive resolution to these items in the near future thank you thank you our next speaker is Rory rothschalk and followed by Ashley Webster the I just want to speak to the same issue that everyone is speaking to tonight from a different point of view the United Nations and several of its agencies the World
017Health Organization the international Planned Parenthood Federation the U.S Department of Justice the National Education Association the American Library Association the American school counselor Association and many others really are all at work to promote the concept of childhood sexual education which even has its own acronym CSE as appropriate for public school children it seems to me the pride Community has attached itself to this concept as well considering childhood as the appropriate time in the public schools has an appropriate location appropriate appropriate setting to introduce their particular set of ideas in my opinion when displayed in a classroom a pride Flag represents agreement with the idea that the public school classroom is an appropriate location for the sexualization of children the significant list of organizations mentioned I think my time's out thank you yes thank you our
018next speaker is Ashley Webster followed by Stephanie Bishop hi I'm Ashley Webster I live in Franklin and my kids attended Williamson County Schools I do think moms for Liberty is funded by a Pac so I'm confused by that remark earlier and I think child sexual education is about preventing child abuse so we'll get back to that depending on whether Flags where they fly flags can represent Freedom or control danger or safety a red flag on a beach means it's not safe to swim a white flag on a battlefield means it's time to surrender a pennant flag might bear the name of a person's alma mater or the college their child goes to these are symbols like the ones we might wear on a lapel pin or sticker on our car people who are in the
019same group recognize it and they feel a shared sense of belonging these six colors arranged just like this can be a symbol for the gay and queer Community for those of you who remember when MTV very first one on the air it can also be confused for the color bars on cable TV but when a symbol of this size is posted among a teacher's personal effects it shows students that they're safe my brother did not come out till he was 34 years old because he did not have these symbols thank you our next speaker is Stephanie Bishop followed by Matthew Spencer no Stephanie Bishop okay sorry my name is Stephanie Bishop I'm actually a Franklin High graduate many moons ago but I'm still reside here and had a son who just graduated last year from
020Centennial but I'm also a mom and I'm a mom for Liberty because I believe in Freedom for all people not just the select group that I agree with and I believe in keeping Kids Safe our schools have children who are marginalized for reasons that include their sexual preference they do not feel safe as do the majority of the population who do not lack affirmation who are and who are in fact safe I appreciate a teacher's recognition that all kids have a right to feel safe and I honor teachers exercising this freedom and their right to express as much placing a flag in a room is a small gesture to tell a marginalized child they are seen they are safe and it's a huge step toward creating a Better Learning environment for that child to remove
021that flag would be taking an intentional step to remind that child that they should remain in the margin that they should remain hidden and that they are not safe my opinion on what the child thinks of their sexuality is not my business but protecting them in school so they can learn should be all our business and this board's business thank you thank you our next speaker is Matthew Spencer followed by Genevieve pajos thank you I'm here tonight to speak in support of a teacher's First Amendment right to have a pride flag in their classroom regardless of whether you believe as I do that someone or that excuse me that who someone loves or how they choose to identify themselves is nobody's business but their own or whether you have a different point of view on
022it the fact is that the first amendment applies to everyone and that includes teachers this teacher was not teaching anything or discussing anything off curriculum they simply had a flag that expresses a different point of view than what some parents share but that other parents do that is the teacher's right under the First Amendment just like it is those parents right to have the differing point of view if the school board took actions to require the teacher to move the flag that would be the government overreaching and treading on the rights of the individual and where does that stop is it Flags in classrooms is it bumper stickers on cars that come on school properties bumper stickers i've had plenty of conversations with my kids the most interesting of which was what is let's go
023Brandon mean Flags bumper stickers all of these things they are present there are conversations that we have to have and what we need to tell our students and our children is that in this country we value the rights thank you our next speaker is Genevieve pahos followed by Marie felhauer yep if everybody could hold Applause until maybe all speakers are done that would help me facilitate and help everybody be able to hear their names called so this speaker is Genevieve pay house and our next speaker is Marie felhauer I urge the school board to stand for Unity and not Division I am here tonight because we are seeing flags that promote sexuality gender ideology and racial division popping up in classrooms throughout our County in my daughter's school I know of a math teacher as
024well as a Stars counselor that had it on display I am not here demanding that you put flags up in classrooms that Express straight Pride or my personal religious beliefs I am not here to attack anyone's personal beliefs or lifestyle choices I am here asking that we show mutual respect for each other's beliefs it is my recommendation that the school board do what many have done throughout the country and put a policy in place allowing only the American and state flags in classrooms flags that truly unite us all regardless of your gender race religion or sexuality we are all United and represented under the American flag I don't understand how this is controversial it is very simple when in a public school setting that is paid for with tax dollars personal beliefs ideologies religion should
025not be pushed on other people's children I again urge the school board to stand for Unity and not to Vision thank you thank you our next speaker is Marie felhauer followed by Tristina craft good evening my name is Marie felhauer and liberal Williamson County group leader for moms for America and I also have a child in the Williamson County School District I find it interesting that in my professional career if colleagues were to talk about sex in the workplace it was considered sexual harassment and could cause a hostile work environment under the federal equal employment opportunity laws meant to protect the work environment shouldn't we extend that same protection to our children and their learning environment furthermore flag is displayed in school should be inclusive rather than exclusive for example the American flag since nearly
026all students are American or at very least being educated in America by American schools values are taught and discussed in the home by parents and family let's protect our children sex and sexual desire should not be discussed between teacher and student but rather between a parent and their child as was codified in 1979 that the U.S Department of Education was established by law and a key highlight was parents have the primary responsibility for education of their children thank you we have three remaining speakers they are Tristina craft and then Deborah Bernal and then Lynn Holcomb good evening my name is Tristina craft and I'm a resident of Franklin and a mother of a second and a fourth grader I'm here tonight to speak in opposition of the pride flag in classrooms and specifically anywhere on
027school grounds why is there a flag displayed in a publicly funded school that announces someone's sexual preference or ideology you hear the debate that Pride's Flag represents unity and creates a safe place for all to be welcome there is nothing that creates unity in this flag in fact it creates a divisive and hostile representation that one group is superior to others the U.S flag represents all of us here in the United States of America and as a country we pledge our respect and allegiance to by which this in the state of Tennessee flag are the only Flags flown and displayed at any school or publicly funded grounds we see what is happening all over our country and sadly the attempt in our own backyard to try and push an ideology on our children the very
028vulnerable fabric of our society announcing your sexual preference and your gender ideology belongs in the home not an educational institution we do not pay our taxes to our teachers administrators to push their views thoughts feelings or whatever on our children and students the class room is non-based non-biased neutral public setting where the only matter that should be conducted is to teach approved curriculum period thank you our next two speakers and I was just notified that we have two individuals who did check in and those are romante Hamer and Heather Bulan I'm going to go ahead and proceed with Deborah Bernal next and then Lynn Holcomb and then we'll call up our final two Williamson County School Board it has come to my attention that your Vice chair is the VP of state and government relations
029at Pfizer my name is Debbie Bernal and I am one of the two whistleblowers at Pfizer that helped reveal the link between myocarditis and the MRNA vaccine I also helped expose Dr Jordan Tristan Walker who is on camera saying I quote why don't we mutate the virus ourselves end quote quote that is not what we say to the public end quote quote covid is a cash cow end quote a revolving door for government officials it's good for the pharmaceutical industry that's you Mr Vice chair but bad for America end quote because quote The Regulators are not going to be as harsh on Pfizer so my question today for the vice chair and I'm sure all of the parents here of Williamson County would like to know does Jordan Tristan Walker still work at Pfizer thank
030you thank you our next speaker is Lynn Holcomb followed by ramonte Hamer and our last speaker will be Heather bulin hi thank you my name is Lynn Holcomb and I had four kids all went through William Williamson County Schools as well I live in Brentwood now I am also here to speak in opposition of Pride flags being in the classroom I do not believe I've several number of Educators and principals all over the country in my family and I just don't believe teach for teachers should Advocate to students regarding their personal beliefs on any political or social policy matter which would include displaying a flag in their classroom that Advocates a certain political or social policy issue our school district's role is to teach our students how to think not what to think and Williamson
031County did a great job teaching my kids how to think but we should never start teaching our kids what to think thank you very much thank you our next speaker is ramonte Hamer followed by Heather bilin the Vermont Hamer Senator Kennedy last week he had a hearing and at that hearing he read aloud two books one genderqueer another was all boys aren't blue and he read a next group that said little boy gingerly got on his knees and prepared to suck his first penis it was meant for children now there was an individual at the panel that spoke up and said Senator Kennedy your definition of sexual is actually synonymous with lgbtq identity that is a flag as well that we want to hang in in a classroom so that I say to that I
032say this y'all what I hear a request from people to allow adult teachers not related to these students therefore strangers to affirm the sexual proclivities of a minor in a place specifically designed for learning this is a moral issue this is not just a flag American flag can hold everyone thank you hello my name is Heather bulin and I'm here tonight to bring awareness to an issue happening near my home in the Trinity Elementary School area at the beginning of the month construction began we went down and read the boards the permit said there was a Waterway TDOT project happening due to the highway 96 Road widening project several days later pulling out of my neighborhood there was a 200 foot monopole cell tower that had been put up even though we didn't receive any
033notice that this would be happening we spent the next week kind of neighbors and I trying to figure out why did they pick this place that's right on the corner of the elementary school adjacent to the baseball and softball fields and across from my neighborhood and we found out that the county received funding to create Wireless Broadband throughout the county I immediately started researching implications of that tower being so close to the school and I was really shocked that credible organizations like the American Cancer Society American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization Institute for Cancer all agree that the studies that we have funded that are very credible are inconclusive and we just don't have evidence right now that these towers are safe I'm asking you to support the mayor who agrees we
034should move it to the back of the property away from the school thank you to every public speaker who came tonight and I realized that even condensing your commentary down to a minute is tough and everybody did that so I really appreciate your efforts there and thank you so much again for showing up our next item and if you guys are Desiring to stay for the meeting yep you're welcome to stay or if you're Desiring to leave after public comment you are welcome thank you are on the list yeah we didn't have you checked in don't start yet really okay these board members do we have any objection to allowing unchecked members of the public to go ahead and speak if they've not checked in yes sir an unchecked in member of the public they're
035supposed to check in prior to the meeting if they've signed up to speak at the meeting we ask the council if there's a legal reason to or not to okay thank you thank you I can thank you okay I'm Carol Neuhauser and I was here last month and I'm again speaking I think we have to take our minds off those issues about young children and I'm sharing today I'm sharing with you parts of the email that I sent to Dr Sarah Morrison executive director of the Tennessee Board of Education because it is a concise review of what we were discussing last month according and this may be a repetition according to brain research children are not physically able to think logically until the age of eight which is where a subject matter curriculum should begin
036not K3 I am proposing a human growth in development curriculum which creates the needed brain structure for a subject matter curriculum and until the brain has developed this internal structure to think logically much of the learning is memorization not understanding all children in the primary grades need more Hands-On concrete experiences because the brain has not fully been fully developed thank you children with you know I don't okay I'll just show you my VA this is what people say what is concrete experience this is something that's concrete experience thank you more senses you can touch it you can see it you can move it this is what we are giving our K1 people not all of them but some of many thank you missy thank you Miss nihana okay we'll have to not thank you thank
037you appreciate you did we have someone else who signed up can you sign no you signed up to speak today we have to be on on the confirmed list can I let if I can get your name I'll check the sign up list real quick okay thanks what's your name Robin I don't I don't have you sorry Robin what was your name I think I saw your name yes yes I gotcha Danielle thank you okay go ahead thank you hello hi I'm here tonight because I don't think it's appropriate for government employees in our public schools to promote sexual Lifestyles to Children there's clearly a mainstream movement in our country to move sexual ideology or to push sexual ideology on children my professional background is in healthcare including Healthcare policy for my time working at
038a prominent Medical Association in Washington DC when I say pushing sexual ideologies I want you to understand I mean exactly that this is an ideology originating in the field of sexology with horrific Roots including the abusive children the terms of gender identity in general were first coined by Dr John money a sexologist his work to prove his perverse hypothesis included raising a young man with mutilated genitalia is a woman enforcing that young man to engage in simulated sex with his brother as they were growing up both men later killed themselves the ideology is being pushed in our children today are rooted in that work that's the science that supports these Notions do you think it's appropriate for government employees to push those ideologies on our children obviously it's not the flying of any Flags other
039than the U.S or Tennessee state flags should be banned thank you again thank you again to everyone who came for a public comment we are now moving on to our items on the agenda first item is the approval of the agenda do I have any motions for the approval of agenda thank you Mr Welch and do I have a second Mr Priya thank you any discussion over the agenda tonight the board so I can see the names super thank you okay no discussion board members Mr Golden do we have I do recommend approval asked your votes and Mr Mitchell accept your vote now my vote is to approve thank you your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you we have approval to move forward with our agenda next item on the agenda is approval
040of the consent agenda do I have a motion and any discussion okay no discussion we can move on to vote Mr Mitchell we'll take you my vote is to approve thank you your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you and with the approval of the consent agenda we approved the August 21st 2023 school board meeting minutes the board policies for second reading code of conduct approval of collaborative conferencing team the calendar committee membership the budget preparation timeline the e-plans Ida idea partnership for systemic change the approval of the e-plans rescue plan act funds and recommendation for field trip field trip fee requests next item on the agenda is the communications to the board Mr golden thank you madam chair and thank you board members I spent maybe an hour or so at our work
041session given a given a superintendent's report we touched on a number of issues that we know are coming from the state level had some discussions about County government issues including some of the work they're doing for a new to fund a new Juvenile Detention Facility and an ALC and we also spoke to some of our issues here with with our school board I'm not going to go back through those I'd certainly encourage those of you who are here to go back and look at our work session if you'd like to go through some of that detail I do want to mention a few things first of all I want to reiterate what our chairwoman said when she spoke to our public comment thank you all for your comments it is important for this school board
042and it's been true for many many years that we do open the floor for public comment and it's not restricted based on top that are on the agenda but it's it's a broad opening and many of you mentioned questions about particular policies and there's nothing on tonight's agenda certainly encourage you all to stay engaged and involved in everything we do it's interesting to me that the state law actually was passed just this past year requiring public comment at voting meetings and our board has been doing it for years so we do continue to encourage you all to share from a substantive standpoint we know that from the board perspective the question that largely was discussed today is related to the First Amendment and the parameters that we have under the federal government and I encouraged
043you all at our work session to have conversations with our attorneys who advise us on constitutional issues and we're going to continue to seek that advice to make sure that we as a public entity operate within the parameters that are established for us under the Constitution because we all know that's our responsibility and in fact that's part of the oath that we've taken for the work that we do that we'll make sure we honor that honor the Constitution again we had some discussion about that at the work session and I encourage folks to to review that and I know some of you members have had those conversations directly with our with our board attorneys and I certainly encourage you to continue to do that as these important issues that that reflect the national discussion come
044up from time to time in schools and I want to also finally acknowledge in that context we appreciate folks talking to the school board because what we're doing here is important and we want to continue to hear from our community in about those issues that are important to you as well because we recognize the importance of that it's interesting that one of the items that we've heard from our County government is that people come here for the schools and we want to make sure that we're good stewards of the of of the work that's been done before us to make sure we continue that aim towards excellence to that point I want to let you know that Dr David Snowden from Franklin Special School District and I are giving our annual state of the school's
045report to the chamber members the day after tomorrow at a at a lunch meeting I certainly encourage those of you who have already gotten those those those tickets I suppose to attend that's one upcoming item that we have that is a significant share us over the course of each year I want to mention a couple of celebrations that we had just recently we last night actually yesterday afternoon had our ribbon cuttings for our two new elementary schools thank you board members for coming those are great events as we celebrated our two new schools in the Arrington area and in Spring Hill at Arrington Elementary and Amanda North Elementary and just before the meeting we had the Brentwood choir sing and celebrate with us so we actually don't have any student or staff spotlights this month
046for those of you who are in attendance every month we celebrate state or national awards for our students and and our faculty members we know that we have had been had 81 students named National Merit semifinalists but we wait to celebrate until the finalist list has come out so we'll make sure we do that when that time comes so with that I committed to myself I was going to keep my superintendent's report short since we've spent so much time at the work session Madam chair thank you Mr Golden now next item on the agenda is the board chair report and I just want to say thank you again to the board for your for your vote tonight as your board chairman I'm very honored and humbled to be your board chairman and I want to
047also just review voting procedures because we have had some discussion about the voting procedures and I don't think we've ever really talked about the process in fact I had to learn this last year sitting up here so I thought it would be a good opportunity for anyone interested to understand the voting procedures and let you know that I'm going to tweak just a little bit the way we've been doing it if it's okay with the board just from a process perspective thank you to Mr Wimberly for talking through this last time with me but typically what we'll say is the next item on the agenda is something you know so next item coming up will be new business then we'll say do we have a motion but that's typically been our process throughout the year
048and then we'll open the floor for discussion and by the way after we get the motion we have to get that second motion open the floor for discussion have that discussion if there's no further discussion we'll ask Mr Golden for his recommendation and then the board will proceed to a vote that's been the typical process there is some preference to move Mr Golden's recommendation up underneath the voting matter before we open the floor for emotion because it could actually impact the motion or even discussion items so moving up Mr Golden's recommendation before motion and discussion so if the board is not opposed I'm just going to make that slight tweak in process to grab Mr Golden's recommendation first Miss Apria conversation that would possibly change the recommendation after the original motion is made with that
049impact thing things or would we get a new recommendation after the conversation that's a great question and I know Mr Wimberley has always been a good one about even asking for a follow-up recommendation after some long discussion so I would imagine yes we should still get a follow-up recommendation in case Mr Golden changes his mind after the discussion okay and then Mr Mitchell we see you with your hand raised thank you madam chair so I'm kind of in agreement with with Miss Supriya there that a lot of times the discussions and the comments are directed towards director superintendent golden right and so if he offers his opinions on at the beginning then I feel like we're kind of at a battle to truly engage him in the discussion as well or or at least to
050get to potentially sway his opinion to that of of where each individual board member who is making a comment might would like his opinion to go so I don't have a problem with the way we've been doing it and it is it does kind of come after our discussions and it and it allows him to add his opinion at the end as well but at a minimum if we're going to start the discussion with with Mr Golden's guidance or opinion then maybe we need are we going to close the discussion with his with his afterthoughts as well and then does that not kind of take away from really what the board is here to do in the first place which is kind of make make decisions that speaking on behalf of the community with Mr
051Golden's guidance included so that's kind of I'm I'm a little hesitant to change how we've been doing it but I'll I'll follow whatever approach Madam chair would like to take here thank you for your comments Mr Mitchell Mr Cash I'll let you hello thank you madam chair I kind of agree with Elliot we all know coming out of the work session what What's going to be discussed we may change our mind a little bit but I don't think Mr Golden should be given his opinion in the beginning and then coming back and giving it again that could sway opinions may or may not making it a true board decision if you will watch him yeah okay Mr Welch interesting idea both ways I can see the benefits to both in in you know understand's point
052about swaying opinions but I don't have a problem with that I think taking the superintendent's opinion into consideration if that sways something I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing but I do wonder about having the conversation and the debate in more of a neutral environment at the get-go at the outset of it rather the question I have on it is verify with these discussions there's amendments made to and change the direction so if we have the superintendent's recommendation and then an amendment is made that changes what he's being what he's been asked to make a recommendation on and so what happens in those cases so it didn't invalidate recognition at that point Brown thank you I don't have an issue with doing that I guess the question I would ask is the information or
053the item that's on the agenda presumably is on there because the superintendent has put it on there so can we are we starting with an assumption that an item on here is something that he's recommending by virtue or the fact that it's on the agenda is that a built-in assumption if I may speak to that often that's the case I don't know that it's a hundred percent there may be some requirement of a particular vote but to your point very often that is for what it's worth I Mr Cash's comments have been my experience as well that we have some discussion at the work session and we have a pretty good idea of those items that might be potentially a debatable item versus something that's become a routine based on the discussion I will say
054I suspect I've contributed to this a little bit because sometimes I'll just say recommend approval for what appears to be a routine item and then wait for some others so I think one one one issue that our chair was looking to standardize was in essence to go one way or the other with that rather than have that judgment call Mr Mitchell do you have another question or comment yes yes if I can get off of mute thank you madam chair so one final thought here is that if I feel like if Jason gives his recommendation at the begin before debate on the formal debate has been done then is he not kind of implying that the debate carries no weight with him and so I'm maybe he can give give some guidance or he can
055give some some opinions and hold a recommendation to the end but if we if if I mean Jason is Jason is the is an employee and a report of this full board and for him to give his recommendation before he hears the formal feedback from his board in my opinion kind of diminishes the value of our feedback thank you Mr Mitchell great points in Miss Cleveland yes I agree with Elliot there there have been times where we are assuming just through the work session that the superintendent is going to approve prove the recommendation and but through our discussions he realizes has realized that maybe we have to go back to the drawing board and so then he changes his opinion at the end based on our debate and realizes well this is something we really
056have to think about again and go back to the drawing board to the work session and redo it and so that's why I think the value of the recommendation at the end of the debate versus prior thank you Miss Clemons thank you madam chair just for clarity when we at or when we hear a super golden superintendent Golden's opinion on how we should vote that is not policy but School Board Norm correct okay and so I just wanted to iterate that and also I kind of agree with Mr Mitchell and Miss Cleveland that I kind of like it on the back end just because I think it gives a chance to hear especially after the work session to hear our debate here too so thoughts since I guess I brought this up I frankly don't
057care where his recommendation is we're the school board we can always ask him questions throughout and we have the final say because we have the vote what I do think is important though is that we get a brief explanation from the superintendent about what the item is it's benefits the public it benefits us whether he gives a recommendation then or later I don't know that it really matters in my opinion so it sounds like the majority of the board is okay with the process we've been following which is keeping Mr Golden's recommendation further down in the process so keeping that after we've had some discussion and let him weigh in on his recommendation is we'll just take like a show of hands do we want to keep it as is the way we've been doing
058this process if that's cool yeah okay I see Elliot's hand nice and big if that we'll just stay as is and if any at any point in time we need to make an adjustment please let me know and we can always ask Mr Golden for his opinion before we enter into discussion discussion as well okay thank you for that we just wanted to clarify that the process is indeed helpful to you as you make important decisions okay and that is all I have sorry for the extended report next item on the agenda is new business and the first item under new business is the 2023-2024 school board budget and under that is the approval of the general purpose School fund Public School Safety Grant in the amount of 1.7 million dollars Mr golden thank you
059madam chair this is as as it shows a 1.7 million in change grant for safety this is one of the commitments the state of Tennessee's legislature made to to increase funding for school safety in this most recent legislative season a large portion of the of this grant will be used towards access controls and we had some other shares earlier at the work session related to that if you have any questions certainly open to it I may ask Mr King to reply as well paper do we have a motion for approval Mr Beasley and Mr Welch thank you we'll open the floor for discussion no discussion we'll proceed to vote oh oh let me break them up he's testing you no Mr Golden do you have a recommendation recommend approval yeah thank you now we can
060move to vote Mr Mitchell I vote in favor of this change thank you your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you School Board voted to approve the general purpose School fund Public School Safety Grant and the amount of 1.7 million dollars next item on the agenda is board policies for first reading first policy is Charter School authorizing principles Mr golden thank you madam chair this is the first of six proposed policies from the Tennessee school boards Association to address the details of Charter School applications approvals evaluations Etc and this is first of two readings based on our policy policy that addresses how we choose policies okay do we have a motion for approval Miss Clemons thank you in a second Mr Cash thank you we'll open the floor for discussion if no discussion Mr
061Golden will accept your recommendation recommend approval thank you board members let's cast our votes Mr Mitchell my vote is to approve thank you your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you with that approval we passed the charter school application first reading next item is Charter School agreements Mr Golden if I may Madam chair I think the next item is actually charter school applications item two cross that up thank you madam chair Charter School applications this is the one board policy that's actually been in our policies up to this point regarding charter schools so we have some proposed adjustments based upon the tsba recommendations thank you do we have a motion Mr Pria thank you in a second Mr Welch thank you we'll open the floor for discussion okay no discussion Mr Golden what's your
062record you recommend approval board members let's cast our votes Drew Mitchell thank you madam chair my vote is to approve your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you the board just approved Charter School applications next item on the agenda is Charter School agreements Mr golden thank you madam chair third item related to what I've already discussed thank you accept emotion Mr Priya thank you and do we have a second Mr Beasley thank you we'll open the floor for discussion looks like no discussion Mr Golden what's your recommendation we recommend approval thank you members let's cast our votes okay Mr Mitchell thank you madam chair my vote is to approve your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you motion pass to approve Charter School agreements next item is Charter School oversight Mr golden thank
063you madam chair this is the policy related to oversight once a charter is approved thank you do we have a motion for approval the Priya thank you and a second please thank you we'll open the floor for discussion Mr Cash thank you madam chair Mr Golden I was wondering what these new policies I mean these are the first readings and you know we generally always go to a second but just for the purpose of the folks out here can you just kind of give a rough overview of why we've got four new policies here thank you Mr Cash the Tennessee school boards Association makes recommendations to school boards for policies sometimes in compliance with the law and sometimes recommendations just to make sure that the workflows appropriately in this example the Tennessee law detailing Charter
064Schools is pretty extensive and traditionally we and many other school districts across the state have had one policy the tsba is recommended that we add multiple policies to address each section of a charter school process whether it's the application process all the way potentially to revocation in policy I noticed that these particular policies actually have a lot more citations to the law at the bottom of them than they typically do and it's largely because of that detail of the law so the intent and recommendation of tsba is to have the detail of that process in each District's policy manual so it's easier to find sure thank you and we have some comments from Mr Mitchell can't hear you yet my apologies a couple of clicks to get off the mute so Mr Golden can does
065this policy does this new oversight policy prohibit us from abdicating our oversight responsibility and passing that onto the state On Any Given charter school where we feel like we for instance if we the vote twice to deny it and the state overrules us and then we feel like we should not have the responsibility oversight if we didn't recommend it to be in place first place thank you Mr Mitchell my understanding is know that in that setting then it would become a state oversight but I would like to double check with Miss osbrooks to confirm that thank you authorizer then there's oversight by the Williamson County School Board Miss osbrooks if the Williamson County School Board does not authorize it and it's authorized at the state level then the school board does not have oversight responsibility
066correct all right so we don't have that by default or we have to take action to to pass that responsibility back to the state oversight specifically so the way that the new or updated state School Board rule reads Mr Mitchell is that if Williamson County Board of Education authorizes a public charter school then this board would have oversight in certain parameters if there is a charter school application that is denied twice by this board and then authorized by the state of Tennessee then the state of Tennessee would have similar oversight parameters so it really will depend upon who authorizes the chart Public Charter School as to then who has the oversight responsibility so I'm asked one more clarifying question if I might Madam chair miss all Brooks what I heard you say is that the
067state would also have oversight does the state have have have solitary oversight in that case where the District board would had denied it twice in the state approved it then the oh then oversight is removed from the local board and is solitary at the state level is that correct the yes I do want to clarify one piece if the Williamson County Board of Education denies the application twice there is no oversight by the Williamson County Board of Education okay regardless of what the state commission does with the application okay thank you very much that was really my question thank you Mr Mitchell there's no further discussion we'll accept Mr Golden's recommendation do recommend approval thank you board members let's cast our votes Mr Mitchell thank you madam chair my vote is to approve thank you
068your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you that motion passed to approve the charter school oversight policy next item on the agenda is Charter School intervention and revocation policy thank you madam chair this is the second to last of the proposed policies for intervention and revocation and certainly open any questions you may have about this one have a motion Tria thank you in a second Mr Welch thank you we'll open the floor for discussion okay no discussion we will get Mr Golden's recommendation and then move to vote recommended approval thank you for members let's cast our votes Mr Mitchell my vote is to approve thank you your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you motion pass to approve charter school and intervention and revocation policy next item is the charter school renewal final
069policy in this set Mr golden thank you madam chair this is the policy that's really the opposite end of the spectrum from the revocation policy the charter school renewal process thank you do we have a motion for approval Mr Welch thank you Mr Priya seconds thank you open the floor for discussion looks like we have no discussion Mr Golden your recommendation recommended approval oh oh sorry we have some discussion just yeah just as it flashed there that there's a word a letter missing in the word performance in one of the headings I may Madam chair we'll do a double check on typographical errors leading to the second reading okay I might have a question go ahead yes thank you thank you and this kind of goes to to the intervention and revocation as well so
070I'm assuming the dot 904 and the dot 905 policies are only for charter schools that we have approved and have oversight for within our local District can I get clarification for that please yes I'm going to just make sure just for clarity's purposes yes you got clarification and the answer is yes these only apply if we are the authorizer and the over and providing oversight for them that's correct Mr Golden your recommendation was to approve recommend approval with that with that typographical correction okay board members we can move to a vote Mr Mitchell my vote is to approve your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you and that motion passed to approve the charter school renewal policy and next item on the agenda is approval of board parameters for the school calendar for next
071year Mr golden thank you madam chair our annual agenda calls for you as a board to approve the board parameters for the for next year's school calendar year after year I will give you a little bit of a synopsis of the discussion at the work session there's much discussion about the parameters that the committee itself uses with the emphasis on an instructionally sound calendar we've also had a little bit of discussion about the holiday periods and So based on the discussion we do not have any particular parameter recommendations for you in the memo reflects that yeah thank you Mr Golden do we have a motion to approve thank you Miss Cleveland and Miss Clements seconds that thank you and Miss Cleveland would like to discuss that matter yes thank you madam chair do we know
072on this calendar will be going out are we expecting it before the holidays thank you Miss Cleveland I'm trying to remember the schedule off the top of my head if I may January it's on the annual agenda for January there have been times where we've been able to get it done before then and so to your point I'll have that discussion with Dr Webb who chairs the committee and ask about that schedule and give you make sure that I give you all notice of their projected time I appreciate it thank you discussion Mr Golden you have a recommendation okay super thank you board members we can proceed to a vote and Mr Mitchell thank you madam chair my vote is to approve your vote is 10 yes zero no thank you motion pass to approve
073board parameters for the school calendar for next year and our final agenda item is superintendent's goals and objectives for 2023-2024 thank you madam chair we had discussion about the proposed superintendent goals which actually in my contractor described as system goals and have a deadline of October for establishment of them so we're a month ahead we've tried to get these done a little bit ahead so that we can get to work on them and based on the feedback that we had at the work session we've broken that the recommendation up into three main sections with two sub recommendations for transportation one a short-term recommendation into a longer term recommendation and I want us I want to specifically mention that because that was that was just based on the discussion what I am proposing is that we
074have a pilot where we look at a region and make some substantial changes in a region in essence to see if there are ways that we can improve improve the speed of our service trading out some of the convenience and see how that looks before we make a system-wide recommend recommended change later on in the school year also related to that the recommendations as a whole we've added in some some time deadlines for you as well super do we have a recommendation for approval motion thank you Mr Cash thank you and do we have a second Mr Priya thank you yes sir I think we've only discussed one item are we approving this by paragraph four as one oh as one the entire it seems like we ought to get Mr Norman's comments on the
075rest of the tools thank you Mr Wimberley so I started with number one our strategic plan execution and I mentioned to you all that really we know that strategic plan drives us think back to the community inputs sections and meetings that we had I can't remember how many total I think it was maybe 19 Total Community meetings when we went through the process so I've become convinced that our number one annual goal needs to be related to the Strategic plan in essence the core of this recommended goal is to have an action step process largely with Community input I'll let you all know at the work session that our leadership team met and looked at each one of those individual objectives and 16 out of the 28 objectives if I'm not mistaken it became very
076apparent that the right thing to do is to have Community input to help establish those action steps so that proposed goal reflects that with then we'll have action step plans I got to share this one other little piece since since I got the prompt when our leadership team met on these we had to keep on reminding ourselves because we got anxious to get to the work that this is a five-year plan and and we want to make sure that our community is engaged in each one of these that really demands and calls for Community input and finally that's a substantial change from what Williamson County schools has done in the past with our with our strategic plans making sure that we have that community put not just at the beginning but throughout our process of
077reaching those goals safety planning is our number three and we talked at the work session about that being a fundamental core area that we need to concentrate on every year the state has increased funding for us this year and really in an unprecedented way and we felt like it was important to have a goal specifically related to safety we've had many conversations about student safety and the important layers of safety you've often heard me say there's no substitute for people and when I say that I'm talking about our sros about our Law Enforcement Officers the state of Tennessee for the first time universally has has initiated some funding for sros that funding actually specifically goes to our Sheriff's Office seventy five thousand dollars per building that they can staff with sros I signed off on
078that was a requirement of the of the of the sheriff's Grant and so it's really a team effort but we want to make sure that the work that we can do with the funding we have from the state is focused on what we see as our next most important layer that needs work and that's Access Control Mr Mitchell did you have some questions you're still me I did let me find my mouse and get off off a mute here so two things on on this I would I would ask Madam chair that we put in a calendar reminder to review these goals mid-year and make sure that there's that we don't need to add something else or that they have it changed we know that is we set goals at the beginning of the year
079sometimes by mid-year end of the year our priorities and that we thought we were going to have have been changed second thing and this has kind of been a continual point of mind that I haven't really been successful I don't feel like I've been successful in achieving is that I believe we need that these goals need to have evaluation questions when we do superintendent Golden's evaluation at the end of the year we need to have questions specific to these goals and I don't think we've ever had that frankly so I don't suggest that we change the evaluations whole heart completely but at a minimum ad our ability to give feedback specific to miss Mr Golden's work accomplishments sure heaven forbid shortcomings on these goals through the year thank you I you know I know you
080asked Mr cook a question about flexibility to amend that yeah at that time when we established the evaluation tool that's certainly on the table thank you thank you Mr Mitchell and Mr Welch thank you so I think these are well thought out goals with you know some measurable metrics being added in here I like that we had the safety planning in there nothing more important that we can do than make sure that our kids are physically mentally emotionally safe but I think I'm going to vote no on it just because again I it's it's missing the academic goal on it that I mentioned and I think we need to have first things first on it and we get two sidetracked with I think things that maybe generate more noise than in than our equivalent importance
081and we need to remind ourselves as a board and system what really matters and it's the academics of our students I would say you know at the very top you know with with their physical safety maybe being the only thing so with with that missing I I'm just going to vote no on it on this one but I hope we can add that in maybe a little bit later I may Madam chair thank you Mr Wells for mentioning that and our team did have some substantial discussions about that since our Thursday night work session and I will tell you our work is focused on exactly what you've talked about we have we talked about some of those examples that the board discussed at the work session third and fourth grade retention Law act and what
082we concluded was that those have such a strategic element to it that we needed more team members get together rather than name a specific goal without having the appropriate stakeholders involved but I do want to mention also our schools each have an individualized School Improvement plans we call them sips everything goes by an acronym and I'll make sure that we share some of those examples about what we've been discussing with our principals for specific goals related to the school as well and we'll be following up on that because I think you're you've got a really strong point that we need to make sure is always on our minds thank you and if you just follow up real quick I'm glad you said that and so let me make sure to clarify too that this is
083this was not meant to imply that you had taken your eye off the ball or staff had and that wasn't the priority that's that's not the the case I know I know quite the opposite I just think again it needs to be stated in here to to represent sort of the actions that I know you and the staff are taking that's all Welch Mr Wimberley yes to Mr Welch's point our strategic plan is full of of language about academics so with the Strategic plan being the primary focus for the superintendent I don't think we're we're coming up short on academics as far as this is concerned and I'm sorry but to Mr Mitchell's suggestion I don't think it's a good idea myself to open up the goals mid-year these goals are a rather tall order
084and I don't think we can move the cheese in the middle of the year now what I would suggest instead that whether it's at the middle of you of the year or more regularly that we get a definitive report from Mr Golden on where he is toward accomplishing these goals and that we do that mid-year rather than opening up the goals for a possible change thank you to that point Madam chair in the event you all approve this I do plan to give you an update in November in two months you Turkish thank you madam chair I think these goals look very reasonable Mr Golden you came back and had some different planning I believe I agree with Mr Wimberley the academics is there it's it's ingrained in our system so I don't think we're
085dropping the ball on any academics with this and a lot of the noise out there is traffic structural stuff that's going on so that's very important too so I think this is a good plan to go with one other thing before we or after we vote I have a concern I wanted to bring up so don't just close us down all right thank you and Miss Clements I want to say thank you for adding this immediate goal for the transportation I mean everything we do is related to learning and education and you know I expressed in the works session a deep concern for our bus situation because we have kids missing the first period or the first second first and second sometimes period of the day and I mean for high school students if they're
086enrolled in AP Calculus you just can't miss two months three months and so my only ask and I know I'm fine with this November 23rd but if you can move this to the front burner and I mean hit it hot and let's get the let's get these kids let's get a big plan in motion because we by November 23rd If we go I mean November 2023 if we wait to the end of that we're almost at the first semester and that's so we let's just do the best we can on that thank you for that we all know at the board level and anyone who sends their children to bust on a bus knows that we have a shortage of bus drivers and our neighbors have a shortage of bus drivers superintendents and I at
087the at our at our annual superintendent's meetings last week with the Tennessee Department of Education talked about that about Staffing in in the difference with this go from where we have been is look at a particular region to see if we can move the needle in one spot as opposed to just in a handful of spots so thank you for that okay thank you board for your discussion and we will proceed with a vote I guess we can accept or take Jason's recommendation on his goals I do recommend approval okay thank you four members let's cast our vote Mr Mitchell thank you madam chair my vote is to approve thank you your vote is nine yes one no thank you the motion did pass for superintendent's goals and objectives for 2023-2024. and we had a
088request is that no no sir well it's just a there's a concern about what happened tonight it's not it's not something that the vote on or anything I just wanted to do that part okay thank you there's a question well it's just a concern I'm just very concerned that I feel like this board was used to project to thousands of people and a recorded session and pointing at one board member in particular about his employment and some of the issues there no matter how you feel about it pro con or whatever the subject was it had nothing to do with this board I feel like folks came in here and used this board to send a message out and I think that's very unfair that happened to a board member here tonight and I just
089I'm concerned about that I don't know if we can kind of go over what's going to be discussed a little bit better but I think it was wrong and it's all recorded so that's what I wanted to say thank you board for allowing me to speak thank you I appreciate Mr Cash saying that I think that was very appropriate and I agree with it and maybe this is something that we can bring up in a work session then and address that as well I'm a Madam chair that potentially is a topic we can discuss at policy committee meeting there is a new law related to public comment and we do have some flexibility in that thank you Mr Walsh and thank you Mr Cash those great comments okay Ward thank you so much for your
090participation tonight and we are adjourned