001Board meeting to order. I ask that if we would all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance that will be led by Ms. Amy Patton, principal of Liberty Elementary School. I ask that you remain standing for a moment of silence, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You may be seated. We'll start off with our recognitions on this evening. We're going to start with our student artists of the month. And we'll ask Ms. Newman. Certainly. I'm waiting to see if it's going to show up, but this month's Franklin Special District Artist of the Month is rising fourth grader Michael Wary. So if you're here, Michael, come on up. There's
002your artwork on the screens. This vibrant artwork was created in Franklin Elementary art teacher Jennifer Alvarado's class. Third graders learned about a Tennessee folk artist named Bebo, I hope. That's how you say it. Then created folk art fish inspired by the wood cutouts that Bebo creates. Michael chose his color palette and then painted it in bright colors. Students added designs in their fish like stripes, dots, and zigzags. The final touch was creating a repeating pattern design on the edges of their paper to create a frame. We all agree his work is fin-tastic. You can view Michael's artwork along with other pieces by Franklin Special Artists at the Central Office Gallery. Our sincere thanks, of course, go to Chuck Sugg and Sonic Drive-In for his support of our FSD Student Artists of the Month. Congratulations, Michael.
003Thank you, Michael. Now we're excited to have a presentation from our friends at your Williamson magazine Asked them if they would go to the mic and tell us a little bit about their presentation and also miss Robin cross Thank you for having us tonight. I'm Shelly Robertson-Birdsong, the owner and publisher of Your Community Media, and we publish Your Williamson Magazine here in Williamson County. And we started an event this year called Pores and Pallets, first year of this event. It was a wonderful tasting with several restaurants here in Williamson County. And we started thinking about, well, we want something to do with eating and food to have as our partner organization. We try to pick a partner organization whenever we do an event so that we can spotlight them, promote them, get their name and
004their cause out to the community in a big way through all the platforms that we have at your Williamson. And Christian Hedden, who is my very talented creative director. knew about Take a Bite, which is a wonderful program through FSD that pays for school lunches in the community and through the school system. And I was absolutely in love with this idea. Christian won't talk, so she could probably explain her. Heartfelt thought about it, but we thought it was the most amazing Project it's so impactful even in a small way, which we're gonna present a check tonight I hope that we grow that check over the next several years with this event But we're just so honored to have been a part of something where we could Spotlight this program and give a little bit back
005to such an important thing in the community So thank you for allowing us to be a part of it We're going to present a check for $1,000 to the program. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, Shelly. Shelly, can you send us information next time it happens? Thank you. I don't know if I completely understood everything with it. Great place. Thank you, Shelly, and your wisdom. And Robin and I did have the opportunity to speak to the crowd that night. And we had not a booth, but a table there. And so there was information about the program and FSD. And several of us were able to attend, even in spite of tornado warnings, Shelly. So it was a great event, and we certainly do appreciate it. And thank you, Robin, for that. Thank you. Hi,
006Rebecca. Hi, Rebecca. We'll continue with our recognitions. We have Robin Cross, Marnie Price, and Lacey Haynes. We proudly recognize these outstanding achievements of Franklin Special District Food and Culinary Services as we continue, whose dedication to student nutrition has been elevated through the two-year Healthy Meals Incentive Grant. This grant is a collaborative between the USDA Action for Healthy Kids and Chef Anne Foundation. has funded critical equipment and supplies to support the shift toward healthier scratch cooked meals for our students. It also allowed us to launch after school culinary classes, expanding opportunities for Mac students across all schools. Thanks to this innovative work, the district was honored with the USDA Healthy Breakfast Trailblazer Award for significantly improving the quality of breakfasts we serve each day. And we also want to shine the spotlight on Lacey and Marnie,
007who were invited to present at the Fall 2024 Healthy Meals Incentive Summit in Las Vegas. Their session, Lights, Camera, Action, Promoting Your Program Through Social Media, was a hit with attendees who got hands-on experience. creating short promotional videos. They share their own social media work, which has helped bring well-deserved attention to our food and culinary services program. So thank you all. Next, we have public input. There's a podium to my right if there's anyone here for public input. Now is the time. I said you would please state your name, and there are three minutes. Yes, ma'am. Okay, my name is Bob Aldoni, and I live in Franklin since 1990. I received from Williamson County assessment change, which means that my property taxes will go up next year $900, which I already paid $960 to Franklin
008Special District. And this means that next year my taxes for Franklin Special District will go up another $300. And I just want to know if this is... What is the reason for it? I understand everything goes up, but do we need to raise that much money per household to pay for schools? And my second question was, how does school vouchers would affect my property taxes? Thank you. Thank you. Just to inform you that the board does not conversation. when we have questions on the floor. So we certainly appreciate your input and we appreciate your concern. We're more than happy to talk to you after the meeting, but as far as public input, we do not respond back to inquiries or questions. Thank you again for coming. Any one else for public input? Not. We declare
009that public input is now closed. Reports, presentations, and discussions, teaching and learning. Dr. Decker. Yes, sir. Thank you. This evening, the Teaching and Learning Spotlight shines on the Tennessee Department of Education's STEAM designation, recently earned, of course, as you know, by Johnson Elementary School. We have a brief video to share with you. And as I think I've mentioned in prior discussions, the terms STEM, STEAM, sometimes STREAM are frequently used interchangeably, and you'll hear that in this video. STEM is having the courage to stand up and fail and get up again. It's foundational. It's research-based. It's really a problem-solving tool. It just means opportunities for our kids. STEM opens many doors for our students. Students are getting to explore future careers. I want to become a very good engineer. To me, STEM means the future. All
010I have to say is I can imagine myself anywhere else. Also, AI utilization. Is that true? No. Per the requirement for the director of schools to submit a report to the Board of Education each June on how policy 4.214, use of artificial intelligence programs, will be enforced in the upcoming school year, please read below. The bulleted items in bold font indicate how the policy will be enforced. So first I'll read the portion of the actual board policy and then how it will be enforced. Only approved AI programs may be utilized in student instruction or in completing student work. Staff will submit additional programs for approval via the curricular resource request process. And in this document I've provided links to the FSD curricular resource request flowchart. and the FSD Curricular Resource Request Form. And these are
011readily available to all staff on the district website. The next portion of the policy reads, district technology and instructional staff are tasked with overseeing the implementation of AI, artificial intelligence programs. These staff members will review artificial intelligence programs to ensure compliance with district policies as well as state and federal student data privacy laws and present recommendations to the director of schools for approval. Any approved programs shall be accessible to all students with consideration of age appropriateness. The way we address this is, currently AI implementation for students is limited to approved resources that have AI features embedded as enhancements. The primary function of these resources is not AI. For example, Canva for Education is a resource utilized to create visual materials and offers students the ability to generate content via AI. The next portion of the
012policy reads, employees shall not place personally identifiable information, financial information, intellectual property, or other confidential information into an AI system even after the resource is approved. At the beginning of every school year, the instructional technology specialists present updates at every school, including the resource request process and the AI board policy highlights, including specifically the components listed in the section of the board policy seen directly above. The instructional technology specialists include AI policy updates and reminders in their quarterly newsletters for staff throughout the school year. Next, the policy reads, the director of schools shall incorporate training programs on AI into professional learning for district staff. This training shall focus on responsible use of AI and best practices for use in school settings and include instruction regarding personally identifiable information and the need to comply with state
013and federal data privacy laws. Emphasis shall be placed on the importance of securing and properly storing any data that is collected by the district in compliance with state and federal law. Training programs or professional learning have included a session on AI titled Empowering Educators Using AI Professionally in Education. This was offered and available to all staff on the February 2025 District Professional Learning Day. During the upcoming July 2025 Tita Summer Institute Day, and the Tita Summer Institute will be held in the FSD this year, two FSD teachers will present an AI session. And there are plans for additional AI professional learning sessions that will be offered to teachers and staff throughout the 25-26 school year. When it comes to staff use, staff may use AI in the completion of their own work. This may include
014but not be limited to drafting communications, notes, images, and the development of content for instructional or administrative purposes, as well as analyzing data and information. The following requirements shall be adhered to when using AI in the completion of work. Number one, employees shall disclose their use of a generative AI tool. If failure to do so would violate the terms of the use of the AI tool, would mislead a supervisor or others as to the nature of the work, or would be inconsistent with the teacher code of ethics. 2. Employees shall take all reasonable precautions to ensure the security of private student data when utilizing AI programs. 3. Outputs from AI programs shall be verified by reliable sources and reviewed prior to use in order to reduce the risk of errors and inaccuracies. 4. Outputs shall
015not be incorporated into proprietary content or works. So at the beginning of every school year, the instructional technology specialists present updates at every school. As I mentioned earlier, that covers all of these bullets. And the instructional technology specialists, as I mentioned earlier, include AI policy updates and reminders in their quarterly newsletters for staff. So this is an ongoing provision of information. Student use. Students will not use AI programs for instructional purposes at this time due to federal privacy restrictions. Currently, AI implementation for students is limited to approved resources that have AI features embedded as enhancements. I mentioned that earlier as well. Academic integrity. Students shall be instructed on responsible use standards including but not limited to the following. Effective use of generative AI. When it is appropriate to use AI in assignments. How to determine
016whether AI responses are accurate. Users assume responsibility for incorporating AI content responsibly and the difference between cheating and seeking support. As I mentioned earlier, currently AI implementation for students is limited. And as well, the instructional technology specialists are investigating the AI literacy lessons that are available through Common Sense Media for potential implementation as a part of annual Common Sense certification for each school. This is something we've done for quite a few years for the 25-26 school year. Notice to parents. The director of schools shall provide notice to parents and guardians about the use of AI programs in the district. You can find an approved list of AI programs on the district website or at the link provided in this document. To this point, currently there are no large language model LLM AI programs such as
017ChatGPT, Gemini, etc. that are approved for student use in the FSD. Thank you. Thank you. Comments? Move of the board agenda. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? Move of the consent agenda. Is there a motion? A motion to approve. Mr. Barker, Mr. Stillings. All in favor? Business before the board. Dr. Snowden. Yes, our first item is continuation budget. Due to the fiscal year officially ending on June 30th, 25, we recommend Board approval of continuation budget to operate until the new fiscal year's budget is adopted. This budget does not allow for new expenditures that may occur in the next fiscal year. All expenditures that extend into the next fiscal year in this continuation budget are based upon the current budgeted amounts in all categories. administration recommends approved thank you sir is
018there a motion to approve mr townsville is there a second i'll second spell is there a discussion no discussion let's roll call miss barker yes mr newman yes mr blair yes miss bell yes mr stillings mr townsville yes we are approved thank you uh director of schools report mr townsville all right hopefully you all can pull up the um Director of Schools annual performance goals. We've met and discussed in a workshop what we think the changes could possibly be. Those were incorporated in there as you can plainly see. Also, what we do every time is I meet with the Director of Schools who is also at our work session. I meet with him one-on-one to see if there's anything he wanted to, after he thought about it, he wanted to talk about it differently. We
019didn't have any changes there. I proposed one change in one sentence, and I'll tell you what that sentence is. It really is exactly what you all talked about at the work session. In enrollment number three, simply say, continue efforts to recruit, hire, and retain exceptional administrators, teachers, and staff. So nothing really remarkable there. But other than that, it's what we talked about. Director of Schools is comfortable with it. I'm comfortable with it. And I want to know if you're comfortable with it. So with that, I'll place a motion to approve. Motion, Mr. Townsend. Is there a second? I'll second. Ms. Bale, is there discussion? No discussion. Let's roll call vote. Mr. Townsend? Yes. Mr. Stillings? Yes. Ms. Bale? Yes. Ms. Blair, yes. Ms. Newman? Yes. Ms. Barker? Yes. We are approved. Thank you. I have
020number three, resolution fiscal year 26, federal projects budget. For the board's approval of the resolution in support of having the fiscal year 2026 budget to the school federal projects fund be the budget approved for separate projects within the fund by the Tennessee Department of Education. With this resolution, budget amendments will no longer be needed each time the allocations are made within the school federal projects fund. We recommend approval. Thank you, sir. Is there a motion to approve? Approve. Ms. Newman, is there a second? Second. Mr. Townsend, is there a discussion? Seeing none, let's roll call vote again. Ms. Barker? Yes. Ms. Newman? Yes. Mr. Blair, yes. Ms. Bale? Yes. Mr. Stillman? Yes. Mr. Townsend? Yes. We are approved. Thank you. Item number four, policy revision enrollment in advanced courses, 4.205. This is a second reading.
021Revisions reflect the addition of introduction to aerospace on page five as an addition to the high school classes that FSD offers. In addition, language was added clarifying the wait list for those students that would like to be reconsidered for classes. The wait list does not pertain to seventh grade algebra one. Item 13, page three. There were no changes requested by the board upon first reading. The administration recommends approval of the second reading. Thank you, sir. Is there a motion to approve? Mr. Stillings, is there a second? Ms. Barker, is there a discussion? I just had a quick question. Do we, off the top of your head, does someone know how many high school classes we now offer in 7th and 8th grade? If you don't, that's okay. I just was curious. I know we offer
022quite a few. It's either somewhere between six and seven. I'd have to go back and count to tell you exactly accurately. I think it's great that we're adding one more. Dr. Wehmer's now six. Okay. Almost there. Thank you. Any other discussion? Seeing none, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Thank you. We are approved. Dr. Snowden. Item number five is a new policy, service animals in district facilities, 3.218. This is a first reading. This policy is being added due to federal laws enacted in accordance with provision of the American Disabilities Act. We recommend approval of first reading. Sir, is there a motion to approve? Townsville, is there a second? Stillings, is there a discussion? I want to ask a question. Does this have anything to do with if an individual has a
023service dog of their own, like a student has a service dog of their own, would this policy cover that? Yes. Okay. Any type of service that a student needs to perform their instructional responsibilities. Another discussion. We have a motion and a second. There's no other discussion. All in favor? Thank you. Item number six is also a new policy, Therapy Dog Program 3.2181. First reading, this policy is being added for our current therapy dog program as well as an addition complementing 3.218. And we've got an extensive handbook and procedures already in place, but we never had placed this in policy. So this is the reason we're bringing this to you tonight. Motion? Is there a second? Mr. Townsend, is there a discussion? What's the difference in this one versus the previous one? Well, the service animal
024is only for those students who have a diagnosed need and a requirement for a service animal. Our therapy dog program is for all students and adults, as approved by parents, obviously, if parents do not want their children around or their students around. are therapy dogs and they are not allowed to be around. I understand that. Is the wording any different? Service animals and district facilities, new policy, the therapy dog program. Well, both these policies came from TSBA. What now? You did what? Okay, the wrong. She said she had the wrong policy. Okay. It looks very similar. It makes perfect sense. Sorry about that. No worries. I was looking at my written. Why don't we not, let's wait and do first reading on that since you did not have the correct copy. We'll just pull that
025item from the agenda and bring it back for a first reading at our July meeting. Is that okay? Yes, sir. And I'm just wondering if 3218 was supposed to be titled Service Animals in District Facilities, because on our copy it's titled Therapy Dog Program. Okay. Are we missing the service animal policy? The service animal policy is not there. You want to pull both up? Yeah, because you didn't vote on that. I'll make a motion to retract our previous policy. I second. Second. All in favor? There it is. There it is. So we'll bring both of those back next time, the service dog and the therapy dog program. And the therapy dog. Yeah. We'll bring them both back for first readings in July. Okay. Thank you. We apologize for that. So since the second one's correct,
026we don't want to vote on that? No. No, I think we just need to have, needs to be very clear. All right. Director of School Report. Yes, sir. Thank you. Student successes, current testing results have been or are in the process of being released. First of all, we're excited again this year that there were no third graders retained for this year going into next year. Now, that's awesome. Absolutely. We appreciate our teachers who work diligently, our principals and assistant principals who work diligently. I know our testing. Folks do a great job as well. Dr. Wiemers and who else helped? Shelly helped with the makeup test. We did have a few students that needed to take a retake, not a makeup, retake. So thanks to them as well. Also, our English language students on the English
027language proficiency assessment, ELPA, demonstrated proficiency in record numbers this past school year. In fact, students double the success rate experience in the district for each of the past four years. Think about that, double the success rate. That is really significant. And then other TCAT results will be released in the near future. Hensborough Golden Achievement Award. Congratulations to Susanna Gentry and Dr. Mary Decker for their achievement recognized by the National School Public Relations Association and their 2025 National School Communications Award. They will be recognized during the upcoming conference for the many hours of work in our strategic branding campaign. Their submission was evaluated by other association members and public relations professionals who are experienced, award-winning, and accredited. being evaluated based on strategic communication, best practices, and against the outlined criteria. We are very proud of the
028excellence both individuals exhibit each day and congratulate them on this award. Also, our administrators summer training district and school administrators will be involved in several different opportunities this summer. From June 11th through the 13th, our leadership team retreat will occur. June 11th, we'll have the entire team. June 12th, we'll include teaching and learning and all school administrators. And June 13th, we'll have annual required training for our drug-free workplace certification. On the first morning, we'll have guest Dr. Derek Young with us on the topic, Maintaining a Winning Student Culture, followed by a luncheon honoring retiree Bo Alexander. And so if you would like to attend any of those days, just let Carol know. We want to make sure we have lunch for you if you do decide to attend the lunch. Directors' Participation in Policy Talks,
029program sponsored by Williamson, Inc. at Columbia State, Williamson County Campus. Jason Golden and I were invited to participate in a panel discussion related to the 24-25 school year. The program was moderated by Dave Crouch. Our budget process continues. The remaining date for budget work session is June 16th. That would be the final work session possibly. And we'll review the cumulative impact of the budget work for the first two sessions at that time. Ongoing summer programs, summer learning camp, and Young Scholars Institute. I know that we've had several board members. We even have, you know, I did not know that Mr. Townsend was a cheerleader instructor. I was very impressed with the video I saw. Strong. Strong work, Kathy. So I know Ms. Bell was by, Mr. Blair was by. And I thought, who did, did
030y'all play pickleball against each other? I don't know. Bad men. Bad men. Okay. I just. Our summer MAC is in full swing at Johnson. Of course, we've had, as I mentioned, Young Scholars is going on at Freedom Middle. Our Story Bus mobile library will be at Kroger 9 to 12 at the following locations, excluding the week the district is closed. Monday is at Independence Square. Tuesday is at the Columbia Avenue location. And Thursday is at the Murfreesboro Road location. J.S. Playground is open weekdays 1245 to 130 following the summer food program, the dining program there. Summer meals program starts May 27th and runs through July 24th. Monday through Friday at Johnson Elementary serving breakfast from 8 to 8.30, lunch from 12 to 12.30. Children and teens are free of charge, adults paying nominal fee. FSD
031will also partner with the Franklin-Williamson County Boys and Girls Club and the Franklin Housing Authority to offer meals on-site for its members this summer, as well as in our district with Summer Max, Summer Learning Camp at PGS, and Young Scholars at Freedom Middle. And we look forward to continuing to provide those exceptional and enriching experiences for our programs around the district this summer. Other dates to note, summer break is June the 30th through July the 4th. All districts and buildings will be closed. State of the county is July the 23rd from 11 to 1 at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs. You need to let Ms. Reardon know if you would like to register. Equipped training for new teachers July the 29th to the 31st. Opening day celebration and professional learning August 1st. That will, again,
032be at Rolling Hills beginning at 9 a.m. If you can join us, that would be great. Fall district meeting, September 4th at McEwen High School. And you'll need to let Carol know about that as far as registration. And then stay at the schools October 29th at Liberty Hall. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you, sir. Comments or questions? i do want to say something it's related to nook which gives back to the franklin special nook was chosen to be one of the recipients for some of the proceeds from the carousel of dreams at the factory of franklin and we were there for the grand opening and i just want to encourage you guys go check it out it is beautiful and just keep in mind that the proceeds go to back to your schools
033and other agencies in the community I'll follow up with that. If you mention my name, it's $6. If you don't mention my name, it's $5. Updates? No, sir. Thank you. Yes, sir. June's collection showed a 3.7% increase month-to-month comparing, which contributes to our 6.4% increase year-to-year. Thank you, sir. Any announcements from the board? I do have one. Yes, sir. I want to thank again our constituent, Ms. Baldoni, for speaking during public input. Thank you. And as Mr. Blair said, even though it's the board's practice not to engage in a back and forth during the meeting, that doesn't mean that your comments don't go in one ear and out the other. We appreciate that, and we have our next. budget work session Monday night and I will bring up your comments again during our budget work
034session. Thank you. I just wanted to say that in going to Young Scholars as well as the Summer Learning Camp, it's... amazing to see the diligence of the students up close and personal and I'm very grateful for Dr. Miller allowing me, taking me around and showing me the different sessions. They're smaller class sizes and they are they're just eager to work. I mean it was amazing to see. And then Young Scholars they have added a couple more cooking classes and it was at freedom middle school and again just appreciative of the staff they've had some of the same staff over and over every year and to see the students they made a comment that really spoke to our branding it's they said half of the students are not franklin special students and so what excellent
035branding to let them see just the excitement of our students in being able to be motivated learners in that program. So, thank you. A couple other things. I think Dr. Decker got the report from Mr. Dahlgren that we've got elementary students that have already learned how to fly the plane, right, on the simulator. They were landing the plane within the first five days of Young Scholars. Digital natives, what can you do? Yeah. Future pilots for certain. And I know I sent all of you an email after our last opportunity, our last board meeting when you had moved it up to a 6 o'clock start. But I know these people in the audience, I've heard them say individually, so I'd like for them to thank you collectively for beginning our meeting at 6 o'clock because it
036means a lot to them as well. Thank you, Kevin. I just add to that, on a serious note, I asked the one meeting, because I hadn't heard from you all. You didn't tell me you wanted it. So I said, one meeting, if you want it, let me know. And I really would push for it. And you all did. So I appreciate you doing that. Thank you. Anything else from the board? No. We are adjourned. Thank you.