Board of Education Meeting - December 5, 2024

001Welcome to the December 5th meeting of the Rutherford County School Board. First up we have on our agenda the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Sharp. Madam Chair, tonight we have with us a student from Laverne Lake Elementary, Janice Smith, and she's going to come up and do the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, which is the republic of which it stands, one nation, under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all. She's headed off to a cheerleading tryout here in just a little bit. That's awesome. Thank you all for coming tonight. I would like for us in this moment of silence to please remember Mr. Jeff Martin, who was the only single high school tennis coach. And I would also ask you for you to be thinking of a

002member of our staff who recently lost a family member. Bow your heads, please. Thank you. Next up we have the approval of the agenda. Do I have any questions or comments? I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Second. Second by Mr. Tidwell. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next we have the approval of the consent agenda. Any comments or questions? I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve. Second by Mr. Vaughn. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next we move to a special performance from Homer Pitter Campus School Choir. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. That was truly moving. Merry Christmas, kids. Give them just a minute to find their way out. Me too. So sweet. Great job, guys. Ladies. Turned on. I feel it. It's

003because they opened that door. Fifty years ago I attended campus school. Yeah. Yeah. That was tough. I think I've been to every school in town. Claire can sing. She can fly. Okay, I think that's everyone now. Okay. We'll continue on. Number seven, Dr. Sullivan, we have Rutherford Strong. So these, we announced this at our last board meeting, but today's the official recognition. So Mr. Evans, if you'll take it away for us. Sure thing. So we have Allison, who is a nurse at Segal High School. She's been there since 2020. She's been with RCS since 2017. She was chosen this year as the school nurse of the year. What am I yet? So as part of her nomination, this is what was said about her. Allison displays superior and admirable dedication to her role as a

004school nurse that extends not only through her school, but to the nursing department as a whole. Her unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of our students is truly inspiring. With a warm smile and a graceful demeanor. Sorry, I had a little technical problem. Sorry about that. She approaches every situation with a positive attitude, always ready to lend a helping hand. She not only serves as a reliable source of nursing care, but also as a mentor and role model for those around her. Her efforts do not go unnoticed, and she inspires me and many others to embody the same compassion and dedication in our own careers. So stay right there. We've got one more to recognize, too. Her supervisor is Ms. Shanna Groom, who is our health services coordinator. Come on up, Ms. Groom, please.

005She has also been chosen as the school nurse supervisor of the year. So it's great to have all of the recognition coming to our nurses. But she's in charge of the nurse department. Of course, she's been in that role now since 2023, right? February 23, 23? But she's been with RCS for how long? 2012. In her nomination, it says, while I have known Shanna since I began working with Rutherford County Schools in 2017, it wasn't until 2020 when I began working under her direct supervision that I was able to fully see her passion for school nursing. At that time, Shanna was working as a clinical charge nurse for our district. She was responsible for immediate oversight of 14 schools in our district, along with other duties assigned to her by the health services coordinator. Shanna

006made it her mission to know her nurses and the schools and students they served very well. I've often joked that Shanna seemed as much at home at my school as I was, and I have no doubt that everyone else in her assigned zone felt the same way. She made it a priority to come by frequently and never hesitated to jump in and triage a sick student or perform a difficult task. She's also helped me quite a bit. Like, when we have blood pressure issues around here, Shanna's who we go to. So, wonderful things. We also have 38 nurses here today to support them. Would you guys stand up if you're not already? Or raise your hands. So, absolutely top notch, our nursing staff and our two winners here. My sons have gone to the nurse

007many, many times, and I'm very grateful for the services they provided, for putting up with my little ones. So, thank you. Thank you all. Congratulations. Next, we move to public comment, and I will call each of you up. We have 10 people speaking tonight, and I will call each of you up one at a time, and you will be given three minutes. First up, we have Mr. Thomas Buds. Good evening. My name is Tom Buds. We champion the book removal of obscene books and content from our libraries have been mischaracterized. I smug, condescending, malicious remarks to the press by two members of this board. Let me set you straight. The people wearing the white shirts at school board meetings are a well-accomplished group, many having advanced degrees in diverse areas with notable careers in our

008chosen fields. But most of all, we are committed to Jesus Christ. I had a 30-year career in law enforcement and have multiple degrees, including an advanced degree. I have a secret clearance from the FBI. And there are other law enforcement first responders in our group. There are former current military educators, librarians, psychologists, nurses, psych nurses, authors, and many other professionals represented in our group. A number of us felt compelled to come out of retirement as we discovered that our children are not properly being cared for by the very people we thought to protect them from such obscenities. Recently, two members of this board, who gave press interviews, inferring that our group was akin to the book burners of Germany in 1930. I'm here tonight to tell this board, and specifically those two board members, and

009the press, we are simply upholding God's law and Tennessee law. I am not a Nazi. Our group are not Nazis. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. Our group are followers of Jesus Christ. It's unfortunate that two members of this board have chosen to lower the discussion, of our children's welfare, by labeling us as Nazis. Fair play may require that our group respond in kind. I suggest any board member who votes to supply pornography to our kids will going forward be referred to by me as groomers. At least my label will be accurate. In previous sessions, one board member shouted, everyone call their legislators to get rid of this bad law. We are not going to call our legislators to change the book obscenity law. We are, however, organizing and mobilizing to rid our community of

010leaders and bureaucrats who won't wholeheartedly protect our children. I encourage each of you to implement the book law, and God's law, get rid of these books. If you're going to groom kids, groom them for the Lord, not Satan. In conclusion, I'd like the board to instruct all principals to conduct an inspection of every classroom, and make sure that the teachers aren't keeping private libraries with their own books, books from parents, or books from others. They shouldn't have these illegal and unauthorized materials in the classrooms. They should be removed from school property. Further, all district employees should be instructed to keep such books of their own, and others have HR inform them of the law, so they can't deny it in the future. Groom kids for the Lord, not Satan. Thank you. Next up, we have

011Ms. Chloe Donegan. Is there a button I need to press? Is there a button I need to press? No. No. You start talking, it'll go. Good evening, everyone. My name is Chloe Donegan, and I stand before you as a senior in the Rutherford County school system, deeply concerned about the growing restrictions on access to books in our schools. Let me begin with this. Books are more than just words on pages. They are the key to unlocking knowledge. Without them, we remain in the dark, unaware of the complexity of our world and the wisdom that guides us. To strip away the opportunity to read and read, is to silence the voices that inspire change, open minds, and ignite understanding. This issue is not just about books. It's about our future and the freedom to learn, to

012grow, and to discover the truths that shape us. This is not simply about expanding knowledge. It's about the fear of those who cannot bear the thought of certain topics being openly discussed. It's about discomfort with confronting a past that isn't near as pristine as we would like it to be. The sphere of truth of our collective history is what keeps us from moving forward. We are here tonight not just to discuss books, but to challenge those fears and embrace the discomfort of growth. The removal of important topics denies young minds the chance to understand history's complexity and the struggles of others. When we limit their reading, we shackle their ability to empathize, think critically, and shape a compassionate future. How can we ask them to build a better future? We are here to challenge those

013fears, and ask them to build a better world if we don't give them the tools to fully understand it. We need to look back at history where book banning has been a tool of oppression. In Nazi Germany and McCarthyism, banning literature was used to silence the dissent and control thought. Those who banned books were using it as fear. To repeat this now in the name of comfort is to ignore the horrors of our past. Banning books condemns us to ignorance. It denies future generations the chance to see the world as it truly is. Complicated and full of lessons we can't afford to forget. When we strip away their tools of learning, we suffocate the foundation of our freedom. If we ignore education's importance, we dishonor those who fought for it and condemn our children to

014a future where ignorance reigns. I urge you to reconsider these choices. While some may wish to limit their children's access to certain topics, making these decisions for all students is unjust and harmful. Parents have the right, to ensure their children aren't exposed to material they find troubling. But imposing restrictions on all of the students denies them the opportunity to learn and grow. Our books are not vile. Our books are not cruel. Our books are not pornography. Our books merely reflect diverse lives and experiences and help our children understand our past, so we don't repeat our mistakes and lead our country back to the dark times. Do not let fear and ignorance decide their future. Thank you and good night. Please, please do not clap or woo-hoo or any of that, okay? Thank you. Next we

015have Ms. Valeria Diaz de Leon. Hi, it's Valeria. Sorry. It's okay. I have been a Murfreesboro resident for 10 years. I'm a former Rutherford County Schools teacher, and I am a mother of three boys I hope to one day send to Rutherford County Schools. Thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you today on an issue that affects not only our education system, but also our fundamental freedom, and that is the freedom of individuals, the banning of books. Banning books suggests that some ideas are too dangerous, too controversial, or too difficult for young minds to handle. However, it's important to recognize that the process of grappling with challenging ideas is a fundamental part of education. Avoiding difficult topics does not make them go away. It simply prevents our students from developing the

016tools they need to navigate and understand the complexities of our world. Banning books on the basis of sexually explicit content often reflects a narrow view of what is appropriate for young minds. Who decides what is too explicit or too inappropriate? The line is often drawn according to subjective moral standards, standards that can vary significantly from family to family and community to community. This opens the door to the idea that only certain perspectives, often those shaped by conservative or religious viewpoints, are valid. In a diverse society, it is essential that we recognize and respect the different ways people understand the world, even if those perspectives challenge our personal values. In Rutherford County, parents have the right to guide their children's reading, but parents should not be making decisions for other parents' children. Specifically, a small group

017of parents should not dictate what books other people's children are allowed to read. Some of the best schools in our state are in our district, and I believe it's because of the professionals we hire. We should trust that the librarians we have are doing their job well and sourcing books that add value to their school. Censorship, even in the form of book banning, is a slippery slope. It sets a precedent for silencing voices and stifling creativity, and it undermines the very foundation of education, the free exchange of ideas. We have a responsibility to equip our students with the ability to think critically, and we cannot do that if we are only giving them access to sanitized or one-sided perspectives. In the long run, a society that limits access to books fosters ignorance, division, and intolerance,

018which harms everyone. Education should empower students to question, explore, and form their own opinions. By providing access to a wide range of books across genres, cultures, and viewpoints, we allow our students to build empathy, broaden their understanding, and engage in meaningful discussions. When we limit their access, we do them a disservice. We are not just giving them access to books, we do them a disservice. Rutherford County's future depends on the young minds we cultivate today. We cannot afford to let fear, intolerance, or narrow-mindedness stifle their potential. Let us be a county that embraces the richness of ideas and celebrates the diversity of voices. Let us stand against book bans and ensure academic freedom for all. Thank you. Next up, we have Ms. Carrie Lambert. Good evening. First, I would like to start by saying thank

019you to all of you for inviting librarians to be part of the conversation regarding the book challenges in our district. I sincerely hope the board decides to follow their recommendations. Seeing them involved in this process is a great step in the right direction and restores some trust back in the district. So thank you. Now, I have heard people on the other side of this issue ask why we would want to keep access to these materials. I.e., what is our motivation? So I would like to address that question. Our motivation is to protect children and give them a strong, healthy foundation to be ready to go out in the world after high school and live long, fulfilling, successful lives. Not allowing our children to learn about real issues in the real world. And I would like

020to address that question. I would like to address that question. We are not protecting children and how to think critically by keeping them ignorant. We are not protecting them. In fact, we are putting them in harm's way and making them more appealing targets for abusers. As much as we all wish it wasn't true, there are students in our district that have been, that will be, or that are actively being abused. And we are not protecting them. We are protecting them. We are protecting them. But what message are we sending them for removing stories with characters they can relate to and learn from? By removing stories with characters they relate to who are going through these same trials, we are removing the tools they could be using to ask us to help and defend them. And

021remember, these books don't jump off shelves, open to specific pages and force children to read them. who need them. And if a parent does not want their child to have access to certain materials, they have a simple and straightforward path to request their child's access be restricted without taking those vital tools away from the children who so desperately need them. Then everyone wins and everyone's rights are being respected. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Ms. Elizabeth Shepherd. Thank you all for the opportunity to speak to you again tonight. I'm here as a Blackmon High School parent and also as a school librarian. Last month I spoke with you about concerns that the board policies covering library books were unclear about how to handle the newest additions to the Age-Appropriate Materials Act. According to tonight's

022agenda, the policies in Section 4 are up for annual review and I hope the board will take the opportunity to fix this issue before it gets any worse. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to meet the requirements of the state while also giving the board the opportunity to address the issues that are relevant to the library. The board is giving these books the fair and reasonable consideration that they deserve. Current board policy says library materials that fall under those new definitions of appropriateness shall be immediately removed and then reviewed. That one small phrase is the root cause of the mess we're currently in, allowing over 150 books to be taken off the shelves and out of students' hands just because one person claims they are in violation. We should be following the existing

023board policy for compliance. It's well-written. worked for years. By taking one turn of phrase and continuing to twist it, we are heading down a path I fear will not end well for any of us, especially our students. I know that changing policy can often be a difficult and drawn-out process, but it doesn't have to be. In this case, it boils down to two simple steps. First, remove that current phrasing, shall be immediately removed and then reviewed, and replace it with phrasing already provided from the state in Tennessee Code Annotated 496-3803, phrasing that allows for books to be reviewed using due process before being removed. Second, go back to following the board policy for complaint procedures as it is written for all current and future book complaints. You know, the phrase, shall be immediately removed and

024then reviewed, never sat right with me, and this past week I finally realized why. What the policy is saying, what this board is saying, is that these books are guilty until previous review. That the librarians who have these books on their shelves and the students who choose to read them are guilty until proven innocent. As a parent, an educator, and a citizen, I find this deeply troubling, and I would hope and expect a school board that cares so much about its students to do something about it. We are in this mess because of a simple turn of phrase. Let's fix it with an equally simple solution and stop wasting the county's time and resources. Let's do everything we can to get back to our mission of investing in every student every day. Thank you. Thank

025you. Next we have Ms. Angela Frederick. Good afternoon to the board and thank you for listening to our comments. It's categorically untrue that RCS teachers and librarians distribute pornography or obscene materials to students. This is a lie and it is harmful in multiple ways. It sows seeds of distrust in our public educators and subjects them to harassment and ridicule. It de-mortifies the students' lives and demoralizes professionals who have a calling to this very important work. We will lose teachers and librarians who do not want to work in a hostile environment. The students in our community will suffer when teacher shortages worsen. There are those of you here this afternoon who believe that RCS is exposing children to obscene material or pornography. You have been lied to by someone preying on your belief that you are

026protecting children from a threat. Someone is exploiting your faith in God and desire for truth and good by instilling fear in you about something that has never happened. To the board, just because you are a Christian shouldn't mean you only represent the interests of Christians. Just because you are a Republican shouldn't mean you only represent the interests of Republicans. You were elected to represent all of your constituents, no matter their religious or political beliefs. Additionally, you don't have the right to decide for all parents and students what books they will have access to in schools. You are not allowed to read books that are not in your school book. You are not allowed to read books that are not in your school book. You are not allowed to read books that are not in your

027school book. You are not allowed to read books that are not in your school book. You are not allowed to read books that are not in your school tu we be Here we are here, right along with child透 e here with any of you or anyone sitting in this room. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next we have Mr. Charles Hoard, Jr. Good evening. I appreciate the time. I'm not here to talk about books. I live in the old Nashville Florence Road area that is up for consideration for rezoning from the Blackman Middle and Blackman High to the Segal. I'd just like to share that we would really appreciate any considerations we could get for dual zoning or some kind of option for our students to continue to attend the middle school and the high

028school. My daughter is a seventh grader there. I'll have a son probably attending Blackman Middle School here in a couple of years. We understand the challenges with busing and the growing communities. We are willing to provide our own transportation if that option is given to us. So we just would ask you guys to consider that from a daughter's perspective. She loves her cheer team. She loves her friends. She loves all that stuff. We love having to drive seven or eight minutes to school rather than, you know, possibly a year. Yeah. We're going to be sending probably 20 or more to Segal because the traffic area, that's not even considering when the train blocks the intersection of Florence Road and Singer Road, which happens quite a bit from where we're going to. So we just ask

029you to please consider that dual zoning option for some of those parents. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Scott Childers. That could have been Childers. I'm not so, okay. Mine's also not as exciting a topic. I'm also here for the zoning. My son lives across the street from the Hordes. And he's an eighth grader at Blackman Middle. And we would like to provide our support for dual zone. We provided transportation for all three of our kids. We've never used the bus service. Our daughters graduated from Blackman High. And we would like for Mason to do the same, for many of the same reasons. We live on the farm there on Old Nashville Highway. And the zone actually splits our farm with 840. We're just on the wrong side of that. And we're not going

030to be able to do that. So we would very much appreciate any consideration you have for the dual zoning, flexible zoning. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Tiffany Fee. All right. Sorry, y'all. Mine is, oops. Good evening, board members, Dr. Sullivan, and members of the community. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak before you all this evening. Many of you know me, but those who do not, my name is Tiffany Fee. I'm the founder of the Rutherford County Library Alliance. And I had the honor of running for this board earlier this year as the first declared Democrat to ever do so for this board. I'm here tonight not only as a concerned parent, but also as a proud advocate for the First Amendment. I believe deeply in the rights it guarantees, freedom

031of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. These rights ensure that all of us, regardless of belief or background, can live in a society where diverse voices are valued and protected. At the last board meeting, a man stood before this room and called those of us who oppose book removals without due process demons. He cast us out from the community and went so far as to banish us. We're still here. It was dramatic, inflammatory, but not entirely unproductive. I would like to thank this gentleman. Because of his performance, the Rutherford County Library Alliance has been blessed with a generous donation, and I am so grateful to be part of this movement. I would like to thank the American Association for their support and the American Association for the support of the American Association

032for the Separation of Church and State. Thanks to their support, we were able to purchase over 50 special edition T-shirts, inspired by this so-called banishment. We'll have them available for free for the next meeting for anyone that's interested. Let me know. Let them serve as a reminder of our resilience and our commitment to ensuring that every child in our school system and every member of our community has a voice. At the end of the last meeting, during the direction, the director's update, I noticed that many in the audience were cheering and clapping over the many achievements announced for RCS. However, I did not see those in white shirts joining in. Now, it was a packed room. I could have easily missed someone who was doing so, and if so, I apologize. My point for bringing

033this up isn't to criticize or embarrass anyone, but to ask us all to reflect on why we attend these meetings. If you're here to support our public schools, educators, and students, then we share the same goal, even if we disagree. If that's not your purpose for attending school board meetings, then that's a different issue altogether that I can't cover in a three-minute comment. I believe we have much more in common than we realize. I urge our community and our board members to remember that public education exists to serve students of all backgrounds, providing materials that reflect and represent them all. Thank you. Thank you. And our last speaker will be Mr. Nathan Bennett. Good evening. My plan of comments have changed slightly since I've been sitting back there. I'm a teacher at Blackmont High School.

034I'm a parent of four students in the district. Two have graduated already. My comments tonight are about trust. I wasn't talking about the zoning, and I will talk about the zoning in a sec, but people in this room and people in the county and people who work need to be trusted more. But the people who work here, they're not going to be trusted. I know some librarians are doing a good job of trying to navigate this complicated time. I know people who live here who are looking at the rezoning process are doing the same thing. And I think the board is not focused in the right directions in these things. We need to trust people more to do the jobs they're capable of doing. The job of the school board this time should be to

035secure funding for future schools, and that is the priority. Everything else can wait. I love the comments last work session on Tuesday about the ESL. You guys have recommendations for the two ESL to honor the people who are doing a good job at ESL programs and to find ways to revamp that up. The same thing was not the same criteria of investing in those students was not done in the same way for rezoning I don't think. I think you are treating the students who are rezoning and districts and areas in ways that are more like numbers, like cattle and not like people. And as we look at the areas we're looking at and treat them like people and think about we need to make a high school here and a high school there sooner rather

036than later. We're already six years after Rockville's been built. It's already overcrowded. And we have no idea where the next high school's going to be built. We thought about land, but we need the funds. We need the funding. And impact fees, we talked about it before, need to be the way forward. The board needs to do more in that area to secure impact fees, to secure monies not from the county, but to go above that, the state, and look for ways to change the law. Murfreesboro City already changed that law last year. We need to find ways to do that because we are behind schedule in building new places for our students to be educated. And the rezoning process is not the right path. Not the right path forward. All it does is it moves

037things around. All it does is it puts students here, puts students there, and does not think about more important things like teacher to student ratio, more important things like how that student is moving to get a same quality education or a worse quality education based on where they're living at, right? It has to be a high quality education. We have to have more schools and more area. And your job should be that focus, nothing else. Thank you. Thank you. Next up we have our guest speaker who was here Tuesday night, and he's going to continue the discussion tonight, Mr. Rob Schwartz. Wonderful. Are we going to put this up with what documents you guys have or do you want me to point them? Just the new maps, yeah. Awesome. Good evening. Rob Schwartz with RSP.

038So tonight's agenda is really questions that board members may have. But since we do have an audience, I want to touch on the highlights of what this plan is and really recommend people to go back to the full report. So we're going to go back to the full report to see all the data that goes into all of this. If we look at the proposed map that's up here, there's some changes. We heard earlier about the dual zone for Blackman in Segal. And that area, let's wait for that map to come up and we'll zoom in. Going down to the new map, John, if you don't mind. Yeah, this looks like the existing. No, that's the one that was passed last year. There you go. Yep. There we go. So we have this dual zone

039that's north. We have a map that says north of 840 that transportation is provided to Segal. We also looked at with some of the data sets, the board asked us to review what the boundaries could be like here six months prior to the school district next school year. With those changes, we have some buildings that are over capacity and we have some utilization in other buildings. And the main thing that we'll talk about is the additions that are occurring in our various buildings. And so the number of students that we looked at, much like back in 2022-23, was the demographics in the core area of the city of Murfreesboro. We looked at the number of students and then how do we get the right balance of students with the student-teacher ratios, the elective courses that

040would be in these buildings, so all those elements are balanced out with the acknowledgment. acknowledgement that we know when you look at the the speed by which the district is increasing in its enrollments that we're going to need another high school or any more high school capacity throughout the district so this is a way to better utilize our resources that we currently have but still plan for the land that's in negotiation for the next high school and the ability to get the funding to builds the following high school so again these are all the different changes open to questions that you guys may have about specific things to the adjustments that you guys asked for at this time period can we see the map where they were mentioned above 840 this doesn't really show 840

041here you're at page 63 you might be in the appendix keep going down you're gonna that's all the growth keep going keep going right there you can see the map that's in negotiation for the next high school in the administration proposed zone adjustments what does that what is the effect on dual zones as far as downstream effect versus say like we talked about grandfathering again and defects of that what does that look like in dual zone very similar if the board had not if the board had chosen not to grandfather anyone then I never would have thought about a dual zone area but since the board chose to grandfather two grade levels of students this area will more than likely be rezoned to yet again when we open a new high school and so I

042would hate for I know that Trey mentioned 2920 but I'm hoping that it is earlier than that for our new high school I would hate to move these eighth graders as moving next year to freshmen to go to Segal and then have them move to another high school so they go from Blackman to Segal to a brand new high school during their career if they couldn't provide transportation so that's that's where the recommendation came from the other recommendation is when we ran new numbers because there is some new growth in the seagull area with the Cherry Lane intersection it will eventually hit 840 we added too many students to Seagull High School and having that dual zone allows us to move some students from Seagull but also move some students potentially from Blackman so that

043hopefully if you have like a 60 40 or 70 30 split both of the campuses can hold till we get our new ice thank you there's what we will add ask whenever we vote on this next week is that we give parents and students the option of let us know by January 31st which one you plan to do so that it's just not a free-for-all of what you were picking and choosing that way we know what staffing works. Now of course if someone chooses Blackman and is going to provide their own transportation they can go to Segal if they can no longer provide their transportation but if somebody chooses Segal and then all of a sudden says they want to go to Blackman they need to stay at Segal. That's what we've done previously when

044we've done other rezones. I believe that I agree with Ms. Darby that tonight you know I know Ms. Rosales had talked about voting tonight and even the 10th may be too too short of a time for our parents to see the tweaks that we've made regarding the Blackman Segal and in the downtown area regarding Segal, Oakland and Riverdale. I would like to push this out to the 17th that way we're giving all of our students the opportunity to vote. I'm going to change it to the 17th so we will instead of the 10th. Madam Chair. Yes. Dr. Sullivan can I ask the school choice applications when do our students hear about those because that would be my only concern with the dual zone and a date requirement there is that going to conflict with any

045school choice applications? It could but we can make sure that those don't. We can set that because we have to publish. James I know you know the the dates a lot better than I do. So the applications that we have right now are for our traditional magnet schools. Campus school, Central, McFadden, Therma Francis, the virtual school and Holloway. We're taking those starting December 1st. If the board passes on December 17th whatever the board's going to pass the next set opens up January 1st. So as long as it's approved by the end of the month. We'll be fine. We will. We do need to publish the available numbers at least two weeks in advance but we could publish a minimum number of what would be available and then we can always add more to it and

046take more you know just accept more if we have more depending on the board's actions. Dr. Sullivan can you explain how dual zone dual zones would work regarding students? It would have to basically make their decision you can't go back and forth. Yeah they would need to make their decision on which school they're going to attend. if someone very similar to grandfathering so if a junior or senior for next year is going to be grandfathered they can choose to stay and we're going to ask them to make that same decision like we have in the past so they have to let us know so we can plan for staffing and then if something happens whether it's a attendance or they can no longer provide their transportation then they have to go to their zone school

047we usually give them one letter if you've been absent or tardy five times and then after that you've got to go to your zone school very similar for it's a dual zone you have to pick which school you're going to go knowing blackman you'd have to provide your own transportation we'll provide it to seagull miss shark thank you madam chair is there any consideration for the career path not for rezoning there's not okay good question any other questions yes mr vaughn i'd like to make a statement i was when i was principal oakland high school i experienced what inequality was as far as zoning and demographics so i guess i'm a little bit sensitive to my i just want to make sure that all the schools that are basically concerned with seagull and oakland and

048riverdale that each one of them are equally uh everything is equal and i think that from looking at this rezoning that we've done i think it looks it looks pretty close to me uh there's one thing i really want that i didn't see you know we were i think uh just uh overburdened i guess with all the information of the night just two nights ago and you know this is a decision we've got to make that it's going to impact these high schools for years to come and i think we really need to spend some time uh to do that but one other thing that i didn't see that is important to me is free and re free and reduced lunch uh numbers uh we saw i think everything else but we didn't see that

049that's something i'd really like to see before for i'll make a decision on this because uh i'm like you miss mcmall i think that if you need a motion i'd like to make a motion we move voting on this into december the 17th well actually i get to as cheer woman i can just do that okay so i'm going to do that so i'm just going to let you do it for me if you're on the phone or one of you appreciate that just think of it like you're kind of people who can help with the schools So I'm just gonna let you know I'm doing that. Good. But I hear you. I do believe our parents needed to look at this carefully and see what changes. I'd really like to get every one of

050these slides myself if we could be sent to us where we could look at them, send them to us via internet. I'd really like to be able to look at them and analyze them a little bit more than just what I saw Tuesday night. It went so fast that my paper couldn't keep up with it. If we could get those and a little more. I think we can take care of that. Easily. Easily, we'll take care of that, Mr. Vaughn. Yes, Ms. Roselle. Yes, sorry. Thank you so much, Rob. I know you put a lot of time and effort into it, so thank you so very much. Dr. Sullivan, this question is for you in regards to dual zoning. Once a family decides that they are going to go to black, black man and provide

051their transportation by the deadline, do they have to do that every year? Do they have to re-enroll every, no. No, it'll be while they stay there. Yeah, until we change zone lines again with the new high school. Perfect, so once they commit to that one year, they will be committed for the entire year? As long as they have transportation and their kid's not, they're absent. Okay, perfect. All right, that was my question. One thing. Yes, go ahead. One thing I'd like to caution, so we will, of course, we can get free or reduced lunch numbers. Looking at the Oakland zone, one of the promises we made to the county commission is we would put 2,500 students in that addition. We have removed some of, if you look, the last one that was passed last year

052went straight down Memorial all the way over to Bradyville and we have carved out about 250 students out of the downtown area to go to different places outside of Oakland. Okay. Okay. So, if we remove other students from Oakland, we're going to have to shift other areas back to Oakland. And so, that's just something to consider, the areas that parents are not anticipating moving. That may be some of the Walter Hill, Segal area that would have to go to Oakland, somebody's going to have to move to put 2,500 kids into Oakland. I'm glad you mentioned that. The county commission has tasked us with putting students at schools that had the room. And so, that's why a lot of this shift has happened. It's a shift with the zoning and the students. But any other questions?

053Yep. Madam Chair. Excuse me. Go ahead. Ms. Darby. Dr. Sullivan, can I just ask, I don't know what page, page 61 this one says, this section on here where it's given the reasons for the proposed zone adjustment where it talks about the dual zone and it says, decrease enrollment at Blackman while providing student options to maximize capacity and have appropriate staffing that will improve the student experience. I just wanted to make sure I understood that. Are you talking about the extra staff that you're saying will have to be at both schools to accommodate that dual zone? Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Vaughn. Like I said, being former principal at Oakland, there's a certain, I guess there was a large group of students who ended up in, a lot of them still are, that require a

054lot more. I guess attention and support than a lot of the other students. And I think Oakland, you know, if we need to, would look and see if, I think that if they were, they wouldn't mind giving up that 250 and wouldn't mind getting 250 from somewhere else if it came about just because I just, I don't want that same group that, you know, that's not going to be there. Okay. That needs this extra help to all be, most of them are funded in one school or I just need to make sure, I want to make sure it's evenly divided because, you know, those kids, if I'm dealing with them, you know, they, most of them didn't have, they were single parents and, you know, most of them would be there when I'd get there

055at 6 o'clock in the morning, come in and get something to eat for breakfast. And they just had certain challenges that they didn't have. And I just, I want to make sure that we sort of spread that out to, to give everybody an opportunity to do that and not just burden one school with that. So, and I'm sure we'll do that. I think Mr. Schwartz has done a pretty, pretty good job of making things equitable. And so I thank you and we'll get you the paperwork that you want to see and the slides you want to see. Is there anything else that you want to add? No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

056you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions that you would have for Mr. Schwartz? Okay. And I have one request that was made by a board member. I'm unable to fulfill going back prior to 1819 because we only have student data that goes to 1819. I want you to read. Thank you, sir. Next, moving onto Number 10, legal tab. Yeah, the first one, there is no action that is needed. That is just a announcement that if there were any policies, of course, we have a policy. meeting in January. If there are any policies in the Section 4 specifically that the board wants to review, if you can send those to Monica, that'll be one of the highlights. We just happen to look at Section 4 this time, but of

057course any policy is eligible to go. Number two. Transfer student under discipline number one. The board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student has remained for fighting and repeated violations and misbehaviors. According to policy 6.3 and 8, the board may deny admissions of any student except those in state custody when a student transfers to another school system while under suspension or expulsion. Director of Schools recommendation is to deny. However, the board can admit or deny as presented. I'll entertain a motion. Move to deny. Second. Seconded by Mr. Tidwell. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Number three. Thank you. The board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student was expelled for possession of a loaded firearm.

058Second. However, the board has been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system while under suspension or expulsion. The school's recommendation is to deny. However, the board can admit or deny as presented. The board has been requested to admit or deny as presented. Motion to deny. Seconded by Ms. Rosales. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That's unfortunately. Second. Thank you. I'm assuming you would be able to move in if I talk about this. Any opposed? No. Thank you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Yes, I can. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm second. Thank you. Motion passes. Adam Cheryman? Yes, Mr. Fodd. I have a question. What happens, all right, this student, I mean, we don't feel it's in our best interest. What does that parent do? I

059mean, what are the other alternatives? They can do private school, the private school will take them. They can do home school. It's up to them. They can go around to all kinds of other counties. And some counties do take students because they need the enrollment. They do need the enrollment. So, I mean, it's not like it's a totally lost cause. Yes. But I'm curious about that, that when you read through all this, that there are other programs. Yes. Other opportunities. And the state has a virtual school. Yeah, absolutely. And that would be, I guess, the last resort that they could do virtual school. And they're only, if we don't accept them, they're only not accepted if they live in a private school. They don't live in our school system or district, which they do, for

060a calendar year from whenever their offense was. So some of these offenses you'll see may have happened in March of last year. Right. They're only going to be out until March of this year. So they will end up. They will come back. Yes. It's just that they're on the youth right here. Well, it is. It's under . They didn't include a timeout for our system. Right. Excessive timeout. Excessive timeout. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'd like to . In my days, we always looked to ways to people that did these types of things that we wanted to make sure that they were out of the schools. And we used to encourage the parent to homeschool them. And we had, I think, some liaison from the central office here to provide them with needed

061information to keep the kid up to date. But we just wanted to make sure these kids, this type of thing, they need to serve their consequences. Number four, we move to policy adoption of the second reading of two readings. And I think we decided that we were going to do a roll call vote on all four of these. Correct. So this is policy adoption second reading of two readings. These policies were recommended in the first reading of November 14th, 2024, policy changes. We'll start with A, policy 1.802, section 504 and ADA grievance procedures, streamlines language and policy changes. And then we'll move to policy 2.0. A, we have a language and policy to differentiate the grievance under section 504 and ADA. Mr. Vaught? Yes, you need a motion. Oh, do you want me to read

062it? Yes. You need a motion. Okay, sorry. I'm sorry. I jumped the gun. You're excited. I'll entertain a motion. I'm glad you were first. Mr. Vaught, motion? And are you seconding it? Mr. Vaughn is seconding it. Now, Mr. Vaught? Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Ms. Darby? Yes. Ms. Sharp? No. Mr. Tidwell? Yes. Ms. Rosales? Yes. Ms. Maxwell? Yes. All yes. Motion passes. All right. B, policy 5.302, sick leave, adds language to comply with agreement, the MOU with REA. I'll entertain a motion. I'll make a motion. Seconded by Mr. Watt. Mr. Tidwell? No. Ms. Rosales? Yes. Ms. Sharp? No. Mr. Watt? No. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Ms. Darby? Yes. Ms. Maxwell? Yes. All yes. Motion passes. Next, policy 5.308, sabbatical leave, adds language to comply with agreement, MOU with REA. I'll entertain a motion. Second. Seconded by Mr. Vaughn.

063Madam Chair, just for the record, can we clarify what the motion is for? Yes. Okay. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Mr. Vaughn? Are you approving of the motion? Yes. Okay. We'll take the recommendation of the motion. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Ms. Darby? Yes. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Ms. Rosales? Yes. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Mr. Tidwell? Yes. Ms. Sharp? Yes. Ms. Maxwell? Yes. All yes. 7-0. Motion passes. And then last, policy 6.308, bus safety and conduct, extends time for recordings to five days and adds language for reporting and tracking of discipline on buses. I'll entertain a motion. I'll approve. Second. Okay. I think Mr. Tidwell actually jumped in ahead of you. And Ms. Sharp? Seconded the approval of the recommendation from the policy committee. Mrs. Rosales? Yes. Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Mr. Tidwell? Yes. Ms. Sharp? Mr. Vaughn? Yes. Mrs. Darby? Yes.

064And Mrs. Maxwell? Yes. All yes. Motion passes. Next, 11, financial matters. This amendment is to increase general purpose fund 141 budgeted revenues and expenditures in the amount of $980,385 to recognize the awarded State's special education pre-K grant for fiscal year 2425 and the fiscal year 2324 carryover amount. Thank you. The funds will be used for additional education assistant positions to assist in the pre-K classrooms, additional training for teachers and EAs, centering de-escalation items and supplies materials for IPK classrooms. This grant will ensure that all students will have access to highly trained teachers and staff to meet their educational needs. This is a recurring grant and requires no local match. Recommended motions to amend the fiscal year 2425 general purpose school budget to reflect the State's special education pre-K grant award in the amount of $980,385

065as presented. Motion to approve. Thank you. Second. Second by Mr. Vaught. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have 12. 12, county public works request. The county public works committee is requested to undertake certain studies on a portion of the property at Laverne Lake Elementary between LaSalle and Gingham Road to determine if it's suitable for a future convenience center site. Recommended motions to approve public works undertaking site studies for a possible future convenience center between LaSalle and Gingham Road and Laverne. Motion to approve. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Thank you. Do we have a second, or any questions? I have a question. Yes. Ms. Maxwell Yes. Ms. Rotales. So, I spoke to

066Commissioner Anthony yesterday, and he wanted me to share with the Board that if there's any interest for us to come out and tour the facility, of where this location's going to be, that he welcomes any one of us to do so. us to meet with him and do the tour. It can be scheduled at anyone's convenience. There is no time. There is not a specific time. It can be done at anyone's leisure. He would like for us to do that. Hopefully we will all take him up for that. Secondly, I just want to be noted that this whole thing started because the City had made the request for the County to look elsewhere for reasons for this convenience center. When the County Commissioner came and spoke, Mr. Anthony Johnson, he did invite us and told

067us to provide our concerns at the Public Works meeting. It seems like we did not do that, that we didn't show up and speak whatever concerns we had about this. There was also another meeting that took place on November 5th that we put together. It was a Public Works meeting that we could have shown up and spoken any concerns, if there were concerns about this. I just wanted to state that. We have been there. Point of order, Madam Chair. Mr. Vaughn. Okay. Mr. Tidwell. Yes. I usually don't just talk about all the conversations that I had with Commissioners and the City, but since this keeps getting brought up, I was not here. I missed the first Board meeting that I ever missed in this elected position. I was going to go to Knoxville for surgery

068for my son that night, but I did watch it and I did have conversations with Mr. Johnson as well, as well as the Mayor and a couple other Commissioners. What my recommendation would be after trying to figure out—so obviously the County is trying to figure out how to solve a problem, and they're looking for the most fiscally responsible way to do that, and I understand that. I think that there is potential for better sites, so I would offer if those who put the motion in, if they're interested, to postpone this to the January meeting. I've talked to the Mayor of La Verne, and there are a couple other sites that maybe the topography is a little bit better. There's obviously going to—as from my understanding, from the Commissioner's standpoint, there's going to have to be

069some blasting and stuff, and that's quite expensive. So my thought would be if you found some land that didn't require that, even though you are paying for the land, the overall cost of the project might actually be near or close to the same. Without some of the land being in the area, it's going to be a lot more expensive. So I think that's my recommendation. I think that's my recommendation. I think that's my recommendation. I would refer the commissioner's opinion as well, but I think that's my recommendation. I would refer the commissioner's opinion as well, but I think that's my recommendation. And that's the only way I personally think that we should consider this board as a whole. I think that's what we should consider. I think that's what we should consider. I would like

070some of the hesitations that are being brought forth here at the board. So that's a consideration I would like this board to receive. This is the first official request, even—I would say something very positive about Mr. Dodd and Mr. Johnson and the fact that they seem to be opposed to this happening without coming to the County first and making official requests to this board, which we are a board where you would start the process and say hey what is the the owners of this property think about it first that would be the best place to start so whether we show up to the public works meeting or not I think they should they missed the ball or miss the mark by not coming to here making the request first with that being said I think

071that we can have a productive conversation I think we can come to some possible agreement I just don't think that we have worked through all the options it's not our job to find the land but it is our job to look after students and so I'm gonna always vote vote in the best interest of the students but I would like to keep a collaboration going on with the commissioners had some very productive conversations I also got when I spoke to the mayor he of course they they're doing a one-year lease and I think he said they were signing that today or to maybe going on tonight but they're extending that one-year lease to give time for this change but he said on the phone to me and I don't think he'd mind me repeating you

072know I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get that done but I think it's going to be a good idea to get that done but I think it's going to be a good idea that if he would be open to extending that another year to give us time if we're like in the process of we found some good land we're in the process of building it building it out or whatnot so we're not as back up against a wall as some may see but of course the other side of that is if we haven't made any progress and I say we as a general County we because obviously this is the county's project if there hasn't been any major progress then of course that would be a sign to him that he

073would not be as open to renew the lease another year after this one so we do have time in our in our favor and so I would ask the board to reconsider that miss Maxwell it's mr. Zala I just want to say that the county the County Commissioner when he was made aware because he was he weren't here mr. Tidwell but he was here and he spoke a great length it took a lot of our questions and he even explained how things happened and how things happened and transpired and how he came aware of things that were Perkins how it all started is because he discovered a Facebook's post that one of our school board members put on social media and so when he found that to happen he called me and he called other

074school board members that and even text me and he's he said that he I don't know if he called you but I believe you mentioned your name I don't remember but he made a point of saying if there were any concerns about this to please contact him you to him about whatever issues that we may have and so they're in a situation that they're needing a little bit of a help and I want to remind the board that at the end of day the County Commissioner is the body that did to that approves or denies our funding and they've already funded quite a bit of money and we're getting ready to ask them two hundred and fifteen million dollars before them because we're hoping to get a high school that we're going to be building

075on the on the side that as we can see in all these slides because of overcrowding we're very very much needed and we're also going to ready to go and ask them for quite a bit of money to build a middle school on the Beatty property that is going to be built hopefully and opening very soon because again because of the over the crowding they're the ones who are responsible to approve or deny whether they're going to fund us this this funding for us and so you know we're going to have to wait and see what happens but I think that's a good point. we need to be working together in collaborating together the land that they're looking at is land that we looked at a two years ago which I brought a slide about

076and we discussed it and it was never in the periphery periphery of priority of whether we're going to build it or not because of the site development and the cost of the limestone so this is where the area they're going to be building this and they're going to take up the cost of trying to build if in fact we can build there or not it's still not we don't know if they're going to build or not but the fact that they're going to go and try to pay if we can even build on it is going to save us and trying to figure out whether we can build on it because we've been told that this it costs quite costly so I just want to share that. yes Mr. Tidwell. yes Mr. Johnson did talk

077to me and I speak very highly of him I think that he was really trying to circumvent some of that process where it looked like maybe we're going to be reached out to the first but that now here it is and I appreciate that but in those conversations and I think Mr. Rosales made a great point here the limestone it is going to call some extra construction costs to do that my thought and theory is there was some land that was presented at least recently to me that I think the count the County Commission could look at or Public Works could look at here because they're the committee making this decision that they could look at as these alternative options and while they would still be paying for the land that could be constructed and

078the construction related costs may not be as high as far as the site development therefore you could you could resolve two problems by just simply looking at alternative sites which have been brought up recently so I was going to pitch that to the Public Works I will still do that no matter what to see what their thoughts on that whether no matter what the vote is here tonight but I think a small delay is not a crushing defeat or a resounding win for Vaughn it's certainly not a game of a hostage negotiation where they're going to hold up something for us because they ask you know we don't hold anything from them we do what's in the best interest of the students they would do what's in the best interest of the county that's the

079way the boards are set up and I think that'll continue either way Mr Vaughn I don't know whether anybody else has gone to look this land or not but I have and the uh in no way is it going to interfere with the operation of that school because it's completely separated it's separated there's a tree barrier there that was separated it's completely away from it doesn't affect the traffic flow whatsoever and the thing about it is Ruff County Schools owns this land and by us being able to allow this uh to occur you know that's going this is a lot of money that we can use to build schools and buy land if the county had to buy the land that's being discussed in the burn area it's going to cost quite a bit of

080money unless somebody just gives it to them which I doubt in this day and time that's going to happen but again we could use that money for a lot greater needs and and uh in the future to uh you know I think it could be a lot better spent and again this the site that you're talking about it's unacceptable for any school building or anything like that in the school use so uh I thank good faith uh I think it's best thing we can do is to uh work with them and they've helped us and at least we can do I think Madam Chair. Thank you. Yes, Ms. Darby. So I think that the point that Ms. Rosales brought up about the funding from the County Commission is a completely separate issue. It shouldn't be

081brought into this. I don't think that our County Commission would hold something over our head. I think higher of them than that. This is about what is best for our students. That is our job. County Commission's job is to do what's best for the county overall. Most of the time, those two things are going to align. Occasionally, they may not align. I'm not going to make a decision that I feel is not best for our students to try to play favor to get funding for what is necessary for our students either. That's a game tactic that it takes away from the reason we're here. We're here to make decisions based on what's best for our students. Part of the problem with the land that La Verne Lake Elementary sits on is that it's a land

082that was purchased. It was publicly stated and publicly voted on that the land was for education. So if you're now going to take part of that land and use it for non-education purposes, you have now taken money that was told to our taxpayers that was going to go towards education, and you're now using it towards something that is not education-related. And that's a problem. We're supposed we all talk about transparency. We all talk about being upfront with things. When you tell taxpayers you're spending X amount of dollars towards educational purposes, and then you take some of the money that was used to purchase that land and use it for non-educational purposes, you're taking money from education, and you're not replacing it. And that, for me, is another issue. I did a very quick search. I

083had conversations, communications, with Commissioner Johnson, with Mayor Cole yesterday. In a very quick search, there were about 7 million. And I had conversations with all these different groups. And I had conversations with all these different groups. And I had conversations them potential properties, possibilities in Laverne that could be looked at. One of my biggest issues is that, according to Commissioner Johnson, no other properties were really looked at. So this has become the default of, we don't have to pay for this, let's just put it here. And I'm going to tell you, as a citizen of Laverne, some of this stuff is really, it's getting concerning. They were, you know, they didn't get their addition. Another school got an addition that was not over capacity. Laverne was at capacity, and they didn't get theirs. They had

084to wait until now. Now we want to put a convenience center next to their elementary school. I find it hard to believe that other board members would be in favor if it was going next to one of their schools. Laverne Lake isn't even my school. I don't represent it, but I do represent the constituents of Laverne, and I think it's important. We are the ones that are going to be in favor of the school. We all sit up here and talk about equity. Mr. Vaughn was just talking about students and wanting things to feel equitable. What does it say to our students when we are putting a convenience center next to their school? Nobody else in the district has one next to their school, but hey, it's just Laverne, so let's just stick it there.

085We need to do better. And if the commission came to us and said, hey, we've looked at all of these properties, and they're not going to work for this reason, that reason, or these people don't want to sell, and we are left with no other option but this option, absolutely, I would take a harder look at it. But this is the first jump that they've gone to. This isn't we've exhausted all of their possibilities, and now we're coming there. This is the first, like, hey, and I get it. It's their job. They're trying to not spend money. I commend them for that, but it doesn't make the school system the scapegoat. Ms. Maxwell? I have to say this. I just got, Dean and the county commissioners wanted me to say that they did consider other

086pieces of land, and are you wanting to say that taxpayers, we pay more money to buy land when they were the ones who voted on the note to get the, like, the mortgage, like what you would, like, you will buy a home, you get a mortgage, they're the ones who took out a bond to pay for the land that we're not using right now. We're not using this land at all. And this land, is going to be used for something that is needed for the citizens of La Verne because the La Verne side, the city told them for whatever reasons, that they have to find an alternate place. So, right now they're asking us to help them, and with all the collaboration that we've been having for the past three years since I've been on

087the board. I think this is something that we can do to help the county out by saving taxpayer money and using the land that we already had, that's already, already been purchased for that purpose. And as far as the addition for La Verne, I believe that since I have been here, it has been advocated to try to get the addition, and they are going to get an addition. And before they got the addition, they got money to do some slight cosmetic work. So there have been things that have been doing to La Verne since I have been here. So, no, La Verne has not been neglected. Thank you. We all have strong opinions on this, and that is what we were elected to be, to come up here and to vote on these. So do

088we have ‑‑ yes, Ms. Sharp. Thank you, Madam Chair. It was my understanding that the school board purchased this one parcel and put a road through it, so we purchased that. We did not go to the bond market for that. Is that the truth? I believe they did go to the bond market. Thank you. But it was ‑‑ Thank you. Thank you. It was all purchased ‑‑ Excuse me. Mr. Zalas. It was all purchased for the purpose of building the schools. It was not purchased for non‑educational purposes. So everybody knows that I'm against this. I'm adamantly against this, just as I was putting the alternative school next door to John Coleman. We have children that are already at a disadvantage. Those schools are Title I schools. And there are going to be ‑‑ you all

089see the trees there now because it's green when they took that picture. But you all go by there in the next couple of weeks, and when winter sets in and all the leaves and everything are off the tree, Laverne Lake and Laverne Middle are going to be able to see that dump. Because it is the dump. They rebranded it, but you can call it whatever you want to, convenience center. But those kids K through 5 and Laverne Lake Elementary are going to be looking out and going down that street going, These people don't care enough about us that they're going to put a trash receptacle, convenience center, or dump on our property. This property could be used for something else other than that. Just because it wasn't on our five-year plan, Dr. Sullivan and I

090had talked about it, putting a football field there or a ball field because we're out of ball fields for our kids to play on. That certainly could be put in that area. That's 30-something acres of property that we could do something. That would open up our opportunities for other property that we don't have to have football fields on the school property. We can have a community football field or a community ball field for that because we're growing everywhere and we don't have enough. We don't have enough land for a high school. And for us to give away a piece of property that we paid education dollars for and we're not receiving anything for it, and then to say, well, if we don't give it to them, they're not going to fund us. Our job is

091to educate children and build schools. Period. The end. Excuse me. It's not to build roads. It's not to build anything else. We probably should have never put the EMS on our location. Now we're still doing the utilities over at Walter Hill that we're paying for. That's coming out of our money. Our job is to educate and build schools. Their job, the county's job, and the City of Luverne is the one that needs to handle this, not the board, not the school board. Yes, Mr. Vaughn. Like I said, I visited this site, and the best I understand, it's like a lot of the land in that area, these trees are cedar. And the best I recollect, the cedars that I grew up with stayed green. They were pretty much year-round. So being able to see through

092these cedar trees, this site is not visible from the school at all. And I think, again, we talk about not having other facilities on school sites. I think Mr. Vaughn mentioned that out at Rockvale, I think there's a building on part of the school area out there. So this is not... This is not the first time this has happened. And, you know, this is something that, you know, all these arguments and all are good, and, you know, if Ms. Sharpe's talking about it, it's a Luverne problem. And if that's the case, then we let Luverne needs to fund it. They need to be the one to go out and buy the land and change it. But this is a county problem. And I just... I believe that we just need to do... I don't see

093any reason not to approve this in my own mind. I mean, I guess there may be, but I can't see it. And, like I say, we have ownership of it. And we can approve this any time we want to. So I'll make a motion that we approve this recommendation. Second. Seconded by Ms. Rosales. I'd like to do a roll call vote, please. Ms. Sharpe. Hey, wait a minute. How else had said their piece? I got... Okay, Mr. Vaughn. Well, you know, I'm listening to this discussion. I don't... There's a lot of animosity here, and I don't quite understand it myself. But the history of this property, the reason there is a convenience center down there is because the city of Luverne furnished the site. There was a joint agreement between the county commission years ago,

094and TVA funded the man convenience centers. I'm telling my age right here, because they used to be the open-top boxes. Those of you that got gray hair like me, you will remember those. There used to be people that rummaged around in them. There were some teenage boys that used to set them on fire. That's many, many years ago. Dr. Sullivan, probably before you were born. But anyway, TVA came out with a program to fund these man convenience centers, and they sprung up around the county. Las Casas was fortunate to get one, Rockvale. Luverne, the agreement was made between the city of Luverne to furnish the site, and Mr. Mankin, the county executive at the time, county mayor, helped fund... the county commission funded that. So the history of it there is that Luverne furnished the

095ground. You confused me a while ago, Caleb, when you kept saying the mayor. Were you talking about mayor... Carr or mayor Cole? Mayor Cole. Mayor Cole, not Carr. So he said he didn't need the land back? Is that what I understood you to say? No, no, no. They did not say he didn't need the land. They extended... Can I have the floor for a second? Yes, you can. Okay. I'm going to clear that up. Yeah. Because I thought the whole premise of this was that the lease was up and that something had to be done. Yes, there's some context I'll add to that. So the... They... As I understood it, from the recent phone conversation, they are approving the lease for an additional year. So... Okay. There's that. And then he mentioned that if we

096were in process, like progress is being made, not that we're just kind of kicking the can, but if we're in progress and we're not going to be completely done by the time that year's up, he himself would be open to extending it another year. And the lease is like... I was just kind of getting clarification. You kept saying the mayor, the mayor, and I wasn't sure... Yeah. Cool. ...involved here. The third, I guess the third question, the first one was just a statement really. That's the first question. The second question, Mr. Reid, who owns the property? I've always been curious about that. Does the county general fund or the county own it and the school board is the steward of it? What's the... I mean, that's kind of akin to what... I mean, the title

097on the deed is to the Rutherford County. Okay. There are state statutes. The school board... The school board has jurisdiction and supervisory control over the possession of the school property. Okay. So by virtue of this being a school property, possession of it is in the hands of the school board of education. Okay. So that's the reason we need to vote on it. Mm-hmm. Okay. All right. Thank you. So we have a motion? Madam Chair. Yes. Just a couple things that I would like to clarify. We need to do what's in the best interest of our students. Now, whether the land is suitable or whether the kids will see it or not, at the end of the day, we should all be asking ourselves, is putting the convenience center next to the school what is best

098for our students? That is our job. The other portion to that, TCA-496-2006 states the board has the power to purchase land subject to the laws of the state, to erect buildings for school purposes, to equip them on such terms as it deems advised. Okay. advisable and advantageous subject to the laws of the state and to pay for the property out of funds appropriated or donated for the public schools the board shall be vested with the title to the property so purchased or acquired so i don't know why the property is titled to the county because it should be titled to the school board um regardless i want us to work with the county commission i love mr tidwell's idea of postponing this and giving the public works an opportunity to go look at some other

099options that are out there because i was told by commissioner johnson that they had not looked into i think there were a couple other properties mentioned but nothing that was actually looked into so with that i would ask to amend the motion and postpone mr that's a whole new that's a whole new motion and mr vaughn do you want to he does not want to okay so let's go ahead and vote please clarify the motion you you motion to approve the public works undertaking site studies for a possible future convenience center between lasalle and gingham road in lavarne miss maxwell before we vote i have a question when is the next public works meeting do we know great i can't keep up with what monday after the first tuesday after the third thursday to keep

100up with public works is in january and they don't have it's january seventh january seventh so that's the next meeting so i hope that the board members who are um sharing all these concerns will be showing up by the public works meeting and sharing that information since there's been two meetings that we've been asked to show up and no one has so but i would like to go ahead and vote thank you miss sharp no mr bott mrs rosales yes mr vaughn yes mr tidwell no mrs darby no mrs maxwell yes madam chair yes we have a work session that night so we're not going to be able to go okay let's excuse me point of order okay all right one at a time miss sharp is speaking we have a board meeting that night

101and i believe they all know our concerns on this there's there's no reason squares to go into a public clients meeting it's we're going to be part of our estranged i believe they all know our concerns on this there's no reason for us to go and to a public works meeting. They know our concerns about this. Ms. Maxwell? I thought you were done. Go ahead, finish. Thank you. They're not going to allow us to speak anyway because we're not going to be on the agenda. How is going to the public works going to do anything? If anything, we should postpone this, even though we've already voted for it, until after that so we can talk to them between now and then. We haven't discussed it. We haven't voted on it. That's true. We have. Let's

102move on, please. Number 13, ESL resolution. Mr. Reid, so we read these on Tuesday night, unless the board wants him to read them again. The first one was a resolution to increase Title III funds for ESL services. Mr. Reid, I'll turn it over to you. Yeah, I won't read the whole resolution again, but I'll read the part that you're resolving in the end. So this is one to increase Title III funds for ESL services, and this is a resolution for the Board of Education urging the state legislature to provide an increase in Title III funds at a rate of $3,500 per student for ESL services to counties experiencing a high growth of ESL students and for those counties which already have high numbers of ESL students. That is the resolution. Second. Second. Madam Chair, I

103have a question. Yes, Ms. Darby. Ms. Rosales, did you bring this resolution? Yes, I did. Do you know offhand where this puts, if they were to add this $3,500, where it puts the Title III funds per student for the ESL students? So if you were to do the math, $3,500 times the $8,373 is going to be way more than $1.3 million. Okay. So it's the $1.3 million plus the... Yes. Yes. This is in addition to what we already are getting. Dr. Sullivan, do you happen to know what kind of funding we receive for our special education students? Each one's a little bit different based on their option code from the federal government. Title III is extremely small. It is between $100 and $400 per kid usually. And so it is a big discrepancy between Title

104III of what's provided compared to IDEA funds for special education. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Your ESL funding comes from state, not federal. Okay. Do you know an idea of what comes out of the IDEA when it breaks down per student? Not off the top of my head because I'd have to get an eplan and run it. It is... Can you just send it to me? Yes. I'd just be curious to know. Yeah. Thanks. It'd be tens of thousands of dollars would be my guess. Okay. I'll entertain

105a motion. Well, he already . And I see. Okay. Okay. Sorry. When we start talking after we've already done that. Okay. So, stand. Motion to approve. And who seconded, please? Ms. Rosales seconded. Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. The next resolution is also related to ESL students, but this is a resolution requesting state funding for translators. The Rutherford County Board of Education respectfully requests state funding for school systems to fund the hiring of translators for school systems at a ratio of one ESL EA for every 70 ESL students at a starting rate of $17 per hour. Mr. Vaught? Second. Mr. Vaughn seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Next 14, engineering and construction. Central magnet window replacement request. Dr. John Asch has requested to

106replace seven windows in the gym. The windows will be replaced by Hamilton glass and paid for by an anonymous donor. The cost for the work is $38,880. It will be at no cost to the board. Engineering and construction has reviewed this request and has no objection. I recommend motions to approve the central magnet request as presented. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Second. Second by Ms. Rosales. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Number two. Walter Hill Elementary pole installation request. Principal Laura Heath is requesting to install two wooden poles in the playground area. The poles be provided by an installed by MTEMC. Once installed, the technology department will assist with camera installation. This request is at no cost to the Board and engineering and construction has reviewed the request and

107has no objection. I recommended motions to approve the Walter Hill Elementary request as presented. I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve. Second. Mr. Tidwell approves. Ms. Darby? Seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Number 15. Under the supervision of Special Education Coordinator or Special Education Pre-K Compliance Coach is requested to serve as the liaison between the Tennessee Department of Education, Early Childhood and Rutherford County Schools. This position will be funded through the State Special Education Pre-K Grant. Recommended motion is to approve the new position of Special Education Pre-K Compliance Coach to the Special Education Department. Funding for this position will be through Fiscal Year 25 State Special Education Pre-K Grant. I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve. Madam Chair? Yes, Ms. Darby. Are these recurring funds, this grant? They are, yes.

108Thank you. Mr. Vaughn? Move to approve. Second. Second by Ms. Rosales. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, Director Subfake. All right, two things. First, we had someone speak about I just wanted to clarify, we had comments about the school board being involved in impact fees. We are not a special school district. Special school districts are the only one that can set a tax levy or revenue. That's up to our county commission to be able to get a change to the private act. So great idea to have that. But unfortunately that is out of the jurisdiction of our school board. Second one, I'm going to read a statement that we provided to our staff today. I will not be able to answer questions or comments and ask the board the same.

109But I just want to provide an update about our network outage. So I sent this to our employees. RCS employees, first let me thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to conduct a thorough investigation into the recent interruption to our network and our systems. We will provide information is available, but I did want to go ahead and address some of the concerns and rumors that have come our way. First was about payroll. Payroll and paychecks are not impacted. Classified employees who are scheduled to be paid on the 6th will receive their deposits as normal. Teachers and all others who are scheduled to receive their checks on December 20th are also proceeding on schedule. Personal information. We are conducting a thorough ongoing investigation, and to date we're not aware of unauthorized access to

110any employee or student personal information. Our internet restoration. We're currently working to reopen the full internet by early next week. We have it down right now just for precautionary reasons to make sure that everything is the way it needs to be. And the last one doesn't really apply, but teachers have to be observed every semester, and we asked our principals to wait and observe until teachers had full access to everything. Last, I said I appreciate all the adjustments and flexibility you've made this week and your focus on continuing instruction for our students. This is still an ongoing investigation, so things can always change, but that is all I can say at this point. But I did want to give the community that bit of an update. Thank you. I do want to say one thing.

111I don't always comment, but since I've been on this board, I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish. And something that's fixing to happen in the fall, I'm extremely excited about, and I'm proud of it. And it was more than just a renovation. It was more than just an expansion. When I got on the board, I noticed, I knew something that I felt I needed to bring to the board's attention. And that was that two of our older schools were built in a way that they were open campuses. So that meant, like, when the children at Riverdale and Oakland were exchanging classes, we're not talking just going to the annex. We're talking to go to any classroom outside of the main building, which all the children had to do that. You would have

112thousands of kids outside in the rain, in the cold, and that wasn't safe. It didn't take what's going on in this world across this country for me to realize. I knew that 10 years ago when my children first started attending there, because I had also gone to school there. It may have sounded like a great concept in 1972 to have open campuses. Heck, they didn't even have doors on the classrooms. You would go into one wing, and there would be just, you could hear what was going on in all the classrooms. But I knew that wasn't the way it needed to be. So I brought it to this board's attention. And I fought for two years, but finally everybody realized, you're right, we can't in 2022, when we first started talking about it, have thousands

113of kids outside. It's not fair. The kids at Stewart's Creek weren't getting cold, and were all encapsulated in one building. And that's what needed to happen. So I'm very proud that we were able to convince our county commission that I will be indebted to them and indebted to them forever that they saw the error and wanted to remedy that. And yes, they spent $156 million on fixing Riverdale and Oakland and putting a really good addition on Smyrna for their overcrowding. And I'm very proud of that. And all of those schools now, I'm proud to say, you cannot go to a high school in this county that's not equitable, that doesn't have wonderful vocational programs, wonderful CTE, and wonderful honors programs. And I'm very proud of that. But I just wanted to make that comment. That's

114one of the proudest things when I'm off this board that I can say that I helped do, is that those children don't feel like second-class citizens to the rest of all the new schools. Thank you. Ms. I'd like to make a comment, too, that being a former principal of one of those Oakland high schools. Another thing that was a concern is that you couldn't keep anyone from non-students from getting on those campuses. Exactly. They were so open that they could just, anybody. Exactly. could come in at any time. And I know at Oakton we put a cable around it and locked it where they only, they just had one way in and one way out because it was really an unsafe environment. And we held our breath every day. So I'm thankful for that and

115it is safe. And it is, those kids deserve to have a good school system. There's a couple other things I'd like to mention. Saturday, Riverdale, Oakland is playing in the state football championship. Again. Again. Again. And they're playing the same team that beat them in the pouring down rain last year, which I can attest it never stopped. Because I was standing out in it. But anyway, the bad thing about it is, and I hope the TSSAA listens, the top two teams in the state of Tennessee is probably Riverdale and Oakland. Because they played the other night, it's probably as even a match as you'll ever see. And it's a shame that they had to play before the finals. So hopefully TSSAA will, will take note of that and make some changes. It was a true

116bar burner, 49 to 46. Right. That was the most points ever in 50 years in that battle of the boroughs. Right. Go ahead, Mr. Coleman. One other thing, too. I noticed today I saw a report, a national report on the decline, math and science scores in the United States. Compared to the rest of the world, we have declined. We've been terrible, but we've even declined once. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. And we've been worse. I think we're 21st, and I'm not a scholar like Mr. Vaughn as far as history, but I can't name you 21 other countries. So that tells you how far behind we really are. So it's my wish and hope that the incoming

117president will keep his desire to dismount the Department of Education in Washington and give the state of Tennessee and give that responsibility to the states. I think the state of Tennessee will far outperform any other state. And so, I think that I'm just waiting for the day that we can make the decisions based on what's best for the kids in the state of Tennessee, and not let people in Washington decide for us. Ms. Maxwell? Ms. Rosales. I would like to say a point of clarification that said that we cannot speak at Public Works. Yes, we can speak at Public Works if we were to show up. So, if we have a work session, I'm in favor of changing the work session so that we can allow the board members that are opposing this, they can

118have the opportunity to share their concerns to the county commissioners. Because you can't speak at Public Works. That is a clarification. Make a motion, we adjourn. I had a comment. I don't care. We can't adjourn just yet, Mr. Vaughn, but thank you. Dr. Sullivan. So, you mentioned Oakland's game Saturday. I just, to put us on a little bit of a humorous note, I'm looking forward to Oakland will be playing the championship for the third year that I've been director, three years, and I'm looking forward to the third year in a row that there is a security guard that I have the same conversation with, to get it on the field pass. They have them, the principal has them, and the last two years, the principal has brought it to me and the lady has said,

119you don't need to do that. So, I'm coming again for the third time. I have the same conversation with you that we have had the last two years in the exact same corner. Dr. Sullivan, I know the people can get you on the field. I thought so too, but they yell at me every year. I mean, without any problem. They can drive you right to the gate. And they park right there at the gate. All you got to do is ride in the car, so. Yes, Mr. Vaughn. One thing I want to add, everybody else is kind of through, and this is, not on me, but tell you all a little something that happened. One of our auctioneers at the office ran into a lady down at Stewart's Borough, and the teacher down there made

120mention about this time of year with kids being out of school that some of our less fortunate don't have adequate nutrition during the Christmas break and during the Thanksgiving break. Well, she took it upon herself to hit all the auctioneers and realtors up in our office. And the young lady raised over $6,000 in less than a week. And so I asked, and I'm going to brag on James Evans, I drug her out here, where James would take. I approve. That's fine. I approve. And where James would take, and this is where the story kind of gets really neat, where James would take a picture and post on the Rutherford County school site, which he did, and I kind of challenged myself. I said to my fellow realtors in the county, hey, this is the Atlas

121program is a worthwhile program, approximately what Dr. Stovall and 2.5% of our students or don't have a permanent address. I think it would be the way I would phrase that. And they haven't necessarily picked up on the challenge, but our school resource officers have. And then the EMS has. And the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department has. And the last count I had, it's well up over $10,000. Now, I think. And so I tell you that little story to say this, a little small random act of kindness out of that girl's heart and listening to somebody vocalize a need. I think sometimes we do not slow down long enough in this world, we get the 24-hour news cycle going on that we really don't pay attention to our fellow man and what the needs are right around

122us. I think. God gives us. God gives us a lot of opportunities to serve our fellow man right here at home. You know, maybe not necessarily around the world. I know there's plenty of needs. But anyway, during this season of giving and thanksgiving and celebrating Christ's birth, I hope that all of us maybe pay just a little bit more attention to our fellow man and try to fill in the gaps where they need it. Because there's been some, you know, it's always a tough time of year with people that have lost loved ones and that kind of stuff. And I think all of us just need a few extra prayers sometimes. So anyway, great story. I congratulate Vandy on doing that. She picked the ball up and it just, it's still rolling right now. So

123anyway. Great news. Great news. Thank you, sir. Anybody else? Yes, Ms. Darby. I've been waiting to do this. So I'm actually very sad I'm having to do it after that because I would have loved to have ended on that note. I just want to say thank you to those of you that come to these meetings. It's very obvious that we're going to have to do this. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that we may see things differently. It's not easy. It takes time. It takes effort to come here. It takes a lot of courage to get up there and speak. And I appreciate each and every person that does that. As a board, I will take it upon myself to apologize to some of our constituents who have been disrespected when they have come to

124speak to us. We should not be using our positions to be abusive in that sense. For those of us who are calling, the very least we can do is listen to what you have to say, if nothing else, without name calling in return. So, from myself, I will apologize on behalf of the board for any negativity or name calling that has happened. And I just want to again say thank you. I hope more people continue to watch and more people come out to get involved and let us know their thoughts and their feelings. constituents of our County thank you what just one moment I don't know the actual day and I'm not gonna ask how old you are but we do have two birthdays so happy birthday happy birthday I'm just thankful I still have

125them and they are happy birthday mr. Bob miss miss Maxwell yes mr. Sid which is there something you want to do for your birthday there's a lot of emotions to adjourn most of their cupcakes we are adjourned we got cupcakes