001Good evening everyone. Thank you all for being here tonight at Fayetteville High School for tonight's monthly meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Education. Uh appreciate all of our board members being here and those those who come to join us uh as employees or partners or members of the public. Thank you. Uh I did get a notice uh just before the meeting that Mr. Bradford's not going to be able to make it uh due to some uh uh just illness and so uh he sent his regrets for not being able to make it. Um board members, you have an agenda that has been proposed that's before you tonight. Uh we'll be open for a motion to approve this as our agenda for the evening or to make any changes that you would like to make. I
002make a motion to approve. Okay, got a motion. Second. And a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. Fantastic. All right, well then everyone would please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So board members, in your email from late last week, Thursday I guess it was, you have the uh minutes from the March 2nd board meeting. And you can approve those or make any changes that you need to see necessary. I make a motion to approve March meeting minutes. Okay, got a motion. Second. And a second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Anyone opposed say no. Aye.
003Thank you for that. You also in today's email have the disbursements for the month. If you haven't done so already, please take a moment and look through those. Ms. Williams is here to address any questions on the circuit. I make a motion to approve the March disbursements. Any second the motion? Second. And a second. Any comments or questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. Great. Thank you for that. From our principals tonight, thank you all for being here. This is Ms. Baker, and Ms. Askins. Hello. Um coming up for the month of April, we have a few things at Ralph Askins. Um the first thing we have scheduled our fifth graders to go visit the middle school, and that's something that we plan each year, and I worked with Ms. Monty.
004So Friday, our fifth graders are going to get to go over, meet with Ms. Monty, tour the school, and then I think there's a special assembly they have planned that they're going to get to participate in. And it's just one step to help ease that transition from the elementary to the middle school for our kids. Also, we have our TCAP testing coming up this month. We start on Tuesday, April the 21st, and they'll test 3 days the first week, and then 3 days the following week. Um so, just know that that's coming up. We also have some fun things planned for the kids. And we've talked about how the kids put in a lot of work, um and they are stressed out just as much as the teachers are. So, we have fun things that
005we plan for them, and we work with some local sponsors and teachers and to um have those things available for the kids each day. And then we have a special day, May 1st, the day after testing is done, where we'll have blow-ups and some fun outside games and popsicles and things just to conclude um the the kids working hard on those 2 weeks. So, we look forward to that. Also, just remember to put on your calendars May 15th. I know that's not this month, but next month, but that's one of our biggest days at Ralph Askins. That's our Tiger Tracks Day. And we have our PTO meeting tomorrow to finalize all of our activities for that day, and should be a fun day, and we look forward to seeing everybody out for that day. Questions
006from the staff? Thanks. Thank you. Ms. Taylor. Hi. Good evening. Uh first want to say a a big thank you. Uh Quick Kent has donated a scores table to the Bibb Middle School, and it's going to have the rolling LED lights and all the the big thing. So, we're very thankful and grateful to Quick Kent and for their support. Um pleased to announce that Kadrian Johnson is now our new head basketball coach at Bibb Middle School. We're excited. He's a wonderful young man. Uh we continue to interview for the head football coach. We have an interview tomorrow, actually. So, um we're having our T-CAP pep rally that will be held this Friday at 10:00. And we'd love for you all to come and join us if you could. Uh so, what Miss Brittany was talking
007about, we have the freestyle connection BMX stunt show. And so, fifth graders will come over and join us, and they'll have a brief tour of the facilities, and then they will be able to participate in the pep rally kickoff for our T-CAP upcoming T-CAP season. Um our sneaker ball will be held this Friday from 1:00 until 2:30 p.m. in the cafeteria, and that gives our students a chance to Some students may not have access or or transportation to come to evening dances, so this is an in-school dance. Um and it's a a great fundraiser for us and a way to benefit our students as well. Uh on Tuesday, April 14th, from 4:30 to 6:00 is going to be Are You Smarter Than a Middle Schooler? We'll welcome y'all to come out and join us for
008that. Progress reports will go home on April the 16th. Um and then we have some sports eighth grade nights. Soccer eighth grade night is April 16th at 5:00 p.m. Then softball eighth grade night is the very next night, April 17th, at 4:45 p.m. So, we'd like to welcome you to join us for that as well. Um of course, T-CAP testing will begin April 21st for us, and the makeups will be the following week. And then we're also sponsoring a sports clinic at uh sports physicals clinic at Febel on April 29th at 1:00 p.m. We really encourage parents that have kids of any sport, whether it's high school or even at the elementary level, um to come. I think the fee is going to be $10. Um and so, that's a great opportunity for people to
009come and get an inexpensive physical that covers all sports at our school. Um and I think that is it. Do we have any questions? No? All right. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate all you do. Karen, thank you for hosting our meeting tonight. Yes, sir. So, tonight I've got a couple guests from the high school. I have um our Lift FC club. So, I have our co-sponsor, Ms. Candace Palquin, and the vice president, Ms. Robin Payne, who are going to present to y'all. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um um my name is Candace Palquin. I'm the social worker here at Fayetteville High School, and I also co-sponsor um a new club we came up with last school year um called Lift FC. Um we were inspired by Lift LC from Lincoln County High School um
010cuz they have a club about the same nature. Um and um the motto is we rise by lifting others. Um what that means is that we try to do things within our school to try and lift up our student body as well as our um staff. So, the vision that we wanted to create with the club was we wanted to help with lifting others. And wanted to help student and staff. You know, cuz some kids they just don't really know who to turn to when they're down, having problems. So, it's always good to go to a trusted adult, a teacher. So, we wanted to make sure that they had someone to turn to. Um Lift uh FC was created by Reagan McBay. She's our president, and that was made in 2024. Lincoln help has helped
011with the starting the fundraisers and the funding for Lift. Um we're also funded by Stronger Stronger Connections grants sponsored by Uh our sponsors are Kate Kilgore and co-sponsored by Candace Baltimore. Um the first thing we did this year to kick off um our club was we welcomed all of our students back to school. Um so our Lift Club um has They stood out front in front of the school the first day of school and they greeted all the kids with candy and a smile. They said, "Welcome back. We're happy to have you here. Um let's have this start this off this year off good." Um and so those are the the main um like our president um and the representatives and our vice president of Lift Club. So back in last February, we did Valentine
012gift bags. Um we added sweet treats, lollipop suckers, and note cards because we wanted to let the kids know that Valentine's isn't just always about love. It's It can mean other things, too, and we wanted to make sure that everybody was knew that they were included. Um one of the biggest things I think we do at this school um that we started um I think 2 years ago before the club even um existed was our birthdays. Um not every kid gets their birthday celebrated at home and so I felt like it was important that all of our kids knew that we're we love them and we're happy that, you know, you're here and celebrating another year with us. Um so every student gets a birthday card a birthday card that is signed by their individual
013teacher and by all of our admin and our office staff. Um every student receives a birthday bag and it's decorated by the Lift Club and in that bag they have a Hug drink, um a bag of chips, a piece of candy, a stress ball, and an inspirational pen, and a bracelet that just and they they say um "You're doing great today" or um something along those lines just to make them, you know, feel special. And of course everybody loves the cupcakes too that we give out in the birthday bags. They love the sweets. Um, this is just some of our pictures that we took of all of our kids enjoying it. Um, so here's some of our bags. Um, these are some birthday gifts that we have given out and then that's them the Lift
014Club decorating there at the end. So, back in September we had did a Out of the Darkness assembly and we had invited Reagan County's Lift Club to come and watch us and we collaborated with them. We also had guest speakers from Junior's House and Hayden's Hope. And so yeah. And it was really I think this is mainly our major thing because it was all student-led and it took months to prepare for this. And yeah. Um, for Suicide Prevention Month this year, we had created a poster that said commit to life and we went around and we had our staff and our students kind of put their thumbprint on the the poster basically committing committing to life. Um, and so then after it was all done, we displayed the poster in the school for everybody to
015see. So, Pin Me Day, I am a cheerleader here at Beaver High School and I also do competition cheer. And usually when you go and compete, you take clothespins and write something inspirational on it. So, I had decided to bring that here and what we did was we got everyone in the club to just make pins, write something positive on it and we went around went around the school and we just pinned them on to people's backpacks, their hoodies and we were pinning them on teachers, putting them on paper. It was a big thing. It was really neat for them to watch. Then they could take their pin that they got and they could pin somebody else. It's just kind of like trickle down and all that kind of thing. Um so our plans for
016the future is we want to see this club grow and um we actually want to spread it outside of Lincoln County. Um so we would like to do more community events inside like inside our own community where we are helping volunteer for different things. Um and also spread this you know awareness and the word of our club. Um we want to collaborate more with Lift um LC. Um so that way we can kind of um you know do make the things um the events bigger and join in with the different things. Um and the last thing that we'd like to do is we'd like to do presentations at different schools in other counties so we can kind of explain to them what the Lift Club is and then maybe like for example maybe we can
017have a Lift Club more county um all the different counties around so at least just I think it's a great club to have. Um and it definitely helps lift morale with all of our students and staff. Um another thing before we end this that we did at our here we do shout outs. And basically what that is is whenever teachers see a student doing something good, they get their name put on the board outside um by the office and we write notes to their parents. And we give them phone calls cuz you know when teachers you know when parents get a phone call from the school they're usually like "What did my kid do this time? What what are they up to?" But really they're getting a good phone call that their kid cleaned up
018their lunch table, took out the trash, you know, just helping around the school. Great presentation. Thank to thank sharing that with us. You welcome. Any questions? Life is hard, right? Life is stressful. Students are stressed in ways that my generation didn't face. And so, thank you for lifting other classmates up. That's That's very important. Especially the high school years. I think that's one of the toughest years that you go through in your life cuz you're It is the pressure of trying to grow up and be an adult and also be a kid. It's a hard time. Awesome. Well done. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all you do. Anything else we need to share? No, sir. You done? Okay. All right. Next on our agenda is the time for any public comment. No, sir.
019There's been no requests for public comment. There has There has been a change to that rule relating to relating to the governor making an executive orders, my understanding, but in the past someone who wanted to would need to speak on something related to something already on the agenda and now it's pretty open. There any requests still have to be compliant with the state law and our board policies and procedures. So, it's it's not significantly different, but I did want to make everybody aware that there's been a little bit of a change and we'll we'll adhere to that and unless there's another change or something changes in the legislative session related We never actually limited the topics of comment, but the the law itself indicated that you could hold that as We could and some organizations
020that I know in the city mayor and alderman restricted had restricted that and I thought when I saw that law change, there'd be a lot of communities affected by that. Absolutely. To open that up to any topic that public wants to address. But, nobody asked to speak, so we'll move on. Supervisor's reports. Who's got some info from Mr. McGorlick? Sure. You ready? Uh so um don't have a lot tonight, but as Ms. Monty and Ms. Britney mentioned, testing season is upon us. And so it's obviously a busy time of year for the schools. And just want to brag on all the hard work that they're doing in order to get ready. I know several of the schools are doing boot camps and test prep. And I know the teachers are working hard. So very excited
021to see uh all that hard work come to kind of fruition once we get the data back. Uh want to brag on uh Mr. Parent and Ms. Davis. We had the ACT a couple weeks ago. Uh for those of you who may or may not know, it's the new formatted ACT. So they did change the test a little bit. Uh they call it enhanced now if if that helps kind of delineate from the old version. But shortened sections, some change in the items. Um all hopefully to benefit the students in the long term. Uh but they did an amazing job running that administration. The faculty did a great job. Uh I'm super proud of all that they've done. And I think we're starting to get I know the kids are starting to get some of
022their scores back on their end. Um we've not seen all the data on the schooling yet, but I believe, like you mentioned this morning, we're at least adding one to the 30-plus wall already. So that's super exciting for those juniors. And like I said, we look for more good things to come. So good job. But that's my report. We're going to have to build a bigger wall, right? Is that what I heard? We're going to have to spread it around the corner. Spread it around the corner. We've got a lot of 30-plus ACT students over the years. So that's great. >> Yes. So good job. Thank y'all. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Jean? Good evening. I wanted to give you a little information on our IP monitoring. We're monitored every year through our IPs. And
023if you know IPs, there's lots and lots of components to the IEPs. Um, over the past 3 years, we began with about 59 findings out of round 360 items that they look at. Last year, we went to 36, and this year we only had 16, and they're min- minimal findings that we get to correct within like a 30-day timeframe. So, I'm very proud of our sped teachers who work diligently, and Sarah who helps me as the coordinator checking all IEPs. That's one of our procedures before we finalize them for all things that line up with state compliance. So, we're very pleased to to know that that we've made a lot of progress in that area in trying to make these IEPs best for these kiddos in each individual. So. And one other thing, I'm I'm
024sure you may know, but Lexie Wagster and McKenzie Mackie. Of course, McKenzie's one of our graduates. They were two of our grow-your-owns that we supported through UT Southern. They both graduated um at the end of December, and of course, they work with us now as full-time teachers, but of course, Lexie's been with us for years. McKenzie graduated and then came on as a paraprofessional, so we have grown two wonderful uh one sped teacher and one second grade teacher within our system. So, we're proud of that. So, and we have a few others in the program as well right now. That's exciting. Full circle. And they're doing phenomenal. So. Any Have any questions? >> Questions? Okay. That's awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. This guy is So, wanted to start out and give a
025shout out to Southern Woodcrafters and Mr. Thumper Pig. Uh just unloaded today. He's a big supporter of ours. Uh he built us an incredibly beautiful news desk. So, check out the morning show in the morning. It's a beautiful work of art, and he did it in exchange for advertising. So, it basically cost us nothing. Um the other thing I wanted to share was Of course, you know, we've really focused on and we're very proud of our progressive things that we're doing with dual enrollment and the opportunities we've presented students. For example, we were talking this morning love that our seventh and eighth graders and Elena will appreciate this. They know what dual enrollments are. They know what programs are available. They're having conversations about what their ambitions and their future plans are and their goals
026and what they want to do. Not just at school, but at home with their parents. We're proud of that. We have put those pieces in place and I think it is a big deal to announce right now we have on track 10 students to graduate with their associates prior to graduating at graduation. And there's going to be an article and I think Marla's going to do an article about that in the Elk Valley Times and that is much higher than some of the surrounding school systems that have a larger enrollment that's and when you think about the fact we live in a country where there's 1.8 trillion dollars in the educational debt, that's very impactful to a student for the rest of their life. So The um question the with that we had a conversation
027also about the number of college credits that have been earned is 900. Do you know off the top of your head 197 hours. Almost a thousand One class short of a thousand hours of college credit awarded in that Yeah, just the senior class. Wow. Yes. That's And how large is the senior class in terms of students? >> 80 80 80 seniors. Nice. Yes, sir. Super proud of those guys. My goodness. And we have a great team. I want to brag on them. They're They're modest. Miss Betsy's here, Miss Michelle Mitchell. And there's such a cohesive collaborative connection with the middle school now that I just think that's going to be bigger and better and it's all about opportunities for all of our students. You know, we have TCAT hours, too. We haven't even talked about
028the students that are going to have that on the other side. So, we're meeting the needs of a diverse group of students and Chris, they're pretty great class as well. That won't hurt. So, any questions for me? Thank you very much. >> Before you go, I was I was being polite. Um, Steve's really wanting to get up here, so How was Washington? How was Washington? Washington was fantastic. It was a great opportunity. I got to actually serve on a panel um, in front of the Department of Labor and also interestingly enough, I'll I'll tell you a little side story. I told Mr. Jones cuz I found it intriguing. The first panel I served on was for the assistants to senators and legislators. They were very interested in Chris, Tennessee is a very progressive state about
029dual enrollments and work-based learning. We are a very progressive system within the state of Tennessee. So, the first group was representatives of senators and representatives and you don't know who they're associated with. There was one particular gentleman who had a lot of questions for me. We stayed afterwards and he said, "Would you be interested would you be willing to talk to the senator if he called you?" And I was like, "Sure, I'd love to talk to him." Well, I didn't know who he was and so, he's and I said, "Well, now who's the senator?" And he said, "Oh, I work for Bernie Sanders." So, Bernie hasn't called. However, I appreciated that they were interested in what we were doing here in Fayetteville, Tennessee. And you were part of a select group, a small select group
030from Tennessee There were no, nobody was from Tennessee but me. I was There were only three people from the country. Um one was from um if you don't know in Indiana, one was the head of uh Indiana, it's called Ivy Tech. They only have one community college there. They have They serve all of Indiana and they have 200,000 dual enrollment students. So, that's why she was there. Uh the other gentleman was actually from Illinois and he's a superintendent where they've designed an entire school system that is based on progressive dual enrollments and CTE. So, we were actually And then there's a gentleman who works in Washington who is considered the expert who is in a law firm that that's what he does in Washington, D.C. is he's the expert on dual enrollments and then a
031representative for Jobs for the Future. Actually, uh I think Mr. Jones is going to be gracious enough I've been invited back to go back in July to D.C. to have some similar conversations and actually present at a conference there. So, it was a great opportunity and if Bernie comes rolling in, I'll let you guys know, okay? Okay. Well, congrat- I mean, that's a real honor uh for this school system and for you professionally, as well. So, so thank you for representing us. We appreciate that. All right. Thank Thank you very much. Given? I don't have any exciting Bernie Sanders stories. So, my my world's not that that interesting. Um what we've been working on I work with uh Zach Skelly. You've heard me brag on Zach many times. We're working on technology in the buildings,
032cameras, security, things like that. That's a big push. We've worked a lot over at the Dayton building trying to get it ready to go and and things like that. Uh from technology, also we're looking at getting ready for testing with Chromebooks and all those things, trying to get those ready to go cuz, you know, middle school, high school will be using those to test with this year. Um I've got the attendance conference coming up the rest of this week and it's we do two a year and the spring conference is coming up. It's in Murfreesboro. And we get to go hear all the new things that the state's trying to get us to push along for them. And uh one other thing we're doing the returning student registration for next year will be rolling that
033out in about a week and a half to get that sent to the parents so we can start planning for next year. So, those are some of the things we're we're doing right now. Do you have any questions or anything? All right. Thanks. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. I'm back here on the back row. >> I saw you back there. I thought it was exciting hearing the principals' reports. A lot of what they're doing we weave in our Title I funds and our SCG funds and some of our other grants we've received. So, um it's it's good to see that they're we're using those funds wisely. Um I wanted to mention too that the social workers and counselors have been working together starting out going into the summer. They wanted to have a big
034parent night to to make our parents aware of things that they need to be cautious about with their their students online. So, they they're hosting an event here at the high school. It's on April 28th. It's going to be called from TikTok to table talk keeping kids safe online. It's from 5:30 to 7:00. And the Fayetteville City Police Department and the Sheriff's Department will be presenting that night to talk to our families. We're going to provide food and child care to to the families. So, there's some flyers that are going out with QR codes where they can sign up for that. Um Let's see. I feel like that's all I had, but I just I just wanted you to know this is budget season. We do send out POSSIP surveys every month and then a
035big flex survey went out um and we're getting great input from our families and we use that data to to help plan for the for the next year and put it in our budgets to make sure we're meeting our families' needs, too. And good responses, the numbers of responses as well? >> Yes. Yes, we're getting great responses. Yes. And a good proportion compared to other uh places around and in in the state. Honestly, correct me if I'm wrong, I think our responses as far as the the temperature and the mood and the satisfaction of the uh parents and stakeholders is the best it's been since we've been taking >> It really has. Been good. It is really phenomenal. So, and so there's no survey fatigue that you can perceive of people are just surveyed out.
036>> No, I don't think so cuz it's just three quick questions and they get it on their phone and and so it's and it's once a month. we uh Eric Mr. Jones was very He He said, "No, let's not overdo the surveys cuz it could could They were asking to do it once a week and we were like, "Well, that's too much." You know, cuz you can do too much surveying, but yeah, it's it's it's simple and it's easy questions, so. I I will fill the surveys out as a parent as well and it takes me under 3 minutes, but at the same time, I have the opportunity to say anything I need to say, positive, negative, or questions related to. So, it's it's good. Right. It's great that it's great. Well, the fact that
037people know we're listening to the feedback and making appropriate changes >> Yes. it's got to send a message of confidence. Yes. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Any other supervisors tucked away? Big crowds, though. The team. Yeah, okay. Um thank you all very much. Uh our CFO will report as well. you say? So, we have uh July through March year-to-date revenue comparison and the July through March year-to-date expenditure comparison. These were emailed out earlier and I'll entertain any questions you have. Now, we're in the future. But, overall message is things are tracking as we had hoped for them. >> Yes, thanks to this budget year. All right. Well, we'll move on to our uh committee reports, facilities and transportation is our first committee report. Well, um on the transportation end, everything's going pretty smoothly. Um
038there's always some bus to be fixed or something of that nature, but uh we've got plenty of spares. Our drivers Half of the drivers are going through that part of the year where they have to re-up their um testing and I actually did that last week and it's I think it was 19 different tests that I had to take. They're small, but it's It's really um pretty intensive now uh compared to the past. Uh but, things are going good with transportation and on the facilities end, um really uh what I'd like to bring to the board is a request for approval of the contract with Century Construction for the safe room project. We did have our board work session prior to this meeting and I hope everybody's uh questions were answered and everybody's place of
039satisfaction with their understanding of the project. So, I'd like to bring that up for the board for consideration. Okay. We appreciated that work session very much. The team that assembled and talked us through numbers and floor plans. You can see the the information we we had before us at the time to to sort of get a refresh our uh minds on exactly what the project is and uh in costs. I If it's okay if it's okay with the board, I'd like to just review the final the the top level fund funding and expenses. Uh the total for this project, if we if we do the the FEMA reimbursable for the shelter and and and associated um developments in that are FEMA reimbursable. Plus, there were five as in five um additions to the base bid.
040>> so. Uh build alternates. Alternates, right. That um that we also uh at this point plan to proceed with. Uh the total cost of that entire uh facility uh is 13,064,865. And of that, let's call it 13 million. Uh FEMA's portion, as we uh was reiterated during our work session, FEMA's portion of that is just a little over 11,500. It's 11,536. Um uh thousand dollars uh 11,536,000. TEA's portion uh of that would be 640,940. And then our portion of the FEMA reimbursable would be that same 640,940. But then we cover all those bid alternates because that's the building out of the gym and other uh facility the the facility the way we really want to intend to use it on a daily basis. So, our of the 13 million, FEMA's paying just over 11 and
041a half million, TEA's paying 640,000, and then the Fayetteville City Schools expense for that facility as it as it is currently is uh 2,442, 259. So, despite any discussions in the public realm to the to the contrary, those are the numbers that it takes to build this building and the and the local contribution to that from the Pavo City schools is two 2,442,259. Which seems like an awfully good deal. That that means FEMA FEMA is paying 90% of the FEMA reimbursable portion of that project. FEMA is paying 5% and we're paying 5% and then we're building out a gym inside that facility that is otherwise FEMA reimbursable. We'll we'll build out build out the gym in that. Um I think it's fitting that you're sitting here tonight because you were sitting in this building in
042December Christmas break of December 2019 when you and Eddie Keys found out about this grant and began pursuing it and if I'm not mistaken, by December 31st that year was the the deadline for the grant application. I mean, really we had to get it in earlier than that because of the Christmas break. So, everyone was going to be on vacation. So, we uh uh I think it was the 23rd was when we got everything completed. Right. Right. And so, um tonight we are ready. All the funding is approved. They Greg showed me Mr. Kennedy showed me earlier that the FEMA has the has all these team uh FEMA funds sitting in the line ready to begin the project. Uh which is so exciting. And the floor will be mo- open for any comments or a
043motion that we authorize Mr. Jones to sign the contract with Century Construction. I'll move to approve approval contract with Century Construction for the second time. Okay. I have a motion. I'll second. And I have a second. Any any further discussion? Mr. Chairman, the peanut gallery says do it. >> All All in favor All in favor say I. I. Anyone opposed say no. All right, that motion passes unanimously. And I I suspect things will move quickly. There's been a lot of anticipation, especially over the past almost 12 months since we opened the bids. Yes, sir. So, we look forward to partnering with Century and JBM and and Broadus for our um our project. Good deal. Anything else on facilities and transportation? That's my report, sir. Okay. And you'll sign that tonight before we leave. I'll sign
044it tomorrow. First thing in the morning. Okay. Thank you all so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. It's going to be a great partnership. Uh nothing else from facilities and transportation? No, sir. So, we'll move on into finance. There's a long list because it's budget time, of course. Um first matter on your agenda under finance has to do with re-renewing our contract with the company that does our did our audit this year, both the Board of Education audit and the school budgets audit. Um do I need to take those separately? Yes, I do. So, the first one, I would make a motion that we approve the contract. And this is Matlock, Right. Yes, Matlock is the company that that that um did that did our audit this year. And both the city
045My understanding is that the city used them for the past year, and they intend to use them again this year. I think they haven't voted on that yet, but that seems to be their intent. I would make a motion that we approve the contract with them to audit the accounts of the Board of Education. Second. I second. Any questions or comments? All in favor say I. Anyone opposed say no. Uh and then the other part of our audits, of course, are the internal school funds. I would make a motion that we approve the contract with Matlock to do the audit for our internal school funds. Second. And I have a second. Any comments or questions? All in favor say I. Anyone opposed say no. Super. We also have And And all of this was provided
046in your emails leading up to to today, the salary scale for teachers and principals for FY 2026-27. I'd make a motion that we approve that salary scale. Second. I have a second. Any questions or comments? All in favor say I. I. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. I'd also make a motion that we approve the salary scale for our system-wide personnel for FY 26-27. Second. I have a second. Any comments or questions? All in favor say I. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. We also have a salary scale for our support staff for FY 2026-27. I'd make a motion we approve that salary scale. Second. Motion and a second. Any questions or comments? All in favor say I. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. We also have supplements that are paid to individuals who step
047up to different roles within the systems at Ralph Askins. There's one a separate one for each for each school. Ralph Askins supplements for FY 26-27. I'd make a motion we approve those. Second. I have a second. All in favor say I. I. Anyone opposed say no. We also have uh Fayetteville Middle School supplements for 26-27 school year. I make a motion we approve those. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. Um you might have noticed in today's email there was an updated version of the uh Fayetteville High School supplements for FY 26-27. None of the dollar amounts have changed. There was literally just the wording of one of the positions was changed. The position itself remains unchanged and the same as it
048as it has been, but uh that was in that updated wording was included in today's email, but the supplements are the same as they were before. I make a motion we approve those uh FHS supplements for FY 26-27. Second. I have a second. All in favor say I. I. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. Then we have the general purpose budget for FY 27 school year, which will begin the FY 27, which will begin on July 1st of 2026 and go through June 30th of 2027. Any any highlights there that you want to hit or just trust that if they have questions they will ask. Cuz this is the time for uh uh uh But just um that we did put an increase in um to the budget of a flat amount of $2,400 for
049teachers and principals and then support staff um with custodians and um educational assistants was $1,200, which ends up being of little bit over 5% increase. For those positions. So, it's a flat rate increase in salaries this year rather than a Yes. Yes. Okay. Any any questions about the general purpose budget for FY27? All in favor I I need to make a motion that we approve it. I'll make a motion we approve it. Second. And I have a second. Any further comments or questions? If not, all in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. Okay. And then we have the cafeteria budget for FY27. This is included in the emails as well. And the and the cafeteria funding generally is in really good shape. There was some discussion during finance committee. Not every school system
050is as blessed as we are to be where we are with cafeteria budgets. And so, we're glad to be able to offer healthy meals to to our students and staff. I'll make a motion we approve the cafeteria budget for FY27. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments? All in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. Thank you. And then uh finally, in terms of budgets, the capital projects budget for FY27 is also included. There's a summary sheet and then a list of various projects. Really kind of a cumulative list and also then projects that are kind of on the horizon, I suppose. That we discussed actually at our work session. It seems like we had a an offsite uh a year or so ago that we laid out some
051of these priorities and it's nice to see them coming to fruition. I'd make a motion we approve the capital projects budget for FY27. Second. I have a second. Any questions or comments about that budget? All in favor say "Aye". Aye. Anyone opposed say "No". Awesome. Thank you. And then what the our budget will go on to into the city like for the mayor and alderman to consider and approve as they are doing their city-wide budgeting process. Very good. Thank you for that. Uh insurance and policy committee, anything tonight? Well, I think We did. Once a year the budget the finance committee gets busy. What did you have next month? Okay. We'll we'll we'll do insurance policy We'll do some policy updates tonight. Very good. Uh superintendent's report, Mr. Jones. Uh while there's no uh formal
052line up, I didn't want to take the opportunity to brag on our team. Got a phenomenal group of uh colleagues to get to work with in the super- in the central office with our supervisors as you all can understand. We've got a lot going on. We have as much going on as any large system with uh compliance with all the federal, state, and uh local laws, but uh they do a great job. And then our building administration, um they're pleased. They're serving our our kids well, and they all They all deserve high praise. I'm very blessed to get to work with them. That's all I have. Okay, great. We feel the same way. Uh under the chairman's report tonight, a few things we we have a monthly uh resolution that we like to consider uh
053to appreciate a different segment of our employees and to This month it's teacher appreciation day, and so I wanted to share just a moment uh a few of the thoughts that were in that resolution for your consideration. Obviously, the teachers have dedicated themselves to nurturing and educating the youth of our community uh with commitment, care, and professionalism. There's no question that teachers work tirelessly uh to create an effective learning environment. And I think every one of us can look back on a teacher who truly inspired us and changed our lives. And that is happening today in the halls of the Fayetteville City Schools as well. We want to appreciate their commitment because it extends beyond the classroom into mentoring and extracurricular activities, community engagement. And so this resolution would resolve that Fayetteville Board of Education
054expresses heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to the teachers of the Fayetteville City Schools and our deepest admiration and appreciation for their work and enduring mission to educate, inspire, and uplift. And that motion that resolution is there for your consideration or any comments you might want to make. I second the resolution for teacher appreciation day. I second. >> Okay. Okay. Um that's a Oh, I'm sorry. I'll make the first. Well, I I made most of the first tonight. If you'd like to make the motion >> the motion to approve. With the resolution for the teacher appreciation day. Sorry to get you off track. We got a motion. Second. And a second. Thank you. Any comments? All in favor say aye. Anyone opposed say no. Great. Of course, we're well aware of TSBA's awards they give annually and
055the final awards are presented at convention in November. We always like to honor a student and a volunteer to be nominated for that process. Of course, our nomination will be for this person to be our candidate for the South Central District winner. And then the winner of the South Central District will go along with the other eight districts across the state to compete for the state level, but our nominee this year is Bree Parks, who if you if you have read the nomination package, uh it it in some ways it's very well written, but it it it's hard to describe all that Bree has done and is doing to support Tigers. And so uh we appreciate her work so much uh in in the work she does particularly at Ralph Askins School. And so um
056we would if you see fit, we could make a motion and uh that that Bree Parks be our nominee for the TSBA Volunteer of the Year Award. I'll make a motion. Thank you. I've got a motion. Second. And a second. Thank you. Thank you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. Great. She is most deserving. Can't wait to see it'll be at the fall district meeting, of course, that they that they uh announce those winners. And so we'll be excited to see who the student and uh volunteer winners are to come out of the South Central District. Um the last thing that's on the agenda is that we need to schedule a work session for the director's annual evaluation. Our next board meeting is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on May 4th, Monday,
057May 4th. And generally, as we did today, we've sort of scheduled a work session just before the board meeting. That works for everybody. Part of the question would be that the board meeting is at 5:00, the the part of the question would be how long if we all do our scores as homework and bring it in and we're just compiling scores and then making comments, do we need 30 minutes to do that? Do we need an hour to do that? I think 30 30 minutes. Okay. You want to you want to do then say say 4:30 we'll do our work session. And then 5:00 we'll be able to do our board meeting. And then we'll I guess we'll schedule our finance committee meeting at 4:00 that day. Does that sound okay with you? Finance committee,
058okay. That's I don't know. Okay. Super. And we will we will plan on Monday, May 4th. And that that meeting is scheduled to be at the Fayette Fayette Middle School, by the way, as we then the Askew's and now we've been to the FHS. We'll be at Fayette Middle next month. And the groundbreaking invite and collection you get Yes. Yes. I have a tentative uh video, but I'm picturing expect probably something in my in the week. Uh report If not, I'll text them earlier. Super. Yeah, for the groundbreaking for for our new facility that is getting underway in the morning, if I understand the plans correctly. Super. Any final comments? Anything from the student body? Miss Sherrod? Not this month. This month we're kind of taking a break, but May is when we'll kind of
059get it going for teacher appreciation week, which we always do. A whole week of activities for that. So, we've been um put our whole our minds together and trying to plan something special for our teachers. Good. All right. Nothing else, we will stand adjourned.