001We'll call this meeting to order. If you would join me in the pledge of >> allegiance followed by a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America to the standy for all. This time we'll turn over to Anthony Johnson for Point of Pride Awards. All right, good evening board. Tonight we have several uh celebrations and so we're going to start with if I could have the students from Rossview High School who competed in the math competition along with their administrator representatives please come forward. This fall hundreds of students across the state competed in the 2025 Tennessee Mathematics Teachers Association state math contest. We are proud to announce that we had top placements from Rosu High School in several categories. Carson Carroll won first place in the state for pre-calculus. Jason Moon
002first place for algebra 2 and Borie Choy seventh place for geometry. Congratulations to these students. [applause] And next from Rosview High School, if I could have Kale Weber along with administrative representatives please come forward. Kale Weber from Rosview High School is one of 16,000 semi-finalists across the nation for the National Merit Scholarship. The semi-finalists are academically talented high school seniors who have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,800 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly 26 million. To compete for National Merit Scholarships, semi- finalists must advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling several additional requirements. We are rooting for you, Kale, as you compete for the final round. Congratulations. And next coming up with their trophies, if I could have the Kenwood High School JOTC along with their administrator and coach
003as they make their way up, I'm very proud to announce that a few weeks ago, the Knights of Kenwood High School competed in the All Service Raider National Competition in Georgia. Annually, the best 50, that's right, just 50 across the nation raider teams from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines come together to face off in the toughest Raider competition in the nation. Tonight, we are proud to announce that Kenwood High School was crowned the 2025 all service mixed Raider Team Champions. In other words, they were the best in the nation in their division. That gets some applause. But as they say, wait, there's more. In addition to this honor, on the physical team test, they won first place, the 4K team run first place, the gauntlet, which sounds kind of scary. Uh, second place,
004the tire flip second place, and the rope bridge second place. Cadets on this team include Haley McCoy, Kiara Codman, Tianenzo, Marabella Lopez, Ariana Zapeda, Taylor Austin, Cruz Roblace, Br uh Bryce Ruger, Patrick Mahini, Isaiah Morris, Joshua Taylor, Henry Jones, Christopher Nun, and their coach, Sergeant Major Aaron Kenir. Congratulations to the best in the nation. [applause] And next, uh, going over to the other side of town to Clarksville High School. If I could have the Clarksville High School boys golf team along with their coach and administrator to please come forward. As they make their way up, I will share that at the 2025 TWSAA state golf championships. Just a few weeks ago, the Clarksville High School boys golf team made its 30th team appearance in the history of the championship, bringing home a fifth place trophy
005in this year's competition. Players include Alan Foresight, Luke Fukqua, Ryder Murphy, Braden Parker, Pearson Peber, Jackson Schaefer, Everett Shepard, Jonathan Wiggins, Kanan Wise, Tuck Woods, and their coach Ken Busby. Congratulations. [applause] And last, but certainly not least, if I could have our esteemed board chair, Mr. Christopher Laneir, to please come forward along with Dr. Luneter. Putting you on the spot. Got to have somebody up here with them. During its annual convention, the Tennessee School Board Association recognized eight school board members for achieving master board member status. TSBA presents this distinction to members who dedicate their time and effort to becoming more informed and effective leaders in education. The award honors participation in activities that extend beyond local board responsibilities. The TSBA boardsmanship award program includes five levels of recognition. To reach level five, board members
006must earn 185 credits across designated categories and submit a portfolio. We are proud to announce that school board chair Mr. Chris Laneir earned his master board member status in record time, state record, having just joined the school board in August 2024 and already achieving a master board level. Congratulations, Mr. Laneir, and thank you for going above and beyond to serve the students, families, and employees of CMCSS. Thank you. [applause] Okay, board members, you'll notice the items for consent agenda. Do we have a motion for approval of consent agenda? >> Mr. Garland, motion. motion or second by Mr. Mabry. Please open the vote. Is everybody satisfied with your vote? Please close the vote. Motion carries. Okay. Policy monitoring. Dr. Board, please find in your packet information on executive limitation five, financial administration. This executive limitation has
00712 compliance expectations to ensure the director of schools shall not cause nor allow fiscal jeopardy or a material deviation from the annual budget or budget policy adopted by the board. All revenues are scheduled to be spent in accordance with approved budget. No funds have been borrowed to date for the current fiscal year without approval. Nor have funds been expended from the fund balance without prior authorization. The actual ending fund balance will always be greater than 3% based on current levels of revenue and expenditures. Payrolls are processed per the published calendar and all other obligations are paid in a timely manner. Purchases are made consistent with the state and district procurement codes. Sufficient internal controls are in place as documented in annual financial audits. In addition, all board accounts are audited annually by the state comprollers's
008office. Likewise, individual school accounts are audited per a contract with certified public accountants and receivables are pursued as appropriate. Updates regarding revenue collections, rising costs, and capital projects are provided to the board through work sessions. To conclude, any proposed changes to the budget are approved by both the board and the county commission and quarterly financial reports are provided to both board and county commission. Chairman Laneir, this concludes executive limitation five. >> You have a motion to accept Mr. Mabry motions. Second, Mr. Garland. Okay, please open the vote. Is everyone satisfied with your vote? Please close the vote. Motion carries. [snorts] Okay. Policy monitoring DL5. >> Next up, if I could have Dr. Kimmy Saharski come forward. She is going to be talking to us about our grants and alternative funding tonight. Evening everybody. Oops. Evening
009everybody. I'm talking about the funding that we do that's outside of the the state's funding to the school district. um we always match what we're working on to our mission and our vision and our strategic work. So each of the pieces of funding that we pursue has to align directly to the work. So al alternative funding focuses on uh funding to help sustain innovative kind of approaches to work, provide extra opportunities for our students. um and we keep focused on how to maintain the work. What I have provided here is an overview of what it looks like since we took on this type of work. So you can see in the early 2000s we were doing a lot of afterchool grants and stuff for children to have tutoring etc. And then in um 20134 uh
010it became a focus of the work about how can we sustain larger programs looking at things like how do we expand umies how do we offer innovative things in the summer. So you can see the funding jumped suddenly from the 3 million to the 16 million. The work then became how do you focus on sustaining that kind of funds? If you don't work in the world of grants and alternative funding, when you receive a grant, you often can't recompete for that same grant for three to five years. So that means we have to be flexible about our thinking and what we're working on. Um in 2020 during the COVID uh epidemic we had opportunities to participate in the ESSER funding and so we worked on that and then um in 2023 24 Tennessee changed their
011funding formula. So that changed some of the awards that we work for. So in alternative funding, the things that we're working on is the focus on what the needs of the district is. You do not want to be distracted and go after funding because it's available. All of us have seen ads of, oh, you can go after this. It will help you do these things. We remain focused on the work of the district and finding the funding that supports what's above and beyond the funding the district receives. Um part of this work is developing capacity so that everybody has the ability to write grants not just a handful of people that makes it more sustainable. It also expands access in all the buildings. Think of the number of schools that we have. Um we also
012are working on maintaining uh multiple partnerships and developing those. We even work with the county on several of the grants. We work with the military installation. We've even had partnership grants that go over the state line. We have support structures. Writing grants is not an easy process. So, we've developed um processes to help people with the reading of the grant, navigating the finances of writing grants and alternative funding. Um making sure that we are in compliance because most grants require reports, uh followup, those kinds of things. And then we also have to make sure that whatever we're pursuing that it aligns to the policy of the district and the policies that the state and the foundation or the granting organization has. And these are some of the things we're working on right now. Literacy is
013a big thing in Tennessee. Uh prek, we're trying to build out an early learning center. um all the things that you do in high school that there's a plethora of them around the college and career readiness um technology safety and trying to build the cadre of teachers and make sure that we keep up the supports to help with that. So to give you an idea of the types of funding that we have been pursuing and what we have there are funding you get because of the dynamics of who you are entitlement kind of funding and then there's fundings that are competitive that you have to do applications prove that you can do the capacity of the work. So, under entitlement funding, you see the innovative school models. We have a lot of work going on
014with those. Um, the special education prek to help build out that program. Um, in the competitive funding, this district has one of the few McKenna Ventos. Um, we have a voluntary prek uh grant and we have the IDE partnership for systematic change. just is uh providing services for our students with disabilities that can't be addressed with the easy funding. Um our grow your own partnership uh we have an investment but we also work with organizations to provide investments. Summer learning is a huge investment. So you have things that come from the state, things that come from grants um and partnerships that want to work with us in the summer. And then we have different kinds of school level grants. So the capacity building now you can start seeing it. Um we have AOP and STEM
015going on. Uh the APEN which is what I was doing today. We're in the midst of uh Army youth programs in your neighborhood monitoring. We just finished today and it went fantastic. Um that's a competitive grant. We get 1.25 million for that. providing afterchool programs in the middle and high schools aligned to the interest needs of students. Uh our foundation provides grants for teachers so that they can uh roll out those innovative ideas that they have in their classrooms. Um but we always look forward to uh those opportunities align to the work this year. the schools themselves uh pursued and won se approximately 700,000 in funding. So what's next? Um we want to continue the district-wide participation. We want to build that capacity. We want to continue to build the collaborative partnerships. Um, and we're
016always looking for how do we make CMCSS look a little bit more innovative so that foundations and organizations says that's who we want to invest in. Questions? >> Thank you. Okay, at this time we have a representative from Fort Campbell, school leaison, Dr. Luna Veter, board members, my name is Karen Watkins Ju. I'm the school liaison from Fort Campbell. On behalf of Fort Campbell, I want to extend our sincere appreciation to all our schools for your patience, flexibility, and understanding as we navigated the recent government shutdown, which led to the cancellation of several scheduled activities, including the 101st band performances and our guest speakers for several Veterans Day programs. Now that we are fully operational again, we're excited to resume all adoptive school activities. band visits and mentorship efforts across the district. We value the
017strong partnership that we share with each of you and we look forward to finishing this year in excellence together. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> CMCA representative Good evening. As we celebrate American Education Week this month, we honor the incredible teamwork that happens in our schools every single day. From teachers and educa education support professionals to counselors, nurses, and bus drivers. Every role matters. Together, we create the foundation that allows our students to thrive and our community to grow stronger. The Tennessee Education Association statewide theme this year, every educator, every student, every community, reminds us that public education is not just about classrooms. It's about the heartbeat of our towns and neighborhoods. When educators are supported, students succeed. When students succeed, communities prosper. In our district, we share a common goal. We want to make
018our district the best place in which to live, teach, and learn. That means ensuring our educators have the tools, time, and trust they need to do their best work and that every student has the opportunity to reach their fullest potential. During this American Education Week, let's take stock of what unites us, a belief that every educator's voice matters, a commitment to ensure every student benefits, and a shared vision that every community grows stronger when we invest in our public schools. As your local association, we're proud to partner with the district to advance that vision. But we also know there's more work ahead. Our call to action tonight is simple. Let's continue building together. Let's strengthen educator voice in decisionmaking. Prioritize policies that lift up teaching and learning and celebrate the incredible professionals who make our
019schools work. Because when we stand together, educators, families, and community leaders alike, we build strong schools, strong communities, and a strong Tennessee. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Pet Representative. Looks like I timed it just right. Coming in. I'm sorry. I was at visitation this evening. Good evening board members. Um, last month we talked about being a leader people want to follow. And I challenged each of us to work in our work and life capacity to be a leader people want to follow. Little did we realize that in just a few days we would lose one of those leaders in Representative Jeff Burkhart. He was such an avid supporter of education. Whenever he ended a conversation with you, he would always say, "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you, the community,
020or teachers, especially teachers." And even if you did not ask anything of him at that moment, he was always looking for ways to contribute and give back without accepting any recognition or thanks. Jeff and I were working on a legislative piece in the upcoming January session to benefit educators. That opportunity will not be lost as I am continuously looking for leaders I want to follow and hopefully we'll find someone to continue to carry that idea in the upcoming session. So Jeff to me always embodied President John F. Kennedy's comment ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country. Be a pe a leader people want to follow. So this Thanksgiving season I'm thankful of those leaders who are always thinking of others rather than themselves. So
021let's remember to put forth that effort every day. Thank you. Thank you. Comments by county commissioners. I just want to say I appreciate the uh the presentation here on the alternative funding as a county commissioner especially and I appreciate the focus that the district has had on some of the innovative schools models especially like the early technical college. Um there's some great things going on over there. I got to participate with Mr. Griffy last week and um it's just uh it's it's neat to see some of the outside of the box thinking that's going on. So, I do want to say if there's something we can do as a county commission to support you guys in that, please let us know. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Board member comments, but I'm going to start
022first with our student board member. Uh just very briefly um going back to uh what earlier in the presentations uh with Kale Weber uh he was one of my classmates when I was back at Ross View. Uh just a congratulations to him. Uh, also congratulating the CHS boys golf team and the Kenwood Knights Raiders team on their national uh, competition uh, along with the Rossview uh, math team. Another thing is we had four Clarksville area football teams make the playoffs this year uh, with one making it to the second round. Um, and that's I think very big for the city. Uh, and then there's only 29 days until our first semester exams, uh, and 184 until our first set of graduations. So, I don't know if y'all can feel it as much as I can,
023but, this school year's going by very fast and, uh, I've been very impressed by what I've seen in this county this year. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Comments by other board members, Mr. Garland. I would like >> are we here yet? I would like to uh to to to congratulate Mr. Laneir on his attainment of level five. Uh that is something that is not easy to obtain and for him to have done it in in one year is is phenomenal. I would I definitely like to say congratulation job well done. But also I would like to congratulate somebody else that's sitting up here because he was selected to be an an at large member of the TSBA uh state uh organization for the upcoming year. I served in that capacity as well as the
024as you know the director for midland district and I know that he's w he's capable he has the knowledge he has the wisdom and I know that he will do a great job in representing Clark McGomery County. His name is Mr. Ken Griffy, our board chair, our prior board chair. You know, in that position, what you learn is you learn uh from other uh board members from across the state. You get to sit in the room and listen about what's going on in East Tennessee, West Tennessee, South Tennessee, North Tennessee, and then you be able to compare it to what we're doing here in Clarksville, McGomery County. And I'm quite sure in the comparison he going to find that we have a district that is second to none. We have a district we have leaders
025that really enjoy what they do and we have students that enjoy to enjoy learning as we saw here during the presentation. Uh thank God thank you for our student board member for actually recognizing them. Uh because that was a he did a yman's job in doing that I like to say. But again congratulation Mr. Murphy. >> Yeah, we wish you'd all the best. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. Director of schools report, Dr. Ler. Good evening, board members. This past week has been emotional for our community. Montgomery County lost our District 75 state representative, Jeff Burkhard. While I never venture too far into the political fray, I would hope that we could all agree that Representative Birkhart supported public education and more importantly the Clarksville Montgomery County school system. Years ago, when I was still the
026high school level director and we were contemplating beginning the early technical college at TCAT, he was one of the first to say, "How can I help?" True to his word, he's been a staunch supporter of promoting our CTE programs. He supported legislation and spent his own money to ensure that our early technical college students and teachers would have some school swag. With a shortage of workforce with CDLs in our community, he called me to ask how he could help get it started in our high schools. He helped pave the way for CMCSS to become the first school system in the state of Tennessee to offer the CDL program. Representative Birkhart never failed to call before any important vote in the House that pertained to education and ask how I thought he should vote and talk
027him through all the pros and cons of both sides. He would ask for talking points and data to support opinions. If I called Jeff Burkheart, he would always answer or immediately text back and let me know when he would return the call. He never failed to offer a hug and ask, "What do you need, Doc?" when I saw him. As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I pray that we all let Representative Birkhart's life and legacy be a reminder to spend precious time with loved ones and to give back more than we receive. Chairman Laneir, this concludes my comments for the evening.