001The CMCSS school board sess study session for November 4th, 2025 is now in session. First item on the is 2025 LEA compliance report. Dr. >> Yes. board members, in your packet, you will find the 2025 LEA compliance report. This is an annual report that is required to be turned into the Tennessee Department of Education. We do certify that our LEA is in compliance of all federal and state education laws and the state board of education rules. This will be uploaded into e- plan at the end of the month upon um approval of the board. >> Are there any questions? See on second item on the is the resolution budget amendment. Dr. Luna. >> I'd like to ask Chief Financial Officer Jeff Taylor to come up and explain our budget amendments. >> Good evening to the
002board. >> There we go. Uh starting out with the general purpose fund under the revenue section. Um, under early childhood education, we have an increase of $99,416. This is $102,000 of the voluntary prek amendment to increase funding for additional teachers and a decrease of $2,619 for um the sped prek entitlement grant. Uh just reduction from the carryover. Under other state education funds, we have an increase of $2,000 for the healthy students stronger learners grant. That's a new grant that we've just received. Moving on to instruction, a lot of these are going to be through salaries and benefits. Um, under instruction, under salaries and benefits, the MA first change is in regards to changing the EBS teacher teachers to behavioral intervent interventionists. Um, also moving funds to pay for the early literacy prek stipen and moving
003funds for the ES extended learning for STEM and uh some of their snacks as well for the that program. under contracted services and well under benefits we have changes to the EBS teachers to behavior interventionist and then under contracted services we have uh we're moving those funds uh for travel expenses to the correct functions under alternative school just an increase uh based on current payroll projections of $45,510 and 7,425 under special ed an increase to the SPR sped a decrease to the sped prek entitlement grant adjustment uh for the stipens uh changes to the behavior positions to align with the new Oregon object codes uh under other contracted services 14,256 once again moving travel expenses to the correct functions and then an increase under supplies and materials of 26,700 for the spread prek entitlement grant.
004Moving on to vocational education. Um just an increase of $10,20 and $760 under salaries and benefits based on the current payroll projections. Um moving $3,418 that includes uh $5,2727 being taken out for the travel expenses as well as an adjustment to the in innovative school models grant of $9,145. And then the last two in that category, supplies and materials and equipment are both in relation to the innovative school models grant. Just an amendment to that. Under student services, just a small increase for uh current payroll projections. Under health services, once again, an increase of $40,900 for the U current payroll projections as well as $1,000 for the healthy student stronger learning grant. And then the staff development is in correlation with the healthy student stronger learner grant as well. Under other student support, we have
005an increase of $2.4,599 under salaries and $542,725 under benefits. Most of that is in relation to the CCIS uh amendment as well as various position changes based on needs and amendment on those projections for those corrections to the CCIS program under contracted services. Uh we moved funds to cover for a legal conference out of this line item and actually um added funds for an equipment lease of $3,600 which you see that deduction under the equipment line and then the $15,000 is where those funds were added for the legal conference. Under regular instructional support, we have a decrease of $31,990 and $5,345. They're based on a current payroll projections increase of 16,610 and also to replace two student success coaches for two admin assistants in the age program a reduction of 50,600 and then under 18,000
006an increase for the extended uh learning for the STEM supplies and materials and then $18,000 increase also for um snacks for that same program under special educational support. Uh the SPR sped prek entitlement grant increase of $8,000. Once again, the funds we saw earlier, they were moved from here for the CCIS amendment. And then we have an increase of $62,455 changes to the and then changes to the existing um positions based on their needs. >> Could you back up one slide, please? >> Yes, sir. the $15,000 on the 7 72210. Would that supposed to be 18 or 15? >> You said 18,000. >> I said 18. It's 15. My eyes are I apologize. Then under vocational educational support under contracted services just and uh equipment that's just an adjustment to the innovative school models grant
007under the board of education. You see the other two small items just on the current payroll projections of $20 and $5. Um $50,000 increase just a potent potential increase in legal fees. just making sure we have enough money to cover that as well as a decrease in the reduction in actual insurance premium cost. We've got a couple of adjustments where we actually able to reduce those line items based on the actual costs. And then under director of schools, just an increase based on current payroll projections of 6,471 and $495 for benefits under printing and communication. Once again just to increase the salary and benefits and then lastly on operation of plant and maintenance of plant decreases based on the actual insurance premium costs under early childhood education. This is where we added the funding for
008the stipens for early literacy prek training and for the voluntary prek amendment for the increase in the teachers. And as you can see, we have an increase in our fund balance of 170 just under 174,000. Y'all have any questions about GP? Moving on to child nutrition, we had an increase just for in revenues under miscellaneous refunds. There was a USDA study that was required and they were reimbured $581 for that. um their increase in salaries and benefits as well based on current uh payroll projections as well as a little bit of comp time that will need to be paid out. And then under utilities, an increase of $30,000 for increased utility cost. Lastly, under transportation, um a $ 1.5 million increase under other state grants. This is an anticipated transportation grant that we will be
009receiving at some point. um increase on the expenditure side of salary and benefits of just around 365,000. Most of this is based on current overtime projections. I looked right before I came up here. We're at a just about under 50% in those lines. So, we'll have to look at increasing those. And then once again, the $ 1.5 million I mentioned earlier for the purchase of transportation qu equipment. And then once again a decrease of 26,452 for insurance premiums. Y'all have any questions? >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Next item three is goal number eight. Maximize building capacities to meet growth demands and support innovative academic programming. Dr. Luna. >> Yes. I'd like to ask Chief Operations Officer Norm Brumé to come present goal eight. Good evening board. It's my honor to
010be here tonight to present goal eight. Goal eight is in the blue box there under uh increase efficiency and effectiveness, maximize building capacities to meet growth demands and support innovative academic programming. Uh this report tonight will cover EL's 11, 12 and 13. Um, we provide capacity in many ways here at CMCSS, often as rapidly as possible and most of the time driven by student growth. Our student growth remains positive. This graph tracks the last 45 years of student growth. This is our 40th day reporting uh number uh from 1980 to present. So, this is a number we report to the state each year uh summarizing our enrollment. Um, currently our enrollment according to the 40th day number is approximately 34 or 39,544 students, the 30-year growth is approximately 602 new students per year on average
011every year. Why do we track the 30-year average? Um, you'll note that growth is cyclical. If you look at this growth chart, it's not a straight line. It's a series of no fewer than three large scurves. Um they're slow at first, then they increase rapidly exponentially, and then they level off and they repeat in another growth cycle. Regardless of the timing or shape of the S-curves, our growth remains positive over time. Right now, we do believe we're between growth cycles. Um, we've been managing our growth over the last 10 years with building additions and portable classrooms up until that's prior to Kirkwood Elementary School. And this graph indicates well provides no indication that we should stop planning um for our future. Uh, even 1% growth is still positive. Um, we've seen this before. uh where
012it occurs is actually what gets us. So let's look at the data. This is just a portion of our data. As you know, this data is all available on our CMCSS website. Um I've I've just taken a few of them out for for the purposes of this update. We look at demographic data um and uh student growth data. The demographic data that top left bellshaped graph indicates that zero to five is the largest school age group in our Montgomery County population pyramid. Um the student population data in our schools, which is the middle graph, uh indicates that elementary schools have the largest grade levels of all of our schools. And then the the bottom graph on the left hand side it it's a indication of seats actual seats that we're tracking based on our capacity
013analysis. And what we see is that elementary schools have the highest concern hold the highest concern for us for seat depletion. If you look on the right side of the graph what you see is our regional capacity analysis and this is specifically region two. If you look up at the top you see a map of Montgomery County. The little green section, that's region two. It is our most crowded section. So that small portion of Montgomery County has three high schools, three middle schools, and 10 elementary schools. And if you look at the top graph, what that tells us is the steepest uh slope is with elementary schools. We also look at regional residential development data. Um, we look at a lot of data because we want to make database decisions. Um, so this gives us
014a short-term and a long-term picture of where the growth potential is in our county. Um, the short term are the blue boxes. So those are building permits. We would expect to see a home between one and two years after a permit is pulled. And the red boxes are those are approved lots. So, those are subdivisions that already exist and those are lots waiting for a permit to be pulled on them. This graph shows 896 building permits in Montgomery County and 7,621 lots that are already approved and that is 342 more than last year. I would draw your attention to the northern section of the gra the map um and the into the region 2 area that we talked about earlier. There are 460 building permits. So, half the building permits in Montgomery County are in
015region 2, and there are 2,255 residential lots that have already been approved and are awaiting a building permit. Uh, if you were at the county commission meeting last night, there was some discussion about an 80 86 acre uh land case down Dawsonville Road with 160 lots. I'll draw your attention to the far left of the map and that is uh that's out in the Woodlon Liberty area. We've had fluctuations around some of our schools and this one's got our attention, but already in the Liberty area there are already over a thousand lots now awaiting permits. So we take this this data and more data and we uh we map out the next 20 years of our construction. We do this so that we can see where we need capa capacity to meet demand and we
016also do this so that we can coordinate our future planning with the county commission. Um currently we have freedom. So everything in red is sort of what we're actively working on right now. Up at the top is Freedom Elementary School. It is uh planned for a 2026 opening. Uh rising four places in our chart is an addition project at Liberty Elementary School. And you just saw some data to indicate why Liberty has got our attention. Followed by an elementary school targeted for 2029. And I can tell you that we're already working with county leadership on acquiring the land for that property or for that project. And then another elementary school in 2031, followed by a com combined middle and high school campus by the mid 2030s uh to ensure that we stay ahead of our
017community's growth. It's evident by this plan that securing land is of utmost importance. Um, but we understand that it it's a process. So, addressing school capacity requires a great deal of planning and coordination. CMCSS develops long range plans to address the capacity needs of our schools. Again, those are posted online so you can you can see what our plans are. Those plans go through a collaborative effort between the Montgomery County Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, and CMCSS. Those plans are eventually approved for funding by our elected county commissioners. And this is a a process example. So, this is actually Freedom's process. So, you can see how how uh how complicated in in some ways that it is. But really, we've been working on this project for over four years with with our our county leadership.
018So, we laid out a plan for freedom prior to 2022. It was posted on our CMCSS website as part of our construction plan. We collaborated with uh our governmental agency partners uh that took place in between 2022 and 2023 uh along with land identification, land negotiation, land acquisition, a lot of moving parts in that process as well. And then eventually it was approved by the Montgomery County Commission uh on February 24th following the purchase of the land and construction finally began in 2025. So freedom construction could not have taken place could only have taken place once a lot of moving parts had been put in place previously by county leadership. So CMCSS will continue to partner with the Montgomery County Commission, the regional planning commission to address our capacity needs associated with our community's continued
019growth. Our next opportunity, as I mentioned, uh for new capacity is the anticipated uh elementary school in 2029. We are currently reviewing phase two of the Kirkwood Elementary School resoning with new data. And this is why that's important. The previous study occurred in 2022. Uh data from 3 to four years ago was used to project 2627 enrollments. We must also take into consideration the revised design of Freedom Elementary School. So you'll you'll remember that we had to cut 10% from that project cost after it bid which resulted in us bringing that that capacity from a th00and down to 8.40. So we need to re rehash the numbers in our models. Um capacity was left in freedom to accommodate prek through first graders most of whom had not been born yet. So we have much better
020data now. and then stakeholder uh feedback heavily impacted our borders of the the boundaries uh resulting in some imbalances throughout the district. We'll talk about that in a second. So, we have a we have much better data data today and we have a much clearer picture of where our capacity needs are. So the zoning recommendation and implementation timeline for this year is associated with the Kirkwood zoning implementation timeline. In 2022, planning began for Kirkwood. Uh in March of 23, we began working with our consultant RSP on our zoning plan. Uh that involved developing scenarios, community and stakeholder engagement and and the approval process for that that zoning plan. Uh phase one for that uh plan for Kirkwood did include Freedom with our goal to minimize uh multiple moves for families as best as possible. Construction
021of Freedom is ongoing in 2025 and in 2025 we'll be reviewing the phase two of the multi-phase resoning with the latest data and in 2026 we'll be communicating with the public for the opening of Freedom. Overall enrollment has been stable in Montgomery County, a bit more localized than usual. Districtwide we've increased by about 1%. Kirkwood complex has greatly balanced the secondary capacities. On average, elementary schools are at 92% thanks to Kirkwood's opening. Where are our concerns? Elementary schools, for starters, you saw the data. We have 152 portable classrooms in service. 97 are at elementary schools. Seven elementary schools are above 100% capacity. Our target is 85. five touch region two that that little green spot that we saw on the map at the beginning of of the update. Um the uh star on the map
022indicates the location of freedom. So we believe that freedom will be able to positively impact the adjacent zones around it through a ripple ripple effect. Um, however, we do think that there are going to be some imbalances occurring outside of Freedom's Reach. We'll be working with RSP over the next several months and looking at our options as we review the phase 2 resoning plan. Uh, where are we on Freedom? Our communications department put out an awesome video on social media last week. I hope you all saw it, but if you weren't able to see it, um, here's a quick update. Uh, located somewhere between Gate 2 and Tiny Town Road on Fort Kimell Boulevard lies 16.84 acres of land that we are currently building 840 new student seats, student capacity at. Um, it's well underway.
023We're at about 48% completion. Brian and his team are doing a fabulous job out there. Um, they've got block walls up, structural steel, mechanical, electrical, plumbing underway, drywall is going up, and they've got gravel parking lots. He has permanent power to the site, and roofing is in place. So, he's trying to get everything dried out and dry inside for the winter weather that we are expecting right around the corner. Uh, Freedom is on time and it's on budget. We're planning to open it in 2026. We just uh named our new administrator, Miss Nebr. The colors uh are red, white, and blue because of course, freedom. Um and the address is Wallace Boulevard. That's freedom. Uh building new buildings isn't all we build. We also innovate our buildings to build futures. The operations department needs job
024ready graduates for our many career trades. So delivering uh facility upgrades across the district is important in us helping to support 35 unique innovative career programs of study. Here are just a few examples. There's a Rosview Middle School Culinary Kitchen. Uh Kirkwood High School teacher warehouse. So, working in conjunction with our ed foundation um and our teacher warehouse, our students get a realworld logistical experience, modernized cosmetology at CHS, an aviation lab at West Creek with flight simulators, a new wood shop at Northeast Middle School. Brian and his team completed 28 CTE enhancement projects over the summer, including the completion of the St. Bethlehem uh EL Early Learning Center providing early learning opportunities for preK students. Now underway are renovations at BERT Innovative High School for Founders, Inc. Uh we're very proud of this. We're excited
025because what you see here will be visible from the visitor side at Austin P uh football stadium. Um you'll they'll this is a renovation of 21,336 square feet of space at a cost of $3.681 million. The best part, this project is being funded through a Tennessee Tennessee Innovative Schools grant, so not local dollars. The Founders Inc. wing at the BERT Innovation Center will include site improvements, a new asphalt parking lot with 78 new spaces, building improvements including a secure entrance vestibule, a lobby and gather gathering area, new restrooms. that building needed it. Five maker space classrooms, two collaborative conference rooms, two team prep rooms, offices, janitorial storage rooms, IT data, an esports room, a prep kitchen, and a large multi-purpose product pitch space with a stage. It'll also include some codes improvements, including new energy
026efficient exterior windows throughout the entire building, an upgraded mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC system, and a new fire alarm system throughout the entirety of our 71-year-old building. This is how the operations department is helping to empower our students to explore their interests, develop their skills, and explore their career paths to become our future industry professionals. This concludes my report on goal eight, maximizing building capacities to meet growth demands and support innovative academic programming. Any questions? >> Any questions? I have one question. Will any of those changes affect the historical status of B school? >> No, sir. Okay. Hear none. Thank you. >> Thank you, part. Next, uh, county commissioner comments, schoolboard comments. Oh, >> yes, sir. I did I did have one question. I know um I remember it was discussed as far as freedom
027that this was the last school of that design we were building. Is that still the case? And do we have the new design? So, currently it is our plan. If you if you looked at that timeline, you'll see that we've built some more time into that elementary school slated for 2029 um to incorporate some extended design time. >> Are we anticipating like more capacity per acreage? Is that kind of the the plan that we're looking at or >> I I think those are all hypothetical questions at this time. >> Okay. U and then one last question. Are we moving forward in any of the plans with the highway department to pave some more space on our schools where we're having trouble with traffic? Uh well, I thought we were. Yes, we we we are in
028in in dialogue with the highway department right now. We're focusing on repairing uh damaged asphalt. So, if you go to some of our campuses, you'll see where they've done a a lot of patchwork. um we've gotten so far behind on repairing that we we risk losing some asphalt. So, right now their focus is on making repairs of some of those potholes. I got a call today about uh some damage to a car. Um so, we are in discussions with them and there are some opportunities that we are going to try to utilize their capabilities to make capacity improvements for traffic on our campuses. I know specifically at at Woodlon Elementary, we've got some real traffic issues out there. I know there's traffic issues at a lot of schools, but we got to figure something out
029at Woodlong. We are currently in discussions with with the county um on uh accessibility questions regarding Woodlong. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Seeing none, uh Dr. Luna, Oh, board members. I haven't done this in a minute, y'all. Do any other board members have any comments? Seeing none, Dr. Luna. >> Good evening, board. Today, I had the honor of attending the annual Kuana's interview a veteran essay lunchon. The essay winners from every CMCSS middle school and high school were invited to attend. During the event, a video was shared highlighting Jerotc students from Ross High School who were recently chosen to take the trip of a lifetime. I would like to share that video with you. Please pay special attention to a student named Olivia Buer and her partner, retired Colonel
030Joseph Petersburg. Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for and defended and handed on for them to do the same. There we go. Hello everybody. >> Hello. We're here in Nashville for the start of our Soaring Valor trip, our 30th Soaring Valor trip. This is our 10th anniversary of the program. We pair World War II veterans with high school students for a trip to the National World War II Museum. >> We have 16 World War II veterans ranging from the age of 98 to 101. >> One guy older than my guy. You're a baby. >> We waited a long time to see you. >> Well, I've waited a long time to see you as well. Gary's here with
031us for the Soaring Valor and he absolutely loves it. >> Hello, sir. How are you? It's >> Christmas. >> Marian Noel. >> I love it. Can I give you a big hug? >> Yes. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. And thank you for serving our country. >> Oh, thank you. The students are part of the JOTC program at Rosview High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. >> This is a rare opportunity. Get this special little amount of time with these amazing American heroes. >> I've never met a World War II veteran before. Tell me a little bit about yourself before the war. >> Both my brothers was in the military and so I volunteered when I was 17 years old. >> I wanted to go and my mom >> said, "No, you're going to graduate. So
032that's why I went a year later. >> What was your favorite part about serving? >> Serving that I was worth something. You know, I could help. >> I actually believe that. I think that we to put it bluntly saved the world. >> Over 1,400 World War II veterans have gone to the National World War II Museum. And we of course thank American Airlines for providing our travel for us. We're on the way to uh New Orleans. >> I'm ready to go. >> Yay. They're waiting for me. >> There's a way. >> A great part of these trips is the victory bells. They've been part of every trip we've done. >> Oh, yes. The museum is coming up on its 25th anniversary. >> That's all for you, sir. >> We're at a point where not even
033a full 1% of those who served in World War II are still with us today. So, we know we've got a limited amount of time to recognize and honor the World War II generation. >> I didn't want to miss this trip. >> It's a very special day for us. You are my sunshine. My only dear love. >> Excellent. >> It's outstanding. We're lucky to have this museum. >> Yeah. >> It's your stories. The stories that need to be preserved and passed on until future generations. >> That's real familiar right there. >> Yeah. >> This is Howard. He was a part of the Eighth Air Force Division. >> I've seen scenes like this in Munich. Munich, Germany. I was near Munich. >> Just everything you said to us and all the memories we've made will definitely
034stay with us forever. I donated blood for the Battle of the Bulge and because I donated blood, they gave me a shot of whiskey. >> This trip has been so amazing. It's given me such a better perspective of World War II. >> The first bomb on here is Chima. Then Nakasaki was the second one. We was the first troops that walked in that place. That bomb was so hot that it melted the sand. It like walking on glass. We got a Emmy 109. >> Yes, sir. >> Walter shot down uh 196 aircraft with that. >> Yep. >> That's the guy I shot down. >> You shot. >> You saved the world, but you wanted no credit. You never wanted to be called a hero because many of the friends you made during the war never
035came back. >> Did you have a hard time getting over the war? Well, you don't never get over it. I don't use that word, you know. >> Yeah. >> All of us today are beneficiaries of those who sacrificed in defense of freedom during those years. >> Students, this is a moment in time that you will carry with you always. >> These are two great young people and we're so proud of them. I was expecting to see the museum to talk with veterans, but I didn't really expect like a bond with anybody. >> We're best friends. So, >> I think this trip was one of the best things that I've ever done in my entire life. >> I think it's the finest thing that this foundation has ever done. >> She has probably a a different
036perspective on her life and uh what she could do to make the world a better place. These young people, they're our hope. They are the future. >> When I see the kids that I've seen here, I think we're going to have a chance. So, the student who gave the hug and the gentleman who said, "We're best friends now." That was Olivia. And that was her partner, retired Colonel Peter Birds. Today, well, Olivia calls him Papa Joe. And he flew from Sacramento, California today to see Olivia earn the grand winner prize at the lunchon. It was amazing. and he stood up, I mean stood up and walked to the microphone and said he was approaching his 101st birthday, but that this experience was so beneficial to him and that our students made an impact on him
037and then he asked if anyone had questions. It was like a press conference he had at the time of his life. But I just wanted to share that because a lot of times you hear about kids and how bad kids are. We have really really really good kids and this was an amazing experience and um just excited that our kids got to to participate in that. And as we approach Veterans Day, I just want to remind all of you of the community that we're in and to be proud of that and to remember all of our soldiers and our families who have sacrificed to include some current board members and the sacrifice that they've made. Mr. Laneir, this concludes my report for the evening. >> Mr. Laneir, >> I'm sorry. >> Oh, >> I had
038just read what I wrote. Mr. Garland. This concludes my report for the evening and of course thank you sir for your service. >> Thank you Dr. Lunfall that you did do. Mr. Linder as a Kanian you know our attachment is the students to the veterans and we want them to do those essays but we just appreciate I think this they said this today it was the 26th anniversary of this uh veterans essay contest. I've made my daughter write one every year. she wasn't required to. But, uh, one thing that didn't go unnoticed today, I wanted to thank the senior leadership team for coming. I don't think I've ever seen as many of y'all there as we did today. I appreciate y'all's presence. Thank you. >> This meeting is adjourned. Thank you.