12/11/19 BOE Regular Session

001good afternoon I'd like to call this meeting to order the moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by miss Hill face the flag pledge okay I'd like to recognize the elected officials in the audience I see at least three of our county commissioners I see Randy Smith I see Justin Biggs thanks for being here and I know John Schoonmaker is here there is anyone else that I'm missing okay is there somebody I can't see whoever's behind you beside Justin okay okay thank you thank you for being here just a reminder that Knox County Schools will be closed for winter break December 23rd through January 3rd our teachers will report back on Monday January 6th for an in-service administrative day with students back in class on Tuesday January 7th on behalf of

002the board I would like to wish our students staff and families a wonderful restful break very well deserves also I would like to thank I would like for Johnathan Schoonover from the great schools partnership to help me with the next announcement it's Johnathan here there is if you would come forward and could you go ahead and share some of the detail from your recent conference that you it's handed with mr. Kelly yeah thank you so much madam chair I thank you board just want to give you an update real quick yesterday we were in Nashville there was a kind of a cohort of us that traveled over there for a conference on really focusing on removing some of the barriers for post-secondary success and great conference a lot of folks from around the state that

003we're really trying to address this issue holistically and we somewhat last-minute invited Noah to come to speak on behalf of a student panel and just want to give you guys a quick update you know this already so he did a great job representing Knox County well he was very articulate he spoke well he was able to speak not only from his own experience to talk about students that experience other barriers post-secondary barriers that he doesn't experience so he was a great representative to have and just want to kind of give you guys an update on that that another just yet another reason for you to be proud of your student representative of our student representative on so thank you so much appreciate thank you so much for sharing that with us and Noah thank you

004for being such a great representative on behalf of Knox County Schools and all our students that's that is quite an a an honor for you and I appreciate how well you handle that so thank you so much okay board members there was no change to the agenda item itself but you did receive by email yesterday a revised version of proposed new policy J 171 the revised version is attached to the electronic agenda also I would like to request that item 9e regarding the intergovernmental MOU related to relocating the kc s central office be moved near the front of your voting agenda and be considered just after consent agenda as item 5d so moved motion in a second yes is there discussion yes I'm not saying I'm in opposition but we did this the other night

005and I do respect the time of our County employees but and our mayor and Chris Caldwell but we have a lot of speakers that will wait in a long time the other night and those are the citizens too that we represent so I just have concern that we're continuing to move this to the front I'm not saying that I want vote for it but it just concerns me and I wanted to go on record as saying I think we need to be considerate of the people that have come to speak since this is the second time we've moved that to the front and most of the people that are that effects will be are on the County payroll so balance any other comments okay and so all those in favor so there's a motion on

006the floor to move that agenda item up all those in favor there's opposed okay so one one opposition one no vote and the motion carries are there other requested changes to the agenda yes thank you managed here I would like to request that item 9e the that you just referred to them approved intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding with lots of County Commission and the Knox County Mayor to relocate the North County Schools to central office to the TVA towers be removed from the agenda okay we have a motion and in a second in discussion sounds I'd like to ask our law department to address that please mr. Duplin thank you madam chair miss bounds I believe our our position has been made clear as as the Knox County law department mr. Armstrong spoke at the Commission

007meeting Monday evening and I spoke about this item last week our our position is that the MOU and the current draft contract are illegal as is not that they can't be made legal but they're not in proper legal form at this time I'll also say that again that the law department is not on either side of this controversy whether whether the school system stays in the AJ building or goes to the TBA tower our sole duty is to uphold the Charter and represent each of the of the parts of the government Knox County and me specifically to represent this board I mean the move and the contracts need to be legal again that can be done at the Commission meeting the other night it was mentioned a Tennessee attorney general opinion we are more than

008happy to help facilitate that so if the Tennessee Attorney General weighs in and and says that them that the move can be done as is then we will certainly be be happy to bow out but but as is that's our position Thank You mr. dubler is is this a correct statement regardless what the Knox County Board of Education does about this matter our our vote is not a required or necessary step in this process thank you myself I would say that our office would say that that statement is false that that the Knox County Board of Education is a required step in moving the Knox County Schools central office to another location can I make a friendly amendment and ask that we used the word defer instead of removed be agreeable to that okay so

009so then the motion would be to defer this agenda item to to Jane to our January meeting would that be agreeable okay do we have discussion on this okay so we have a second by mr. Owen mr. Satterfield what I agree with the deferment but I would prefer it the department to be when the documentation is legal versus just January because if we just sit on it or whoever that's not making it legal just sits on it and we'll be right back here okay so would you like to to ask Miss balance if she's agreeable for that well remember bounce would you agree to making it a five-minute so the document is legal I think it's just getting better and better yes I would okay I actually had the opportunity to watch the County Commission

010meeting on Monday night and had a lot of questions and due to it and having a lot of conversation I would like to make a substitute motion at this point that I think might help with some of these issues because I think what we're worried about is illegal out illegalities of things so this is my substitute motion I move that the Board of Education express its support to relocate the administrative offices of the Knox County Schools from the Andrew Johnson building to the TVA east tower subject to confirmation that such a relocation would not violate state law relating to the custody and control by the school board by the school board of schools of facilities and that the county be requested to provide a revised MOU consistent with this motion for consideration at the next

011meeting of the Board of Education what I'm really asking us to do is just from my different conversations the county needs to know if we if illegalities can get be done away with would we want to move forward and what I'm asking us to vote on is not any kind of bonding agreement but giving them okay that we're interested in this if it can be made legal through an attorney general opinion or going through the legislature and we might need to have some people speak to that because they were speaking about it at the meeting on County Commission meeting on Monday and it was information I had never heard and I don't know how many of us listened to the County Commission meeting Monday night but I feel like this would keep us from voting

012on the MOU but giving the county an idea of if our board if everything could get worked out would be interested in moving forward so that is the substitute motion that I am putting forward on the substitute motion miss Christie seconds that moved that substitute motion okay and I'm not sure whose light was on first this is how this is substantially different from the MOU we have this motion substantially different from the MOU mr. dinkler thank you madam chair thank you Miss Owen as I understand the motion posed by Miss Babb it's it the way she phrased it is that the board is expressing interest in moving forward if it could be made legal so with that type of motion the law department would not have an objection okay thank you thank you I have

013a comment and then I noticed mr. Caldwell standing there and with the board's permission I'd like to hear from him but I think part of the dilemma that we've been struggling with is what is in fact the opinions of so many different entities in this legal legally from the law department to representation that that are counting all officers have or the county mayor has so I'm not but I just would like to make that as a comment if we could hear from mr. Caldwell yes mr. carmell I'm gonna defer to mark I'm a Toffees here today and let him speak to this we're in favor of the substitute and he can explain more while there's a couple of points to it but he's more well-versed than I am okay thank you mr mamontov I represent

014the county is their bond Council and helped up with special projects and effectively work for the mayor I think there was some confusion on my role I just wanna make very very clear that in no way do I represent TVA or never have represented TVA so my sole representation is for the County it's quite expensive to draft the request for attorney general opinion and to do that legal work it's also expensive to draft legislation and to seek the help to do that if this board does not want to move even if we resolve the legal issues we want to husband County resources in a wise and effective manner and not pay people like me to keep pursuing this if you guys really aren't interested in moving and so we were hoping that you would give

015us some direction whether you are interested in doing it assuming we're not here to debate with the law director you know I personally have a great relationship I feel like with law director and with mr. Starkey who I've been working with hand-in-hand for almost a year and a half on this matter we want to get this issue resolved we don't want to ask you I'll do anything that's even close to questionably legal but we don't want to continue to expend the legal resources and the time to pursue this if you guys really are interested in pursuing this and and I know the mayor would ask that you do but you know that's and the question that I think miss Hill asks is whether it's even your approval is even necessary we're not even here to

016debate that we want to hope that you all will support this and and and we're asking politely that you do but we would really ask you to give us some guidance because we don't want to use County resources in this manner if it's not a good thing for you all to consider time thank you Miss Mann miss Hill did you have a follow-up for that Miss fames I just have some concerns I think it's almost like we're dealing with two different things and I appreciate your substitute motion but this has been 2 years that we've been dealing with this and it just really bothers me that we're at this point and we're having to do amendment substitute motions and everything at this late date and there seems to be a real urgency to get this

017done from what I understand transpired today so it just concerned concerns me and I'm not sure that I can support the substitute motion but thank you yeah I was just going to ask mr. Mamun Toth could you give a little explanation on what we're asking the AG to rule on just so that everybody can understand the legality issues that are going on well the specific request Attorney General would have to come from a legislative representative first of all to make clear so we'd have to ask one of our delegations submitted I think they would gladly do that but we would have to go through that process we would be asking the Attorney General whether the custody and control provisions that have given the law director's office quite a bit of concern and obviously mr. Duggal

018can address that if you want further elaboration on that whether they apply to this type of facility or what are they weren't I do intend to apply to traditional school facilities such as obviously schools there's no doubt in the world that you guys have total control where you locate schools and things like that but there is quite a bit of doubt in my mind and again mr. dinkler still to disagree and Budden i've talked about this openly is whether that's those same rules apply to the administrative offices or the schools and so you know you still will be able to fully undertake your business if you move to the TV 8 hours you're just going to be living under you would be operating under a federal in a federal building under tighter security concerns and

019so do those tighter security concerns so we're really is the big topic do they violate your right to control the school system and so it's a great question and if the answer is yes and and and the law director is correct we'd obviously have to fix that legislatively and we can if you want to get something in the Legislative her and ask my to sponsor that we wouldn't need to be doing that between now and January before you all would meet again so that's one reason again we would not want to proceed to incur the cost in time of drafting legislation asking someone to introduce it again if you guys are not interested in and pursuing it and at that point the mayor has to look at other options if you all are you know

020just philosophically opposed to this thank you madam chair so it it looks like the substitute motion will sort of clarify the positions that mr. Mamun Tom's looking for and so I'm going to speak against the substitute motion and in favor of deferring for 30 days given all the questions that we've got around them around the move I was provided just today this is the contracts within the MOU about 300 pages it's packed full of blanks we don't know what many of the specifics are in these contracts and it's been stated also in some of the arguments about this that in the move which just happens to be down from one end to go straight to the other practically that the one major issue that I've got is that the building suddenly becomes less accessible and

021so we in a government that's a big deal to to make to make yourselves as available as you can be it's hard enough to to get things done you know and get heard so I'm expressing you know my position about the moves simultaneously while I'm speaking against the substitute motion and for deferment miss Owen were you next thank you if we are saying that we are interested are we also saying that we are not interested in asking the county to fulfill the Memorandum of Understanding and present multiple sites to us for consideration mr. Dubourg that's a good question thank you miss Owen I I the way I understand the motion I don't think you're excluding the other I think what you're what you're saying with the substitute motion as mr. mamontov has spoken to is

022that you're interested in in pursuing you know whether or not this this whole move and deal could be made legal to TVA tower I mean he is right he's worked with Charlie Starkey in our office and they've worked on it for some time and and some progress has been made recently it's my understanding I thought to talk to mr. Sturkey before I came in here so the you know negotiations are ongoing so my understanding of the substitute motion is that you're not excluding other other possibilities but you are saying hey we do want to pursue this possibility and see where it can go would it be possible to add to that language of the motion that we would also like to see other properties is that a friendly amendment or not a Levin team okay

023so if we could say that we are interested in in considering that one as well as others I think that that would clear up that question for me okay miss I think miss towns were you next I to watch the Commission meeting that Tommy recorded for me until well after midnight that was quite interesting and there were two takeaways in that Commission meeting and one was to wait only I think the vote was I don't know somewhere seven to four I don't know anyway to wait on the Attorney General's recommendation before they moved ahead and also to there was a lot of discussion about another side and there was a lot of discussion amongst the commissioners and I got the impression that they were going to maybe ask for a study to look at the

024Knoxville Center Mall or the East Towne study or these town center so there were two things there that I think from watching the Commission meeting the takeaway that I have is there's two different things which goes back to miss Owens think that the MOU that the County Commission and the board entered into in 2015 for what I understand a mr. Duprey you can crack me up MOU is basically when two parties agree but in this case that MOU is never in any way fulfilled with the twelve sites that and so it just makes me question if the first MOU was not adhered to I am very reluctant move into the second MOU because there were never 12 sides presented for the board to decide which site was best for the school property so those are

025my thoughts and I would support the additional language well I like the fact of not just the 30 days but the other language okay thank you madam chair and I can respect the fact that they need to know where we stand before they or so much time and resources into something that we may not even be interested in and I get that up but I also have a question and I don't know mr. Cobb well if you could answer this is you know I had certain heard something and I don't know if this is true or not that does UT has similar concerns with the control and custody issues of the contract sure so I know that the law director has stayed in it says they did on Monday that UT have has the same

026concerns as he has related to the TVA contract David Miller from UT is here he can answer that question if you would like and give you your answer mr. Miller good afternoon my name is David Miller I'm the senior vice president and chief financial officer of the University of Tennessee system we are excited about this opportunity but let me just answer the question directly the University of Tennessee our Board of Trustees and the state of Tennessee don't have any concerns about our being a tenant via an easement in the building if we were a state agency in a state building in Nashville as the state agency tenant we wouldn't have full control in custody of that building either the capital police would have control of that building so it's a very similar situation to our

027sister state agencies thank you mr. Miller while UT may not have the same concerns is it because they are controlled differently and that this body is a publicly elected body and therefore custody would be differently considered thank you madam chair thank you ms own I'd say two things one I know mr. mr. Armstrong had been dealing directly with an Mr Sturkey had been dealing directly with contacts with UT I know there was an email expressing the same types of concerns as far as not not not being able to have UT police armed in the TVA tower but I'm not I'm not here to argue with this UT representative what I will say is that Tennessee code 49 and specifically 49 to 203 applies specifically to local Boards of Education of which the Knox County Board

028is one so yes that doesn't apply to UT and the Knox County Charter which applies to all of Knox County government also does not apply to UT and those are the the state statute and and the County Charter is what is causing us the most problems thank you thank you miss pounds no that was what I was gonna ask and I think you mr. duper I think you made that quite clear the distinction between Knox County Schools the Knox County government and charter government versus UT I think what I'm hearing from from the county offices is that they want to know if these legal issues are worked out if we in fact would agree to the move to TVA I'm not sure that's an issue with people with some of the people on this board

029I think that that it wouldn't matter what was worked out legally that that some board members just do not want to go there period so I think - I have some concerns about the about the amendment to the amendment if that's where we are in this that - to say yes we would agree to that and other sites is not really what I hear our County government asking for so I guess if mr. Caldwell if you could just please clarify clarify that for us never in the MOU that was that was approved did it say we would bring back 12 size 12 shots was never a number and that MOU it says we would bring back viable size and so what we brought back and we can give you a list of other sites that

030was looked at with cost components and you can look at that but as we dealt with the administration we knew an idea of what was being what they would like to and on central office space and so in doing so what was presented to you at the September 11th joint meeting was the one viable site and the other viable site being staying in the Andrew Johnson building so in retrospect you have two sites to choose from one is I move to the TVA East our and your other option is to remain put in the Andrew Johnson building and those are your viable options that was in the MOU okay thank you miss him so to clarify then you are is that the question Union in fact would like for us to resolve I'm okay with

031wants to add but ultimately if there's another site that you're interested in the MOU then that's been worked out what be valid for that site so this was a negotiation that was done between the mayor and the superintendent as it relates to the one site and so if if this board chose another option that that we've looked at that had a a what we thought was a high it was a higher price tag than what was viable like take rural high school at a thirty million dollar price tag I don't think anybody wants to spend thirty million dollars on central office space you wanted to do that and the MOU that's worked out it wouldn't be the same okay miss I think miss bounds you were next yes kind of gave all of you a

032copy of the letter that the law director sent to the mayor and so it's right here before me and I just wanted to clarify some things in your correct Chris that did not say to all sites but it does say the parties that art into an agreement where Knox County would present several properties and plans for the Board of Education to evaluate as potential sites for the Board of Education to have administrative offices and then it also goes on to say Knox County purchasing or locate a mineral sites and present them to the Board of Education for consideration the Knox County Schools and North County government commit to working cooperatively in this effort to select an appropriate new site and really locate the Schools headquarters system's headquarters it was a great opponent that the Board

033of Education would then evaluate the proposed sites not site select a proposed option and present it to the County Commission a me read that again it was agreed that the Board of Education would then evaluate the proposed sites select a proposed option and present it to the Knox County Commission once accepted by the Commission the Board of Education would take the necessary steps to move its offices so that I think helps to clarify it goes all of me read on TVA east tower is the only site proposed by the administration under the agreement for consideration by the board of educational initially the law department was requested to do contracts with TVA to lease the east tower for 15 years and purchase it on the summer police site so I can read on but you all

034have it at your seats so I just wanted that clarification I would make the point that what's in mr. Armstrong's letter isn't what the MOU said it they're not going to in those specifics he's interpreting that MOU or the MOU said was that that Knox any procurement which was involved in the process that reports to me would present viable sites and that's what was done okay miss yeah I would just like to concur with miss Hill that I would like us to vote and give an indication for this substitute motion because if you're never going to agree with this TVA tower we need to let the county know and if a majority of us are never gonna agree to it but they need to know that so that they keep wasting their time on us

035and we don't waste our time on the money as mr. manonoff said of going through the motions of getting these issues taken care of they have talked about trying to work out these issues and if we are wanting to possibly look at TVA if these issues can be looked out I just think we need to make that indication but I do I do you think we as a group I mean I mean this is the only forum I mean it'd be great if we could close the door and all hash this out but that is not the way we talk about things and it's not the way we can talk to the as a group to the county about it and they do need to know something I mean this has been going on since

036I don't know when we had that group meeting with with the County Commission and they just I feel like need to know where we stand I think it's difficult to say where we stand when we have an MoU that says we will that there will be located amenable sites and the county will present them to the Board of Education that's clearly more than one whether it's 2 or 12 the number that they keep telling us they've looked at was 12 but if they located 12 amenable sites how those were narrowed down or considered we don't know because they were never presented to us so either way we go about it whether we say we would or wouldn't look at the tower I'm not sure that I'm not sure that I feel that there's a lot

037of trust here that what we say is going to happen is going to happen if if we say that sure we're willing to look at it and then we move forward or are we going to ever see any other sites are there ever going to be any other considerations it seems to me that I don't know I've lost a lot of trust here with an MoU that's not being followed just pounds okay would you mind restating your substitute motion so we can make sure we're on the same page you want to add and other sites basically to what I'm saying okay as a substitute motion I move that the Board of Education express its support to relocate the administrative offices of the Knox County Schools from the Andrew Johnson building to the TVA East Tower

038or other sites to be presented subject to confirmation that such a relocation would not violate state law relating to the custody and control by the school board of school facilities and that the county be requested to provide a revised memo of Memorandum of Understanding consistent with this motion for consideration at the MEC next meeting of the Board of Education that's all I'm trying to get a step everyone thank you okay miss Christy did you have a question [Music] and I I think that I would like to hear what the Attorney General has to say so and I I've heard from many community members that have additional questions so I think that that will also give additional time for those questions to be answered so I would be in agreement with the substitute motion so that

039we can have further clarity on the legality of the issue so Miss coutny can we have a roll call vote and I'm sorry can I ask a question in reference to what you said yes what you said that you would like to hear what the Attorney General had to say are we automatically if our resolution or substitute passes are we automatically seeking that I didn't hear that can I answer um we're not going to be seeking it what we're saying is we're indicating to the county we have an interest in this and they would be then person okay yeah my question is who let's be specific let's just don't forget to say the County mr. Mamun Toth could you come up and address that more directly exactly how that issue transpires we have to ask

040one of the legislative representatives is submitted for us and so we would ask one of our delegation to submit the request and certainly would be working with the law director's office to identify oddly there folks would be mutually sad you know representative we probably would ask one of our state senators to submit the request for us okay that's fine but just to be clear it would be between you and our law department correct because if I wrote it and it was not satisfactory to the law department and they said well you didn't ask the right question mr. Mamun talked and it's not gonna resolve anything and so we certainly need to work collaboratively to get to get that to get that done and and so yes it would be we certainly I not gonna end

041though you're not suggesting this but I'm not gonna be winging it and doing I would certainly get with them to make sure that what we submit addresses the law directors concerns and and and presents the question that that he wants to have presenter and I've talked about that and and and and that's exactly what we would need to do is to get make sure we submit the the right question well I just I just want to make sure that there wasn't a vague general Turner mark county or the county government that we that we can identify at least one or two individuals that are responsible for making it happen so to speak my guys is poor Charlie's turkeys gonna be stuck with me longer and and and work on this and I did talk was

042we were very grateful that the CFO for UT came in and president Boyd also called me earlier day to let me know that he would would do whatever he could to ask for this to be expedited that he's really supportive of this project as well and would reach out to the Attorney General and and ask him asked for him not to fluence his ruling but ask him to expedite this so he could get back to you all as soon as possible on this again he has no obligation to respond I wanna make sure the clear the Attorney General could decide I just don't want to rule on this but we will pursue a legislative fix at the same time because again we want absolutely no doubt for any of you all that anything you're voting

043on is legal or illegal but as Ms Babb said several times is like if if you all as a majority just don't think this is a bad idea then we need to plan differently and and and and I certainly think to go back to his owns thing is we certainly can come back in January and go through each each of the other sites that were looked at why they were not in the terms that the MOU amenable to the county and therefore they were not presented to you is the county of the option because the high cost of those sites so the only amenable sites in the county administrative judgments to submit to you or the to that mr. Caldwell identified the TVA tower or extending where you are an AG but those are the

044only two amenable sites to the county administration so you're not going to get more amenable sites to the administration the next thing so I don't want to miss lead you all unless you all have some new sites you want us to look at and and mr. Norman a long time friends we totaled about the East town I mean that would be years and years in the future before that site could be presented to all and if that's what you want is a hole that's fine it just will take a long time and so again we greatly would respect your all decision if that's what you want to do but we were just very grateful if you'd give us some guidance that hey if you can work out these legal issues we're interested and if you

045say look I just don't want to do this we want to hear that just as well and shake Frank you know shake hands we're friends let's move on to something else so I don't have to sit through another 50 hours of meetings with TVA's lawyers it's it's been fun but not that much fun so thank you very much thank you right okay any other discussion okay so mr. Cody will do a roll call vote beginning with district nine we on a substitute motion yes we're on a set as amended substitute motion miss bag would you read that again okay with the original motion was what to defer to defer for 30 day 30 days was the original motion all right and then we had a then we had an amendment and yes that's a substantial

046change we had we had an amendment she defer not to not for 30 days but just to defer was that the legalities could be worked out then miss fab made a substitute motion madam chair so so you can vote on the substitute motion if you vote for the substitute motion then the underlying motion is done it's done away with if you vote against the substitute motion then then you all can take up the underlying motion again and have some more discussion to iron out whatever language you want so we'll repeat the substitute motion and if you if you vote yes you're voting for the substitute motion so if you'll read that again miss Webb as a substitute motion I move that the Board of Education express its support to relocate the administrative offices of the

047Knox County Schools from the Andrew Johnson building to the TVA east tower or other subject subject properties that will be presented subject to confirmation that such a relocation would not violate state law relating to the custody and control by the school board of school facilities and that the county be requested to provide a revised memorandum of understanding consistent with this motion for consideration at the next meeting of the board of education mr. McMillan just a question I guess for the law director if you if you want more time to discuss this than just next month in January then you would be opposed to the substitute motion correct thank you madam chair thank you mr. McMillan if if we're not able to work out the legalities by the time it comes back before the board whether

048it's January or otherwise then our office would would at least ask for more time do so okay but if this should fail which they probably won't but if it should fail then we go back to what miss Satterfield was saying about adding time for the discussion correct that I right you go back to the underlying motion proposed by Miss bounds and then and then you've got some friendly friendly amendments if those are okay all right thank you so your objection is of eppy it says at the next meeting at the end of her motion essentially okay okay mister Satterfield's and I this this is one that I have it's different from anything I've ever seen while I was on the Commission they're people that want it to happen and I'm not even sure that they

049know why it happened but somebody told them it was a good thing and it really concerns me that we don't have control up there we're gonna have to walk you know if it's if it's at night that we park we can't park like we can here or across the street one that that concerns me not so much for myself but for you know for others particularly and I know if I said that all will take care of that will hire you know that make some ridiculous claims so there's something going on here not sure exactly what it is yeah that's my opinion for what little it's worth thank you okay okay it's Christie yes but would be for the substitute motion yes mr. Macmillan miss bounds miss fuel is bad yes mr. Norman no miss

050Ellen no miss Satterfield yes miss Horne yes that's five yes votes the motion passes okay okay okay so we're back to that any other changes to the agenda actually miss bad made a motion and miss Christie made a motion a second on that and the vote was 8 to 1 miss Taiwan did you vote no to approval of the agenda are just moving out of mommy' okay so we're ready to go forward did we vote so we did vote mr. Gabler does 5d need to be read into the record thank you so you voted to to move the the item but then but then that I'm has already been taken care of so I think I think Matt I'm sure you were asking if there were any other changes so if there are no other

051changes then you can then you can move forward by acclamation wonderful miss Connie can you read the consent agenda and then we'll move to the next item Adam 5 consent agenda okay okay we have a motion by miss Hill a second by mr. Norman all in favor or any discussion I'm sorry all in favor all right the motion carries item 6a approve second training of new Knox County Board of Education Policy C 220 automated external defibrillator so moved here we have a motion by mr. Norman a second I miss Owen was that you I paid waive discussion okay all in favor any opposed motion carries six being a proof second reading of new Knox County Board of Education Policy c230 best photography video retention and viewing so move any discussion with a motion by mr.

052Norman a second I missed Owen discussion all in favor opposed motion carries 6c approve second reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy I 370 graduation requirements as amended so moved motion by mr. Norman has taken time soand discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries sixty approved second reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy I 441 Wellness Policy physical activity as amended so move motion by mr. Norman second I miss Owen discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries 6a approved second reading of Knox County Board of Education passed CI 450 public charter schools as amended so moved motion by mr. Norman's second I miss Erin discussion all in favor opposed motion carries six approve second reading of Knox County Board of Education Policy J 580 student suicide prevention as amended so move

053motion by mr. Norman's I get my mrs. Owen any discussion mission carries six G proof first really give new Knox County Board of Education Policy C 231 surveillance with photograph video retention and viewing so much motion by mr. Norman second my miss Bowen discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries 6h proof first reading of new Knox County Board of Education Policy J 171 released time religious instruction by miss Hill throw to second second my miss fames and I believe we have public forum speakers and before you go to that I just want to make sure the audience knows we had a work session last week on this agenda so we've discussed these items already in addition we've discussed the policies and policy review meetings so just so everyone is aware and sure we will

054start public forum each person as I call you up please state your name and county of residence I do know we have a couple of people from outside of our County and at that point we will need to vote as a board as to whether it's okay for you to speak I also would just personally like to say after last week's meeting I hope that everybody in the audience will respect everyone that speaks and don't comment during their speaking I mean we as a board try to be respectful of everyone that speaks and we really hope that you all will also be respectful of the people speaking Thank You owl Elliot please state your name and county of residence and I live in Knox County I'm a parent of a child in Knox County Schools

055I was raised in a Christian family I went to church and sunday-school growing up I was the kid with all the questions the kid that was given answers like God works in mysterious ways you just have to have faith and other phrases that amount to don't ask questions since no one was willing to give willing to answer my questions I went seeking out the answers myself I spent a lot of time in my teen years studying as many religions as I could what I ended up learning is that nearly all religions including Satanism have something in their core beliefs worded in different ways that you should treat others how you want to be treated well I don't need to worship a deity to do this fast forward a few years and I have my own

056child I chose to raise my child without religion now I get feedback from my child's teachers fairly often you would think given their godless upbringing that a lot of in a lot of the comments made last week the importance of children to learn morality through God that the feedback I hear is all negative that's not the case without God I managed to raise a child that teachers love having in their class they are kind compassionate responsible have a less for learning and are so determined to see succeed in life so I'm slightly offended as I'm sure any Muslim Hindu or any other non-christian parent would be at the implication made by school board members that children need God in order to have morality also last week a school board member talked about how one hour

057once a month of lost art music gym or library time wouldn't make a negative impact this was the same school board member that on January 23rd posted on Facebook quote yesterday one of my grandchildren didn't get to go to the library because it was being used for testing later that day she didn't get to go to art because her classes were being tested the other grandchild spoke up and said that is one reason why Grammy ran for school board well out of the mouths of babes so sad for all children end quote yes they're right it is so sad for all children which is why I don't understand how they can now say that missing these classes one hour once a month won't negatively impact them feedback from teachers was also mentioned last week and

058someone said that they would never devalue teachers of the Arts but if those teachers pooled their efforts and mobilized against the state for more teachers classes in time they could probably make a difference if you believe it is worth them mobilizing against the state promote more time then you should recognize the important of importance of them mobilizing against this policy rather than trying to redirect their focus to the state maybe you should listen to them despite all your reputable studies they are telling you loud and clear that this program is and will negatively impact their instruction time and you're choosing to ignore them I also heard a school board member quote a reliable study from 2016 that said only nineteen point 26% of Knox County residents are actively in board and involved in church and

059blamed the endless cycle of warts on weekends and homework at night this is not the school board's responsibility to fix the school board job is to worry about math science history and arts it's not your job to worry about how many how much time families are getting in church sports our extracurricular this means that families can opt out of them in order to get their religious studies in that's on them to figure out not you even with this program seventy out of three hundred and eighty four students is only 18 percent that's less than the percentage of families acted actively involved in church so is it even fixing things last I'd like to address procedures that were mentioned many times as answers to how school board would handle insurance background checks and transferring of children

060etc will the Church of searchy Hill have that they have to go back and fulfill these procedures before starting back at Sturkey or will they just apply to future programs this attaining if the Satanic ministry has to jump through more hoops than they did that would be a problem also with all the talks about background checks they do not tell you who has gotten away with or who has an intent they only tell you who has been found guilty or who has been caught with sexual abuse or other issues if the percentage that Ginetta mentioned last week about check background checks and teachers who are fired for sexual abuse is correct it goes the show that even with background checks the more people we blindly hand our children off to the more opportunities there will

061be for children to be groomed and abuse it's the job of school board and the schools to keep these children safe during the day this is not the way to do it if parents want to exercise their right to remove children for religious instruction time as the law allows let them do this on their own by checking students out and by themselves and transferring them we don't need churches coming into the school take care it's the exercise of Rights thank you Tim Rodgers [Applause] Rogers and oxygen resident superintendent Thomas madam chair board thank you for the opportunity to speak I know I just want to say thank you it's been a long and difficult but I think important conversation and I think we're all happy it's to the point that we can vote you can

062vote on this issue tonight I simply want to ask that that you give me the opportunity to boil it down to its essence there's been a real effort to complicate this issue beyond what I think it is I think that the boat the vote on this policy is a very simple vote is Knox County Schools intending to be friendly and accommodating to the requests of parents who want religious instruction during the school day for their children I've heard board members say that they recognize that's right they recognize parents can do that on their own and this policy is simply a gesture of saying we want to be cooperative we want to work with their parents and remember all that the school system is asking of us parents and I can say I want Knox here

063to be the best district in America because my kids are in this system I am a parent and I think back of all the things that have been asked of me and I'm very happy to contribute I think of art supplies and cleaning supplies and tissues and lab fees and money for school parties and money for a variety of other things and coupon books my goodness coupon books and as you can guess I've got a lengthy list and I'm not gonna go through it but as a parent we are asked a lot to help make you all successful and make our kids successful and we're happy to do it education at its best is a wonderful dance between the school system and parents at the end of the day they are my kids and it

064is my responsibility to make sure they're educated I'm thankful for the help and that process of doing it so this is not about child protection I can say our Foundation has given millions of dollars towards child protection we want kids safe and the volunteers at Circuit Hills have gone through a background check and I would require that require that of anybody who does that release time program we accept that this is not about a statement of disrespect for art or music teachers at all I hope we have the best art and music departments in America I hope we do this is not that I look at all the other arguments I heard last week and it reminds me that the book of Ecclesiastes says there's nothing new Under the Sun and I was struck by

065wonder how many people I've actually gone back and read the Supreme Court case 77 years ago the Supreme Court decided this was constitutional it was legal as a parent's right and these are some of the arguments that they heard in opposition to that I'll quote straight from it the opposition at that time was arguing that there's the appearance of the weight and influence of the school behind a program of religious instruction Supreme Court's that that's an invalid argument second argument public school teachers police at keeping tabs on students who are released we heard that over and over last week the Supreme Court said that's not a valid argument thirdly the classroom activities come to a halt while students who are released for religious instruction our own leave we heard that over and over they heard

066that 77 years ago in Supreme Court said that's not a valid argument fourthly it says the school is a crutch on which churches are leaning for support in their religious training our Supreme Court said that's not a valid argument we've heard over and over arguments that are retread and retread and Supreme Court has simply said those are not valid reasons to deny parents this opportunity and I don't want to close with as a defense of parents of saying you're going to hear from a lot of parents and I hope that what you would say as a vote of yes for this policy is a way of saying we hear you and we want to accommodate what you believe is an important need for your kids I gave you a quote last week from this Supreme

067Court case now quoted again it says when the state cooperate cooperate with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs it follows the best of our traditions now in Paul Harvey fashion let me give you the rest of the story picking up from that quote it then says this for it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to the spiritual needs and if you plan to vote no hear this one and this is the reason why at 32 32 33 fighting straight School Boards sorry 23 straight school boards have unanimously voted yes because I don't think they wanted to be on the opposite side of this it says to hold that it may not in other words that you shouldn't accommodate the spiritual needs of

068people to hold that it may not would be defined in the Constitution a requirement that the government show a callous indifference to the religious groups show a callous indifference to religious groups and then the next sentence says and to do that would be preferring though who believe in no religion over those who do believe from the Supreme Court's own words it's basically saying that to say that we are not going to allow release time is to say that the only religious perspective is those who do not believe in any deity at all it's to endorse atheism and that's it here the perspective of parents who simply say I want religious instruction for my kids I hear you and I want to be friendly and I want to be accommodating and I want us to work

069together to meet those needs Thank You Clayton would [Applause] Clayton would Knox County I'm listening to a bunch of legal opinions tonight and I'm gonna have to give you another one I know that may not be the most sought-after piece of this evening but my background is in constitutional law I practice in constitutional law for most of my legal career and worked often with school board's often with school board's who had a lot of folks who had legal opinions that were wrong and the legal opinions that were wrong were around the First Amendment issues that have been discussed somewhat tonight I want you guys to know without any shadow of a doubt that what is contemplated for Knox County is completely legal and that is at the federal level at the state level and now

070what you guys can do what you're being asked to do is actually more restrictive than what is allowed under the state law under state law it could be a weekly release time instruction or at least time is something that is important it is precious but it's tied to what academic performance I'll tell you that when people are looking and saying is this a good school district or not they're basing that on test scores well goodness wouldn't it be helpful for us if we had data well we do have data we have data indicating that these programs which again have existed for over 70 years provide benefits that go beyond religious benefits I was an English major at the University of Tennessee I greatly enjoyed that time I found to my dismay many of the people

071who are supposed to be teaching literature didn't understand important parts of literature it's because they had no background knowledge or understanding of the Bible this is something that has been tested and children who are in programs where they're learning the Bible are doing better academically that's a wonderful thing think we'd all before that so there's no legal impediment to this at all and it's good for kids academically but what else is there that is a concern and I've heard some other concerns one of the concerns has been about safety I'm thankful to come from a background of serving kids my parents started a children's home I run a non-profit and after-school program we've never had a case thank God where anyone has been abused I've also been a person who's taken that seriously as to

072finding best practices to prevent it and background is the background checks are not the only piece one of the other central pieces is understanding how this happens once a month large group settings is not how grooming happens for this type of abuse is not a safety concern for kids to come so what else is left well we have kids who may be feeling excluded kids who feel left out I'd like to tell you personally that I will provide candy for any of the kids whose parents say that they can't come I heard that brought up previously I'm happy to provide the candy for those kids and when they have to explain that they didn't get to go it's something that kids should be learning within the context of our diverse society I am teaching my

073kids that sometimes our choices are different from others and that that's okay and that they can be proud of our family and our choices and then that shouldn't be something that they are embarrassed about or that they shirk from and I know we're talking about kids but these are kids who also academically have a benefit what's the benefit if you ask any teacher and they tell you that it's not easier to work with four or ten kids than it is to work with 24 they're coming from a very different educational system that I've ever encountered you can do more with less kids you can provide more attention you can help them get further ahead in what they're provided in the encore classes so this is not a legal issue it is not a an issue

074of safety it is an issue where this board will have to decide whether or not to move forward with something that provides once a month or accept the fact that what's coming next is opportunities for once a week where parents will check their kids out and say the school didn't accommodate me and in Tennessee the most hostile school to the Bible has been Knox County Schools I don't think that's a position that this board wants to be in finally if we're saying some kids are excluded and therefore we can't do it it'll be really tragic for all the football teams and the cheerleaders and all the other pieces including safety patrol where some kids get to go and other kids don't I think that's something that happens in our school system right now and that's

075not a reason to vote against this program thank you for your time Lauryn Watkins please state your name and resident county of residence and I have a child that is actually in the program at Starkey and and I just I want to make this brief and thank you for allowing me to speak but and I just wanted to speak to his experience and that it's just been a great experience so far and I love the opportunity to be able to choose this for him and where maybe we can't choose private school necessarily but you know and I just think it's a blessing to be able to have the opportunity to choose one hour a month to send him to this and I as he said earlier and very supportive of the arts programs and we

076send in we do all those things we love our school and and I just wanted to be able to say that I appreciate the opportunity and to say yes as a parent and that he is loving his experience and with the program and I had no hesitation when saying yes so thank you Ashley rickles ashlee wrinkles Knox County so this is a bit of a familiar issue for me I met Ben in the Army National Guard for eight years of my first lieutenant an Army National Guard and we have to devote religious time for our soldiers because of the importance of their religious freedom and what it means to them I don't see why our children should be any different I had two children attending Sturkey Hills two children are turning the program one toddler

077and one on the way it's important to me that all four of them will see and experience this program this isn't a get out of school for an hour a month to goof off or receive candy this program allows my children to build a community it allows them to praise God to sing and worship God and to learn God's Word this is an hour of hope for my children we live in a secular world with rising rates of childhood anxiety and depression this is a tool to combat that for my children we as parents are called to guide our children on the path in life adults and children raah headed somewhere our children headed towards something beautiful glorious and something that God intended for them are they being diverted from that path dismissing this program

078you're telling my children that the religious education freedom is unimportant that's not a lesson I'll allow you to teach my children it is my right to allow them to attend this program our Constitution is freedom for religion of religion not freedom from religion the intention of our Constitution is to allow us to choose our religion and how we practice it not to force us from religion or to restrict our practices this program was created out of a desire to reach our children teach God's Word and to bring them closer to God Matthew 19:14 Jesus said let the children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these the children attending this program will greatly benefit the program will help aid them to become better members of

079society and I don't see how this program would promote any type of bullying my children know that not everyone's a Christian and they are taught to be kind and show respect to anyone regardless of their religion regardless of what they believe I do not teach my children to mock others for the beliefs I teach them to welcome everyone the church circles program is welcoming to all it meets all the regulations and it's absolute blessing for our community Thank You Leslie Bryant my name is Leslie Bryant and I live in Knox County my daughter attends the Bible release time as turkey elementary when I first received information about this program I was very excited because as a Christian mom I'm always looking for opportunities where my kids can grow in their faith my daughter is also

080full of excitement for this program she looks forward to going every month and when she comes home from school she tells me about all that she's learned and how nice the people are at the church the special people who run this program welcome all children and show them love and acceptance acceptance that may they may not get other places but most of all they are planting seeds filled with God's Word in the hearts of our upcoming generation Ephesians 6:4 says we should bring our children up in the training and instruction of the Lord Bible release is a great extension of the morals and Christian beliefs that I implement in my home the law says if I choose my children can have this religious instruction during school hours and I see that is such an amazing

081gift and I hope that you guys do too I would like to end by reading a few lines from a letter I received from the principal of Lake City Elementary School in Anderson County we began bible release time in September of 2018 our number of students participating has grown to 223 out of 264 students during the past year and the program is very popular with our students and our community I do believe it has had a positive impact on our school the positive impact far outweighs the loss of an hour of instruction time per month eight times a year I strongly recommend that you consider implementing this program thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to speak Thank You Chloe brilliant [Applause] hello board members my name is Chloe Bryant and I'm in

082fourth grade at stoichiometry and I go to by release time I asked my mom and dad if I could talk to you guys because I'd like you to know a kid's side about Bob release time first we get on a bus and a leader from the from the church asks us if we know her last month followers and then we say it together then we learn our new memory verse when when we get to the church people comes to hello and high-five us then they start the music and we sing and dance to the worship songs this is my favorite part because me and my friends are smiling and having a good time so then a leader tells us a Bible story and then we pray then we play a game that has questions about

083the Bible story after that they give us a snack and I drink and we head back to the school I love that going there because it's really fun and I feel safe there I want to keep doing Robert least time because I want to have a good relationship with God and I want all the kids at my school to be saved by Jesus thank you we thank you Theresa Hoekstra I'm Teresa Hoekstra a resident of Knox County and thank you so much for this opportunity you've given me to speak to you today my husband and I have raised five children in the Knox County school system and we want to thank you for the firm foundation you gave them that helped them pursue their college degrees and the successful careers they are all enjoying today

084we all know how important a firm foundation is to everything that we do and without a firm foundation we will fail the house crumbles our children get lost in school we have been very appreciative of the teachers here in Knox County that supported and encouraged our children to excel in the classroom we now have six grandchildren that will be in the Knox County school system soon in fact ones already there my husband and I started volunteering at the Bible release program in August when it was first introduced as a pilot program here in Knoxville we both had background checks ran to be part of the program that is a requirement of the Church of Sturkey hills and the elgin foundation we want all children that attend the program to be safe we also attended a

085training meeting as part of the preparation for the start of this program I want you to know that both my husband and I were so impressed with this program it is very organized its fast-moving and it keeps the children's attention they have songs prayer a short video of the Bible lesson and an engaging Bible teacher and if time permits a game is played that goes over the Bible story and the kids really love that part we believe that this program can be a tremendous asset to our schools here in Knox County and that is why I wanted to speak to you today I am one who works in the program and I have seen firsthand the response of the children and I believe this program can make a difference in the lives of our children

086a difference for good in the classroom and a difference for good in their homes this program shares the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes I stand here today because I was changed on the inside out when I first heard the gospel as a child and that is why I feel so strongly about this program it can produce good fruit in the lives of our children we all want our children to be moral law abiding citizens and the gospel presented to our children can lead them in the right direction and help give them a firm moral foundation in which to build their lives and relationship to others so today I asked you to consider that in this program go countywide and I got grandkids

087that I want to be able to go to this program so thank you very much Charles van beek Charles van beek Knox County resident I - I have five grandchildren in the school system right now so I have a stake in this apparently the sponsors of this proposed board policy feel that our children are not sufficiently exposed to religious moral instruction that is that not enough Sunday schools are teaching religious moral instruction not enough Sunday evening programs are teaching enough moral instruction not enough Wednesday evening prep programs are teaching enough moral instant instruction not enough parents are teaching moral instruction at home therefore let's fill this terrible void by encroaching on our public schools you know and it's you know our society does have an agreed set of moral core value values and when we

088teach those children every single day in school every teacher teaches them all day every day those core values have been adopted by every religion that I'm that I'm familiar with including among others honesty respectfulness decency and these are religious moral values not religious indoctrination and let me point you to Paul's letter to the Galatians but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience this goodness gentleness self-control these values are taught every single day by every teacher in our school system don't sell them short by pulling kids out of the classes for these additional programs in short I submit that there is no need for this pot policy indeed the state does not compel you to adopt a policy didn't the this statute is couched in terms of may not shell thank goodness make

089no mistake this tonight if you pass this policy is just the beginning it'll be there be motions to it amend it time and time and time again right now it's up here for one hour per month next it'll be next one hour per week then one hour per day this do you think that I'm an an alarmist the statute permits you to adopt a policy that excuses a student from school to attend a release time course and religious moral instruction for no more than one class period per school day we know where this has got going you know it I know it everyone here knows it that's where we're going and then we talk about one hour when is our begin this that our begin when they get on the church bus and end when

090they get off the church bus I submit to you that the disruption to the school is more way more than one hour that hour should begin when the kids are excused from the classroom that they're going to go put on coats and sweaters and mill around the hall go out to the courtyard be counted before they put on the on the bus and the same thing when they come back it's going to be a whole lot more than an hour disruption to the school day you know and other people talk about well we let the kids do go for vision test hearing tests to do all these different things that's a disruption know all those things we allow those excused absences because they go to a child's ability to hear see not have attention distracted

091by illness they're all necessary to a child's ability to learn and to fully participate in your educational process I do submit that pulling kids out for this well more than an hour it's going to be well more than an hour you can bet on that does disrupt the school and it's and it's much more than just disruption to a continuum of the of a curriculum it's a flat-out disruption and and I suppose that to end just let you know I go to church every Sunday and I participate in all the programs in my church and I participate all community activities feed the poor and all those things I believe in Jesus I believe in what he's done what he what he taught us and I don't think we need to do this this program at

092all thank you for your attention [Applause] Christine Bach good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Christine Bach and I'm a resident of Knox County I'm speaking to you tonight wearing two hats that of a parent and that of an educator I'm the guardian of a graduate of Farragut high school and I'm very proud of the education that she received sometimes the only thing that got her out of bed in the morning were her band in theater classes she struggled in some areas but in those she was an equal she was part of a family I can't even express how valuable those classes were to her the arts were her place to fit in and to belong after my email to several board members the common theme I heard from those of

093you who are in favor of the religious release program was the same you wanted me to have a choice I would like to remind you that I already had a choice I had the choice to send my child to religious education classes I had the choice to send my child to a religious school I had the choice to enroll my child in a public school where every child is treated equally regardless of their religious affiliation and that is the choice I made it is not the school's choice to teach my child how to be a good person is not my choice there is not that schools job to teach my child morality that is my job as a parent now I want to put on my second hat which is that of a Knox County

094educator for over 20 years I'm a music educator and I teach on average a hundred and fifty students a day or 750 a week and over the years I have taught over 15,000 students I average over 50 hours of professional development and I use my own time and money to gain certifications in methodologies that most of you have never even heard of and I'm not alone or even exceptional I do what all of the music teachers in Knox County Schools do and continue to do to give the best of me when the county mandated common planned time for elementary teachers I lost a fourth of my time with the students in theory I'm supposed to see my students 36 times a year however I lose four classes to PBIS reward parties I leaves one class

095to coupon book kick-off another for the coupon rebook reward party I lose another to the booster thon fun run I lose another for a field day I lose any time there was an assembly a field trip a guest speaker inclement weather I lose another class on average I lose at least ten classes a year with my students so in reality I see most of my students 26 times per year or just 19 and a half hours but still I continue to give my best I organize concerts and shows I spend time away from my own family making costumes and props I even still offer extended learning enrichment programs even though extended learning money has been cut for enrichment programs I do that without pay and again I am NOT exceptional I do what every other

096music teacher does in some schools our plan time is cut so that we can tutor other subject areas in some school we some schools we do more duty than any other teacher but we continue to give our best let me remind you that according to the elementary Secondary Education Act music is a core subject it is it supports a sequential and comprehensive music education for all of our students and recently this very Board signed off on a strategic plan that said it would maintain and reinforce the kcs commitment to arts education but instead of inviting for ways for students to receive more opportunities to learn this program proposes that students miss more one class a month might not seem like to you lot to you but as one forth more time I am losing with

097my students I don't honestly even understand how the board is entertaining an idea that would take away the precious little time I already have with my students implies that we have time to waste and we don't the idea that our time is not important is frankly an insult to all the hard-working and dedicated teachers in Knox County Schools a lot has changed in education over the last 77 years and if Johnson University the elgyn Foundation and surkhi Hills want some information on how to help us I have lots of ideas look toward Wallace Memorial and Park West Baptist they do so much for our schools but what it all boils down to is instead of proselytize and undermining our public education system they kind of need to just walk the walk and show the love

098and service to others that we've been taught as Christians I will give and I will continue to give my best that is my calling and my service as a parent and an educator I am asking you to represent media voter and others like me by voting against this release program instead maybe our time would be better spent finding more ways for students to have more arts education thank you for listening and thank you for your time [Applause] Amanda Bivens [Applause] good evening board my name is Amanda Bivens and I live in Knox County in fact I've lived in Knox County my entire life and went through the Knox County school system myself I've been serving in Knox County Schools since first as a student teacher and substitute teacher and then as a code I music

099specialist I have a Bachelor of music education from carson-newman University a master of music education from the University of Memphis and a full Kodai certification endorsed by the organization of american KO tires it has been my great honor and joy to serve the children and parents of the Farragut community is their music specialist for the past five years before I dive into my concerns with the pose proposed religious release time let me first explore what I believe all the children of Knox County deserve according to the wall in according to my own moral compass throughout my study at the University of Memphis I was able to learn a bit more about the laws regarding what is guaranteed to children regarding their music education according to the every student succeeds Act of 2015 music and art

100were deemed as core academic subjects with protected time the Knox County School strategic plan also states that kcs will maintain and reinforce the kcs commitment to arts education it is my ultimate passion and conviction that only the best is good enough for a child and children deserve a high-quality uninterrupted music education the religious release time policy will ultimately hinder the children's right to a high quality music education it has been proposed that each non-affiliated religious institution that offers a program can take kids out of our classes for one hour a month what happens if there are many options will they be missing more than once a month let's assume it is only once a month the majority of special area teachers at the elementary level only see their students once a week I see my

101students around 40 times this school year if they miss my class once a month that is one-fourth of the lessons I teach missing even one class let alone possibly ten puts the child hugely behind in terms of my content retention the proposed policy states that I do not have to reteach material to those students that if I do not reach where does that leave me students who are failing to master their objectives and goals according to my state standards if I do reteach the students who already had the lesson or risk of becoming disengaged either way students are the ones who are losing in this situation the proposed policy also waives Knox County of liability to what may happen to students once they leave the school premises this is hugely problematic as we do not

102know exactly the safety procedures each local church will put in place to ensure students are where they should be and will be out of harm's way like Knox County Schools does if this program is not unified how do we know what each student is receiving the type of instruction the church claims to be giving the answer we don't exactly know because we didn't do not know what they will be teaching they may or may not align with the religious beliefs of every family these teachings will not likely be affirming to families of all backgrounds beliefs sexual orientations gender identities and so on what will happen to the children who are left behind at school especially if they are minority religious group there are hundreds of Christian churches in Knoxville but very few synagogues mosques and

103temples if we are worried about the moral character of children it is already legal to teach about the Bible during school hours students also receive lessons about building strong character from our school counselors there have been a fair share of people who tell me I'm not putting God first by standing in opposition to this proposed policy to that I respond that there is nothing nothing more holy than making music with other human beings in my music class we learn how to see each other as human beings with feelings we learn to treat each other with kindness and compassion with every little singing game that we play together we learn to be peacemakers when things do not turn out the way that we always want them to as an educator in faith I have found my

104way to share the law of love and the gospel of peace if the board feels it's absolutely necessary to offer this time I encourage the board to make time for this before or after the school day so that children get both opportunities religious guidance along with the music with music and the arts I vote no for this policy to happen during the school day is a vote to keep the students of Knox County where they belong in schools receiving the high quality arts education thank you for your time Bobby pootie [Applause] good evening my name is dr. Ravi petit and I'm a general music educator for Knox County Schools and a resident of Knox County as I stand here I'm asking that our board vote no regarding the religious release time policy I'm asking a

105vote of no on this policy for several reasons of which I will share a small handful as time allows first my concern is for our most important stakeholders involved concerning this policy our students when students are on our campuses across our County all rules regulations and policies have been put into place tested and true we are charged with their safety and well-being since students will be leaving our campuses the safety of our students is out of our hands educators including myself are required to be vetted including background checks and other processes were the members of the independent entities follow the same procedures we cannot ask for this process to occur another concern of safety for example could be in regards to special medical needs or even accommodations that students may need as the current policy

106states quote no public funds are expended and no Knox County Schools personnel are included in providing the religious instruction in quote will a nurse or assistant for a child be required to attend according to policy the answer is no with the sponsoring entity assumed the responsibility for these needs another point of safety is the mode of transportation in which our students will attend these courses from research Tennessee State law states that each of us used for student transportation must be inspected annually along with other requirements such as the age of the bus our state laws require in charges districts to ensure that our vehicles that transport students to and from our campuses must be safe well entities be required to prove the transportation they're providing is safe even though our district could potentially ask her

107parents to sign a waiver of liability are there any cases or proven facts to show that our waivers will completely stand in court other safety concerns could range from requirements and procedures for the entities to provide safety drills and safety procedures threats against another pupil the school or even in themselves these are just a few of my concerns regarding student safety my second area of concern regarding this policy centers around another important stakeholder each school's staff members first the policy has written States quote no student may be released from a core curriculum subject course to attend a religious in religious instruction course in quote what is the definition of core curriculum subjects Tennessee State Board policy for nine - 6 - 1 0 to 5 section a from 2016 States course of instruction in all

108public schools for kindergarten through grade 8 k 8 shall include art and music education to help each student foster creative thinking spatial learning discipline craftsmanship and intrinsic rewards of hard work end quote and looking at pilot programs it has been reported that students were pulled from art in particular for release time will the board continue to adhere to the promise made in the 2019 through 2024 strategic plan which states quote we will focus on whole child develop through education in the arts physical activity stem and work languages or will the arts be allowed to be devalued second for example concerning missed assignments while the arts continue to be devalued even further suppose a student doesn't fully connect with music they enjoy it but are not fully vested if an educator is presenting material and a

109student misses due to release time the student is to assume the responsibility for the missed assignments is the educator supposed to just give written assignments for the missed material create a supplemental curriculum or even work even extra hours just to support these students who've missed regular sessions will the policy and pilot program as currently interpretive continue to allow the arts to be devalued as non core subjects and allow for further devaluation do we expense art arts educators to give a student a grade and simply move on third will educators be required to pass out flyers for this policy and in doing so endorse it with with separation of church and state being so deeply enshrined in our nation and legal system shouldn't the obligation to advertise and obtain permission for such programs beyond the entities

110and parents forcing educators to participate could be viewed by all and as an endorsement especially if teachers purposely or unwittingly do make an endorsement all of which with a host of other ethical and legal issues in closing as a person of faith myself and one who is very active in my local congregation I wholeheartedly oppose this policy during school I have devoted my professional career to empowering students through music and my time with my students weekly is already limited this policy can allow less time if carefully curtain not carefully crafted raises concerns of safety to potentially devalue the arts and has too many unanswered or unexplored areas furthermore I feel this policy is just unjust and unwarranted to the school board I thank you for hearing our concerns and I ask you to vote no

111thank you very much Dan Daniel Herrera one more call for Daniel Herrera okay Jax Fox hello everyone hello board my name is my name is Jax Fox and I'm a resident of Knox County many other people have already addressed the issues that I have with implementing this policy missing class liability the diversity of needs of students the need for this for the subjects as art and music student safety etc I'm I'm asking you for a no vote because of my personal experience I was raised Roman Catholic in the south I spent 10 years in Catholic school pre-k through eighth grade we had religion class at least once a week Mass twice a week we opened school and closed school every day with a public prayer I wore my uniform out and about as I was

112a kid and didn't have much choice and changing clothes I got a lot of questions do you worship Mary why do you pledge allegiance to the Pope are you saved at age 9 I had to ask my dad what a papist meant because I overheard my great-uncle who's a Southern Baptist minister being rude about my mother one particular memorable Sunday there were chick track lights left on the windshield of every of every car of anyone attending Mass about the Catholic Church being the of Babylon I was still Christian but clearly not the right kind of Christian it was uncomfortable seeing this from adults and my peers who didn't attend my school just copied their parents it was extremely uncomfortable when I went to high school which was public high school I attended Mass Sunday's holy

113days which my mother pulled me out of school and would check me back in and religious education every Sunday night religion became private and much more comfortable I didn't have people asking me rude questions this law specifically allows for currently one week one period a week with more programs will you allow students to attend multiple programs do you only expect for one denomination of Christianity to have a program program when churches split up regularly over small differences in biblical interpretation just make it an after-school program it'll help provide childcare and miss most of the issues that are being discussed today it's almost as if this whole situation is more concerned with getting a foothold in our public schools then actually impacting the children they claim they want to reach it reminds me of something that

114I was taught Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 through 6 and when you pray do not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others truly I tell you they have received their reward in full but when you pray go to your room close the door and pray to your father who is unseen when your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you please decline to establish a program of religious studies there is religious bullying even of other Christians thank you [Applause] lilt Lillian Mashburn thank you I'm Lillian Mashburn a lifelong resident of Knox County and proud of it I attended school in Alice fell back in when it was a school for okay that one through eight in

115the 50s there were several religious programs religious shows Assemblies my Presbyterian mother would not allow me to attend sometimes being the only child left behind I was taught and employed the fact that I was baptized as a child was fodder for fun bullying being saved was not Presbyterian language my children were in Knox County Schools they didn't have to face these issues they attended school the children of many religions many races they got along fine there needs to be respect for children who need not to be subject to bullying if they do not conform religiously some years ago I was executive director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews a religious organization supreme ho brotherhood and sisterhood of all person kinds today in retirement I serve as the director as a chair of the

116university of tennessee's for the visitors for the Department of Religious Studies people from all faiths study to learn and to promote understanding among all religions if you study you find that all religions promote and encourage the Golden Rule I have not seen one that does not there are many opportunities for Christian parents and there are many varieties various groups of Chris parents to provide religious education for the children Knoxville has changed there are many vibrant religious communities in Knox County in addition to the many varieties of Christian communities their favorite communities of Muslims Jews Sikh Hindu and Buddhist among many others that I have not named all religious traditions and faith should be valued and according equal access his such access is deemed necessary thinking Simmons I'm Lincoln Simmons and I'm from Blount County ok

117we need to take a vote whether to allow him to speak move to allow him to speak all in favor Thank You chairperson Super today in Knox County school board members I am the director of children's Bible Ministries was the US and international mission agency whose headquarters are located in Townsend Tennessee which is in Blount County our organization uses release time the release time Bible education as one of our tools to minister young people in the US this past school year from August 2018 to August of 2019 we had released time classes taking place in 164 schools 41 counties and 10 states with close to 20,000 students enrolled CBN had 5427 students in the state of Tennessee alone I would like to encourage the board to approve the proposed release time policy CBM desires to

118work alongside of the school system not against it in all of our organizations and programs that we right now we have not done it outside of the realms of the school board a policy would give the Knox County School Board input that would help the schools offer release time in a way that is advantageous to the goals of the schools and the parents of the children they serve schools parents and students benefit from release time the National Council on crime and delinquency did an independent program evaluation their study supports the following benefits for schools release time education offers opportunities for programs at no taxpayer cost to the schools students are attending the program and schools and teachers are free to work with other students saving school money and reducing the class size it reinforces positive

119character behavior and students it improves academics performance the studies shown that scores that the scores of the Oakland released times students increased after a one-year one-year period in comprehension spelling and vocabulary the study also showed that release time students outperformed non-participants in almost every academic category it fosters community and parent involvement in the school's South Carolina Supreme Court Judge EC Burnett has become a huge advocate of release time Bible Education and states the evidence is too obvious with release time violence diminishes relations among the kids improve in the desire for education improves release time offer also offers great benefits to the parents as well not all parents can afford Christian education or have the time to invest in other religious instruction opportunities where at least time allows these parents the opportunity to send their children

120to a time of religious instruction it is not for Christians only it's open to everyone parents desire to see their children succeed and know that moral instruction taught at release time will have a positive effect on their children just students the benefits of perhaps the easiest to see depression suicide rates are up because of their hopelessness we offer them hope at release time anger and violence are on the rise we teach students about love and forgiveness during release time sexual activity pornography alcohol and jug jug drug use or on any kind and are more readily available to young people today all this leads to addiction at a younger age we teach young people they can have freedom from sin and vices during their release time students are D motivated to pursue their education we motivate

121them by giving them hope and a reason to strive for excellence in social spiritual and academic performances during release time we use a Bible based curriculum in fact last week during the release time discussion it was brought out that people were being bullied release time teachers teach the opposite of this we teach them to love one another we teach them how to defend their beliefs in a god-honoring way it does open the door for honest conversations to be had about religious difference differences but this is a good thing and a lesson that young people need to learn today last week one of the advocates said that release time is a place for children where children feel loved and safe I echo that statement and not because it is a feel-good statement that is something that

122we are just hoping for is one that is backed by the hard work of organizations like CBM the elgyn foundation school ministries and local churches across the u.s. we do our due diligence we perform background checks liability insurance is in place CBM has a child protection plan that has been adopted and endorsed by John Ashcroft former US Attorney General as a first-rate program security and safety is important when it comes dealing with children a question why is release time why released time instead of after-school programs CBM ministers through children in a variety of different ways summer camps correspondence lessons which are done through mail and also through after school programs and release time what we have found overwhelmingly is that release time offers parents and students the opportunity for the most children to attend religious

123instruction 250 students were enrolled in after school release time programs versus almost 20,000 enrolled in the release time classes this tells us what is working better for the families that we serve I want to thank you for the opportunity for considering the release time policy and appreciate the time clock Clark step thank you board members superintendent Thomas Clark step Knox County I work for both the church of Starkey hills and the Elgin Children's Foundation I facilitate release time in 17 schools across across four districts here in East Tennessee I was here for the policy committee hearing I was here for the workshop in public forum and then here tonight and what I've observed is really a hijacking what release time education actually is we have people waving a magic wand to one side with lots

124of hypotheticals and objections while our target is down here it almost sounds like if you sit sit back here that Knox County is debating whether the county should adopt a Christian program in the schools and we know that that's that's far from the truth every single point whether for or against is silenced on one point the only point that really matters in all of this and that point is that parents have the right under our state and federal law to request that their child be released from school for one hour per week to receive religious instruction here's some straw man arguments that I've heard against that all of them can be answered the same and that is parents has for their kids to be released for religious instruction what about kids left the school that

125parent made a choice that's okay why can't you do it after school we do support afterschool programming but that isn't what this is just because you can have a program after school doesn't mean you get to take away take away the rights of parents to retain instructional time during the school day what about backgrounds background checks what about curriculum what if something bad happens when they're gone what if someone is bullied again parents have exercised their rights and ask that their children be released to a third party for religious instruction during the school day what do people the school think about this I love the people at Starkey elementary and the other schools where I help facilitate released time classes I know what they think about it and it is overwhelmingly positive I know because

126I talked to them if you would go to the school if you talk to the faculty and staff you'd know that but the interest of the person raising most of these objections on the board hasn't been to find out what school personnel think and that's why that board member hasn't been to the school or called them to ask about it they could answer most of these objections that being said as much as I respect with the opinions of school personnel on the program are this is a question that can also be answered by saying parents ask for their kids to be released for religious instruction another argument that's getting thrown around a lot has to do with teachers instructional time with all due respect as important as your class might be when a parent asks

127that their son or daughter be released for religious release time once per month what they are saying is that it's more important that their kids instructed in the Bible for that hour during that month and if that is frustrating or upset someone then let your voices be heard but this isn't the place that those rights can be changed only the Tennessee State Legislature I'm probably the federal level can that happen that is where these concerns should ultimately be directed you see Knox County is it starting a program where they need to decide if a curriculum is acceptable or if teachers are happy about it no you're simply acknowledging the parents have this right you're allowing those who want to exercise it that right to do so all these questions sound good in theory but they're

128directing everyone's attention away from what this really is you can ask all these hypotheticals in regards to school sponsored events field trips sporting events school assemblies anything else at the school where the school is actually held liable in release time the parents have acknowledged and they sign on the permission form that Knox County in no way endorses the program they have requested their kids be released to someone else's care and the school must honor that although although all these points that have been argued can be answered with parents asked for their kids to be released for religious instruction I'll address some of the other objections as well Sturkey is just one small school and the schools were I facilitate release time ten of them are larger than Sturkey elementary how about that might work in

129rural areas but Knox County is larger and more diverse their release time education programs and places much larger more diverse a few Columbus Ohio Los Angeles California and Portland Oregon what about separation of church and state again Freedom From Religion on their own website acknowledges the legality of release time when we start at a new school I go into a training at the host site the foundation mandates that every worker has a sufficient background we teach protocol on reporting if there's belief that a child has been physically abused and Elgin is on the front lines as many of you know fighting against child abuse we teach it to adult rule no one adult can be alone with a kid at a time and we have a plan in place for discipline that we shared I'd

130be happy to let you see one of our training manuals that illustrates all of this I share all of this just so you know that we are running a high quality program but what if someone's not what if someone's not running a high quality program and they want to do this the answer parents have asked for their kids to be released for religious instruction finally when groups in here think that they're opposing the Church of Starkey Hills or the Elgin Children's Foundation with the things they're saying the wrong we're just facilitating the wishes of parents and making it easy for them to access their rights the people you're really opposing is the parents you're opposing Warren you're opposing Ashley Cullen who talked last week Leslie and all the other parents at the school who want

131their kids to be instructed in the Bible and what about the parents who don't want this they get to make a choice for their kids not to participate that's the beauty of this we all have freedom to exercise our rights and we have a choice I thank you for the opportunity to speak god bless each of you [Applause] laughs hello my name is Michael Alif I'm a resident of Anderson County would the board like to allow mr. Alif to speak it's there a second uh could we take a vote all in favor say aye aye I won't talk quite as fast as some of the other people I can do it all in less than five minutes the first word I'll throw out is freedom the hat that I wear represents freedom I say it

132quite often the beauty of this flag is the freedom that we all have the freedom to come in voice our opinion the freedom to choose to choose to come here to speak or to choose not to similar to everyone here a freedom to choose whether or not you want to participate in a religious activity or not a freedom to believe in God or not and that freedom I believe that the that the vote will probably go yes my wife is a special education master degree schoolteacher she leans on me about starting Wednesday night tonight as her counselor because of the condition of the schools children that she educates breaks her heart she deals with kids that have emotional disabilities physical disabilities she deals with kids that come to school and have not had breakfast they

133probably free lunch and they may or may not eat when they go home because they're being raised by an uncle or aunt another family member because there's so much dysfunction in the family at the home I think the school system has a tough enough job teaching in educating the children to become solid citizens in life I believe that the separation between the church in the state is just that it's a right everyone has the freedom to choose people can choose if they want to go to church and and have their kids instructed there or they can choose to do it at home where I feel like it's probably one of the best places but for some children they may not get that chance so I do I do feel like the vote will probably go

134in favor so I'll bring up a another word discrimination you know when you deal with kids that have disabilities whether it's physical or emotional I'm not sure I'm sure that the foundation and even the stir chill school and church is aware of those disabilities I just don't know if from my count there seems to be 90 schools in the Knox County school system give or take there's 360 different church denominations in Knox County I'm not sure how many are gonna petition to be a part of this program within their jurisdiction of the school it just sounds to me like liability I say that word only to say that the school system seems to think that they'll wash their hands of liability based on a consent form fine but sign the parents I'm not a lawyer

135I am a of a doctorate in theology which means I'm simply a praying man and a man of faith I follow a doctrine called the way because he said he was the way and he was the truth one thing that will probably be disagreed on in many of these settings is this is what I believe and this is what you believe so in closing I throw that last word out for liability and say oversight I think that the organizations that come into the school are the chain of custody of release of the children there needs to be a substantial insurance policy and for two hours today I called 15 different insurance agents that insurer churches the first question when they asked me was was I of a Catholic denomination the reason for that is they

136said they would not insure at any level of money a Catholic Church so in closing I just say be be cautious in your vote because the liability will ultimately lie at the school board thank you [Applause] Dave Johnson good evening my name is Dave Johnson I'm the director of children's Bible ministries of East Tennessee we partnered with Elgin our residence is out here in Holsten Hills by the way I saw your list of how many speakers we have tonight and we're coming down to the end now so we're down the homestretch I thank you for your patience I want to say thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight and thank you for the job that you do and your sincere hearts to make Knox County Schools the best that they can be

137many of you may not realize in the late 1990s our ministry first offered release time to Knox County Allen Morgan was superintendent then but admittedly those times were different and even though there was a lot of public support Knox County board members at that time just weren't ready there was no Tennessee code to back him up and only two small counties in East Tennessee had released time programs and after some discussion the board chose not to bring it up for a vote I was disappointed along with many other Knox County residents but one thing I've always learned when life gives you lemons you make lemonade and so I began to commute to our Union County release time program to help their first driving a bus and then teaching and soon we began to expand clay

138briquette Claiborne County voted to adopt release time Hancock County followed and soon the number of children had had topped the 2000 in roll mint mark over the year since then one by one other school boards have seen the value of release time and at last count I believe there are 11 counties in Tennessee in East Tennessee and in partnership with Elgin and CBM have adopted release time policies over the years I have seen release time worked seamlessly and smoothly let me addressed a few a few concerns that might be helpful to you as a board one concern that I heard was transportation and getting kids in and out of school that would take more than one hour the last thing we want is unhappy teachers because the children's aren't back in their classrooms Wendt promised

139we program in our transportation time and to every class time and to stay within the hour we just we make it work there was a concern about other face wanting equal access causing too many interruptions the simple solution is a policy that release time for everyone is the same day in the same time children simply get on the bus that takes into the program chosen by their parent another concern last week I heard was time out of class can I just say that for my personal experience that teachers when they see how release time creates better students for them overwhelmingly support this in fact I can't even tell you the number of times that teachers as their children are going out the door of the school to get on the bus you have thanked me

140personally for what we do let me add that every school board that has looked at release time has had many of the same questions and concerns that you have tonight including all the hypotheticals but after careful consideration and scrutiny they have voted overwhelmingly in Tennessee to approve it I close with something I wrote about that happened just three weeks ago today in a release time class it was a brand-new release time class in Greene County that we serve camp Creek is a small farmland school located at the base of the Appalachian and it was scheduled to have its first ever Bible release time class that day soon after a quick set up we arrived at the office to greet a small group of students lining up in the hall excited to find out with this

141new opportunity at their school was all about one young lady on our list wasn't in line so one of the other children left to go find her she was in the gym a moment later when they returned we learned why she hadn't come even though her mom had signed for her permission her permission form for her to go she didn't think going to learn about the Bible would be as much fun as being in the gym I urged her to be able to try and she reluctantly got in line only a few minutes later the group was settled in our meeting room and after some introductions and preliminaries it was time for our story of the day the Old Testament story of Joseph the coat of many colors the eleven brothers who hated him and

142sold him into slavery and Potiphar's wife who lied about Joseph to her husband Potiphar is furious and his wrath is about to come down and Joseph when our episode comes to an abrupt halt guess what everyone we're out of time you'll have to come back next month to find out what happens to Joseph a loud sigh bellows out from the children who are totally into the drama and they reluctantly get back up and out of their seats to go back to school and as we began our walk back a little girl who didn't want to miss her gym time came to me this was fun I'm coming back next time and then her friend chimed in I can't wait to find out what happened to Joseph I don't have a Bible but my brother does

143I'm going to sneak into his room and get his Bible so I can find out just want to say thank you for considering this I appreciate it thank you [Applause] that's the cold madam chair members of the board thank you for a chance to speak to you Lance mekole Knox County I've been watching this and this weekend last week and I see lots of good people on both sides of this issue maybe there's more than two sides to it one thing I think is is quite clear is that whether people are for or against adopting this policy they seem to be universally people of faith I have to say I was a little offended that the some of the speakers were saying that the board if the board chose chose not to adopt this policy

144that it would mean that they were indifferent to religion or that they were opposing parents that's that's not that's not the way we should be treating each other it actually seems to be too late lend credence to the concerns people have about bullying and it sounds to me like a form of bullying I I do say that I am not persuaded I can certainly see that the advantages to doing this thing during school but I'm not persuaded that it needs to be done during / during school you know I know there it sounds like a great program you know I'm all for people having these kind of programs for kids but do it after school do it before school why do we have to interrupt the schools yeah it's clear we heard reports that they

145get more students this way but just because it's easier for you doesn't mean it's the right thing to do I I do want to I do want to bring your attention to something that this concern me a lot is I've thought about this policy I think that if we adopt this policy that the policy itself should include some really good controls on the on how this affects our schools during the school day it's easy for me to imagine circumstances where if the bus doesn't get back on time if the kids are wound up and not ready to get back into class at next time even though they're within the allotted hour or class period that could be very disruptive beyond just the the time it takes the staff to gather up kids and bring them

146and take them back in I think that this seems to me the logistics of this seem to be a lot more complicated than they've been presented I can hardly believe that the schools will check out let their kids be turned out without actually noting which ones are leaving and noting which ones come back to make sure we haven't lost them in the process so if you choose to pursue this policy I would urge you to make sure that you consider all the the things that can go wrong and that you give the principal at least the power to disassociate with programs entities who choose to bring things that that actually don't follow the rules that he or she sets out thank you in July I'll read hello I'm Angela Allred with the with Knox County

147I'm a citizen I work for eight years of the Knoxville Police Department and helped acquire the grant that built the Family Justice Center I'm just saying that is a foreword to some of the things I'm going to say so you know where my background isn't that I would like to start by asking one thing if the teachers are against this why are we even talking about it anymore have we really just stopped caring about their opinions it's like they're talking into the void and some of you're just looking around like what groups like this like the Elgin foundation and even the children's satanic ministry will come and go but teachers are the absolute bedrock of our society please listen to the teachers they do not want this policy to pass please listen to them someone

148might well say that someone might say well the parents opinion should also matter and I agree teachers parents and students should be the largest consideration here one one of the board members for the policy said that parents should have the right to choose how and where their children are educated I agree couldn't agree more actually that is their right to educate their child as they choose the thing is parents have that right now they have that today they can take them out of school all or part of the day and it's my understanding that it won't even be counted against the students attendance record if they only miss a class or two but let's say the parent either doesn't have time all right with just some people's argument work or typically doesn't want to take

149the time either one to take their child out of school I don't think that suddenly means that the school board should pass a bad policy in order to make it easier for the parent to educate the child in a certain way one thing does not equal the other passing and terrible policy is not the solution to help a parent teach their child about the Bible or about Satan either one passing a terrible policy is simply passing a terrible policy I want to say I think this policy is dishonest and distasteful and ver speeded-up it's dishonest because there is no way for this program to be free of cost as required by the Tennessee law if you pass the policy you're saying in essence it won't cost taxpayer money that is patently impossible teachers and aides

150will be spending time in class to separate the students aides will be likely used to move students place to place the list goes on translation services special education services nursing services attendance records we literally cannot even think of all the ways that we know this is going to cost money but we know it will so that is dishonest to assert this program won't cost taxpayer money tasteful is distasteful as a daughter of an elementary school teacher and friend of many other teachers who find it very distasteful that the opinions of teachers themselves are being discarded to appease one Christian group or satanic ministry group it doesn't matter that's it's not appropriate and why would the board approve a policy for the children to be educated about people who are not certified to teach in the

151first place the Tennessee law should never have been written and we should not offer tacit or direct approval by passing this policy children should be taught by certified teachers not people who know how to read the Bible it is distasteful because it come finds the separation of church and state and it's inappropriate to me weird and a bit creepy we tell children not to talk to strangers but we're about to let them get in a van with them policy both distasteful and dishonest I just want to take a moment and help everyone really understand that you're really making a mistake if you pass this policy in here is why I think it's going to backfire I think if your goal is to help children learn the Bible or I guess I'm not really sure exactly

152the goal you're actually just opening the door for any stranger any stranger to set up a religion I asked the leader of the Satanic children's ministry how long it took him to set up that found date that religion 15 minutes okay and and I'm not saying the elegant foundation isn't fantastic but you all encouraging this and opening this door is leading the way to open the door for any person that wants to start a religion in 15 minutes to apply and if you turn them down you're going to be in a in a lawsuit situation okay we don't really know so we don't you don't have the time and the energy to know what they're doing no it's always something against a thank you [Applause] prease to have that last name correct so my name

153is ginger Teresa I live in Knox County and I think you met him cheering the rest of the board for allowing me this opportunity to share once again and to me this is a parental rights issue it's under the law federal and state and those who disagree with this release time it's a matter for state legislature not this board parents have an opportunity to opt in or out of this policy and we're asking you to represent us tonight not necessarily what teachers or administrators want but your constituents me the parent or the ones who voted for you so children aren't precious there are rewards that are blessing there's many scriptures that talk about how they are a reward and a blessing to us and I know that it's pretty common for government bodies dead proclamations

154resolutions and things like that and so to clarify what these things are a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something a proclamation is a public or official announcement especially when dealing with the matter of great importance that a decree a decree is an official order issued issued by a legal authority parents are the legal authority of our children and this is a parental rights issue so tonight I'm really feeling underrepresented I know that I think that we have four people who are supporting this policy and I really appreciate that it appreciated that so tonight I felt like I should do a parental decree for our Knox County on behalf of parents and so today on December the 11th 2019 the parents of Knox County decree that we welcome Jesus Christ

155into our schools we say let every gate door and window be open to the gospel of Jesus Christ we agree we're and welcome God's plan to bless and give our children a hope in a future to prosper them and not to harm them we say that every evil plan against all administrators staff and children be stopped and thwarted by the blood of Jesus we welcome revival in every school in Jesus name we pray that peace hope love and joy be bestowed on our children and that every child would excel academically emotionally mentally physically and yes even spiritually because we know Matthew 16:26 for what is it a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul let God arise in his enemies be scattered in Jesus name I pray bless you

156thank you [Applause] Angell Jones I'm angel Jones I live in Knox County I'm coming to you to ask you to please vote down the Bible release time policy I've heard many reasons against and some for and I'd like to go over some of these children go to public school to receive an education they were not there for the our eternal salvation churches for that growing up in church I know many churches have Church fans that pick up children that go to their homes take them to church and the service is over they take them back to their home why can't this be an after-school program if parents deem extracurricular activities to be more important than going to church on Sundays or Wednesdays or whatever their services are then that is on the parents and that

157shows where their priorities lie I kept hearing about how it is inclusive and open to all and how it is however it is only inclusive to those who believe the same or who want to convert I have two goals in my life one is to be a good human and the second is to raise good humans if I do anything past that it is just extra and just more amazing I have a kindergartner and a second grader that attends turkey elementary my children are kind thoughtful creative goofy amazing students empathetic passionate curious and I am honored to be their mom and yes they have bad days like everybody does and other kids who have a lack of belief or believe differently are also amazing kids and they are good kids too after reading the lessons

158that I have from the Elgin foundation it teaches children that attend the Bible release time that these things are not true about our children this is an opportunity to show that no religion is favored in Knox County from what I have learned about the Bible release time law it was made by Christians legalized by Christians and only utilized by Christians because they are the only ones with programs for this law and right now it is only being pushed into policy by people who are a Christian legality does not equal ethical and I'm sure history can show that legality does not equal epical if any other religion had pushed for this law or pushed for this policy it would not have gone through as a veteran and as a widow to a veteran I know what

159I signed up for I know what we fought to protect a person and as a person who signed up to fight against injustice 'as I am fighting against this policy since last week I spoke out about the discrimination I faced from my kindergarteners teacher and recently a friend of mine reached out and said that a teacher at sit home there a middle school student in Knox County and his teachers sent home an essay asking if God existed and that was the topic the student wrote about how children's should research multiple religions before choosing and how they shouldn't be asked the question before they understand the importance of it the teacher wrote a note asking if the student knew right from wrong and if so then they can answer the question that a right answer is

160yes and that God does exist and that is right this isn't okay we've heard from teachers you're hearing from parents there are many of us that do not want this there are many people who are afraid of repercussions happening for speaking out my children have faced this already many other parents are starting to face this and other children are facing this and this is a problem so I'm asking you to please vote on this policy and I appreciate the time that you allowed me to have thank you [Applause] which public forum on the release policy thank you do we have discussion on this topic I suggest we take a brief recess well we have a motion on the floor so that means we can't is that correct there's a motion on the floor by miss

161teal and seconded by Ms Brown yeah we will take a recess as soon as possible but we do have a motion on the floor that means we have to forge ahead so we can actually vote to take a recess someone would like to make a motion I'll make a motion to take a recess we need to vote to table the motion I vote to table the motion okay motion in a second satterfield any discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries we'll take a ten-minute recess [Music] yeah if someone would want to make a motion to bring the table item back on I'd like to make a motion to bring the table item back to the floor okay we have a motion and a second motion by miss Babb second mom is Hill do we

162have discussion on that okay all in favor you do have a discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries okay and so now we will go back to the discussion on policy J 171 do we have any discussion mr. Kelly is this okay there we go um so last week I went and I told you all about a server that I had created and I wanted to kind of show a little bit of the results from this I didn't necessarily want to speak personally because I'm just as conflicted as anyone else I'm the son of a Baptist pastor as well as a participant in the music education I've been a band student for the past seven years so I kind of sit on both sides of the fence so what I wanted to do is

163provide a little bit of insight from students within our County and that being said we have 42 responses from the 16 different high schools in Knox County I know that right now this is targeted at the elementary school but with such a policy it opens the door for future endeavors into the middle school in high school areas within the Knox County school system so I just wanted to give a little bit of insight into that so out of the every schools representatives were sent the opportunity to fill out the survey we got responses back from ten out of the sixteen schools including Powell corns Bearden gibs Hardin Valley Academy the Elenin STEM Academy South oil Fulton Farragut and halls out of the 42 responses 17 were in favor 24 were opposed and one had no

164opinion and from that I would like to read one like I said the survey was just as divisive as any other discussion that we've had and so I wanted to read one prevalent point made by each of the sides so one senior from South Doyle says I think this policy would allow many students to be able to have time to focus on religion as a high school senior I have realized I am always so caught up in doing homework studying and working this leaves me very little time to actually be able to work on my relationship with God and build up my faith I personally think this would be an amazing opportunity on the other hand a senior from Karns writes this policy should not pass through the overall uncertainty and potential for failure speaking

165as a student I can vouch that the freedom to take part in this activity will only be abused and misrepresented this leads to a loss in already limited class time and overall fails to support the greater good of education if you want your child engaged in religion at school then public school isn't the right choice for you and those are just two of the most prevalent arguments if you'd like to see the rest of them you all have copies of those and if you have trouble finding them I can help you I'm sorry about the faulty leak that I sent out earlier today I just wanted to let you all know that thank you madam chair I've been asked to scoot closer to the microphone please thank you having trouble being heard because that's never

166was a complaint in the classroom first I'd like to apologize this is going to be somewhat disjunct but I'm I just have very brief comments on each of these and I'll move along first the board member raising the most objections I assume is me and the way I got those objections was directly from staff and parents at Sturkey elementary school regarding the pilot program had I not been involved with those folks I would not have known many of these things while this board has been hearing from many people since about the beginning of November I've been hearing these objections since August and have been having discussions with our staff since August and it has been pretty much continual so these are not objections that I just sat down and went through the policy and found

167- every little thing I could think of these are things that I've been asked over and over and over these are concerns that people in our communities have by not allowing the pilot to be completed and by not communicating fully with our staff and our community we have failed to explain what it is that we are actually considering here today we have not allowed the consideration of this policy to have a firm foundation that one of our speakers said is required of everything of the hundred sixty five emails I've responded to so far just the ones from November to now only forty six have been in favor of release time and I know you're gonna be shocked but I have a spreadsheet so as I went through and looked at the Spree I'm not kidding

168so so I went through and looked at the spreadsheet I looked at a lot of different things and something that struck me is that of those who are in favor almost almost all of them and I would say off the top of my head less than less than five would not fit this each one of them very specifically was in support of the program they were not talking to us about the policy it was about the program the program is not what we're voting on and I think that is where we have failed in our communication with the public and with our staff is that there is a misunderstanding that what we are supporting or not supporting is this program we are not here to say whether we support religion we are not here to

169say whether we support this program the program shouldn't be our consideration at all what we should be considering is just the policy when I look at the emails that I have in opposition they overwhelmingly talk about the policy and how the policy will negatively impact because overwhelmingly the emails that are in opposition are not opposed to the idea they are not opposed to the program one gentleman emailed in favor of the program when I explained that we are looking at a policy and what that policy was he came back and said oh thank you for explaining that well I would definitely support that after school so when people really look at the difference between the program and the policy sometimes it changes very much because the program isn't at all what we're supposed to be

170looking at over time this board and individuals we have repeatedly lamented that it's ridiculous for schools to be blamed for the ills of society and we have said that it is equally ridiculous to expect schools to solve the ills of society and we are looking at things that should be taking place in so many other places in society we can only cram so much into a day and we need to very carefully consider what we are willing to give up I'd like to remind us that when we first considered this policy the consensus in the room was that this was not a good idea there was no strong support we all were very willing to put it away and say this doesn't look good to us because at that point we weren't looking at the

171program we were looking at the policy and I hope we'll really carefully think about that the reason I did not attend any of the Bible release time programs because that's not what I'm supposed to be looking at I'm supposed to be looking at the logistics of how it's working did I talk to the teachers in those classes absolutely a lot they have texted they've called sometimes in the middle of the night and that's perfectly fine with me because they need a lot of support because they feel like they don't get they're not getting it they didn't have an opportunity to opt in they didn't have an opportunity to plan for it they were told here's what's going to happen and it's my understanding that more recently they've been told well it's just up to the

172board whatever happens happens I've asked them to continue contacting us to talk to us about what's really happening in their classrooms because that's the part we're supposed to be looking at if we're going out and looking at the program we are not seeing the part that we're supposed to be looking at which is the logistics in that classroom and how it's impacting the students and the school that's the part we're supposed to be looking at Knox County students deserve to have us working for the improvement of public education not for partisan purposes or biblical purposes or any other purposes when when when we put our hand on a Bible and took an oath our oath to God to uphold our duties and the Constitution's of the state and the country when we took that oath

173our oath was not to what was written in the Bible the oath was to God to manage the education of our public school students and I think that's really important for us to think about that yes we all took that oath and yes we all made a promise to God this is a quote from one of the emails that I have to please maintain the purpose of the school day of educating children using the state-mandated curriculum the idea that students would miss class time in exchange for release time fundamentally threatens the rights of children to receive a holistic education separate from religious indoctrination I'd also like to point out that we keep talking about an hour but it's not really an hour in our elementary schools and hours the absolute maximum that the that the

174law will allow it also says no more than a class period in the class periods they think leaving should be 40 and 45 minute class periods so the pilot program has gone far beyond that by taking an entire hour and has bled over into other classes so I wonder if we have a reasonable expectation of that continuing or if the law is actually going to be good the idea that it's easier to work with for than with 24 comes from a serious lack of understanding the instruction and the pedagogy that is specific to the arts we have talked a lot about legislators not understanding our curriculum legislators not understanding what goes on in the classroom and all these people making decisions who don't understand and we have had arts teachers for weeks coming and telling

175us that we're not paying attention to the needs of the students in their classrooms if I'm looking at for students or 20 for students and I'm trying to put on a play with multiple parts it's very difficult with four students if we are learning to square dance it's very difficult with four students if we are singing partner songs or even four-part harmony you think well four people four part harmony not in elementary school they need multiple voice is they need large classes I'd like you to think about the last time you heard a sixth-grade band concert and now imagine that with four students on random instruments reducing class size we think that's a great thing it's not a great thing if you're in a performance class reducing class size in a performance class absolutely ensures

176failure of that class not for the students who are missing but for every student in that class there was a reference to the student who was left at school and that parent made that choice so that's okay that parent didn't make that choice the only choice that parent made was for that child to attend our public schools the choice for that student to be left behind with some other parents choice and if we are allowing some parents to make choices for others or that impact others that's a problem our arts curriculum I know you have an email from Sara Cummings who is one of our fabulous music teachers and she has pointed out to us that the national standards for music consider 90 minutes a week to be a basic music instruction our students are

177not getting 90 minutes a week our students are not getting the most basic instruction in our arts classes our music classes run 40 to 45 minutes generally there are still I believe a very few somewhere who say they're getting 55 they meet anywhere from every fourth day to every eighth day and I believe there are some who meet even more rarely than that but the the emails we have they are meeting somewhere in the many of them meet every fifth or sixth day for 40 to 45 minutes so right now their class time is half or sometimes less than the most basic instructional expectations and we are talking about potentially taking away another third of that like the speaker who asked why we're even discussing this I don't understand why we're discussing this I don't

178understand why we are discussing taking away instruction if we are really supporting public school students thank you [Applause] Satterfield so thank you so much madam chair this has been a very very long process and we've been contacted by many people I would like to just acknowledge Tim for the respect that he showed me in our conversations that we have but I also want to bring up the point that today I received a very disturbing email from someone from the foundation and it really troubled me that that was the tone that was shared for something that is supposed to be but that's being shared and while my decision was made way before this it really brought major red flags to me that that is the motive behind it and it reminded me of a lot of

179times where you know in history where missionaries come into countries and just take over and so it really I'm really troubled by the attitudes that some people that represent the forwards and these are the suit these are the people that will be with our children so at the end of the day I'm voting no because I believe in supporting our educators in our in our and our kids in our schools versus souls that we're not responsible for saving at this moment [Applause] you have a comments miss Hill thank you madam chair the really difficult part about this it's that [Music] miss Howe and I agree probably with 95% of everything you said absolutely and and especially your point that it's not about a specific program that that isn't what we should be looking at and

180I couldn't agree more with those comments - one thing that strikes me about this and that I I know I sound like an open record but you know when you have state law that supports Bible release time and then you have a Supreme Court decision that supports Bible release time and what's really been interesting about this is unlike the TV a situation that weren't involved in where there are many many different attorneys with many different opinions on this and certainly I'm not a legal scholar but I have talked to several several attorneys these last few weeks about this very thing and I have not had one tell me including our own law director that that if we if we are if we are sued because we do not allow this that we're going to win

181because we're not we are a policymaking board we are not a law making board the law has been made if we don't like the law there are avenues to work on changing the law but we but we cannot change the law with putting a policy in place that because we might not like the law and that in fact is the law too so having settled that one speaker said that that we not that we shall but that we may develop policy I took notes last week of all the speakers that came and and really did have several takeaways about things that we could add to the policy if it were to pass that might tighten the program up a little bit the Bible release program I definitely heard the comments about background checks from last

182week to this week that that has in fact been added to a requirement in the policy I heard about the liability issues and even though there was a clause in there that that lot that wording has been strengthened also about other entities having proof of liability and I also heard comments about what will happen if if many schools or organizations step up and want to begin these programs and also added to the policy was that every program if there happened to be more than one will be given the same hour on the vase the same day of every month so that we will not encounter a situation where we've got multiple programs and multiple time slots that we're trying to to accommodate you know our policy says once a month you know that's not what

183the law says so we already are are facing an issue where we're up to policy even we're talking about written right passing will may be challenged anyway but that might be a more workable issue than flat-out denying it so a sale that to say I don't disagree with anything that our teachers have said I don't think it's the best case scenario it's in students losing at time out of the classroom I mean I honestly don't and this has nothing to do with whether I support the foundation or not or even support the law or not but folks it is the law we haven't been given an opportunity by developing a policy to do what we can is a board to put some parameters around this that hopefully those that that meet all the other qualifications

184that the law has laid out satisfy will be respectful of what we have tried to do that is why I think doing due diligence is so important in this you don't have to like the policy but the policy in fact does support the law and I urge this board while we have the chance to to offer some direction and tighten up some parameters that we do this while we can we're going to really I think look back and reflect wishing we had done this when we had the chance before it totally gets away from us I do also very strongly support parental rights and that's another issue that has been mentioned over and over no one is telling anyone that they have to participate in this program it is the parents right to choose if

185if you don't want to go you don't go if you want to go it's there and it's an option because the law says that it can be but in the end it still remains the choice of the parent so please if any of you are on the fence about this consider how we can move forward together with this partnering for lack of a better word because whether we pass this policy or not these programs will move forward so to not pass the policy it's not going to accomplish stopping these entities whether you agree with them or not we've listened all their arguments and I don't believe that there's any need to go go around and around here and I believe mr. de Klerk when the questions call for it does it not require an immediate

186thank you so I mean in this case when you call for the question I mean so what you're asking step requires two votes I mean one for the for the board to go ahead and say okay let's call for the question and if that is successful then yes you would go ahead and vote on the motion you have to vote the board has to vote on it and under the operations I've seen with somebody called forward you went immediately and voted well I mean that's the way the board may have done in the past but I mean I know according to Robert's I mean if everybody hasn't had a chance to speak and I know some have some haven't tonight then I mean I mean once everybody has a chance to speak at least once

187they then I mean you're correct but in this particular situation the Lord would have to vote to actually call for the question okay okay what do you would anyone want a second that okay and okay so we're voting whether or not to call for the question all those in favor as opposed okay so we have seven thirty four into opposed is that correct so that means what we're calling for the we're now voting is that correct yep so let's do a roll call vote to whether or not we are taking the whether we're not I'm sorry whether we are calling for the question or not so we have to we can have discussion on okay we can't up discussion well I'm going to say anyway I strongly disagree with cutting a board member off who

188has not had a chance to voice their opinion about something on the floor yeah we still have several lights on so I think that a lot of people we've been directed to take a roll call vote so miss mr. McMillan I think from what I heard I I mean it sounded like it was seven to two against the call for the question so I wanted to make sure that that's correct miss Christy we are a yes but we'll be for stopping discussion and calling for the question mr. macmillan miss bounds miss he'll miss Bab mr. Norman we're almost done no miss Aaron no miss Satterfield yes miss Horne never that's three yes posit votes and six now so the motion fail okay so we'll continue with our discussion and just try to keep your comments

189brief we've talked about this several times so I think miss babbles next is that correct be very brief I'm just trying to get some clarification over what miss Hill was saying and I think this is from mr. Diller my understanding and interpretation from the law was that parents by state law have the right to check their parents out but it takes a policy to do it organized through the schools am i misunderstanding something about that I mean if if we don't pass this policy can the program come in and get the principal to pass out stuff and the principal has to organize everything and do all that even without this policy I guess that's where I'm a little confused Thank You mr. Mann so it can't be a little confusing but but I would say

190that that that I agree with the speakers tonight and I agree with apparently the majority of the attorneys that that this policy follows the law I mean and and state law says that that this program can exist but that but that state law also says that the local Board of Education may adopt a policy so that is that's not a shall so it's not a it's not a command or a requirement but it but it but it says May so there's so the Board of Education has a choice and and I think what happened last week was there was there were some questions about whether or not a group can the a third-party entity can go and have some type of release time course on its own that's possible but but obviously that's going to

191be a lot more difficult without going through at policies such as this again which is legal but but you have to have this policy to have that that cooperation from the school and have that time slot whether it's once so once a month or once a week or once a day as as the current law and just to follow up on that I mean I I'm not denying that the law says parents have this right and so under that law but this board alone has already disagreed a lot with some laws that have been passed and so just because the law is out there doesn't mean I agree with the law but I will follow it so you know I so be it if these parents on their own want to go out and take

192their child out I just personally have a problem with our our policy pretty much endorsing this happen thank you madam chair I think that miss Ellen really put clarified the issue in terms of policy program and how we've spent a lot of time on on programs and we've we've all agreed or especially those of us that have been and seen it what a what a great program it is but the the policy aspect and and I'm not one to run up against the Supreme Court or anything but the policy is not essential as we know for this program to exist and to actually take place so because of the issues all of the other issues and I'm still stuck on the kid that's left behind all of these issues that that that have been discussed

193over and over it's my opinion that that we should not develop a policy and sort of adhere to what was what was wrestled with 27 years ago so that's my okay miss Christy did you have a comment yeah and just a couple of things one just to make it clear we're not voting on a Bible release policy the word Bible is nowhere in this policy that I have been asked to approve you know I feel like I'm getting a lot of emails asking me to support a Bible release policy but that's not what has been presented to me and the other thing is this is this we've had this all for two or three years it's not a brand new law I would encourage any parent to exercise that right I mean that that's your

194right as a parent you don't need my permission to do that you don't need a formal policy to do that is one person who supports this pointed out you know that just puts more restrictions on a parent's right you know for supporting parents right so it's just like things how they are and not restrictive and let them pursue those opportunities okay comments okay and I think I do agree with many things that that miss Owen said that ultimately miss Hill spoke about the fact that the law that this is allowed under our state law and I think that as an entity we should we should be upholding parental rights so I will be supporting the policy mrs. Satterfield yes thank you madam chair and I get it that it's a law and it was shared

195tonight and I also reinstated like just because the there's been many laws on the books that have done harm to people and so I I wonder if we took the stance to not support this there LG foundation and the people behind this are not gonna back down so it could be a possibility you actually get this law changed because it's going to hit it's already hitting national news worldly news and so it's going to keep going and so this might be the opportunity to correct some of the laws that are on the book that that needs to be changed so I hear that point about it's a law but it's we could take a stance to say we don't want this law [Applause] if any if we'll do a roll call vote please beginning with

196um district nine since we've started there all night okay is Christy no mr. McMillan yes miss bounds miss he'll miss Bab mr. Norman no miss Owen no miss Satterfield no miss horn yes that's for yes votes and five no the motion fails [Applause] we'll move on to grants doesn't even let see do we have a motion on item 7a a previous Tennessee foundation youth endowment fund grant in the amount of $10,000 designated to staff and parent training to compact the impact of adverse childhood experiences so motion by mr. Norman second on a satterfield discussion we have a couple of lights on do you have discussion mr. Kelly miss Christie okay any discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries seven be approved Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Tennessee for the get proved project

197and receive $2,500 grant award for each participating school during the night 2019 2020 school year so mr. Norman second by miss Hill discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries 7c approved ExxonMobil Foundation volunteer grant in the amount of $500 for Karns Middle School on behalf of volunteer William rinky second motion - Hills taken by mr. norman discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries seven-day approved donation from North Shore Elementary School PTA in the amount of forty eight thousand seven hundred and eighty dollars designated for the purchase and installation of synthetic turf playground surfacing at Northshore elementary school second a second by mr. norman discussion all in favor any opposed mission carries 780 approved wal-mart community grant in the amount of $5,000 for west valley middle school to be used for portable flooring for

198the dance class so moved second mission my horn second by norman any discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries 8a approved contract with johnson architecture inc in the amount of eight hundred and ninety three thousand dollars plus reimbursable expenses for the design of a new adrian Burnett elementary school we have a motion i must find a second by missing any discussion all in favor all right any opposed motion carries approved eight to be approved contract with based on sports construction LLC for tennis court services not to exceed funds allocated in the general purpose and capital plan budgets for the term January 1 2020 through December 31 2020 which may be extended for four additional years when you're at a time for a total of five years so okay we have a motion by mr.

199Norman a second by Miss Hill mr. Norman thank you who would answer questions about this contract would that be you Doug okay what what do we have going as far as tennis court construction in the county anything we're talking about on the school campuses so to do what are what are our plans mister doing here thank you madam chair this is actually a term contract for maintenance and repair of tennis courts we did not have any new ones planned at this point in time so how many tennis courts do we have would you like for me to read the list or can I just know could you give me an estimate like a ballpark figure we have tennis courts at approximately 15 of our facilities and some of them we have a single court others

200we have two and in others we have four okay so and we're trying to make these courts as like standardized courts that meet specs to what what do we try to do I'm curious from the standpoint of playing on a tennis court a player who plays on a tennis court has certain expectations to run them do we try to do it and a lot of these are at high schools where they actually have competition matches on the accompany that we are putting under contract is baseline and they are probably they're one of the experts in this area for tennis courts and the rubberized servicing we also have them for tracks and things that lectricity okay good not kinda inquired about baseline and they the people that I talked to recommended the company and said this

201is a good outfit guard your pocketbook it's very expensive it's not exactly inexpensive thank you any other questions any opposed motion carries 8c approved contracts with East Tennessee fence company and Stanley fencing and landscaping incorporated for fencing services not to exceed funds allocated in the general purpose and capital plan budgets for the term of January 1 2000 23 December 31 2020 which may be extended for four additional years when you're at a time for a total of five years so me I'm a motion by Norman a second by him any discussion all in favor opposed motion carries none and proof fiscal year 2019 school nutrition closeout entries of fun balanced designation in the amount of 1 million twenty six thousand eight hundred dollars and budget line item transfer of eighty thousand dollars by owen any

202discussion no sorry that white just keeps on any discussion all in favor all right any opposed motion carries non be approved purchase of property located at forty five eleven Brown Gap Road at a cost of two hundred twenty five thousand dollars using fiscal year 2020 capital plan funds with a motion by miss Howe in a second - founds any discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries non CE approved purchase of property located at five ten Georgia Avenue and five twelve Georgia Avenue at a total cost of forty six thousand dollars using fiscal year 2020 capital plan funds I think we have a mission my miss Hill in a second - Irwin any discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries Nandi a proposal to replace the unusable softball facility at Bearden High School and

203an approximate cost of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars using savings remaining from fiscal year 2019 capital plan projects summer okay we have a motion by mr. Norman second - Owen any discussion all in favor opposed motion carries that's the end of the regular agenda items madam chair thank you and public forum we have one person on the public forum Constance every okay did she leave okay and we are adjourned