001ail 11th work session of the Williamson County Board of Education I'm obviously not Angela Durham um thanks everyone for being here I want to thank Deputy conin from the Williams County Sheriff's Office for being here tonight thank you sir um okay let's Jump Right In um I hesitate to say that this should be a relatively smooth meeting because as soon as I say that it won't be but um let's get started uh Mr Golden with the consent agenda thank you Mr chair uh you all can see the consent agenda I want to make a couple of U specific references to it uh on there is the uh facilities use fee schedule we do have in that proposal a 6% increase for the monitoring fee uh that's based on the um us um recommending and you
002all voting on a budget that included a 6% pay increase for everyone so we do recommend that just as a reminder on that we charge for indoor facilities because it requires that uh that um somebody open the door a School employee open the door and monitor we do not charge for use of exterior facilities because it does not require that monitor uh the other one um I wanted to mention just briefly the Centennial High School outdoor hitting structure um a number of our schools have those we're in the process on that particular board policy of of reviewing just the subtleties of what gets approved by the board for for for campus improvements versus not uh I know um Brian King and his team are working on that it's possible in two or 3 months we
003may come to you with a with a recommendation to tweak that um based on the volume of some of those small changes that happen on campuses open to any questions you may have I think I should should have said this at the outset Let's uh let's keep the the process of what Angela started at the last work session where we'll just open it up and if anyone wants to make a comment or ask a question just just jump in and we'll keep it orderly but speak as you see fit okay hearing no comments or no questions we'll move on to the superintendent's report thank you Mr chair uh we have listed on the superintendent report 45 minutes uh I don't have any presentations any any uh visual presentations this month I will definitely have visual
004presentations next month uh related to one of our goals especially on the Strategic plan and some of our action steps uh so on it on the front end of this I'm hoping that this is a lot less than 45 minutes I did want to mention three things to you uh and the short version of it is I want to talk briefly about the schools and where we are instructionally uh second I'm going to talk about County and budget then I'm going to give you a little bit of a discussion about the state and where they are with some legislation uh so number one uh TCAP window opens this Monday uh and it's a nervous time I know for students and uh it's it's an exciting time I've been really proud of what our teachers have
005been doing this entire year uh from everything I've heard from our leaders they're prepared uh our students are prepared and and we're we're it's one of those again nervous exciting times uh for students I am a little disappointed uh in in the seriousness that our third graders and fourth graders you know are are having to take teap uh because we've historically used that to help guide us uh in you know in for the for the next year for students uh and I'll mention that just a little bit later when I mention the the legislation piece the state piece um but T Cap's coming and school year is close to being over and we know that so just be aware of that we do a lot of little things during this time um we make sure
006we adjust the mowing schedule for example uh and make sure that we limit the um limit the distractions as best we can at the school level do want to give you a little bit of update on the budget and where we are I've sent you all a a detailed email and you know that we've been having some discussions back and forth with some County Commissioners uh on on the budget just as a reminder you all approved our budget last month and we have taken it to the County Commission they have a pretty long process of reviews with various committees a lot of discussion related to that uh we've already had a substantial change in where we were even since last month um as we submitted the budget to you based on the county parameters based
007on our needs uh we last month had a budget that was about $25 million short of our projected Revenue County government has already gone back and looked at uh the cost for insurance claims based on the couple of the more most recent months of claims trying to trying to project out the annual cost that they might anticipate next year and they dropped their uh request of us to fund that by Rachel about $9 million $9.5 million uh so I know that before this budget season is over we will bring back to you at least some kind of recommended amended budget because already our expense our expense side has dropped by about 9 a. half million but we still have a lot more work to do that means we still have a gap of about 15
008million um Rachel uh uh presented to the Joint County Commission budget and education committee on Monday I had a family emergency was not it was not able to be there but I've already had a lot of conversations with individual County Commissioners even since then so Rachel thank you for that I've heard a lot of folks talk about how well you how well you answered their questions and presented uh and we've had some good questions from County Commissioners during that meeting and a number of questions that have come by email I do want to mention kind of some basic parameters on the on the emails uh we we will answer County Commissioners questions um and we'll also make sure that we include the the appropriate details so that they understand the big picture sometimes they'll ask
009a question but there'll be a deeper story behind the answer also we want to make sure that that we don't deliberate uh electronically um so next time we speak to the County Commission I'm going to make sure that I verbalized those questions that have been asked uh so that there is a so that there is a a discussion at at our public meetings but again they're asking good questions uh um I mentioned to you that the impression I got from the discussion is that they know that basic that right now there's insufficient Revenue so they're trying to brainstorm how can they find a way uh specifically they've asked us about our staffing I know that that that I've seen some indication that they're doing that with some of the County government uh departments as well
010uh in addition to us uh we're sitting here in April uh they are scheduled to vote in June so they've got a long way to go um what's that phrase cautiously optimistic um I'm cautiously optimistic about about where we're going um they have a lot more discretion over the revenue side as you all know than we do uh so I don't know that I can even articulate all their options but you all are the decision makers on what we do on the expense side uh so I want you to remember that if if the County Commission asks what about doing making a tweak with a particular position those are not the County Commission decisions those are your decisions and I am not going to commit us to anything in my conversations with them that you
011all do not vote on but this year more than any other year since I've been superintendent maybe dating back 15 years it's going to be a more difficult process because the revenue side uh versus the projected expense side um one little Nuance that I don't know that we've ever talked about specifically came up in one of my uh answers uh that that and I don't know that that the question even anticipated this but early childhood programs uh are are required by federal law for students age three usually it's age three and four but it's basically the moment a student a child turns three and has a disability we have that responsibility to serve him so we call that EC or early childhood uh the Federal Law requires that the state rules require it Tissa does
012not include any funding for those students with disabilities so when we get that average from the state that that's for our per pupil in grades K through 12 and so we get that aggregate money and we still have that responsibility to serve those students uh age three to four uh with disabilities we also have peers in that uh we have a one: one uh student with a disability to peer ratio uh to give all those students that opportunity to get prepared for kindergarten in the next year or two so little little pieces like that will come up as uh as as we go through the budget with the County Commission they'll ask a lot of questions that you all probably know the answer to I invite you to answer them uh if you have uh
013discussions with individual County Commissioners uh about any of the questions that they have as as we go through the process again it was a it was a good discussion and uh um I I my impression is that that that they want to find a way and they just got to figure out how can they afford it um so certainly open any questions you all may have about the budget anything I've shared with you uh you all related to that um Rachel I'm sorry go ahead I just wanted to um ask I appreciate your comments about the uh current open positions and the questions that we've had related to um maybe not having those as part of the budget uh my takea away from that was if we didn't have those that it would be potentially
014very difficult to fill those in a timely position would could you describe the process if we didn't have those in the budget and we needed sure so I I'll talk about process but but first I want to mention for Teacher positions that are unfilled for special education teachers assistance positions that are unfilled we've still got to do some research because to to to your comment I want to make sure I put some some body on this on the question you asked some of the questions that came up implied that the that that the that that what was being explored was well if with 5,000 staff members we have 200 unfilled positions what if we don't budget for those and then we budget once we find somebody to fill the position uh and and what we
015don't know is if we've made the commitment for blank course and we might not for example have a math teacher or a CCT teacher in in that moment or students you know an IEP for for teachers assistance services do we have a responsibility and obligation to budget for that and then look for it so that's the underlying issue that we're looking into to answer your question specifically if we structure it that way in with every single unfilled position say when July 1 hits then we would have a window of time to take it back to you for a budget amendment and then back to the County Commission and there's a risk that we could lose the applicant uh so that's what we're struggling with now where this will land us long you know once we
016go through the budget for three months I don't know might we come back to you with a recommendation to to budget for some percentage of those open positions so that we've got got that flexibility to make immediate decision and if we get closer we come back to you for something later that's a possibility um I will give you one example that we've actually applied the last couple of years we have slowly been reducing the number of our bus drivers actually on and in our budget because we have been so far removed from actual numbers to to to budget numbers that we've recognized it realistically we're not going to hire 45 bus drivers in one year uh that's just I tossed out that example Rachel I think if I'm not mistaken right now in the budget
017and and and Vicky we're 30 uh we are 30 short from drivers 30 30 bus drivers short from our budget um what that means practically is that that money sits in our fund balance and then rolls to fund the next year's budget uh We've made some improvements this year in bus driver staff and I've give I gave you guys some of that information a couple of months ago um so might we have some flexibility in in that line maybe my impression is that alone is not going to fill a $15 million gap so Jason and I we had talked about this years ago um and it's a it's a concept that that I've used and I've seen used a lot just I mean obviously public sector is a little bit different in the governmental accounting
018the way that Rachel has to account for everything but um I mean there we we always we know that there's we we set our we set our PCR and we know there's always some percentage that's not that's not filled I mean at the end of the day and we know that that's going to flow to um to fund balance for because we can't go over any light items we can move stuff around and have to ask permission to do that but if there's a if there's a way to to create just a a a line item for a for a credit that will be allocated at the at the end of the year of you know 3% or 2% or whatever the um this vacancy allowance if you will um it would I mean or
019I mean the the alternative would be to gross up the budget by that vacancy and and and and have it be funded by the by the County's um general fund um and then when when that vacancies when those vacancies actually happen then they can get the money back to to to their fund if they if they really wanted to do it that way but if we were trying to limit the um the overall the growth in the overall budget I mean that's one way to to do it um I don't know there might be some some issues why we why we couldn't do that um to that point I I do want to ask uh Miss farmer and Miss Hall um any questions you have related to that concept Mr galberth mentioned because we may
020we may go back and brainstorm over it I want to make sure you guys understand what he's asking I do know what he's asking I'm not sure that we can actually do that um because of of governmental accounting that I don't think we can just have a catchall we would have to put it into an account that's already in the chart of accounts and there's the state approved chart of accounts and there is not a rainy day or whatever like how you want to call the account but that doesn't exist there now I can talk to the state and see if they you know could ask the question to the state and don't mind doing that but off the top of my head I do not think that would be an option just as a
021double check was everybody able to hear that okay Tim if you would if you just a little tweak thank you Jason I guess it's probably fair to say though whether it's the the positions not not funding some vacant position whether it's the Chromebooks question what there any number of questions that came up both at the meeting and and and Via and via email ultimately it's just going to be a situation where they're going to approve an amount of money not they're not going to be approving line items and actual expenditures that's right so we can we can try to answer the questions they're they're posing as best we can trying to be responsive and respectful and all that but really what what it gets right down to is those are just ideas that they're putting
022on the table and if they come back and say we're only going to fund you at um we're going to fund you $5 million less than your request or whatever the number is then we just have to figure out what that how we're going to cut that 5 million that's exactly right so I only bring that up to say that there's a the exercise of going back and forth is is good to be responsive but at the end of the day we they're going to fund what they're going to fund that's right so isn't isn't it really going to be a situation where the staff has to the staff and we as a board have to ultimately agree on the best way to spend what we have um and and that's why I maybe given
023some thought to that position question giving some thought to the Chromebook question I mean those are making informed decisions will obviously be important but um they're not going to be directing how we spend the dollars just to reinforce that point thank you for that and and is is it possible that it will come down to with with with how the how the particular funds are addressed you know and knowing that we have a 3% fund balance that tdoe requires of us to start the budget on July 1 Etc that they say they can't fund it that is possible and if that's the case we are going to have to figure out what we cut and how um we spent a lot of time and you all know this from our discussions prior we spent a
024lot of time this year um making making sure we towed the line on every particular item our position control report uh we were we were very strict about um what we projected each school to have um with with student growth or reductions in some parts of the county and we made sure that that we structured a staffing for that very reason um we limited the uh the the new positions to Absolute needs um you know from our perspective so as that budget tightens up that way the flexibility is reduced um I can't speak for them uh about the revenue side but I do know they have a couple of options and they've got to decide is it is it appropriate for them but you're right ultimately they would give us a number and and just
025to add on one more one more thought about that is that I think we're we're contributing what 60 million plus of fund balance going into the next budget so obviously if they give us if they don't fully fund the budget for whatever reason that's just limiting the amount of fund balance that we're able to we're ultimately going to be putting towards the next year's budget that's right and those open positions that Mr galberth mentioned you know that's a day-to-day kind of snapshot if somebody's out if if if somebody resigns and we hire somebody in 15 days there's basically one paycheck's worth of money that shows up in fund balance right you extrapolate that over everything historically that fund balance B is a significant part of next year's budget and and we we always start with
026that 3% on July 1 that we must have that's undesignated so now that we you know i' I've talked about cautiously optimistic when we come back next month I may tell you I'm nervous about it right as as we progress in these discussions because no decisions were made at this first meeting it was just a Q&A any other questions or comments um just in response to what you mentioned about the prek or the Early Childhood thing um just to make everyone aware there was a bill that was in the state um legislature this year that was going to provide education funding through Tisa for the prek students with special needs um and it made it through the Senate but did not make it through the house it went to Summer study so it may come
027back next year because um representative Mark White and Senator Bill Powers were the sponsors so could come back again um just something to watch for because that could help us next year as we're looking at that funding thank you for that um monitoring those bills is a full-time job for sure uh that's a good segue if there are no other budget questions I do want to give you a little bit of an update from our perspective on the on what's Happening at the state legislature I want to mention specifically uh three three bills SLC Concepts and I want to invite Miss osbrook as well if she has anything else she wants to share so I'm going to give you that prompt ahead of time you may have some more detailed information than me uh number
028one the third and fourth grade retention law there is a bill uh that would open up one additional one Avenue uh for a for for students to go from fourth grade to fifth grade over and above that one that has been sitting there which is teap uh for those for us 134 students who were third graders last year who are now fourth graders who who are at risk of retention it includes um evaluating students performance on our screeners uh we we actually do three times a year a screener that identifies students for tier three interventions uh and if that bill passes that that would mitigate some of those challenges that that we see with TCAP um I can't remember for sure but I'm thinking Mark White was involved in that one too off the top
029of my head that I may be wrong about that um so I know that a lot of um a lot of groups in the state have been have been supporting that for example tsba uh the know the board's organization um second I do want to mention one other we spent some time at our last um policy committee meeting putting together a plan for review of library books uh all that work that was at policy committee uh is probably going to be an exercise an academic exercise I suppose uh a new bill was passed by both the state uh House and Senate that totally changes that whole process uh so it's going to go to the governor so we took that off tonight's agenda because uh given that most both sides of the legislature have passed
030a new structure uh we may be revamping that and Dana on that would you I giv Sharon just a little bit of detail on that thank you I am pulling that up if you want to go to the third one I'll be ready to come back all right well we'll be talking about that detail assuming the governor signs it and so we all that all that discussion will get revamped to make sure it's in compliance with what is recently passed third I did want to mention uh the vouchers or the uh the the the scholarship Pro uh bills that have been floating around uh just as a reminder the Senate and House each have each have some some various V bills um they have not taken any of those to the floor at this point
031they passed some committies on both sides uh specifically uh on the Senate side there's an element in one of the Amendments that would require us to in essence go through the same process for open Zoning for students outside our district as we do currently for students inside our district I will tell you from my perspective I'm more concerned about that than than than any of them um it does have a provision in there number one that we would that we have the discretion to identify the number of open seats at a school just like we historically do in our County uh and it would include us having the capacity to set a tuition rate and then and then um the some of the funding from the state would come related to that and then presumably
032as I read it uh then the the families would be responsible for the for the additional amount um I've got concerns on so many levels about that because that includes an average per cost uh and it's it's not student specific uh what happens when we when we when we get filled with an open Zone number and then we have more students come in and actually move in have we have we ma do we max out it's going to take a lot of analysis for us uh to to to address if that particular Senate bill passes but on its face it would bring us the revenue that an average cost would would bring us so just wanted you to be aware of that on the Senate side I don't know that we spoke about that in
033a lot of detail uh when we had that discussion last month uh at the at the board level on the house side there are some elements of that where there's a where where some of the some of the elements of the bill look to give a little bit of additional Revenue uh to the to the locals to the local districts specifically there's an insurance provision um as as we read it because we're on County Insurance not on the state's insurance plan we don't believe that it actually would affect us but there's even some disagreement at the at the state level on what exactly that means so I don't know the answer to that right now um I know we're Contin to monitor it and I know you hear from tsba with some with some progress
034reports on that but I I really don't know where that's headed at this point Danny any any detail you can give on any of that I do want to give some detail on the um amendments to the age appropriateness material act um that has been signed so far by the speaker of the Senate and the house um headed to Governor Lee's desk um and I'll give kind of an overview of some things that would change in our policy there are definitions included in the new legislation that state that materials containing any of the following are not appropriate for the age or mature level of students in any of grades K through 12 and must not be maintained in the school's library collection I'll hit some of the following um excess violence nudity uh pyom masochism
035abuse um sexual conduct which would be um something such as as sexual excitement um or appealing to The Prudent interest um meaning a shameful or morbid interest in sex those um and there are definitions from the criminal um statute about obscenity but they are not word for word there are definitely some differences between that criminal definition and the definitions that um were passed by the legislature um so it also in addition to mandating what would or would not be allowed in libraries it also would change the complaint process that we just revamped um with our first um first reading policy that was proposed um quite a bit of difference it would again um decisions would be made by the board and there would be a time frame um having to make those decisions um set
036out by Statute um I think that hits the highlights uh but definitely the state law um makes some pretty big changes from what we um previously saw by not having a lot of guidance there is um quite a bit of guidance now regarding definitions so that's that's where we are uh with legislation on some of those big ticket items so what about the the the gun law teachers carrying guns what's the status of that and how would it affect us as it stands sure so it has passed the Senate it has it's laying on the desk of the house and has been laying there um since 2023 um so it it definitely is not yet passed both house both the House and Senate um there is a provision several Provisions in there and let me
037pull that up Dan excuse me did not one of the provisions was going to be left to the district and the Sheriff's Office it was and that was the one that I was looking for so yes the P the first pro provision if um here it is for um teachers and staff to carry a concealed handgun in public schools there are three Provisions the first one um if they are not law enforcement is that the Local District and law enforcement agency would have to agree to even pursue a policy to allow such so that's our first hurdle if we were um to pursue such a policy with agreement of law enforcement then interested teachers and staff they would need to have an enhanced handgun permit and complete 40 hours of certified training in school policing
038pass a mental health AOW hand have an FBI background uh that training would have to be renewed every year if the employee was carrying um there is also one provision of the bill that would Shield districts and law enforcements from any potential civil lawsuits um and one piece that did get quite a bit of dis discussion is that part of the legislation is that parents would not be notified if their child's teacher is armed okay thank you um I'm sorry on the library policy one what did you say is the status of that is that gone to the governor or it had the house and the Senate speaker have both signed it so yes it should be transmitted to the governor okay thank you what were those categories again he said it was what nudity
039excessive violence s masochism seom masochism sexual conduct sexual conduct are kind of the big ones with definitions so I know we'll have to work through this I don't want to go through all the book but I'm I'm just thinking off top of my head A Book Like For Whom the belt HS you know classic Hemingway uh Spanish Civil War excessive violence uh Maria the protagonist she's sees her parents murdered she's sexually assaulted by the Communists there's uh sexual scene between her and the protagonist there who shot and killed at the end blowing up the bridge it seems like that's a book that would check off a lot lot of these if not all of these boxes by a broad interpretation of it um yes part of the you are correct in in looking at the
040definition sections um I will say there's not a lot of legislative intent because this wasn't um it was on the message calendar so it did not it was not debated by both houses so it so I'm reading plain language instead of having some debate that we typically would be able to look at for legislative intent um I guess it just sort of came out of the blue it seems like this one now we're talking about potentially having to ban Hemingway from the library potentially Banning um any book about the Holocaust with extreme violence um the other piece I don't think I mentioned was that the legislation is specific that this contact conduct content goodness could be all of the book or a part um which is different than sure the First Amendment guidance now is
041there an age appropriateness for example a book may not be appropriate for elementary but no age appropriate the way that this is worded is that it must be taken out of the library and it is K through 12 so they're um my understanding was local control um I'm not sure what decision y'all would make on it regarding that since it is K through 12 so the board will have to vote on what books go into the library not necessarily what go into the library that would still be the librarian but they also would be have the Age appropriateness act just like they do now to consider um it would still be the board if there was a challenge um removing would books come out uh without a challenge or would it require a challenge for
042say himing way book to come out Librarians could remove just Librarians could remove just like they can now um that that part of the process doesn't necessarily change um what we were proposing was an intermediate uh Review Committee like we do with and that that's not going to be able to happen with the new legislation could there be an intermediate Review Committee at our discretion does the law prohibit it does not prohibit but the way that the law is written you are the other than Librarians in their duties you are the decision makers um so so I so we're yeah go ahead Finish Well I was going to say so in looking at that process and revamping the policy um I'll take a look at that Rick and see if that is something that we
043can incorporate that's basically what I was going to say so sorry yeah not to belabor the point I know I want to move on but I guess real quick and maybe this isn't a fair question but I I'd like to get a impression from you and and Bobby is this is this constitutional based upon previous uh Supreme Court judgments and freedom of First Amendment rights for students and and if you have insufficient information at this time I'm looking for sort of a gut check of what you think sure I will not go so far as to give my legal opinion on that we we can have that conversation um at another time but I will say one of the Amendments that was passed is a severability clause MH so that um if one part is
044found not to be constitutional you sever that piece out okay okay same I had a quick question a constitutionally suspect I'll leave it at that constitutionally suspect okay thank you I appreciate it I'm good Dana in the policy that we were working on before that we're obviously going to have to modify now there was a we had the Matrix that we were given as the guide for helping us make these decisions uh as part of that policy that guide or that Matrix was also and that Matrix is not the right word I know there's another term we use for it but it was also something that was in the policy as a guide for The Librarians to use on the front end of that process right correct so is it fair to say then that
045they would have to then apply the new they would then have to apply the new standard in the new law is part of their determination separate from our determination on post an appeal or post a challenge correct so um in the policy draft we had a uh Library materials decision tree that um walked through the first amendment as well as the age appropriate materials act as it was that we would not be using that same decision tree given the changes in the law but we would give you another tool to use and you are correct the Librarians would use the same analysis as you would as board members legal analysis any other I had a quick question just about the gun law if we can that's okay um I just wanted to clarify you said
046that the gun law has passed the Senate but has been on the desk at the house since 2023 because I've gotten some Communications about this um is there any indication that the house is going to take this up um I don't know they very well may this was legislation from last session right so it's just it's been sitting there it's been sitting there correct but that doesn't mean they won't take it up okay thank you so Dam just a quick question about the age appropriateness is this a this is an amendment to the other so it so it amends and provides a definition for a specific category of of books right for all k312 it didn't it didn't provide any more any more detail on um on the any of the other like whether it's
047age appropriate at a at a different age from third to fifth grade or whatever so this is a specific and and then it and did you say it also changes the um the review process and the appeal process as well or is there an appeal process the appeal process would be the same and and that being a third party which is still the textbook commission I I don't recall there being any changes to that um it would and I'm going off of the policy that we had blue lined because we've already started changing that policy um it will look different in that it was almost a tiered system where if the parent or employee or student was satisfied with the answer like we did with curriculum the process could end I don't think that will
048be I don't think we're going to be able to keep that um proposal I think ultimately either the Librarians or the board will be the final decision makers and then the appeal go to the tech textbook but the commission but the decision tree necessarily I mean all the like the bottom half of your decision tree the First Amendment stuff kind of stays largely the same yes um and then the and then the top half as far as the state law just we it it might modify those those questions but but in general are you still thinking that that that that that that that decision tree will will still accomplish our our goal not necessarily um because the the way that the language and and I'm going to use Mr Cook's language of constitutionally suspect when
049when you look at the language it's a must that it is not age appropriate if any of these things in whole or in part are in a book and and so that would not have been that wasn't the previous analysis under state law and it does not have the some of the same wording as the first amendment that we have talked about you and I have talked about regarding artistic historical all of those values that we see under the First Amendment analysis that language is also not contained in the state statute so I I think guidance will look different because of that so I mean the the there's a potential just in as evidenced by by the the wording of our questions to follow the all the different Guidance just a potential that there's a
050conflict in those uh in those two is what you're saying that's exactly what I'm saying and and giving y'all I get I see the conflict I get okay yeah Dana it says um from lonberg is the sponsor but it says the materials in the library collection must be suitable for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials and must be suitable for and consistent with the educational mission of the school isn't that saying it's the the suitable for the age and maturity level of a first grader or a seventh grader and if yes sir if the analysis stopped there I would agree with you but the second section is for purposes that A M A material that in whole or in part contains nudity or descriptions or depictions of sexual
051excitement sexual conduct extreme violence or satom masochism abuse is not appropriate for the age or maturity level of a student in any of the grades okay kindergarten through 12 and must not be maintained in a School's library collection so yes sir you're you are correct on a in the amendment but it goes further with Section B okay thank you Dana are the definitions in that legislation so specific as to leave no doubt as to what def the definition of excess violence or sexual conduct Etc are so yes and and the reason I say that is the section I read the terms sexual excitement conduct excess violent or stom masochism abuse are those terms as defined in TCA 3917 901 that is the criminal obscenity statute that I referenced earlier so then you go to the
052definition section of that statute where you get very specific definitions and those are to be used um to depict those kind of four categories so for example how does that criminal statute Define excess violence Sure hold on I'm going to spare you the other subjects thank you m working I lost my I've got several things open if you want to take another question I can come back to that are other comments on any of the legislation topics Dan if I may is it 3917 901 is that the code section it could be I've on the laptop I've changed to another sheet Mr chair this may not be the exact I've got it okay um so you said excess violence is that what um excess violence meaning the depiction of acts of violence in such a
053graphic or bloody manner as to exceed common limits of custom and cander or in such a manner that is apparent that the predominant appeal of the material is portrayal of violence for violence sake so no it doesn't right you that's kind of makes my point that it's still subjective well they're going to get much more graphic depending upon what is talked about and what definition from the criminal statute we're talking about you picked the um yeah I intentionally picked the one that was going to be least graphic correct yeah even satom masochistic I'm thinking scenes in Lord of the Flies with the pig hunt and and the boys turn on themselves or things like that so do we need to start if the governor signs this do we need to start pulling Hemingway and Faulkner
054and Steinbeck and Bradberry and a host of others out of our libraries immediately well I will say this the legislation if he signs it becomes is effective July 1 of 2024 so we have a um we will get through this school year okay to be clear um just just so we can think about what action we may or may not have to take quickly is does it say that these books would be removed only if there's a challenge to them or they would be removed no matter what that's a good question so I'm going to go back to the different ways one way would be a challenge the law that is currently the age appropriateness materials act and and will continue to be the law is if it is new material then the library the
055librarian or a teacher if it's a classroom Library shall determine the material adheres to that same criteria so that would be a part also if you may recall one piece that we were updating in policy was that each year um each School librarian and classroom teacher would review at least 15% of the existing books that language would remain in the policy so again they would be using that same standard um so it it could be several different ways to you and Mr Welch's Point not just if it's challenged the librarian also would have um to to review books um either as a new book came in or um going weeding as part of their um responsibilities but but nothing on its face at least nothing would require us on July 1 before kids come back
056to school and early August to start removing books from the library automatically it would happen over the normal course of the analyses that are done by Librarians new submissions into the into the circulation challenges that may come there there would be things that would trigger that in a over time but automatically it wouldn't be triggered just on his face barring a challenge what's that barring a challenge barring a challenge barring the librarian's review right in this particular topic I'm not going to say that couldn't happen I think it's what you're asking right yeah I don't think she is saying that I I I don't I I guess if the question is could there be bars on librarian doors Library doors at the beginning of August perhaps it as I interpreted your question does it man
057does it require mandatory immediate removal based on those criteria yeah and I I Meed and I think the answer is at this point we don't know nothing in the plain language would say that I guess what I'm trying to get I don't know that I can give you a um I'm going to give you the maybe perhaps it could and and it matters because if it's not in the plain language that that's something that's going to have to happen then we're not going to have the prospect of Staff right being burdened with spending July clearing out any any number of books from the library on the basis of these definitions it gives us more time to go through a process that is somewhat orderly so Danny if or perhaps this is not an answerable question
058if if this goes to the governor then how do we know the answer to Josh's question if it's not clear in the bill as it's going to the governor add what additional guidance would we get Beyond and from whom would it come I believe that you would get additional guidance from you would get a additional guidance from legal meaning our attorneys not necessar the department of EDS right [Music] yeah well thought out clearly written law for us to interpret awesome well we've uh We've we didn't do anything before because the law didn't say what we should do and we all agreed on that how do you do anything but now they got some rules and regulations and it's a terribly written law I think they'll have some explanations um the problem is of course the
059problem is of course that if if it's signed into law in May and it takes effect in J July one there's not enough time for them to actually promulgate rules yeah yeah Dan if you we don't know whether or not we can have for whom a Bel TOS in our library or not I'm going to say it's a horribly written law in my opinion you know statements they put in there there's a whole lot of those statements that shouldn't be in K through 12 now how we do that's a different story and that that's what we need to look into and like Josh says the time frame is not that long no it's not what I what I can tell you all is um we'll get we'll get legal advice uh and and you know
060do the do the best we can within whatever parameters they give us yeah I what I can tell you is you will get additional um information we are already as you can tell as I keep pulling up policy we're already working have have we been communicating this the Amendments on this with our Librarians so they're kind of up to speed and if not how will you and I guess well I will say I have go ahead thank you um I have communicated with our lead Librarians when the Amendments um hit the message calendar because that's how we knew it was passing um last week so yes and I know that one of our lead Librarians has had a conversation with the Senate sponsor um about the legislation after it had passed so yes can I
061make a suggestion that just just came to me right as we're talking about this and then also the the arming teachers question came up also made me think of this could we get maybe a synopsis from you um of any those or any others that are either pending or potentially going to become law that are far enough along in the process that they they could become law synopsis that says when they would become law when they would take effect and what if any action this board would have to take to either implement it or or not what Authority we have or is you know I think that's going to be important as we think ahead for the next few board meetings um are there things we're going to have to vote on that are not
062currently on our planned agenda for the next few months that could be significant controversial um you know material kinds of decisions so yes my office has been doing that this whole time um 16 public chapters have pass or are now public chapters of those 16 that we will deal with education um five will require policy changes I'm still going through as they are codified um so yes I anticipate well rumor is by the maybe the end of next week or the week after session will end if that in fact occurs you'll have that from my office relatively quickly if that doesn't happen and they're with the 80 bills at the hill of the budget it may look very different but yes I I do that I send out a memo every year to the board
063with uh policy changes to anticipate as well as legislation that does not require policy changes but I want you to be aware of because it may change the way that we do our business and I will tell you also Mr chair usually in June and then I think a second time in July tsba has has a summer legal conference they give updates and Dana is usually ahead of that but we use that kind of as a double check and I spoke with um Jennifer white at tsba um she's one one of the attorneys that does the policies we spoke yesterday um summer law if y'all want to attend board members it's in Gatlinburg in July they also do a um summer law this year in it's going to be in August in Jackson it's usually
064in June and that's usually the one that that superintendent golden and Vicky Hall and I attend um so they have announced those if you can make them that they are a great uh resource and yes we use that as a double check to make sure we've covered everything um gatl come yes gatlinburg's two and Jackson is one yeah historically I've liked the Jackson one because I could drive early in the morning and get home and you know knock it out before July but if they have changed that yeah Gatlinberg is typically a two-day yeah I I I appreciate that um that the report's going to be done and all that I guess what I'm thinking more of is just the ones that have maybe more immediate impact and maybe have higher um that are of
065Greater consequence than just an ordinary policy change um just so we can have a heads up that we may need to be taking a vote on something in May or June because it's going to have to go into effect because the law is going to expect us to have it in place by July 1 so just things like that so we're not it doesn't it's not as routine as it normally would be just I guess because some of these things are just so high-profile that's just my opinion I don't know if others share it but I I for one would love to have a little more of a heads up on that not that we don't get the routine updates don't didn't mean to imply that but I guess these things are kind of elevated
066and insignificance I'll back you on that one yeah think we're aligned okay um that's my report Mr report all right operations report Mr King thank you Mr chairman uh first update on construction uh Brentwood middle phase one is complete and and in use and I would like to publicly thank we had a lot of people um work over spring break to make sure that when the kids and teachers came back on Monday that they were ready to go of course Eric and his team were there Adam had maintenance they're helping teachers uh move stuff out of the old building into the new it was there as well making sure the network was up all the computer equipment was ready and James and his team were there making sure the cafeteria so a lot of work
067went in over spring break to make sure when they came in on Monday after spring break they were ready to go um page four or page High phase four the uh wall construction uh starting to take shape the parking lot lighting has been installed and the transportation building uh they're relocating the utilities at this time the building pad has been prepared and weather depending we should have footing Construction in the next two weeks or so that is my report unless you have any questions and Brian if I may just a little bit I'm going to add a little bit of detail on brenwood middle we opened up a portion of the new classrooms the next phase includes 36 new classrooms yes sir I and the demolition on that will start I believe in May they're
068doing the preport for that now and sometime in May they'll start the demol demolition process proc for phase two of Brentwood metal yes sir Brian is it the whole building I mean obviously the I know the gym and the cafeteria are gone but like the rest of the classrooms are being eliminated too all right yes sir Mr King uh Paige High School when do you anticipate that the uh phase the last phase is complete it's it's schedule for January January yes sir okay thank you I have just a quick question about I know you met with the town of Nolanville about the Portables at Nolanville Elementary do you have an update about those oh it it's all good yeah we uh Adam and I went to the meeting and Adam had already sent them a
069a bunch of uh information ahead of time uh I don't they may have had one question I don't even know if they had a question but they were real appreciative that Adam had sent them all the information up front we're we're good to go on those three Portables so Mr PR I I've had some discussions with the city manager I actually went out a few weeks ago and spoke um to the chamber Williamson Inc had a at a Nolanville and you were there of course as well um in in between those discussions I had a discussion with uh with the city manager we have uh four sites approved we actually are going to put three Portables there for next year it's temporary it's pending the next the the next building uh we've got a lot
070of experience with Portables uh and and so um um that's the next phase before we we get to ultimately building a new school in that area we don't actually have uh the land yet um two different developers are working on that with the city uh we have a basic footprint and but we still don't have a contract yet on the land anything further for Mr King thank you sir there is no board chair report so we can skip that and move right into new business the um got two budget items Capital request um Miss farmer I first um thank you Mr chair but I first wanted to just thank um we had Miss Clemens and Mr Brown and Miss Apria that came to the meeting with the Commissioners on Monday night and it was really
071I think it's always great I like it when the Commissioners come to our meetings too to get that different lens of of the business and so I just wanted to say thank you'all again for for doing that the two items we have tonight um should be relatively easy because you've already approved them they're part of the 5-year Capital plan that you approved back in November um and this is just bringing the intent to fund to the commission and so again you've already approved those items but then um this will put that before the commission to determine um the funding for so the first um is asphalt roof and HVAC and the total cost for it is $ 11,45 there's no questions on that one the second is related to information technology and it is 12
072million $881,000 technology security for like the needs that Fletch laid out for us in the prior meeting I'm going to let Mr King answer that for you sure thank you for the question uh yes sir it is different thing it's cameras uh switches fobs all that kind of stuff totally totally different from instructional technology I mean this is this is all gear towards security and yes sir yeah I mean I think this is I I really liked I really liked his approach when he gave his presentation just just because it's a he's really practical in terms of you know if you get we our needs are more than this but there's a there's a limit on both what we can do and what our contractors can do so you could give me three times this
073money and and this is really all I could spend in the in the short period of time so um so I I really like that just the openness about there's there's there's more needs where we're not tackling them all at one time we're going to take care of it systematically as we've done with so many things like the theaters and things we're it's just kind of a multi-year approach but so thank you thank you for that comment that that is accurate Jason um on those two if the if the commission were to decide not to fully fund those requests or fund one or the other or some combination of of that what's your contingency on what you would decide to do there or have you thought that far I we have thought about that and
074we have talked about it last year they funded um less than the request um and I'm trying to remember Rachel somewhere around 8 million do I have that number right they funded the request last year was 122 and they funded um 3,135 so it would have been 8 point something million we actually covered that last year in our operational budget we're not going to have the money this year to do that um so ultimately we're going to have to make decisions on priorities to Mr galra's point with less money any other questions on those budget items all right thank you Miss farmer um next item is board policies there's one and um Dana do you want to explain that yes this is the online learning program and the change in blue if this is for
075first reading is so that it is consistent uh with our practice this is one we we changed some pieces a couple months ago and realized this policy needed to be updated as well so we do recommend approval for first reading questions on that okay we can move to item C which is the approval of board meeting dates Mr golden thank you Mr chair this is an annual agenda item but it's actually scheduled on the annual agenda for next month we had some discussions with a couple of you who were hoping to get these dates a little bit ahead of time especially for August uh so we have those proposals and just as a reminder our tradition and actually it's not just tradition but it's also in policy uh we meet uh for a voting meeting
076on the third Monday of each month unless there's a scheduling problem based on the school calendar and then the work session is the Thursday before that and then the policy committee meeting is in essence 10 days ahead of that on a on a Monday barring some schedule uh so we have our dates that we've projected and doubled and triple checked ourselves I do want to mention um one specific one maybe two uh number one uh the the uh the October policy committee and and Lydia uh double check me if i' if if I missed this the October 7th proposed policy committee date is actually on the Monday of fall break our students are out that week but Monday and Tuesday are officially work days for us uh so we do have it in for October
0777th uh if we do we could move it the week ahead of time depending on the will of the board um but just so you know that's that's projected right now to happen on that Monday workday even though students are out that whole week uh we'll be fine either way on that one and then the next it I know Mr Brown and I were having a preliminary discussion before the meeting uh and um President's Day weekend includes uh two days out of school in February uh for for our for our students so the board meeting February 17th uh is the evening before students come back that again is a work day so our proposal includes going ahead and have that meeting that night before um school starts back so the I mentioned to Jason is
078I think the question in front of us would be to approve those as is and then modify them later if it's the will of the board or to take up a change on Monday night and do it now and get it over with so I think that's really the question does anyone have any feelings about that or comments I would I mean I'd personally rather rather not um have have it on fall break to be to be honest if it's possible to but I I will say just overall looking at the dates um very much appreciated as opposed to this year we had some really wonky policy committees the day of and like lots of uh so it's it's much it's much cleaner um and consistent but um I mean I would I would almost
079rather have it back on September 30th or um than uh than have it even plus or minus but I don't know it's just my my opinion what was on Fall Breck I'm I missed it October 7th yeah so it' be moving it up to Monday before that which would be September 30th yeah I'm with you on it because I I think the Practical implication would be there'd be several of us who just wouldn't show up we'd be at the beach let's be honest and we can do that but staff doesn't have that option so we're sort of shating them on their fall break for our work session i' i' or policy policy oh well I'm not on policy so know is October 7th a work day though it is it's a it's a work day
080for staff students students okay well okay good point good point could what about the 14th the following Monday but the Monday well I guess I mean my my thought was it if we're if it's on the 30th and it's two weeks from our board board meeting and still 2 weeks from the next work session as opposed to having it on the Monday of the and then having a work session 3 days later like that's why I was just creat it sometimes creates a typ before I didn't right before well yeah that well but even Monday and Monday and Thursday is still a little tight but that least that would leave I mean it's it's technically in September but it's still two weeks out and it's still four weeks removed from the most from the previous
081from previous policy yeah yeah we we'll talk about it I I will say the my differential diagnosis is we'll move it to the September date um based on this discussion and then any thoughts on the February 17th board meeting which as Jason said is the Monday night of President's Day the day that's um school kids are out that day for school so people could be traveling back in town from trips or what have you so any feelings about keeping it that night or moving it to the next night is that a 4-day weekend yes again Friday Monday what would be an option instead of that we could do it on Tuesday the next the next night I'd rather I'm I'm open I mean that that's completely up to you guys CU I mean y y'all
082aren't working that day and so that day too no it's actually it's actually a workday for us you all ever get dubb well just for what it's worth and if you go to January we we've already it's already built into the schedule to move that one to the Tuesday night following Martin Luther King yeah mhm I'd rather move it to Tuesday and then in the March one too is that one weird March 3rd for policy and then March 6 is the work session right away is that for spring break it's because of spring break spring break okay sorry yeah just generally speaking I think it'd be better not to have them on the holidays the holidays all right we we'll talk about that too we may move those two dates maybe just get with Angela
083yeah we'll do that I'll have that discussion with her but Mr Galas was was right our Focus this time was to keep it as consistent as possible um but but those two modifications ought to still be manageable okay anything else on board meeting dates all right item D 10e recommendation Mr Gold thank you Mr chair uh uh we have our annual 10year recommendations and I do want to refer you to that first paragraph uh in uh in Miss Hall's Miss Hall's uh memo to you just as a reminder the way the tenure is structured uh for the for the number of months uh with the evaluations uh above at above expectations or significantly above expectations uh during the last two years of the pro probationary period there's a lot of detail related to this Miss
084Hall I may be overstating it but I'm going to say it the way I would say it practically in our discussions once the teacher hits those five years and qualifies we have already made the hiring decision in the year before because the state data that goes into US evaluating that comes after we have to make a hiring decision that's basically that's basically correct we kind of get we get an extra we sort of get an extra school year in order to make that decision because those scores aren't back so we we do have a recommendations for tenure for uh for these um excellent teachers any questions or comments on that okay then our final item is approval of the revised School fee schedule uh which was originally I believe taken up in February that's correct
085thank you Mr chair uh as you all recall during the voting meeting in February Dr web and I were asked specific questions about are these fees required for athletics or or uh um extracurricular arts and we repeatedly told you no or some version of that uh as I mentioned last month sure enough within a couple of weeks um somebody said they're required and the language in that in that document said required fees so we are are actually making a recommendation to modify that at the high school form where it said required fees we are recommending a change that says participation fees which actually reflects the language that was in the Middle School we've also added a recommended asterisk that gives that explanation uh to both the high school and middle and it says these fees
086are collected to cover the cost of the AC AC it while Tennessee law and there's a reference to it allows schools to require extracurricular act fees any family unable to pay any part of these fees should contact School administration no child will be excluded from participation in the activity due to inability to pay the fee um and just as a as a restatement this dates even back to when I was the the deputy superintendent I wrote I wrote a document 15 years ago that we placed on our website that says these aren't required we can't talk about that enough you all uh just to keep on emphasizing that uh these fees are not required we need them we have also since that February meeting started some brainstorming sessions with our leadership team about where do
087we go from here uh you know the the the ideas that you all tossed out about well might we be able to potentially in increase our income if we treated these as fundraisers rather than the state structure for fees uh we've already had some some good intro discussion among our team about that we've tossed out possibilities that we haven't landed on yet um can we do a pilot should we do some surveys Etc so I wanted you all to know that we're working on that we do know we need the fees for this coming year uh but we're going to be working on next year uh in that context any questions or comments all right with that we are done we are adjourned