001Like to welcome everyone to the April Elizabethton Board of Education meeting. Uh again, just to remind you, we do have several recognitions and what we normally do, we'll have after we take care of our preliminary things, we'll have the recognitions. And at that time, after the recognitions, we'll give an opportunity for those that need to leave, want to leave, um to go ahead and do that. We'll just take a quick break and then we'll get into the regular agenda. But we would like for everyone to stay through all the recognitions if at all possible. So, I at this time, I'll call on Director VanHuss for a moment of silence and pledge the flag. Please stand. Please pause for a moment of silence. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Attention, salute, pledge. I pledge allegiance to the
002flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. It's time to approve consent agenda and regular agenda. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion. Motion and a second? Second. Second. Um any items need to be moved? Any questions about anything on the consent and regular? Seeing none, the item is to approve consent agenda and regular agenda. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh now it's time for citizens to speak. We did not receive a request for anyone to speak. So, we'll move on to special recognitions and I will hand it over to Mr. VanHuss. Thank you, sir. At this time, if Mr. Colbert would come forward and he'll take us through
003the first portion of our recognitions today. Thank you, Mr. Colbert. Yes, and thank you for allowing us to do this cuz we do have several we want to recognize tonight. And we some I already know will be on the May agenda cuz some of this couldn't be here tonight. But again, good news for me is the robotics team, Mr. John Lee is here. So, I'd much rather him and his students come up here and describe all the cool things they've done. As they come up here, I'll brag on him a little bit. They were working even in his room today till at least 5:00. They're getting ready for the next set of robotic competitions. This one was the most recent one that they dominated was the robot drone league. Uh which again is hosted by
004ETSU. So, they they are the national place. Our regionals actually were in Murfreesboro and nationals were in Johnson City. That's not normally the way it's done, but I'll let him describe the rest of this. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Mr. VanHuss, all the board members, coach, players, we we thank you all for having us again tonight. I will try my best not to be the crybaby that I tend to be >> [laughter] >> talking about these kids. Uh but it has been a very eventful year. Another great year, another very successful year. We do what Cyclones do, which is represent the school well and and win. And these kids have done a good job with that and we'll tell you some of the things that they've done. Uh but um I'm going to start
005out tonight with uh based on our finish last year in RDL and uh mate, sorry, we were invited to Disney World. And uh I got a call from Disney World who said, "Hey, we'd like you to come down and work with the Imagineers." So, I took a group of 15 students to Disney World this year. We spent 3 days in Disney World and we got to work with Imagineers on theme park design. Wow. So, my kids actually got to work with the engineers that are building the [clears throat] Disney World theme park. And uh they designed uh their own style of theme park while we were there. So, it was taking all of the stuff that we do in the classroom and putting it to work and them getting to see on a large a
006very large scale how that works. Of course, we rode rides and had a good time >> [laughter] >> All right, come on up. Everybody come up and I'll recognize the kids that that went with this. Uh Everybody just come up and line up. I kind of told you. Prentice is not here, is he? Trip didn't make it. Logan Miller was with us. Brandon Vines, are you here? Scoot in there. Joshua Ashy was with us. Gavin Roebuck. David Bryson Rowland. Lucas Gillwater. Chloe Staten. Xander Jones. Madison Harden. Anna Blackwell. Abigail Watson. Bayla Blackwell. >> [snorts] >> And Madison Stanberry couldn't make it. Kobe Mitchell. And so, the certificates that they're receiving there tonight actually came from the Imagineers at Disney World. They're That is a certificate of completion uh in working with the with the Imagineers
007on theme park design. So, with that being said, uh I'll recognize my students this year and what they've done. We are getting ready uh as Mr. Colbert told you, we've been working tirelessly since Robot Drone League ended just a couple of short weeks ago uh in preparing for the mate season, which is the underwater ROV season. We finished third in that region last year and hope to have a better better finish this year and qualify for worlds. However, we are the defending national champions in the Robot Drone League as we talked about last year. We went to the regional down in Murfreesboro this year because we knew that the magnet school from Memphis was going to be there. We knew that they were going to be a tough contender to deal with. At that regional,
008we finished third place in top score. We won the judges award and top autonomous award. We knew that we had to come home and do some work. And uh I'll kind of tell you how things finished out after that. At RDL nationals, first place top score, the judges award, the professors award, the top autonomous award, and national alliance champions, back-to-back alliance champions for Elizabethton High School. >> [applause] >> Sophomores on that team, Logan Miller was a pit technician and assembly engineer. Elodie Neal, programmer, STEM questions, and the azimuth angle. For those of you who don't know what the azimuth angle is, Elodie was given coordinates for a satellite and she had to determine the pitch of that satellite in order to make it to communicate in space because this year's competition was based on moon
009base. So, it was based on sending things to the moon and doing robotics on the moon. She had to figure that in the um in the box and she was the only student in regionals to accomplish that. >> [applause] >> Abigail Watson, design engineer, drone pilot, documentation. Bayla Blackwell, media presentation and documentation. Gavin Roebuck, assembly engineer and robot driver. My juniors, Lucas Gillwater, our lead programmer. Nathan Edwards, pit technician and documentation. Prentice Trip Trivett, drone pilot, assembly engineer. Joshua Ashy, drone pilot. Ryan Darnell, lead media presentation and documentation. We have not had a media person until this year and Ryan has really stepped up and taken care of that for us. Holly Holtzclaw, documentation and scoring. Kobe Mitchell, assembly engineer and video editor. And Chloe Staten, lead scoring and assembly engineer. That takes me to
010my seniors. Madison Harden. Lead team scoring. Madison is going to the Army National Guard. We're very proud of her. She will also be attending TCAT and and has aspirations for military police. Madelyn Stanberry. Lead documentation, presentation, and responsible for STEM questions and the azimuth angle. She'll be attending the University of South Carolina as a biology major, pre-dental track. And she's awaiting results on a plethora of scholarships currently. David Bryson Rowland. Robot pilot. Assembly engineer, head of field design and assembly. And signed today at TCAT in their signing day. He'll be attending their advanced manufacturing program on a full ride. Anna Blackwell. Team captain. Lead design engineer. And responsible for STEM questions. East Tennessee State University. Presidential scholarship. ETSU Change Maker scholarship. HOPE scholarship and multiple scholarships she's still waiting on at this time. She received
011a full ride to ETSU. The heart and soul of my team. This young man has uh done massive amounts of work and I have put a ton of pressure on him this season. Xander Jones, team captain, robot pilot, assembly engineer, East Tennessee State University engineering major in advanced manufacturing, presidential scholarship, Hope Scholarship, and awaiting multiple other scholarships currently at this time. The 2025-2026 National Alliance champions for RDL drone league. >> [applause] >> Yeah. Anna had to step out for just a minute, but she made it back in. We want to make sure that she gets her certificate. She was a participant at Engineering at at Disney as well. >> [applause] [applause] >> Uh and if we stick to the order, next up would be the culinary competition kids. And I only see three right now,
012but guys, if you would go ahead and come on up. Four, sorry. Colton's in the back. Okay, here we go. Uh by the way, Mr. Shirts, obviously he's our culinary teacher. And again, the stories I could tell on him are great. Usually the less I talk, the better off we all are. Uh >> [laughter] >> But anyway, again, Shirts has >> worked all over from the Bellagio in Vegas to Four Seasons, Vail, Colorado, Hawaii, San Francisco, and everywhere else. If you haven't spent much time with Shirts, please do so. He is absolutely hilarious, along with playing football at Princeton and some other stories that he probably doesn't want me to mention. Anyway, uh these kids as you every the last 4 years we have a culinary competition uh that First Tennessee Development District with Landry
013Ryan sponsors. Uh that we go to Bristol Motor Speedway. Uh you maybe have seen some pictures of them somewhere on social media. It's Bristol, baby, and some of the things they did. Nine high schools were there this year. And we let Virginia, even though it's a First Tennessee Development District contest, this year the Virginia high culinary teacher was retiring, so we invited someone from across the border to come down a few miles and compete with us in sadly rats. Remember, they won. Uh but we came in second, so we beat the other Tennessee folks, or I guess we're winning the Tennessee battle. Uh but again, I don't know anything about the kitchen. I have a hard time with cereal and grilled cheese, but I think Colton has a speech or some sort here. You ready?
014I'm going to turn it over to you. Mr. Shirts has T-ball duty with his kids, so my apologies. He did not know he had to do this until yesterday. So, anyway, Colton will explain the good stuff they made. Thank you. First off, I'm proud to be here and talk about our team's performance in this year's culinary competition. We were challenged with five main ingredients, red snapper, butternut squash, broccolini, a pasta that we didn't know until the day of, and um yeah. Um so, that kind of pressure forces you to think fast, trust your team, and stay creative throughout all of it. Um despite the challenge, we worked together, communicated well, and pushed ourselves to put the the best dish we could, and it paid off. We earned second place, which is something we're all proud
015of. Our school has placed in the top three every single year out of the 4 years this event has been held. That consistency says a lot about the dedication, teamwork, and the standards we hold ourselves to. So, for the appetizer, it was a Cajun fish dip with a tempura battered broccolini and butternut squash. And then we had a baguette baked crisp up. Um the soup, Taylor, you want to talk about your soup cuz I have no idea. Yeah, it was basically a It's basically a version of wedding soup. If you guys don't know what wedding soup is, it's pretty much a soup with meatballs in it, but where we had red snapper, we couldn't use red meat, so we decided to make fish balls We added We added butternut squash, broccolini, and then a little
016bit of pasta. We were able to add some citrus citrus topping to it The entree, which was Braden's, he's not here. He did also win best knife skills out of the whole entire competition. Um he had a a blackened snapper with a uh the pasta that we did our own uh our own take on a risotto. So, we used the pasta instead of actual risotto with a tomato base sauce on that one. And that's all I have prepared. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Uh Mr. Jamie Shaff, you want to make that tonight for Mark Green? >> Yes, I've got all the ingredients ready. >> [laughter] [applause] >> And lastly for my portion, again, I'm in a hurry cuz I know we all have yards to go mow. Uh next up will be the cadets,
017and I think Chief Bearman is here in the back. And again, again, the less I talk, the better we are. So, I'll let him come up and explain all the cool things they have won. So, Chief, you're up. All right, good evening, everyone. Thanks for having us here. Um so oops, March 21st, we we entered the Dr. Seuss drill meet, which is a a drill meet that's conducted at Volunteer High School every year. Uh this was the 14th annual drill meet. Um the reason it's called Dr. Seuss is actually it's on Dr. Seuss's birthday every year. Um that's when they had it. And it's for first-year cadets. So, um some of the faces that y'all might be used to seeing up here, they're not here tonight because these this is our new batch of up-and-comers.
018And it was kind of a watermark moment for our program. It's been around since '21. And we may have had like a >> [clears throat] >> a third place or a second place finish in in a particular event during a drill meet, but uh we had three second place finishes in events, and we finished third place overall. So, that's the first time we've ever actually placed um overall in a drill meet, which is a big deal because uh right now I only have 19 kids in class. Um and some of these programs are huge. Uh Daniel Boone was there, and they have like eight bazillion Marine cadets or whatever. Uh Volunteer High School, of course, Cherokee, Crockett, like all of the the usual suspects from around here. And we're just little bitty Elizabethton, and we
019we did great. So, um I'm going to let Cadence McCaffrey here. She kind of led all of the practicing. And again, I'm I'm here for structure. I'm here for for guidance and and for resourcing, but the cadets are really who who train and and who teach once I kind of get them indoctrinated to it or whatever. So, uh but but Cadence and then Sebastian Bogart over here, uh former former Daniel Boone Marine type, um they really drove the the young cadets into doing big things for us. So, I'm going to let let Cadence talk, and I'll quiet down. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Like you said, my name is Cadence McCaffrey. Um I'm a current chief petty officer in our NDCC program. Um you may be wondering what the Dr. Seuss drill meet is. He
020kind of explained it already, but it's a it's a um drill meet for like first-year junior cadets. Um it's a great way to get them introduced into what it's like to be in that kind of environment and help them move on to bigger and better things. We participated in five out of six events that were at the drill meet. We participated in color guard. I commanded that. We got second place. We participated in unarmed drill. Sebastian over here, he commanded that. We got second place. Um PT, physical training, we got second place. And we also got third place overall. Um in order to prepare for this drill meet, I scheduled practices for all the cadets. They showed up. We did half of practice structured around color guard and the other half structured around drill, whether
021that be unarmed drill or armed drill. And sometimes we scattered brain brawl in there or STEM or PT practice. It was a great experience for the younger cadets, and we hope to do bigger better things next year. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right, that's all I got. So, but real proud of these kids. So, big big things for the future. It's a junior junior group here, so >> [laughter] [applause] >> As next up on the list, I think we have Mr. Davenport. Southern Region Honor Choir. Well, good afternoon, Mr. Van Huss, members of the board. Thank you for having us with you tonight. Uh this year four Elizabethton High School students got to compete for a slot in ACDA's uh Southern Region Honor Choir. ACDA is the American Choral Directors Association and that is
022the largest uh professional organization for choral directors in the United States, but it's also one that's uh highly regarded all around the globe. And this year for the Southern Region Honor Choir, uh we had I I got this total of finally today. Uh there were over 1,600 auditions in total. The Southern Region um consists of 11 states, Tennessee included in that, and Elizabeth had four students who qualified for that, which I think is really cool uh because in total they only take about 359, 400-ish slots for those students out of those 11 states. So, it's a really cool opportunity for them. They get to go and meet students all from across those 11 states, uh but participate and uh learn from some really well-known not well composers, too, but also clinicians and learn uh that
023way. Uh but we're really proud of them and those students from our choir, name if you want to come on up, that'd be great. Uh Cara Carr, Isaac Payne, Cali Dickerson, and she can't be here with us tonight, but that's Nora Hill. So, super proud of these students >> [applause] >> and for representing Yeah. Yeah. Super proud of these students and for representing Elizabethton City Schools, but also the entire state of Tennessee that way as well, too. So, congratulations to you guys. >> [applause] >> Good job. Thank you. Mr. Valentine, I think you're next. Oh, both of you? Okay. >> [laughter] >> All right. So, uh we just got back. Uh once again, thank you guys for having us. So, we just got back from the uh Tennessee Music Educators All-State Clinic. Uh and so,
024the uh the the students from the band and the choir, um uh basically what they do is they I audition at an All-East clinic, which is all East Tennessee. Um you know, definitely over 1,000 auditions, easily 100 more on each part that these guys are auditioning for, and to qualify for All-State for the band side, and I'll let him speak of the choir side, um you have to qualify, they have to basically finish in the top third of the top band, not even the top third of the auditionees, but the top third of the kids who make the top chairs. Um and then they get automatically qualified for the All-State band, and then they do a chair audition when they go down there, and they get to participate. And that's where we were from Thursday
025to Sunday this past week, and the kids got to do three or four days of of uh clinics with incredible um incredible clinicians, college fair, they get to see some awesome concerts by colleges and some of their fellow uh high school students, and it's a conference that's it's got choir, band, orchestra, uh youth choirs, youth students, uh as well as next year they're going to add some middle school students as well. So, it's a pretty massive conference. So, my our students uh we actually had five students that qualified. Um and so, I'll call them up, and one of them got got quite qualified for band and choir, but I'll I got to go first, so I'll get to introduce him. [laughter] So, we have Ms. Millie Digby. We have Ms. Hattie Bauer. Ms. Elodie Neal,
026and Mr. James Keen. And then our final and our only senior for that from the from our group that qualified was Mr. Isaac Payne. So, these are our band students. >> [applause] >> Just like Mr. Valentine already told you, it works a lot of the same way for the choral department students as well. Uh they have to compete locally first, and then if they are in that top third, or roughly in that area of their score, they get to move on to the state level. And this year our choral department had three of those students, one of which you already have seen a few times tonight, cuz he's just great, and that's Isaac Payne. He qualified. Okay. Max Frickle, and Mr. Joe Hurley. >> [applause] [applause] >> Super proud of these guys for again representing
027our area, Elizabethton City Schools, but our area in the whole state and being a a part of the top three in the whole state of Tennessee. So, congratulations. >> [applause] >> And um last, um Meg Foster to rep recognize the EHS drama. Um we apologize [clears throat] for them not being on the agenda, they were actually on last month's agenda, and there was a mix-up, so Ms. Foster, if you'll come forward. Thanks so much for having us. If If my students could come forward, I'll introduce you to them. Uh so, these students are being recognized for their work with the National Speech and Debate Association. Um and these are also theater students. So, you may be wondering why not just put on plays, and that's that's it. But it's not enough um because I can't
028give all of them leads cuz I think they're wonderful. Um but NSDI is a way to make people more outspoken, to give them a voice, and to kind of pick their own niche within this world of speech and debate. In the National Speech and Debate Association, there are supreme there's a Supreme Court Justice right now that was a an NSDI kid, um plenty of actors and politicians, so it's a it's a great association. There's 20 of them, so I'm not going to rattle those off, but as I say the names, I'll tell you some of the events that they do. So, the first one is Addie Bentley, she does extemporaneous speaking, which is like you have to make up a speech on current events. It's wild. Um it's very impressive. She also does impromptu speaking,
029poetry. That's it. Yeah. All right. Elena Little, um she does dramatic interpretation, so a serious piece. She also does improv duet acting. Uh and pantomime. And that's most of your and Oh, yeah. Original spoken word poetry. You can do your own poem and perform it. Uh but you have to write it. And Hannah Daniels does humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation, um improv duet acting, and now after dinner speaking. Yeah, she just added that and won second place at state. Um or districts. And then Cali Smith, uh Cali Smith does dramatic interpretation, and the irony there, she's one of the funniest people, but she always chooses serious pieces. So, >> [laughter] >> Yeah. We compete throughout the year. We do seven tournaments, and I'm going to take us on a timeline from February to now. Um so,
030in February we hosted our first tournament. It was a lot of work. Um and we did a lot of work. Um Addie did a lot of the organizing, got a lot of sponsors. Elena made her own event, which is called improv duet pantomime, and that went over really well. And all four of them just really helped move move it along, so that was uh that was something really cool we got to do. We got to go to Disney with uh with the engineering. Uh we did a musical theater workshop, and it was good for everyone. And of course, we had fun. Uh then we went to national qualifiers. So, we do all this all this at the state level, and then we have to if you want to pursue it further, if you want to
031go to the national stage, there's you go to we go to Cookeville, and there's about 300 entries because people can choose two entries. Um and the the big dogs, the the Science Hill and the and the DB people, they said, you know, just just give it a few years. Just give it a few years. We're in year two, and Elena nationally qualified in dramatic interpretation. >> [applause] >> So, that means that she also gets to pick another event, which is original spoken word poetry, and then she opens the door for other people. They will all of them will compete next weekend. While simul- simultaneously being at state competition, they will also compete um for a spot at nationals as well. So, there's there's a lot a lot to be done there. And we had our
032district competition last um last Saturday, and here's some results. Addie Bentley was second place at extemporaneous speaking and first place in impromptu speaking. Elena Oh, well, you're going to have to wait. You're There's going to There's a lot here. Elena Little um broken went on to state in pantomime. You were first First in pantomime, yes. Hannah Daniels, second in after dinner speaking, again an event she just picked up, and second in humorous interpretation. And Cali Smith, first place in dramatic interpretation. So, let's Thank you. >> [applause] >> And while I have the mic, I'd also like to make one, yeah, couple more little things. Uh in their They're won't What else is she going to say? In their for their future There's a lot of scholarship here. Um I like to recognize Addie Bentley for
033getting the presidential scholarship at University of Vermont, and also to Hannah Daniels for getting the fine and performing arts scholarship at ETSU. So, thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay. Last but not least, Scope. I was coming up regardless. >> [laughter] >> So, thank you all which I probably get repetitive. You'll hear thank you all so much. But, thank you all truly that we get to do this event because you it's event through the school board. So, thank you for allowing us to attend TSBA Scope which is a lot of letters. So, I will say the full thing out. Tennessee School Board Association Student Congress on Policies in Education which is a lot a lot more exciting than it sounds. >> [laughter] >> But, we always have a good group of
034students who want to go and we always take a great group that really show Cyclone pride when we go and represent the district so well and the way they they go and compete and have discussions with other young people. So, come on up whoever is here. I see a couple of you. Three out of four is pretty good. So, I the first time that we took students to Scope in 2017 when I took Corey Fitzsimmons our first student liaison and I'm so happy that now we get to take four every year. That's the highest amount you can take. Um well, it's closed. It's okay. >> [laughter] >> So, unfortunately Helen wasn't able to make it this year due to other obligations, but had an incredible group Carolyn Morganstern also went unable to make it tonight.
035Any of you want to say something about Scope? Okay, cool. >> [laughter] >> I will say something that I'm consistently told by students who attend throughout the years is that like whenever they're in school at Elizabethton like they feel pretty good about themselves and their ability to debate and have thoughts on a lot of topics and then get to Scope and it's like oh, everyone's the same exact as me. That everyone has big thoughts and is ready to defend their thoughts. So, it's really cool to give them that kind of opportunity to be in the room full of all these high achieving students who think a lot about education. So, at at TSBA Scope all the discussions that they have the results are taken and given to legislators and superintendents. So, it's really good to
036get student voice and what their thoughts are on potential future policies in education and also give them experience in being potential future school board members or living in the civic life. So, again thank you all. >> [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> Again, this is this is a one of the best parts of what we do are being able to recognize cuz it's hard to get out to see everything. Some things you really just hear about after they happen. They're but we're so proud of our students. We're very thankful of our adult leadership and again if they're spending all this time we thank parents getting them there allowing them to be there and thank you for representing our school system in the way that you do. It is amazing and it is a great part of what
037we do here as a board is to get to see that. At this time um unless you really don't have much going on and you need to leave you're free to go right now. We'll take about a two or three minute break and then we'll come back and finish the board meeting. Thank you all for being here. So, we'll go ahead and continue on with the meeting. Again, the next part it's time for updates and we'll begin with Mr. Van Huss with the director's update. >> Thank you very much. So, if you talk to school staff about what season it is, guess what season it is. Testing season. Yeah, everyone's so excited about that. So, that's in full swing now. Again, it's just an opportunity for students to demonstrate all that they've learned this year.
038So, there's a lot of work that goes into that obviously from school staff and students as well. So, um if you have a moment there say a little prayer for for everyone with these next few weeks as we navigate that important part of the work we do. Also want to congratulate Travis Thompson and Eric Wampler. They were both named regional semifinalists for supervisor of the year and principal of the year. So, I think Mr. Wampler said the pool must have been pretty low this year pool of applicants. I disagree with that. You said it. I heard I heard you said that. So, I'm just making it public. No, but we are very proud of them and and certainly wish them well as as they move forward. Obviously, we're in the home stretch of the school
039year. There's lots of things going on, lots of celebrations, graduations, award ceremonies. Banquets, proms, wrapping up spring sports, all those things. Fall spring concerts, all those things. So, encourage you if you have an opportunity to get out and support our students as they wrap up a a great year and just have opportunities you saw today. Just all the talented students that we have in our community and again as you mentioned the adults that have invested in them. We're just really really blessed and again it is the best thing that we do at these meetings because it just it makes you understand why we do what we do. It's it's certainly worth it. So, thanks [clears throat] to all that make that happen. I did want to mention the fall district meeting is scheduled for next
040September 14th at the General Morgan Inn in Greenville and I think sent out an email asking anyone that would like to attend. If you'll be sure to let Miss Walker know by the by the end of tonight. That's always a good time. It'd be great if we can if several of us can go to that. So, again that's September 14th and just let her know if you can attend and that's all I have. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Van Huss. It's now time for board member reports. Anybody have anything? I know it's a little bit of a down time for what we do. Read or read what? Mr. Van Huss said. I mean, I'm stunned at everything that goes on at the high school. If I had known that after dinner speaking was a sport I
041would have won that for sure. >> [laughter] >> Just speaking in general. Any kind of speaking. Yeah, any And Mr. Colbert, we did say y'all could leave. Did you not hear that? No, [laughter] no, no. He's not in that group. He's not in that group. >> [laughter] >> But, uh Thanks a lot. We finally get him here and you dismissed him early. >> [laughter] >> He just needed that wink for me to say he could. But, no I mean that is just amazing to see all that. It's just and to see teachers get emotional. That makes my heart It's it's very uplifting. Mr. Bless, I'd like to also say as all of you know, we have a very talented student liaison. >> Yes. And Helen Hackett who's with us for a few more months and
042because I'm hoping one day to be hired as her marketing and PR agent. >> [laughter] >> I want to let everyone know that Helen's senior recital for piano, she's an incredible pianist, is going to be April 26th at 3:30 at Memorial Presbyterian Church. Mark your calendars. It's going to be a great thing. This is something she's doing on her own, not required, and it's a massive undertaking and I thought we all should know about it and and support Helen. Thank you. 3:30, April 26th. What day is that? Sunday? >> It's a Sunday. >> Sunday at Memorial Press. All right. Forget Remember us when you're famous. All right. And I know I don't think Mr. Sumerel is able to be here tonight, so we won't have a city council liaison report. And again, Miss Hackett, we'll
043turn it over to you. Okay, so this Monday we got to host our semi-annual student forum, which is an event where students submit questions, concerns, anything they want to to the administration and then we have like this we called it an ice cream social this year. We had it in the courtyard. And then Dr. Minton came and answered all these students' questions individually and kind of talked about how the administration would work to make these issues better moving forward. I just thought it was wonderful cuz it shows how good of a relationship our students have with the school that they take time to like seriously consider what we have to say. So that was really good. Pretty much what happened this month. Thank you. Thank you. How long is that? Is that new? Is that
044How long has that gone on here? >> This is the third time we've [clears throat] done it. Hudson was the first host. Pretty neat. Okay. >> And I think it says a lot that students are comfortable even asking some of those questions. You know, a lot of a lot of places they wouldn't feel comfortable asking that. They would feel like the administration be very defensive. So that speaks to Dr. Minton and the staff at the high school as well, really all of our schools. All right. It's now time to move on to the regular agenda. Um the first item, and there are three policies and we will put those together um as we go through. The item is to approve first reading of the following board policies. Board policy 1.404 appeals to the public and
045appeals to and public comments before the board. Board policy 2.400 revenues and board policy 6.411 student wellness. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion. Motion and a second? Second. Second, thank you. Okay, so just quickly here the first policy there has been some changes um based on the General Assembly and some things that they've passed this year. And one of those is in the past anyone that wanted to speak at a board meeting, it was they were limited to items that were on the agenda. That now has been changed and if you'll notice there in line 17 on page one it says comments shall be limited to topics listed on the agenda and matters that are germane to the school board's jurisdiction. So that gives individuals the opportunity to speak on things that may
046not be on the agenda. So um I think that's a great great addition. A lot of the other things that we've had in place for public comment will stay in there. There's a there'll be a a maximum of 30 minutes for public comment at each meeting. Uh individual remarks are limited to 5 minutes and if there's a delegation of people speaking on an issue, they are to select one person to to speak for the group. Uh and as always um anyone that requests to speak to the board, they're to notify the director schools, my office 3 days in advance of the meeting so we can make sure that we get that on the agenda. So again, a lot of that was just clean up to to that policy and reflecting that change in state law.
047On Anyone have a question about about that? All right, so 2.400 revenues, this is in response to the fact that the federal government will no longer be producing pennies. And so the Tennessee comptroller of the treasury issued guidance that school systems and public entities should look at ways uh anytime they have revenues or receipts or anything they're going to have to pay out that would be less than or somewhere in the in the penny range. So if you'll notice notice on page two section lines 27 through 33, it basically outlines that what will happen is any of those cash transactions, if it's one penny or two pennies, it will be rounded down to the to the to the zero amount and then if it's three or four cents, it'll be rounded up to the nearest
048nickel. So that's the way that that will progress and that's the way that we can then be in place and the same thing we think about six or seven cents, it's going to be rounded down to five cents and eight or nine would be rounded up to a nickel or excuse me, to a dime. So that's again just in response to the fact that they won't be producing pennies anymore. Uh so that was an interesting one. So um 6.411 student wellness, this is in response to some things where they've tried to align state board uh policy with coordinated school health program policy. And the real focus here is school health advisory councils and the fact that they need to have members uh for stakeholders that are not just school people. So stakeholders from within the
049community. And if you'll notice on page two, it says that those teams at least half the team members will be non-school personnel. Which is great. That our teams have been that way anyway, but this uh just uh puts in policy the fact that those uh those teams need to have good representation from across the community. So question on any of those. Okay. Seeing none, the item is to approve first reading of the following board policies. Board policy 1.40 04 appeals to and public comments before the board. Board policy 2.400 revenues and board policy 6.411 student wellness. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? There are none. Motion carries. Next item. Approve to hire a part-time health science teacher for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years through discretionary funds from Ballard Academy. Can
050I get a motion to approve? Motion. Okay, and a second? Second. Okay. So just a real brief explanation on this. As you know, we are part of the Ballard Health Academy uh grant through uh funded through the Bloomberg philanthropies and it's been a great project and a great program uh there at the high school. We had a fantastic nursing program there even before this. But this has just allowed a fast track for students to earn their LPN uh again before they leave uh high school. And they're they're looking to branch out into some other health fields as well. So that's that's certainly exciting the fact that we've been able to uh be in on the the front end at the beginning of this program. But this particular situation will allow us to uh this part-time
051health science teacher again is funded through the Bloomberg grant that I mentioned through Ballard uh for these 2 years and that will help us spread out some of our numbers to be able to offer more classes to students because we still have both tracks right now. The traditional track that we've always had plus the Ballard Health track. So this allows us a 2-year period to continue to align and address the needs of of any student that's interested in that to for them to have options. So again, paid for through grants, so there's no local money involved in this position. Any questions? Seeing none, the item is to approve to hire a part-time health science teacher for the 2026-2027 and the 2027-2028 school years through discretionary funds from Ballard Academy. All those in favor, say I.
052I. I. Any opposed? There are none. Motion carries. Next item. Approve to create a coaching position for the start of a dance team at Elizabethton High School. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion. A motion and a second? Second. Okay. Thank you very much. Uh this time I'll ask Coach Diaz if he'll come up and share a little information on this and the background on why we have this request. Yeah, thank you Mr. Van Huss and school board. Um on behalf Let me lower this. I'm a little shorter than all those other folks. Uh Mr. Hurley, you can come up after me if you want to. Um on behalf of the athletic department, I'm formally asking or requesting uh creation of a dance team position um along with the formation of um a coaching
053staff and that would align with those of other coaching positions uh at the high school. Um we've just noticed as our athletic programs have grown, there's been a growing interest uh by quite a few students um to the addition of a school dance team that's similar to those I like Science Hill, if you've ever been to some of their games. Science Hill, Dobyns-Bennett, I think Tennessee High, Greeneville. Uh so it would be similar to those just to to help with the game day atmosphere and experience for uh for fans. Um of course, the coaching position will help us, you know, to ensure safety and all the things that we promote um in athletics um to the best of our abilities, anyways, and um and so the the the coaching stipend would be similar to that
054as far as the time commitment for some of the the other positions. Um we do think that this addition will help uh impact positively uh to the school culture and to uh the game day experience. So, if you guys have any questions, I'll do my best to answer those. This is associated with the band. It's just a separate entity. Yeah, it well, it it Yes, and well, we've talked with Mr. Valentine and and the you know, the possible impact with with that as well, and we've got, you know, a plan for that um to help that that situation too. Is Is there a possibility if someone wants to participate in both, would that be possible at this point or do you know yet? >> that would be for the this position like um both could
055participate uh in that. So, the right now the current one is is is the color guard. And so, this would be uh separate from that, but we've got, you know, I've talked with Mr. Valentine and we're going to come up with the some ways to to help because we don't want to take away from numbers from them either, so. And there there was a long time ago, so it's not like this is brand new. So, there was back in the day. >> Back in the day. >> I was in the day. Um they had the jazz Mhm. team. Do you remember? Yeah. So, it was a dance team, essentially. Were you on it? I [laughter] got cut. You were cut from Yeah. I'm still not over it. The [laughter] the Charleston wasn't part of the
056dance >> No, it was not, yeah. So. Okay. Any questions for Mr. Diaz? All right. Thank you guys for Thank you for considering this. So, the item is to approve uh to create a coaching position for the start of a dance team at Elizabethton High School. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And there were none. Next item, approve the 2026-2027 school year calendar. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion. Motion and a second. Second. Okay. So, real quickly, you've already approved this calendar once, but there is a change that we had to make due to an oversight on our part. The original 26-27 calendar had the first student half day on Thursday, August the 6th, and the last teacher work day on Friday, August the 7th. And in the past, we've
057always bookended uh that first half day in between two teacher work days to allow us an opportunity to look at tuition requests and what work through that process to allow them to start on the first full day uh the next week. Unfortunately, this year, there is um an election scheduled on Thursday, August the 6th, and as you know, state law prohibits us from having school on days where there are elections and schools are polling place. And as you know, all of our schools, with the exception of the high school, are polling places. So, for the for this calendar, we're basically flipping those two days, so the first student half day would be Friday, August the 7th, and the teacher work day would move to August the 6th. So, appreciate your consideration on making this change.
058Okay. All right. The item is to approve the 2026-2027 school year school year calendar. All those in favor say I. I. And any opposed? The motion carries. Next item, approve the 2027-2028 school calendar. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Uh get take one of those as a second, Miss Walker. Did she get those? All right. Okay. Okay, so um the 27-28 calendar is before you, and as you know, a few years ago, we started the process of trying to work almost 2 years ahead on uh calendar structure, uh and that's the real focus for that was trying to get a calendar out to families as far in advance as we could. As you know, lots of families uh have to plan their vacations very far in advance, so we really wanted
059to try to be uh respectful of that and try to put a calendar together, and so that was the impetus behind moving to uh creating those calendars 2 years in advance. So, you see that calendar before you there, uh very typical of what um we see what you've seen in previous years. Again, we have professional development days scattered throughout, uh one parent-teacher conference, of course, a fall break, a spring break, and there's a lot [clears throat] of there's a lot of discussion at times about, especially in the winter, uh in the spring semester when we have the potential for inclement weather and the thought of will we ever take days from spring break. As you know, our intention is to never do that. I think we've built we have enough days built in that that
060would never really be an issue unless we just had some really, really major um inclement weather events like I'm talking multiple weeks uh on end. So, just wanted to mention that too. We really try to guard that spring break time for the same reasons I just mentioned. A lot of people may plan a vacation during that time, and we certainly uh don't want to ruin those plans uh if possible. So, any any questions for me on the calendar? Again, calendar committee >> There was a lot of things on the previous that uh have little bearing, or if they did have a bearing, it's really not something that we deal with on a day in and day out. And just kind of let you know, score it's on a one to five um scale, essentially. Um
061with an unsatisfactory or one to six scale up to superior. Um Mr. Van Huss was consistent uh in the well above standard to superior category uh on every item, no score below that. Um we think that uh is just um a symbol of stability that we have here in our system, which we're very appreciative of. Uh the items were program oversight, uh program management, fiscal management, uh information management, and personnel management. So, again, everybody has strong opinions about most of those things, so to receive high marks on each of those, I think is a a credit to to Mr. Van Huss and the staff that he's put together uh here at the central office. Um so, appreciate each board member's time in looking at that and getting those back, and again, that goes in for
062public record. And again, just if anybody had anything they wanted to say based on the evaluation, um at least wanted to give you the opportunity to say that at this time. Mr. Van Huss, we're grateful you're here. Mhm. Absolutely. And all we have to do is go hang out with some of our peers from across the state to know just how blessed we are. So, thank you. Thank you. Anything else? So, ditto to that. It is a pleasure um to work for the system and to work again with you. And we look forward for a number of years in the future for you to be here. So, but again, thank you for all you do. And if you want to see these, you're welcome to that as well. So, any other comments or questions? We
063think is it SGA? Is that y'all are here? Good. So, meeting that requirement. Yes. You need an hour. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> There was an agenda not long ago that you should have taken advantage of. So, Look at these first. Yeah, look. You've served your time, so we thank you. Again, the next regularly scheduled meeting will be Thursday, May 21st, right before graduation. It's hard to believe we're that close to the end and 5:30 here. Can I get a motion to adjourn? Motion. Motion. Everybody have a good evening. Thank you for being here. All right.