001all for coming to the March meeting of the Franklin Special School District. We would ask that you would stand as we are led in the pledge of allegiance by Dr. Joe Hoag, the principal of Freedom Intermediate School. And then afterward we ask that you remain standing for a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You may be seated. We have a great exciting agenda tonight. A lot of great awards that we will be giving away. So, be patient with us and we will get to them. So, we're going to turn it over to Miss Bale and she will give us our start us off with our recognitions and good news awards. Hi
002everybody. Sorry I'm late. I'm gonna take over with the recognitions right now. Thank you. Okay, so first we want to call up Dr. Alicia Ericson. Where are you, Dr. Ericson? Here you are. Okay. Dr. Ericson. Um, Popular Grove Elementary School was recently notified of its new designation as a 2425 model professional learning communities at work school. This prestigious designation comes from a from Solution Tree, a renowned educational professional learning company, and it's given to a select number of schools for sustained success in raising student achievement. Popular Grove Elementary's title as the model professional learning communities at work school is one of only five such school designations in Tennessee this year. This honor celebrates schools and districts committed to student success through ongoing job embedded learning for the adults who serve those students. Popular Grove Elementary
003was already a promising practices school and it did not take long for them to achieve the top designation. Dr. Ericson and her faculty and staff have worked hard and put in many hours of professional learning to learn and be able to use the PLC process effectively with fidelity. Well done. Okay, for the next part, Miss Julia Culp, can you come come on up here to help us? Okay. Two Freedom Middle students earned a spot in the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Midstate Honor Orchestra. Making a mid-state ensemble requires going through an extensive audition process that tests students knowledge and preparation of an etude. Did I say that correctly? Etude. Etude. Okay, you're good. Thank you. Scales and sight reading. During a weekend in January, these ensembles were rehearsed by guest conductors and then
004students performed a full concert after a short period of preparation. Thanks to Julia Culp for her work in preparing the students for the audition process and the resulting clinic and concert. Would you like to say the names of the students? Um, eighth grader Kate Lucasiac on the [Applause] violin and Lucas Matai, also an eighth grader on the viola. [Applause] Okay, we've got a few more in this area. Um, the Williamson County Middle School Honor Orchestra is a string orchestra for which students from Williamson County Schools and Franklin Special Schools audition for entry. The Middle School Honor Orchestra is composed of the very best violinist, violist, chist, and double basists in the county in grades seven and eight. In November, nine Freedom Middle students qualified to participate in a clinic with a guest conductor, some on
005two instruments. They then performed a concert for the public after the short weekend of preparation. Special thanks to Miss Culp for preparing the students. We're honored to recognize the following students. Miss Culp, Cecile Peltier, eighth grader on cello. And Cecile was third chair overall in the entire county. Kate Lucasiac, eighth grader, sixth chair overall on violin. Can we have them stand or come up? I don't know. Yeah. If they're here. If they're here. Addie Cavender, eighth grader on the violin. Rihanna Wyn, eighth grader on the viola. Kaylee Damon, eighth grader on the [Applause] viola. Lucas Matai, eighth grader on the [Applause] viola. Selene Braas Guzman, eighth grader on the viola. Finley O'Shea, eighth grader on the cello. And Adrien Wright, eighth grader on the cello. [Applause] Lacrosse and soccer. Is Abby Smith here? Yes, she
006is. Okay, Abby Smith, come on up. Congratulations to Abby Smith of Freedom Middle School, who was the only FSD student to earn a highly acclaimed spot in the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Midstate Honor Band. She qualified as seventh chair trumpet gold band. Making a mid-state ensemble requires an extensive audition process that tests students knowledge and preparation. They have to prepare an etude, scales, and site reading. And during a weekend in January, they were rehearsed by guest conductors and then they performed a full concert. Thanks to Freedom Middle's teacher Julia Culp and Shane Kimbro for their work in preparing the students for the audition and congratulations Abby. We also are going to call up in just a minute some Williamson County Middle School Honor Band students. The honor band is a large concert
007band for which students from Williamson County and Franklin special audition for entry. The middle school honor band is composed of the very best woodwin, brass, and percussion students in the county in grades seven and eight. In January, 11 Freedom Middle students qualified to participate in a clinic with a guest conductor. They then also performed a concert for the public after the short weekend of preparation. Um, thank you Miss Culp and Dr. Kimbro for preparing the students. And will you please call their name? If you're here, please come up so we can recognize you. Indiana on [Applause] flute. Evan Espiritu [Applause] clarinet. Charlotte Hamby [Applause] flute. Caroline Jones clarinet. Brie Larson, [Applause] clarinet, Kazerian Lawrence, [Applause] Tuba, Khani Payton, [Applause] Obo, Eastston Seymour, saxophone, [Applause] Abby Smith, [Applause] trumpet, Parker Boland, [Applause] trumpet, and Caleb Miker,
008French horn. [Applause] We also have um the following FMS students participate in the Williamson County Honors Jazz Band on the third weekend in March. Abby Smith again on trumpet. Please stay up here if your parents want to take a picture. Just stay up for a second so I don't have to run. And then Adrien Wright on the piano. Is Adrien here? [Applause] Adrienne was also the only FSD student to earn a spot in the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Jazz Band along with Abby. This ensemble requires again another extensive audition process. Congratulations students. [Applause] I have the honor of um speaking on the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Elementary Honor Choir. Thank you, Miss Adams, for being up here. Um, congratulations to the 19 Freedom Intermediate School students who were selected to perform as
009part of the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Elementary Honor Choir, which represents grades four through six. They performed at Lipkcom Elementary in Nashville on January 31st and did an amazing job representing Franklin School District. Special thanks to Freedom Intermediate music teacher Candace Adams for her work in preparing these students for this distinguished [Applause] event. Alice Barnes out. Okay. No, I don't think so. Annabelle Baker. [Applause] Anita Coar, Audrey Melendez, [Applause] Bennett [Applause] Golden, Brooklyn Raymond Capri [Applause] Cross, Elijah [Applause] Morris, Elizabeth Nunes. I know she's at a softball game. Grace [Applause] Henry, Jabari, [Applause] Manow, Juliet Manorino, [Applause] McKenzie [Applause] Amos, Mackenzie Hampton, [Applause] Maline [Applause] man, Madison Watson Magnolia Miles. Squeeze on that button. Sammy [Applause] Laner and Willa Schaefer. I don't think she's Yes. Yeah. Right. When you know you're not as tall. As
010you say fun needs instruments. almost thank you very much students. Next we'll have the Next we'll have the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Middle School Honors Choir. Can you hear me? All right. Can you hear me? Next, we'll have the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Middle School choir honors choir. And then we'll have the Williamson County Middle School Honors Choir. So, uh, congratulations to the three Freedom Middle students who performed as part of the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Middle School Honor Choir. Their performance event was also held at Lipkcom Elementary on January 31st. Special thanks to Mrs. Dar for preparing these students for this prestigious event. All right, Maddie Amos, seventh grade. Ellie Lamolino, eighth grade. and Ella Wilsey, eighth grade. It might be both. It's both of ours. [Applause] The Williamson County Middle School Honors Choir.
011Congratulations to the following 8th grade Freedom Middle and Popular Grove Middle students who were selected to perform as part of the Williamson County Middle School Honors Choir. They performed in Thompson Station on October 28th after spending the day working with Professor Jasmine Flip, threetime Grammy nominated music educator and director of coral activities at Tennessee State University. Special thanks to music teachers Mrs. Dar and Mr. Shereki for assisting these students in preparing for this special event. All right. So from Freedom Middle, Sophia [Applause] Carnival, Caitlyn [Applause] Ferguson, Josie Fitzgerald, [Applause] Joshua Eater Day. [Applause] Ellie [Applause] Lamolino, Katie Maggara [Applause] Alexandra [Applause] Misho, Eliza Rei [Applause] Paula [Applause] Rodriguez, Dileia [Applause] Schaefer, Savannah Anna Stevens, Ella Wilsy, and Molly Ziggler. [Applause] So from Papa Grove Middle, we had five students also in this honor choir. Unfortunately,
012this week also lands on our um performance week of our school musicals. So, just about all these students, no surprise, are also involved in that. So, I don't think they're here, but I'm very glad to verbally publicly recognize them as well. So, Jackson Booker, Belle Coggins, Lizzie Cole, Maddie Cow, and Emmy Belbeck. Before you take off, do you mind if I brag about your music teachers? The Franklin [Applause] Special The Franklin Special District extends a heartfelt thank you to the five outstanding music educators for making the fourth grade coral festival on February 22nd a resounding success. hosted at the performing arts center. The event brought teacher, excuse me, the the event brought together over 50 fourth graders and numerous intermediate and middle school musicians for a day of learning and performance. This festival continues to
013celebrate music, foster student connections, and highlight the Franklin Special District's incredible commitment to the arts. Mrs. Adams at Freedom Intermediate, Mrs. [Music] [Applause] Gar of Freedom Middle, Mr. Sherki of Popular Grove Middle organized the festival to uh to to introduce young singers to middle school music programs. The performances shined even brighter with Mr. Gilly of Popular Grove Elementary on the Parlor Grand Piano and Mr. Adams of Moore [Applause] Elementary adding dynamic percussion. Now, we can do better than that. Let's give them a round of applause. [Applause] District presenters for TOSS Associate Leadership Institute. Franklin Special has long been a beacon of educational excellence, setting the standard for best practices that inspire school districts and leaders across the region and state. This year, our influence continues to grow as we receive widespread recognition and high-profile invitations
014to share our expertise. Notably, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendent and TOSS and Aspiring Leadership Institute have sought our leaders to speak reinforcing Franklin Special's reputation as a leader in innovation education. We would like to recognize the following Franklin special district leaders who have presented for toss this year. Charles [Applause] Farmer, Adam [Applause] Deumbrian, Lauren Bower, and Dr. Alicia Ericson. [Applause] shared their leadership experiences in a session titled leading from the middle inspiring and connecting as an assistant principal. Thank you. [Applause] teaching and learning team members Summer Colton and Gina Looney who impressed attendees with their session on using data to support student [Applause] success. And finally, instructional technology specialists Shelley Robinson and and Amber Whitley who presented in the area of expertise with a session on instructional technology safe data-driven learning supports. Thank you.
015[Applause] Next is Monty Ramirez Quuez here. That's good. He's still quiet. [Applause] Want to save it? Yeah, let's save it. Let's save it. All right, we'll wait till they're here and then we'll present that to them. Uh, this time before we move on to public input, if there's anyone who needs to be dismissed, let's take this time a few minutes to do that before we go into our reports and presentations and discussions as well. Thank you all. Certainly appreciate it. That was a lot. All right. Yeah. You see anybody from leadership point? Thought I saw James Johnson. I'll just say it anyway. Oh. Oh. Oh. Okay. All right. All right, we're ready for the good news award for our student artist of the month, Mr. Town. Please come on up. Let's Let's give bring up
016some applause, too. [Applause] The Franklin Special District Student Artist of the Month, Man Ramirez, age nine, Johnson Elementary School. This month's Franklin Special District Artist of the Month is a fourth grader. Monty's work was submitted by Johnson Elementary by her Johnson Elementary teacher, Melanie Johnson. Her selection was created as as fourth grade artists explored landscapes. Students learned about foreground, middleground, background, and their mixed media. Landscapes were created for a variety with a variety of materials and techniques, including torn paper, collage to create texture in their work. Students chose their colors and applied them using oil pastels and watercolor color paint. This last scene covered many elements of art while focusing on space and texture. Monty did a wonderful job and used great craftsmanship. Monty's artwork along with the work of several other Johnson Elementary is
017on display is on display here at the central office gallery. We extend a heartfelt thank you Chuck Sugg of Sonic Drive-In for his invaluable support and sponsoring the student artist of the month. We love celebrating the artists talents of our students and Sonic's gift card makes this recognition extra special. Let's give it up again to Moni. [Applause] And that's her artwork up there in the monitors. Excellent artwork. All right, at this time there's a podium to my right. Is there anyone here for public input? Anyone here for public input? Seeing no one, we declare that public input is closed. Now we will have reports, presentations, and discussions. Uh from one gen away, we have Mr. Chris Whitney. If he would come forward, please. Well, good evening everybody. Good evening. Sorry about my last uh internet
018adventure. Not not well, but thank you for this opportunity to be here. Uh Matt Huff with Gamble Land Planning. So many of you know um we've been here now Ela and I have been here 21 years. One Jen's been here for a little over 11 years now. And so this is something we've dreamed about is a nonprofit center that had no replication of service that would serve our community with no qualifying questions for the most part as we conduct what we do. But this would be a center that would house a um house one gen with a free grocery store, a pay as you can coffee shop. It would also have free dental, free medical counseling, budgeting, access to no overdraft fee checking accounts with budgeting classes. Um, so as you can see here is
019multiple buildings. And what we're asking today is to cover the requirements of tree preservation for the city of Franklin. There's a point4 acre uh set of trees that you'll see kind of marked right here that we need uh to preserve, but it belongs to Franklin Special District, Franklin Elementary School property. And in order for us to qualify to have the land, we need that point4 acres of tree cover, not to change it, not to do anything but to leave it as trees. Must stay green, must stay that way. And so we've offered to uh purchase that point4 acres at the cost uh at 4/10en of the cost of what we're paying for the land. Um so we have a we have an LOI on the land and uh we have to the end of October
020to pay that off and then to have the land and start to function. It'll be called one legacy center. Um that's what it'll be known by. It'll have a separate nonprofit to run it and and adjudicate who's going to be in and out of there as far as tenants go. But the goal is to put nonprofits in that will pay basically a CAM fee, pay everything off on the front end, to lower rent costs, which would drive more of their dollars to what they do every day. And we would like to create a walking path to walk back to Franklin Elementary, so people from the trailer park and places like that would be able to access by foot and they wouldn't have to worry about transportation. Uh Vanderbilt recently did a study that 30% of
021food insecure families are also transportation insecure. So any way we can make this more accessible, the trolley having a stop there, things like that to make it more accessible to our friends and our families that we serve that are in need. Good. All right. Any questions? Um, this is not really related to this and it's not about my opinion regarding this piece of property, but I want to thank you. I do want to let the board know one away supports Nook which supports Franklin special. There are weekly deliveries to schools of food boxes for emergency food boxes that one gen prepares for Nook. Nook grabs them and delivers them to this school. So, um, Nook, I mean, not just Nook, but One Gen serves our students tremendously in our community. Um, but again, I I
022don't have enough information to come to any kind of thought of this, but I do want you to know some things that I've seen them do for our community that I don't know if you guys knew about. I had a question. So, even though that land is already full of trees, it has to be in your name to build this. Okay. Yes. Interesting. Yeah. It's well it's it's a requirement of the city. You have to have so much tree cover and if you take out trees you have to replace them somewhere else and we don't have any cover there. There is yeah well it's covered with trees. The whole land is full of trees. So it's it's a very narrow piece of land. You can see it's a really narrow strange piece of property. So
023there's not much depth to it whatsoever. And all the trees are right there. So we kept point4 acres of trees. We lose 10% of the property. We don't have enough parking which means we don't have enough room for the buildings which means we don't have a facility. Yeah. So the just because of the width of the parking we're not able to to save the percentage of trees that would be required on the property as it is today. But if we add that piece of property to to the uh one gen property that we're talking about then we can get to that percentage. So that's the only thing. So nothing would happen within those bounds. it just those trees would count toward the project's preserve tree canopy. I think that city of Franklin requirement is an
024excellent requirement. Of course you do. But I had big plans for that point4 acres. But no, I think that what you said, Alicia, is something we we all should know that one way supports Franklin, Williamson County, Middle Tennessee. We're so lucky to have you here. So, I would hope I can do whatever I can do to help support you doing more. Okay. Thank you. And refresh my memory. You've been um a supporter of Franklin Special District from the beginning, from your inception of starting. As long as I can remember when we started, we worked with social workers here since we day one since we began. We started in the trailer parks. We started in the public housing right that your students serve. That's where we started delivering out of the back of our car. That's
025where we started. All right. Anyone else? Appreciate it, Chris. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I just had one question. What are next steps on this? What are our next steps? Well, I think that we'll have the opportunity at the next board meeting if you're ready to vote at that point is to And I don't know, Chris, did you give a dollar amount? Uh, it's $225,000. So, the plan, you know, we never submit have a presentation and a vote on the same night. So that's why we said gave Chris an opportunity to come and demonstrate what he wanted to do and what the and then the next process would be for the board to approve it if that's if that's the board's decision. But that would be at the April meeting. Okay. Chris, are you
026constrain do you have any time constraints where you need action from us by a certain date? I mean the sooner the better. I mean, we've got till October 31st to close the deal completely. Raised two 2.25 million. And we don't want to get just without getting too technical, but the geotech, we already know all the ribbon from the greeting card factory was dumped in that land. So, we know the geotech's going to go to a phase two, which is $50,000. So, and we that's just one of the steps along the way just to get approval. So, before we sink 50,000 in, we'd rather know if it if it's even feasible or not. Does that make sense? you know, from a fidiciary responsibility side. So, we're getting ready to start investing some real money as they
027say, you know, so that's the sooner the better we could come up with an answer would be would be helpful for us. Thank you again. Appreciate it. Thank you. Teaching and learning. Yes, sir. Thank you. Tonight, the teaching and learning spotlight shines on the science textbook adoption process. Tennessee is adopting new science K12 textbooks and resources. So now is an opportune time to revisit the textbook adoption process which in the FSD is overseen by curriculum and professional learning supervisor Dr. Summer Carlton. The state textbook pro adoption process is administered in accordance with the statutory requirements as outlined in Tennessee code annotated and the rules and policies of the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission. Once the local districts in the state are provided with the list of state approved vendors, local school systems must
028adopt books on the official list or submit a waiver request to the department to use textbooks or materials not on the approved list. All of the books under consideration in the Franklin Special District are on the approved list. During each adoption cycle, typically the core content areas adopt a new textbook every six to seven years. The FSD selects members for the textbook review committee. These committees are set up by grade and subject matter fields and in alignment with state law are composed of teachers, administrators, supervisors, and parents with children enrolled in the district at the time of appointment to the committee. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, teachers and supervisors who serve on the committee must be teaching or supervising the respective grade or subject that's being adopted at the time of appointment and
029must be licensed to teach in the state with endorsements in the subject matter or grade level for which textbooks or instructional materials are being reviewed. teachers and supervisors on the committee must have three or more years of experience in public schools. After the textbook committee makes its recommendation to the school board, the director of schools records the list of all textbooks and materials adopted by the board, forwards a copy of the recorded adoption to the commissioner of education, and posts the list on the district's website. On February 17th, 2025, which was a district professional learning day, the FSD held a science textbook caravan during which vendors from several of the textbooks that are on the state's approved list and thus are highly vetted and 100% aligned to the Tennessee academic standards, each presented to teachers
030overviews of the new resources. Additionally, FSD educators have the opportunity at their convenience to review samples of these textbooks at each school site. On April 1st, parents and community members can view if they wish the potential textbooks to be adopted and offer their input from 11:30 to 12:30 at the PAT connector gallery. And then on April 2nd, the science textbook adoption committee will meet to reach a consensus as to which textbooks to recommend to the FSD board for approval to adopt at the May 2025 board meeting. With approval, the next step will be to schedule personalized professional learning for teachers that will begin in the summer of 2025 and will continue as needed for the life of the science adoption. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions, comments? I do have a question. Are we letting
031parents know maybe via email or something about that period where they can review this? It will be on social media. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. And I had a question. How many parents are we typically on the committee? Usually anywhere between one and three. Okay. And then just as out of curiosity, because some people talk about this, what typically pushes the committee towards a certain book if they're all approved? So what how do you guys kind of finalize it or what usually leads that charge of what you finally decide on? I think number one and all the textbooks that we consider are 100% aligned to the standards, but I think that teachers will find that certain textbooks go even more deeply into the essential standards than others. So that's definitely a factor. In Franklin special, we
032look closely at what the supports and res resources are not only for tier one instruction that everyone receives, but what are the supports for English learners, what are the supports for students with disabilities, for example, how are we making sure that students who need to be have their learning enhanced and pushed to the next level, what are the supports provided there? When that is all built into the textbooks and resources, it makes it much more attractive to teachers. I noticed on the um science textbook adoption committee um the teachers range from three years to 41 years and there were 40 um listed to a tune of 834 hours um um years of experience. So, and all of the schools were represented. So, I I really appreciate the thorowness of um making sure younger teachers who
033again need to um see this process and appreciate the body of work that they are entrusted to look at as well as our more seasoned professionals who this is something that they've done multiple times. So, thank you for that. Thank you for mentioning that. And I have to credit Dr. Carlton and also the school principles and assistant principles who recommend educators for the committee. I also did the math. I've got it on my little sticky note over here. Well, I got 52 total members of the committee. I didn't count which were like because there were 25 on each page I thought and then an extra two. But it's okay. I mean it's it's I got 900. But the point is the point is that the point is the combined years of experience is significant. This
034is not a light matter. It is not taken lightly by the district and there are opportunities for parents and other people in our community to review. Absolutely. Thank you for saying that. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yes sir. Uh anything from finance and administration? Uh no sir. Nothing to report this month. All right. Okay. Uh now several of us attended the COPA national conference over the past few days. So if anyone would like to share now is the time. As I normally talk about conferences, it's a great time to meet other people who are in the same I say work, volunteer work that we're in, schoolboard members, superintendent who care about kids, want to move move forward. So, an incredible amount of sessions, great energy from the groups that I met. Um, a lot of sessions.
035Of course, there were sessions on AI. I love that. Uh, my favorite general session speaker was Brandon Farbstein. He's a person who is he has dwarfism and he says it's a unique sort of dwarf dwarfism and he wrote a book LA kid it's um it's a kids book self-love that was there for purchase and also uh 10 feet tall which of course is a play in the fact that he's not even four feet tall incredible motivational speaker um so anyway that just I don't want to I could talk all day long but I just want to say I'm so glad we had the opportunity for this time to go, meet other people, do what we do, and it was great also for the so many of the board members were able to go. It was
036great for us to have that time to bond as well. A great a great uh great learning opportunity. I'll jump in. Um, I wanted to say that um, all three of the speakers um, Brandon Leila Ali as well as Princess Sarah Colbertson um, they were all three phenomenal and I thought they really hit it out of the ballpark with the sessions that they had and all three of them were unique. Ila Ali was um she shared in her story she was asked to not return to a couple of schools and she also unfortunately had to go into a group home um in addition to um just really the struggles of being in public education but more importantly the struggles she was personally having and um but she had um people who were in public education
037who stepped and to love her well and love her um according to the way she needed to be loved. And because of that, she was able to channel that unfortunate energy into a positive area which she became a professional boxer and um share the story of just um how she has moved and parlayed that into her branding of um cooking and and um it was just it was phenomenal. But also, you shared about Brandon, but Princess Sarah Colbertson were was also unique in that she was um a mixed race child um adopted into a white family. And um just again um unbeknownst to her, she had no idea that her birth father was um a prince it with Sarah Leon. And the part of the reason why she the adoption part took place was because
038of the fact that they were fighting a civil war over in um Sarah Leon and just again it's going to be turned into a movie. I I bought all everybody's books but um and tried to take a picture with just about everybody I could but it was what what they all three had in common were they were not our normal students and they all had came with challenges. And my take on all three of them was um what are you know obviously it's easy to love and and and just to educate those who are easy to um just be a part of our our our our program and our educational system but the harder cases um it's just unique to see um the blessings that can come out of some of our more difficult students
039and um it I was also challenged because I went into two sessions and in these two sessions they were students um high school students that were teaching the class and they shared about their leadership experience. My question to them was how were you um given leadership opportunities in elementary and intermediate and middle school because that's our area of focus. and they shared incredible stories of how they were able to serve and be a part of um their school experience. And so it was I I was very enriched just um not just hearing the stories, the networking, being a part hearing our phenomenal um administrators lead, but it was also encouraging to specifically um see some of the additional lenses that I wouldn't normally see if I went to a conference. So, it was very beneficial
040and I'm very grateful that we were able to go. Thank you, Robin. Yeah, I'll share quickly. It was a great conference. Uh, it was good to meet people from all over the country. Many of us are feeling the same challenges in public education, I guess I would say. And that was just good to kind of hear it's not just us or there's there's issues going on, but everybody was positive about public education, which was great. I did some AI which was very challenging and fun and all that but that was a little intimidating. One of the things I wanted to share about Brandon that I hope principles will share with their teachers is that he showed a slide and said this woman saved my life and it was his librarian in middle school. And he
041shared quite a bit about her and how he didn't know if he would have maybe taken his own life if he hadn't known her. And actually she was going to retire before he got out of middle school and he he just said I don't think I'll make it and she stayed another year. It was just really makes you think about how one person in your school, one staff or member can you don't know, you know, and he shows her picture now all over the world and and attributes a lot of his ability to keep going on because of her and that just means a lot and I know our staff do that every day and we have relationships with students. But when you see that and you hear his story and you think that really
042was significant for him and just encourages us to keep going, right? You never know who you're going to influence and how you're going to influence them. It was a good conference overall. Thank you. It was a conference. It was COPA and I have really nothing different to add our fellow board members have not already added. So, I'll yield the remainder of my 45 minutes back to you. All right. Don't need that much. But, uh, again, it was a great conference. But um I was uh very pleased by the classes I took, but I was more impressed by the four people who represented Franklin Special District. They all did a great job. Uh Mary Decker, Pax Weamers, Amber Whitley, and Drew Bingham. Uh they had two separate sessions and even being in the district, I learned
043a lot from their session. So uh they were both well attended and they had great feedback. So, I want to congratulate and thank them for doing an amazing [Applause] job. Anything else? All right, we'll move on. Approval of the board agenda. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Is there a second? All right. Is there any additions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Approval of the consent agenda. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Is there a second? All right. Any additions? All in favor? All right. Business before the board. Dr. Snoke. Uh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first item is a resolution to meet requirement for teacher bonuses under the Educational Freedom Act. The freedom the education freedom act requires that in order to receive funds for the $2,000 teacher bonus outlined
044in the legislation, the local board must first adopt a resolution affirming that the LEA, excuse me, that the LEA would like to participate in section four of the educational freedom act. And that's the teacher bonus part. to participate in the bonus part of the legislation. It is not required for a board of education to express support for the Educational Freedom Act. And as you recall, the board passed a resolution last year opposing uh educational freedom acts or um we refer to it, it's more commonly referred across the United States as a voucher, a voucher program. We have included the resolution in your packet and the administration recommends approval. Do we want the resolution read or have you read it in your packet if I can read it out? Read it in the packet. Okay, good.
045I I do have a comment. uh whatever action we take here in our vote in no way to be abundantly clear expresses support in any way whatsoever for this u educational freedom act of 2025. It does however express tremendous support for our teachers. Thank you sir. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion to approve the resolution. Is there a second? Second. All right. Is there any other comments or discussion? If not, we'll do a roll call vote. Mr. Townsel, approve. Miss Newman, yes. Mr. Blair, yes. Miss Bale, approved. Mr. Stillings? Yes. Miss Barker? Yes. All right, we are approved. Thank you. Item number two, policy revision background investigation. Second reading. TSBA has provided model policy guidance for revisions to this policy and provisions outlining options that districts may choose. Revisions follow FSD practice. There
046were no changes on first reading. Administration recommends approval of the second reading. Thank you, sir. Is there a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Spale. Is there a second? Mr. Newman, is there discussion? I have discussion. Yes, sir. Um just from a u a narrative point of view on the uh line 18 of the policy excuse me the wrap back program that should all be capitalized that is a federal program formalized program so should be uh capitalized and um I know It's coded in TCA that um background checks are required to be done at least once every five years. But that's kind of the purpose of the ratback program is so that they don't have to be done every five years. So, I think when the amendment was added at the uh state level to
047kick that requirement back in, they kind of re uh uh reduce some of the benefit of the wrapback program. Just a point of clarification on that. And that's all I got. Thank you, sir. Have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? All in favor? approved. Um item three is proposed time change for the beginning start time for regularly scheduled board meetings. As you recall, there was a discussion at the board retreat regarding the possible change of the start time for board meetings. Uh in my recollection, I believe the discussion led to the possibility of beginning the meetings at 6 pm instead of the current 6:30m start. This item is on the agenda for the board to further discuss and consider a time change. I think Mr. Tazel, you led that discussion. You want to
048add anything? Well, I think you your notes captured what I recall as well. I initially started with something as I said 5:00 and quickly was told, you know, you have I wanted my thought was administrators have a long day. They come here very early, let them go to home early. No one's complained. No one said, "Hey, Kevin, please do this." I just thought I would suggest that the room I the feedback I got was that's too early. What about parents want to come and attend like tonight? Tonight was a blessing. All the parents that came to support their kids, that's phenomenal. So, I don't want to cut that out. So, they said, "All right, 5:00's too early." So, I thought, "What about 5:30?" Same thing there. Sometimes we meet a little early. 5:30 is still
049a bit of a stretch. So, I think we sort of landed though. We didn't vote. The vibe I got was six o'clock made the me most sense. And I also asked the administrators to let me know, give me your thoughts. I actually did get uh probably three emails and one message was sent to me from my wife who works in the district. So, and they were all saying yes, let's let's let's move forward with it. So, with that, I think I'm reading the room right to say this would be a benefit even though I want to be crystal clear. No one came to say Kevin, I hate it. Please move it. It didn't happen. But the sense I get is that this would be beneficial to our administrators. Shorten the date a little bit with
050that. I move that we I move I want to make a motion that we change the time from 6:30 the current start to six o'clock. Could we Could we set a starting date for that on when that would occur at the earliest time possible? Meaning if if you have some sort of a notice requirement, you've already said it's later than this. Maybe we can't change it. If we don't have a notice requirement, I'd like to do it as soon as possible. I mean, we can easily get that information out. is not when is our next Yeah, that's right. The top 40 reception has invitation invitations have already gone out. Could we recommend that we start in May instead of April since we've already established that? Absolutely. That be would you add that to your motion,
051please? Yes. I'll take it as a friendly amendment to my motion. So with that, my motion is that we move the start time from the 6:30 p.m. current start time to 6 to 6 pm and for that to start as early as the May meeting. All right. Can we get a second? I'll second that. All right. Can we get other discussion or is there any other discussion? [Music] We have 5:30 with on days. How many times now do we have those early? Is it like with the night of celebration? Have we There's less since we started a night of celebration. There's not as many. And Okay. So, and on those how how far advanced notice do people generally get for those evenings? Oh gosh. says that you remember me. Okay. Yeah. Right. Well, I'm talking
052about people who may actually be being celebrated so they can plan if they need to leave early for work. I'm just questioning if how much notice they get. Okay. If this is approved, would you mind sending us another annual agenda just so that we can make sure we update our calendars that your the annual agenda only shows you the month that of what occurs what typically occurs on the board meeting. It doesn't give you an exact time or exact. So, but yeah, we can send you another one. Do you have concerns about I do not. I think that most people six I mean there are always going to be people probably that work different hours but I think if with enough advanced notice if they want to attend a six o'clock time seems reasonable. As
053far as I know I haven't heard anybody I mean it's kind of like Mr. Towns said you know it's our job to be here. Uh so if whatever time the board sets to to have a meeting, that's what time we'll be here. Any other discussion? All right, we have a motion and a second. All those Let's do a roll call vote. Miss Barker, yes. Mr. Stillings, yes. Miss Bale, yes. Mr. Blair, yes. Mr. Newman, yes. Mr. Towns. Yes, we are approved. Thank you. Director for schools. Yes. First on the COPA national conference. Uh it I did think it was a good conference and lot lot of good information, great opportunity, but I especially wanted to mention again and Mr. Blair's already mentioned, but the data practices that reach new heights for students uh and then
054presented by Dr. Decker and Dr. We in connecting the pieces of instruction and technology two departments with one goal presented by Dr. Whitley and Drew Bingham. We're going to formally recognize presenters at both the COSPA and AASA. We had a presentation at AASA u earlier this month regarding our therapy dog program. So, and those folks that participated uh did a great job. Miss Rearen participated, Dr. Farmer, Miss Patton, uh Dr. Decker and most importantly the star of the presentation, Wilson. Uh, okay. Wilson on the plane. That got like the most likes on Instagram. Well, I'll try to be quick, but I'll tell you this story. I thought it was going to be Wilson running back up the ramp and me chasing him because we said Dr. Farmer and I getting on the plane. I was
055going to video because Wilson had never been on a plane. Uh, and he acted like he had never been on the plane or get at least getting there. So, as he's going down the ramp to the plane, he has hesitated at some of the I don't know what there's not there's sections where I guess the when it collapses or folds up that anyway. So, he did okay. Dr. farmer coached him over that maybe with a treat or two. But he gets to the entrance to the plane and he's having none of it. So he starts pulling back. Dr. Farmer's pulling to put him on the plane. His collar comes off. So he's look I'm standing behind him trying to make sure he doesn't take back take off the ramp, but uh Dr. Farmer coraled him
056and got him on the plane. And he was a hit a hit on the plane. He was a hit at during the presentation. Well, he did sleep during part of the presentation, but I think he was so worn out pre-presentation because uh Dr. Farmer was parading him around and uh and getting people excited to come to the session. So, I think he think we may have worn him out, but uh yeah, everywhere we went, if Wilson was there, there was attention. So, he was the star of the show, and he actually said he was going to do the presentation, but the flight kind of messed him up. So we talked far for Wilson that day. So how did you getting back on? Uh that was Dr. Decker and Dr. Farmer. I wasn't on that flight,
057but yeah, we'll recognize all the presenters at national conferences at our April meeting as well. Uh you had information last month about the enrollment period and and those are are in your packet. Uh that's continuing to go well. Uh, also April 11th, we have our kindergarten kickoff at all schools and we're continuously sending out communications to all families regarding the registration process and have lots of information on our website. This Saturday is an opportunity. We have a recruitment fair. We're we're excited to host that. Uh from 9 to 11, all schools and departments will be represented as we look forward to meeting these individuals who are interested in the Franklin Special District. Uh you are certainly welcome if you have time that morning to stop by and possib possibly greet the future FSD employees. But
058I think we have 60. Where's Sonia? How many registered? 60. 60 who are registered at this point in time, but we may have more. Some of those are virtual, right? Okay. But most will be at the Oh, no. I'm sorry. The gym at Papa Grove Elementary or Papa Grove, the new gym. It's a great space uh for that. And we had a great turnout last year. and uh principles. I think we got some really good teachers from that career fair. So, so we're looking forward to that as well this time. Uh work session to update the director of school performance goals is scheduled to begin at 5:00 on April 3rd in the leadership room here. Um and we've asked if you had conflicts to let us know. Our top 40 volunteers will be April 14th
059at our next board meeting. We have a valuable group of men and women who will be recognized that night. Five volunteers from each of our schools and then there will be a reception for those individuals prior to the board meeting. Our night of celebration, April 24th. We ask you to mark your calendars for that night. Honoring honoring you, excuse me, honoring our newest retirees, also our teachers, novice teachers, classified employees, teachers of the year, novice teachers of the year, classified employees, principal and supervisor of the year, the newest national board certified teachers, and I don't think we have any of those this year, right, Dr. De? Uh, and our newest legacy recipients. So hopefully you can attend that of April 24th. our budget process for FY 2526. The work sessions are scheduled for April 28th,
060May the 19th, and June the 16th. As usual, the first session will concentrate on operation budgets for both finance, administration, and teaching and learning. Revenue and personnel will be the focus in the second work session, and the third session will review the cumulative impact of the budget work from the first two sessions and hopefully facilitate the uh completion of that process. Young Scholars Institute June the 2nd through the 6th and 9th through the 13th. Registration is open for that camp for independent, highly motivated students who have completed first through 8th grade. Applications are online and at this point, Dr. Carlton told us this morning at staff meeting that we were well ahead of the enrollment that we had last year. And the reason we believe is we started the advertisement or the the announcing announcing
061of the the dates of young scholars earlier. Do you remember about how much they increase? I'm I know I'm putting you on the spot. I know registrations of the beginning. Okay. 536 537 already. Summer learning camps. Our summer learning camp this year will be in operation Monday through Thursday as as it has for the last two years for four weeks June the 2nd through the 26th. Planning is currently ongoing. The camp will give first priority to those students needing additional support to prepare for the next school year and may also be available to other current FSD students as space allow. That's all I have. Thank you. Thanks. Uh updates, teaching and learning. Nothing additional, sir. All right. Finance administration. Yes, sir. You guys all have your HR packets um as well as the sales tax
062collection report. I I see one I one eyebrow that acknowledges he read the report. February collections um reflect a 24% increase. And I did check with our accounting coordinator who sent me the form from our trustee. Uh so the trustee put it in writing. So it's a 24% increase monthtomonth from last year which makes our year-to- date 7.3% uh over the previous year. I think that's just from the price of eggs. That's true. Maybe. Maybe. So, there's a lot of eggs eating around. All right. Anything else? Any questions for Mr. Actually for you. It's not about that. Oh, okay. Any announcements from board members? Well, I've got a request, Dr. Snowden. um before our next meeting um before we vote on the potential for selling the property to one gen away. We all love One
063Gen, we want to support them, but can you help us think of and it won't need to be in discussion. You can just send us an email with pros and cons so that way we can ask you questions individually and gain some more information as to how this could affect our school nearby. Um, and just especially as they're talking about increased foot traffic, do we have any additional concerns for safety? However, we do have the benefit of knowing these the people who run this business and know that they'll be likely good neighbors. Um, but I'm sure there are things we're not considering. Uh, and I would love some guidance and thoughts from you on all of that. Yeah. And we certainly can do that. that tonight was the first time I'd heard of a a
064sidewalk connecting to the school. I mean, and I didn't see that on the initial discuss or initial document that we received either, but we'll we'll talk about it and see pros and cons if we see um things that be negative. And I don't know how much foot traffic we would would increase walking by the school or not. I mean, I guess it could be Um, but those trailer parks are pretty far away. Um, but we'll talk about it. We'll give you something. Any other comments from board members? I just finished counting, Alicia, and you were correct. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. So, when we get to when we get to adopting the math textbooks, do they both want to be on that? We'll consult with also didn't see the two parents on the list,
065too. So, uh, is there anyone here from leadership Franklin tonight? And maybe if y'all would stand, let us recognize you. I thought thought there were a couple of people there. [Applause] Thank you for coming out, being at our meeting. If there's nothing else that commands the attention of the board, we are dismissed. All right.