001[Music] he [Music] oh [Music] he [Music] a [Music] [Laughter] a [Music] he [Music] to order and uh M Jones you you have a word for us understand I don't know if I have a word because I'm a pass I was wondering um but I I do want to take this time I do feel like we would be remiss if we did not take this time to take a moment of silence for one of our colleagues and friends who is no longer here with us um Steve durus Steve was a very integral part of our our team especially I know for the board and and the school system kept us on track kept us afloat and so we want to take this time to just pause and honor him thank okay uh on our agenda we
002we got a a couple little things roll call Mr roll call thank you so you got me all messed up chairman Smith here Mrs black here Mr Connor here Mr Dy here Mr groan here Mrs Haden here Mrs Jones here Mr Kean here Mrs Schaefer here Mr Slater here M Miss Thomas here Dr Robertson here okay thank you Mr Mary uh couple of of Corrections we need to make and then we'll ask to approve the agenda down under uh board matters policies on first read policy number 6311 cell phone use should be a first and final read so there's a correction there and then uh special courses renewal 2526 uh correction there on Blake Freeman and then School nutrition for inclement weather okay got those so I'll ask for a motion to approve the agenda
003I have some requests to pull out items to discuss okay we we'll we'll we'll get there okay okay so I need a motion to approve the agenda move to approve the agenda second okay Mr Mary I'm sorry before we vote can I ask for a point of procedure Scott yeah so if if I don't want the cell phone policy to be a first and final and prefer it to stay as a first read should I vote against the agenda well or you could just simply move when it when it comes up you could ask that it be table to next month um but but the way the the way it was intended by by the chair was it be on the agenda as a first and final and I that's I see that it's not
004so moving it is part of this vote but there's other ways to go about it okay Mr Mayor Mrs black yes Mr Connor yes Mr Dy yes Mr groan yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes Mr Keane yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Miss Thomas yes chairman Smith yes pledge and flag meditation Miss Moses welcome you thank you uh good evening first I want to start by saying thank you guys for your service um and all that you do for our kids every single day um but if everyone would please stand we'll do the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all thank you good evening everyone as we begin
005tonight's meeting I want to take a moment to reflect on the role of our schools not only as places of learning but as beacons of safety hope and opportunity for our students February is Black History Month a time when we celebrate resilience achievements and contributions of African-Americans through through history we are celebrating some great people at Hunter Middle School um this month and a powerful story that stood out to me is one of Ruby Bridges in 1960 at just 6 years old Ruby walked through the doors of an all-white school facing unimaginable hostility but despite the fear and uncertainty around her inside those classroom walls she found a teacher who nurtured her a space where she could learn and a future that was brighter because of her courage despite the angry crowds the threats and
006isolation she showed up every day determined to learn she faced unimaginable adversity but remained focused on her education thanks to the support of her teacher and her own unshakable resilience today in our times of uncertainty whether from Global events Community challenges or even personal struggles our schools must continue to be that safe haven for every child who walks through our doors no matter what is happening in our world let's reaffirm that our classrooms will be places of safety acceptance and inspiration just as they were for Ruby Ruby's story is a reminder that progress in education isn't always easy but it's always worth fighting for whatever we are addressing challenges whether we addressing challenges excuse me in our own schools advocating for students or making decisions that shape our future we must remember that every step
007forward matters because just like Ruby Bridges the students in our schools are capable of greatness when we create an environment where they feel supported included and empowered to learn as we move forward tonight let's remember our decisions shape the environment which our students grow let's commit to making it a place where they feel secured valued and empowered to write their own stories of courage and success thank you thank thank you m Moses uh board disclaimer I think it one applies to one of us now do it does not apply I'll start it off we'll just do with one it does apply to that's really all we have to do I declare I declare I declare that I have a relative who works for the school system and that the board's vote on budget policies Etc
008may have an on my relatives employment even so I hereby certify that I will cast my vote in the best interest of the school system okay motion to approve our consent agenda motion to approve second motion second any items to be be pulled uh yes sir uh I would like to uh discuss uh 6B B and C uh 6b1 B B and C okay so that's request a pool of giant steps I just want some information on that um the class retainer agreement is is 6b1 C and um definitely want to pull A1 7 A1 any particular one or or we don't actually to pull 7 A1 because that's not on that's only consent okay okay thank you okay anything else okay M Mary Mrs black yes Mr Connor yes Mr Dy yes Mr GR
009yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes Mr Keen yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Miss Thomas yes chairman Smith yes request approval of giant steps for 25 26 school year um is is this the first time we're utilizing Giant Steps no sir this a ongoing contract that we've had for a number of years it's for like repairs of band instruments okay and and and this is through the company go Guardian right I think giant Stu is a local company okay thank you all right motion to approve we have one other we did one in time right move to approve second M Mary Mrs black yes Mr Connor yes Mr Dy yes Mr groan yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes Mr Keane yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Miss Thomas yes chairman Smith
010yes Coalition of large schools retainer agreement Cowan public strategy Larry um this is a three-year contract $5,000 a month for three years one year one year are you sure I am for sure um I can give details if you'd like March 2024 the school board approved a three-year retainer agreement that's where I was getting the three years from um having gone to the legal and legislative um meeting on the 10th and 11th of February um I've I've attended and gotten the paperwork on class and I'm having I'm having a difficult time justifying this money being spent um I didn't I didn't think I got I didn't go to the class meeting this year because the last time they had this meeting I didn't I spent an hour hearing exactly what I had already heard um
011and of course they did give me another collection uh a more detailed collection of the summaries and items on the legislation that year but it wasn't anything like I said that I hadn't already heard so I think there's a reason I believe it was Knoxville dropped out of this agreement and now it's only Metro Nashville Memphis and Hamilton County because it's for large schools um I'm questioning whether we should continue continue this so I'm you know nobody agrees they want to talk about this that's fine we got several lights on Mr gr so thank you Mr L um it's my understanding that once the funding changed to Tissa that this class had pretty much done what it was supposed to have done am I missing something yeah I'm I'm not sure what they were getting
012to formed to get more funding for the large school districts right Ben may have more history I'm not so please as a chair I can go if you want but okay um okay so background of of class is absolutely correct um when the BP was first started um it negatively impacted larger school districts um and and the funding was so out of balance that we along with the other larger school districts were in a lawsuit against the state um to try to make the funding correct we only removed that lawsuit when Tissa was passed um because of that so to answer your question yes it was originally created for that aspect um since then it has turned into something that is is extremely helpful in my opinion obviously I I'm in there a lot um
013I have received some awesome compliments in this discussion about of bringing this information to you all but to be very clear a lot of what I get is coming from Robert talking about these things because Robert it it's his job I'm going to be in Nashville somewhere between four and eight times over the session but uh Robert and other people that work in these types of things are are there every day so they have the ears of uh of our legislators because they know they're going to see them and they have more insight to be able to share with us things that happen uh to talk to Larry's Point exactly when when you go to the tsba meetings they do review a lot of these things and they're very detailed Nolan uh coms their new
014member is is awesome at at registering these things and putting them through but as is also mentioned with us Knoxville Shelby Metro Nashville and I'll even include Rutherford uh since they have more students than us um it's a drastically different animal and tsba for all the good that they do they have about they have over 140 school districts that they represent with five of them being as large as us or larger so it's a drastically different animal and it's something that that we require to have a different level of uh touch in the in specifically up in Nashville and specifically with the legislators specifically on a day-to-day basis um I actually was just in the break got my email from Robert for tomorrow's meeting so tomorrow we'll spend an hour just as Larry mentioned um
015going over the laws now the difference is that with tsba we had one meeting and that will be the only meeting for everybody they do have a monthly meeting to go over a little bit of things but it's still not as long I meet at least once a week with Robert um and the other school districts and and our members of our Administration to go over what's important right now um the for instance is last Thursday I got an email that had 75 new or changing legislative items for uh for just this week um and then we sat in the meeting and went over the different ones and specifically you know things that things that I could notice would be uh and and obviously do is that when something uh is uh is sponsored by
016Bo Watson Bo is the chairman of ways and means his sponsoring of a bill carries a little bit more weight than uh your regular Senator but often times a thing that I won't know is that a senator has a relationship with a different school system or has a relationship with a different School extracurricular activity or or those things that may mean that we need to watch this bill more closely um I say all that to say uh unfortunately as much as I try and as much as you guys know that I love it U I don't have the same level of touch in Nashville that that this allows us uh and in today's day and age we have to have something of this nature to be constant we've heard I've heard this DS say a
017few times the squeaky wheel gets the oil uh we need somebody that's even more squeaky than me that's there every day and if we don't choose to go with this situation uh where we have somebody that already has Tennessee schools in mind specifically our siiz districts what do we do do we hire our own at a very extravagant cost do we ask somebody to add it to their Plate at a lower cost potentially also a lower attention level so there's all that that that those are the things I'd want to say but I also do need to say as Larry just noticed in this contract the only reason that this is up for conversation is because there's a name change so the the uh The Firm changed who is in The Firm so legally we
018have to change contracts we did uh pass unanimously a contract last session last board uh for three years so since the partnership has changed we now have to uh do another contract Robert specifically wrote it so that it was only one year so we didn't feel like were getting trapped into something we had the opportunity to um to hopefully approve this one and then see how it works with just he at the at the helm um and I would also just take this last second to remind him that in good faith Robert has already been working for us for almost two months because this contract if passed would back dat to Jan one of this year so all these calls I've been talking about that I've been on and all the communication that I've shared
019with you all has come in good faith from him already uh for this year so I have two questions okay um do we pay an extra fee to class to be part of that group we we do pay uh the Robert gwan and what is he calling it now sorry we do pay Robert Gan a fee to represent us and it is the same fee it's not any more or less so even though we have less students we pay the same that Nashville and Shelby Memphis Shelby pays okay well I do have a problem because one of the things says exploring legislative opportunities to advance the class agenda well I don't know what their agenda is so basically the agenda is what we hand them so our legislative agenda that we passed in December I
020handed to Robert and that has gone over and they look through everything if there's something that is at odds there has only been a handful of items that we have ever been really at odds with the other two now but used to be three and he has made a point in his conversations to say I'm talking to the person from Memphis Shelby this Memphis representative needs to know that your school system wants this Hamilton does not but again that is very infrequent we typically are pretty high level and looking at things that are very important to to us as a whole in including uh gaining Tisa funding um and and it does it falls in line well with tsba but again there's some nitty-gritty of being so large comparatively and how many voices they're hearing
021it's that's that's why the be passed before because there were so many voices for the rural counties and we have voices but not as many since there's only four of us okay last last thing I hope I will answer them all night didn't we hire a legislative person last year to to do this that that is Robert G same that is who yeah you guys hired me but I didn't see any increase in my paycheck so if the stiens if we're talking stiens we can get down okay I'm going to make a motion we Double B from zero to zero I I think Mr Slayer may be referring to if you remember a while back there was like an a lobbyist before this board was set we brought a position because we we were having
022the same discussion about it's class The Right Move we got some grant funding for a position that we were going to have to I want to say maybe a third of it previous board had a lot of concerns with doing that and so we backed away and did not hire that position and just stay our current course with class that's actually good to know thanks okay Mr King the other thing uh Robert does that if when sessions are over you can ask Senator Watson to send you a summary of all the laws that were passed and summarized it was last last year I can speak it was over 500 pages and uh Robert condensed it down to the educational laws that came in still at if I remember correctly 92 pages but it was worded
023in layman's terms uh rather than uh legal terms and uh it made things very clear on uh where schools stood where legislators stood and where really our next challenges were going to be okay Ben one more thing I'm sorry wait a minute wait a minute I I have to come back to you okay sorry Ben thank you chairman uh Ben I think you might be selling yourself short though because I think you do a fantastic job keeping us up the date and I also have to admire you for lobbying for the lobbyist that that is of impressive for the help my perspective is this it's this this is a $60,000 line item more than a teacher assistant any part-time role more or less uh less than 28 hours we also pay dues to tsba who
024in my opinion does an incredible job keeping us in the loop um I'm not minimizing what what that individual does with gwan I'm sure he does great work I just think it goes back to where we are in a season right now with a budget where there's a conversation need be had about must haves or nice to haves okay thank you Mr da G um I don't know if you or Scott is the right person to ask probably you how many bills that touch education or our operations as an Lea in a session from January to April may come through every year whether they pass or fail like how many bills are are we paying them to track at this point so that's a great question and it's actually slightly less this year but only
025because they've put a cap on the amount of bills that any member can file um but there is not a a minimum of caption bills which are right amendments to things so if you're asking for a number I think that's a great way to start is last week there were 75 new items for us to discuss that had either come as a newly filed item come as a newly captioned item or come as uh they've taken another step meaning they had passed a a committee or they had been tabled or they had other things cuz that feels like a number that's outside the bounds of a public servant to do like any of us whether we're the legislative representative or not um I don't know that I could track that many bills also I'm not
026driving to Nashville um I like to know just personally as a board member what bills are being discussed in Nashville that could prob possibly touch our operations either budg budget or policy while they're being discussed I don't want to hear about it later after it's passed especially if I don't think it's a good idea if I need to talk to my Representatives I want to do that while they're discussing the bill and having 75 new items a week is not something that I feel like one person who is a public servant and not being paid a salary is able to track and I think that's the advantage to us is being able to participate in the legislative process in Nashville when they're passing bills that concern us okay M um so tsba is it is
027a is an organization that we are a part of and do they support us yes they do however it's been my experience with tsba um in interactions frommy to leadership conferences to National U sorry n State conventions um and it's very telling when we go to the delegate assembly and we sit and listen to the things that are being brought up to us as to um where tsba is going to lobby and their position on things or the things that have been brought forth for tsba to Lobby on when you walk when you listen and watch um the counties that present that they are the smaller counties and I nothing against our smaller counties but I do think that their perception and experience uh varies um from those of a larger school system I'm not
028really sure I still haven't been able to really determine where Knoxville stepped out but nevertheless not really sure why Knoxville stepped away but I do feel like there um has been opportunity from my experience with class um that we have been able to um learn of things that we can speak of prior to um a a Nashville experience in November or or after something has passed and the session is up um I do think a benefit for the smaller counties with their state delegation um is that they are smaller so they're more um while we have relationships with our state delegation we're not in church with all of them at the same time we may be not in the same spaces with them at the same time interacting with them at the same time they
029might not be our neighbors so forth and so on and there is a disconnect also because of the size of our district I think that when you look at our state delegation um it's very telling of the representation of our district I mean of our school system at at the state level and so just I think class does allow us opportunity to hear from our peers that are experiencing the same things or similar things that we are experiencing as a larger district and learning how to Advocate on those I will say to Mr Slater's statement um when we were fighting the be that was a big piece of the work for for um uh class to do however I think there's still opportunity for class to fight some things with Tissa because I don't fully
030believe in Tissa until Tissa cut the check um and so I'm going to the state of Tennessee cuts the check let me say that for the TSA things that they're saying because I mean it's all well and good right now until they start asking you to do things that they're not going to provide you the funding with thus um as they did with the be and so I don't want to put I mean in the words of my Southern Grandma I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket because Tissa is now here because based off of what's happening at the Federal levels we don't know what that could look like um when it gets to the state level so it's a lot of convolution right now and I just would hate to
031not have someone who has their ear and finger on the pulse there daily to do that and so I I while I think we we should look at budget and and we're trying to be good stewards of everyone's tax dollars um I do think that that's once again like um Dr Robertson loves to say we're playing a card game here right and I don't want to throw my Ace out on coaches but I might throw my Ace out on class I'm just going to say that that's my experience M Jackie I have a question you said that class represent several other districts so my question would be if they're representing other districts that we have similar uh concerns when they do legislation why do we need to pay them if if the other districts are
032paying them w we benefit from them if if they're lobbying my lawyer I ain't going to pay for your lawyer I'm just saying I ain't paying for your lawyer I want to know how what I'm asking is though how does that work because if it it's it's like I just take a a union if I'm a nonunion person but I have people that that work with me that may be Union and they benefit the non-union person is going to benefit for whatever the lobbyists are for the union people so that's what I'm asking is does is does that is that how it works though because are we in are we so different where oh now we are different from Memphis I know well I know we different from but I'm saying when it comes to
033the major lobbying what what is it that we're different on y'all let me get my question okay say please you want to say yes Ben you do an excellent job I'm gonna give him the last say we're really we're really kicking this around go ahead I just think you doing EX excellent job and I think you know if our budget was still as it was last year we could all easily say yes but when you're talking about the cost of you know exed or regular teachers and the cost of having extra you know advice or Insight that we could maybe get elsewhere um I just think I would choose money for teachers in a year where we're having a cut and maybe address it again next year if our budget allows and and if the
034the needs are not as they were like you all mentioned as well from going from be to TAA as well so that's just my only comment M Mr Conor I'm G I'm gonna give you the final word then I'm gonna call for the question go ahead can chair can I say something before not I mean after him or I I want Mr Conor to have the final word so you weigh in and then we'll go to m a couple things just a reminder we had funding for that position year ago and we stayed with class and Robert to to get support we didn't fill that position because the even though the board approved it we felt like there was enough disagreement that we should just stay the course so that's kind of a reminder if
035we're not going to if we're not going to have this lobbyist in my opinion we need something right um second thing just reminder uh I think it was last week or the week before the County Commission approved a lobbyist that was 80 or $885,000 in our bu budget's twice as big as theirs right and so I know that this group helped us get uh Tissa maybe helps us with funding but there are other things that we need uh getting funding for ssos in the SRO Grant making sure that our economic disadvantage numbers are correct trying to continue to fight for funding for exceptional ed kids in pre-k that's an unfunded mandate like these are all things that mean money coming back to us um and so my my recommendation would be let's stick with this
036until we have another plan but we need someone that's helping us in Nashville right now they're over 320 bills this session dealing only with that education so okay okay final word now I'm GNA call for the question thank you chair so um sorry let me get all the notes because there's a bunch um Knoxville got out strict Aly it was a contentious thing and they didn't really have a good reason but they had a brand new chair and that was kind of a fighting charge for them to get out they it was I've watched it a couple times on the vote and it was just it's interesting then they have they don't really have a great voice now uh in Nashville outside of themselves um so to answer Miss Jackie's question so uh obviously they
037would still be doing Robert would still doing his job uh but we have a really great voice in that um myself on the call as well as Shannon and team um and and other members of administration and we ask a lot of questions and make points and add in things that are important important to Hamilton County that are noted and taken from there so he would still be doing the job but everybody wants to be paid for the a job well done especially if you've earned it um so I I don't really know how to answer your question like yes he'd be doing it but we definitely would not be getting the same results and and actions from it um again putting into perspective I took the second to look back at the email um
038there's 18 pages that we'll be discussing tomorrow of that I got a secondary uh attachment that's 10 pages that's just one bill of that one bill there's 23 separate items that would change concerning public schools in Tennessee all of that will be discussed I I guys I'm humbled I can't tell you how awesome it is to hear so many wonderful compliments I I you the Little Nerd inside me is so happy that I'm doing my my job well but I do the job well because of this tool Robert's a tool for our school system and we need some tool um we I would say again to Echo what Dr Robertson just said we especially don't need to change this ship Midstream we're in the dead middle of this legislative session and working hard with some
039things together it I guess we should be happy he changed it to a one-year contract instead of a three so we have the opportunity to finish out with him if that's really the the will of this board but I would say and and Steve I got to use it this Robert's our coach in Nashville that's that's where the stien's going he's our coach up there he's getting getting the play calls getting us the right uh forward press and making sure that we can score when the time comes so that's what we got up there call the question U need a motion to approve Coalition of large schools so moved second have a second any other discussion I got one light here L gr um that is to remind you of a u something I spoke
040with you about that I wanted to pull uh uh and that's the bus contract voted on it uh yeah we've already we approved that during the uh I would still like like Brandon our transportation we can we we can do let's act on this and then I'll I'll give you the floor cuz I you're right that's important although it's you know it's already approved but okay roll call yes Mr yes Mr no Mr gr yes Mrs great arguments yes Mrs Jones yes Mr King yes Mrs schaer no Mr sler no Miss Thomas no chairman Smith no 65 passes passes 65 okay okay Mr gr yeah I think it's important go uh as our uh Transportation committee chair we did a few minutes ago we passed the new contract for our independent uh owner operators but
041uh go ahead go ahead Mr gr uh I I just want the board to uh hear this from Brandon because of all the work and effort he's put in to this new four-year contract and uh I don't know how many times we've met together and with others and uh and you you know that I've I've been out in schools just before school lets out talking to drivers and uh you've told me that there was a lot of feedback from me doing that uh to hear directly from the the owners The Operators the drivers and uh I want you to to go ahead and I want to acknowledge uh your expertise in in getting this contract that helps our B drivers but also Keeps Us within a reasonable budget so again I I just can't tell
042you how much I appreciate all your work thank you sir good afternoon everyone or good evening um thank you for approving I greatly appreciate it Larry thank you sir for your time working with us um I think I think it's I talked to most of you but I think it's very clear that our owner operators and our Legacy employee drivers do an amazing job for our district um several several times we we all see that so I I appreciate them as well um bus prices I'll make it quick bus prices everything has went up um everybody knows that we we've discussed that they are getting a 4% raise across the board um we're also giving them a $33,000 incentive for um each route that they have um that will help the multi contractors that have
043multiple buses that'll help them out tremendously and they um I've been in contact with them since we started this and they are very appreciative of this board all right Brandon let before you leave uh thank you abut you do amazing work and I I don't know that anybody unless you're a logistics person which I'm not but uh understands your task and and how multi-facet and difficult and challenging and uh you just do an amazing amazing work and so I just want to thank you publicly for what you do for our school system and and remind you that there's no place like chattano Tennessee absolutely yes sir thank you sir I appreciate that thank you so much [Applause] hey U uh Brandon I have one question Brandon got a quick question got a quick question here
044so what percentage is what percentage of our bus drivers are independent contractors we have 254 routes and the bus the first let me make sure I read this correctly so I don't misquote myself um we 254 bus routes uh contractors our first student covers 133 of those routes and independent contractors with Legacy drivers cover 121 okay so about 50% how many miles a day over 23,000 um each day we you know we that's all school bus routes plus we have some van routes for mcken vento students so we're we're keeping the roads hot thank you Brandon thank you're welcome thank you okay that takes us down to uh uh our policies and uh Jody you stay tuned here uh we've got several that our first read uh policies and um I guess if somebody had
045a burning desire we could talk about those tonight or or Miss schaer I guess the best thing to do you we'll be talking about these first reads at our next policy meeting I I assume yes Mr chair okay so any questions comments there on those first reads um I am I'm okay with with all of these knowing that that one of them at least is going to be addressed on March 4th okay thank you Mr chairman before we move on recall that the cell phone is first and final so we'll need a if if if I'm about to mess up stop well also you think I might be gonna mess up leave me alone this also means that I want to put forth a motion that this J just be the first read okay second
046all now we got we've got some second and final reads and and there's there are we got three that are second final we got one that's a first and final and and we'll address these one at a time okay so our first second and final is policy 1. 601 administrative procedures point of procedure should we vote on the first reads first and then don't vot on first reads but he changed this to a first and final read just for that one Redline policy right that's that's why I was asking before and I I believe Mr cron is on the same page as I am so if we V we now have to vote on first reads that are first and final reads would that not stay in first so it's not on my agenda so
047I don't know how it reads As I understood the chair I thought he was going to do the the second reads first and then pick up that's exactly right and then pick up the first next Okay Okay so we've added an agenda item to the agenda so at the bottom we did that the very first it should be item three so 7 A3 is only policy 6311 pardon me and that is a first and final read that is correct right now that is correct okay that is correct but I'm going to the second and final reads first yes sir thank you three of them do it what all help all right here we go okay policy number 1.61 administrative procedures motion to approve so move have a motion need a second second any any discussion
048roll call Miss Mary Mrs black yes Mr Conor yes Mr Dy yes Mr gr yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes Mr Keane yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Mrs Thomas yes chairman Smith yes [Music] excuse me chairman Smith I'm [Laughter] sorry all right policy 53023 paid parental leave motion to approve so moved second I have a motion to second but I also have a light on Miss Black is that you yes yes I just wanted to say thank you thank you for paid parental leave this is something that affects many many families as someone who was negatively affected by not having this policy when I was having my kids um I really appreciate the fact that this is something that we're offering our employees um we always talk about how every employee is
049valued and this is a huge way to show it and I just wanted to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to vote Yes on this policy okay no more lights roll call please Mrs black yes Mr Connor yes Mr Dy yes Mr groan yes Mrs Haden yes Mr Jones yes Mr yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes M Thomas yes and Mr chairman yes policy number 5305 family and medical leave I need a motion to approve so moved second no lights no discussion roll call Mrs black yes Mr Conor yes Mr Dy yes Mr Gro yes Mrs haton yes Mrs Jones yes Mr ke yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Miss Thomas yes chairman Smith yes yes policy number 6311 this is a first and final read cell phones motion to approve make
050a motion second got a motion and second I've got a light on question thank you Mr chair um as the new board members might not know uh we spent a considerable amount of time on this uh this item um it was five different separate meetings um and uh at the end of it I still wasn't all the way pleased but I made the adage of taking the bus and and this is this policy that stands in front of me without the red lines on it is still the bus that I want to get on that takes me to the block I want to be on it's not my front door but it is where we need to be we made some darn good policy this is this policy is used as an example in tsba
051it's used as an example uh basically there are three right now different laws that they're considering in Nashville all of them align with our policy every one of them including the one from our our Senator Senator Gardenhire um we did a great job here even though I don't agree with all of it we did a great job because that's not what governing is about it's not about going hard to one side or the other it's about finding the middle ground and making sure that you're doing the right thing by the students by the teachers and by the families um I think that we have heard some feedback about implications and implementation here and that's not what's fault if we're not implementing policy that we made that's good that's that's somewhere else not for us to
052to to discuss when we're trying to change policy we need to make sure that we are doing right by the kids and I think we've done that here by making sure that they're not supposed to be touching their phones they're supposed to be not seen not heard but the parents still have the safety to know that if they a lockdown my child has access to their telephone has has the ability to call me has the ability to let me know I know Miss schaer said before that this saved her from being able to find her daughter who got on the wrong bus um forgive me Jody I don't know the exact details but she was able to find her because of her phone being on her there's a lot of instances where we need to
053figure out how we act in a modern world we are tasked with making children Future Ready making near adults Future Ready some of them that are adults as as we graduate them they've got to learn how to work in society to utilize this amazing tool of technology that we've got here correctly meaning the right times not overuse but when that tool can help you to learn a lesson to be better prepared for Life afterwards that's where we need to make sure we're finding a happy medium and not allowing them to be there at all all is not that happy medium there's so many different things that we need to take into account that we even in this policy haven't thought about all of them from the IEPs yes I know that's still there but different
054things where they're learning to to apply um mixing music in some of our classes some of our CTE classes specifically talking about things like the blue sky Institute where they're learning how to apply what's used in an app to how they build medically to how things work I mean I just had to get some prescriptions for the girls and I had to utilize my app for our uh for our Pharmacy I just got an email talking about the scope conference that's all our children that we're taken to in the very last line it said be sure to bring your electronic mobile device this will be utilized to find your way through the buildings to map out and to have your schedule of events there's so many different ways that we need to embrace the correct
055way to implement technology so that our children are better equipped to take on the modern world uh I think we made some great policy and I don't know why we're trying to change it okay Rich Kean I have two questions the first one is by changing it now we we've had schools put out their coab and and their uh you know discipline guide for the Year by changing it now are we saying that we're changing it immediately or we're changing it to start next school year off with no cell phone usage I I would think that if if this passes that we ought to uh uh at least wait until uh after spring break uh or possibly uh I think the superintendent he and I have kind of fought over this over the last few
056days and it's not his fault he's at the wrong place but uh I I think our superintendent would like if if this does pass to wait till the beginning of of the school year I I think that's what we understand I was mad at you when we was talking I don't remember I I mean to be clear we the administration doesn't support this policy change we worked 320 minutes I think combined to get to this place and I really think the board should take a lap on what's a good policy um from an implementation standpoint I think there's some belief uh from some of the members of the board that this is going to solve the uh Enforcement issue isue it's not going to solve the Enforcement issue you're still going to have the same
057concerns um if this passes I would press hard that we need to we would need at least till August to start it for a number of reasons uh but again I mean if we want to go back and forth we can there are lot more reasons why I think we need to stick with what we currently have okay yeah was that all you had M no I had one other question my other question is we already are limiting the usage in elementary and middle so we're basically talking about high school and my question is we're not saying they can't bring their phones to school we're just saying they can't have them out so they can keep those phones in their backpack it says possessed it says possessed like that's what's not clear it's it says
058possess that's not how I inter can't even be in their cars according to this can't be on campus can't possess it can't drive to school with their phone you know like no like like can't have their car once they come in school building is when they it says on campus forgive me this says on campus possess on campus which includes your personal vehicle go ahead m m King that was that was my question okay um yeah there are a lot of students who are high school age who don't have a personal vehicle and would not have anywhere to leave a cell phone phone if they needed it um and so we're just telling them that they can't have access to a phone before or after school anytime they're on campus Because if they come there
059and go to a school day before they ride the bus to school and then say they've arranged they have extracurricular activities athletic programs after school that they would be allowed to use a phone for if they were able to have it this says they can't possess it on school property during school hours well even if it doesn't include a car not everybody has a car to put their phone in like and a lot of times the reason a phone is important is to coordinate Transportation outside of what they normally use I know um my sweet precious six year sixth grader um he was a brand new bus rider fell asleep on his bus and ended up um halfway across town and did not have a phone and he had a phone very soon after that
060um cuz he called me from Easter idge Elementary which was not his stop that he was supposed to be let off and said I need you to come get me this is this is one of the reasons that a lot of parents at least the way that this is written it indicates that unless a student has access to a car which is a very small number of our 45,000 students they wouldn't be able to have a phone on them at all and I I can't support that I I can't I I mean I yeah as I I wanted my kid to be able to have access to their phone if there's an emergency or if they need to change Transportation arrangements or something like that and you know and if they don't have a car
061to store a phone in the way that this policy is written it indicates that they can't have a phone at all on school property because they would have to they would be at school for a school day before any sort of activities afterwards okay uh uh L Gro yes sir thank you uh I want to um support uh Miss Black's comments and the superintendent comment is that and specifically because this needs to be on a first read so we can really along with the superintendent dig into this uh on March 4th because there are a lot of implementation problems how is he going to implement the directives of the board uh with this change and you know I am I am for the uh the superintendent making sure that schools which don't have lockers or
062other restrictions uh you know it it's going to cost it's going to maybe cause a change at these schools that their lockers are not functioning uh in order to collect these phones it's what a lot of school district across the entire country do they do uh chat prep they have to leave their phones in in their backpack and get everything they need out of their backpack to go ENT School IV Academy the same way uh East Hamilton High School your phone gets turned off before you walk into the school you put it in your locker and can only access it at your lunch period And I know the superintendent has a personal um experience with someone not following the rules at Signal Mountain so uh We've chuckled over that but uh it it distresses me
063when policies are not implemented and individual principles are allowed to do to circumvent our desire policy and that's why the amendment to 1.61 was so important is that you know it takes that power to authorize and interpret our policy out of the principal's hands so this is only at a few schools the vast majority of our high schools especially our special programs already enforce this policy and they been doing so ever since we passed it so I I think this needs to be on a first read and have let the superintendent take a look at this and we meet at our policy meeting and we see what we're going to do and if we make any changes uh to this to do exactly what um Mrs black spoke about so thank you sir okay Mr
064sler yeah thanks Joe um I've got really mixed emotions about this because I've talked to teachers and they hate the cell phones and then I've talked to other teachers that implement the rule that we have now so there has to be some sort of consequences if if we leave the rule the way it is there's got to be consequences of kids getting their phones out in class some of the teachers take them up some of the teachers just let it go and it disrupts class so it has to be followed whatever we do it has to it has to be followed and some of the principal some of the teachers are not following what our policy say say Mr chairman if I could weigh in on uh on on line I guess it would be
065line four uh about about possession the the way I read that language students may not use or possess cellones or personal communication devices while on campus during the regular school day the way the way I read that that that implies possession on their person I don't believe that that as applied that would preclude it being secured uh either in a car now I understand not everyone has a car or in a locker I understand that maybe not everyone has access to a locker or in a box at the in the office or a pouch or there's any number of was well the the the operative R language there is while on campus during the regular school day and and and my thought there is you know this this envisions that if they're going off campus
066for some reason they could take their phone with them during the regular school day if if uh there was an after school activity they could have access to their phone now understand we we are agnostic as to this policy it's the board's policy um could the language be be modified of course it can um but but I I wouldn't want the board to get hung up on on that part of the language because I think that would be implemented to mean it couldn't be on their person and we could even we could even um clarify by inserting the phrase possess cell phones on their person if it were the pleasure of the board but I I'm getting the sense that's that's probably not what's hanging up the board tonight okay uh Mr Dow yeah thank
067you chairman um I'll be brief this is um you know we talk about safety we talked about preparing our kids for the next uh you said Future Ready getting them ready um you know I think one of our biggest duties and responsibilities we have as a board is to um educate these kids in a safe environment and when you look at the data even our neighbors in waren County they've implemented a self- unban policy and they're seeing positive benefits to it there is no arguing when you look at data we've all read anxious generation there is a strong correlation to the negative impacts around cell phone usage when we live in a society where we're competing for kids attention and they are getting bombarded with text messages social media Tik toks our phones are buying
068for our kids attentions when they're in those classrooms we have a responsibility to teach them and this in my mind in my opinion stands in direct obstacle to that ability to do uh I think though it's clear we're going to be going in circles here tonight so with that being said I'd like to make a motion to table it to take it to a policy meeting and further hash it out second so just a point of order uh there was a motion on the floor wait a minute wait a minute there's a motion on the floor yes sir and now there has been another motion made to table the original motion yes sir okay and and technically it was it was really a motion to refer it to committee okay um but but that would
069take priority over the main motion that's right that's right okay all right now I've still got lights on do we want to continue to discuss this or or uh you can't sens me what okay we're we're obviously going to be discussing it at our policy meeting but if I just want to say this because I'm not going to keep discussing okay goe so I just want to say that um and everybody if you go back and watch the five meetings we had I was very very vocal about in my day and time when cell phones first came about um how we weren't we couldn't have them and how I snuck in the bathroom stood I'm told and call my Daddy I remember all of that I we went back and forth we talked about it
070and I was able to hear everyone's side um understand what my peers were saying on the day understand what the district was trying to say understand what my students in the um Community the families in the community that I represent were saying and was able to um I can't I just lost my TR I was able to um work with my team and be and and and I voted to support with with the parameters that I was comfortable with how many minutes did you say we spent on that policy 320 she knows 300 and something minutes 320 so this is my last 300 plus whatever this is that I'm not talk I'm just going to go on record for saying I'm not talking about this anymore because if we do this for every policy every
071time this and I understand when boards change things change but we just we just voted on this like we haven't even had Fidelity for a year yet yes I mean fidelity in the SEC without the year of the vote is what I'm saying y'all I'm trying to say like the first four year past vote y'all know what I'm saying I know how you like to I mean we all mince words for what's convenient but what I'm saying is this is the first year in full Fidelity pre post vote and just to be perfectly honest we can do all we want to do and I just gave yall an example of in 1998 what I did when they said not to have a phone so you can ban it you can do whatever and if they're
072going to use it they're going to use it so all I'm saying is for me unless somebody unless I get bombarded with calls from District 5 I'm not talking about this anymore I'm going to stand in support of what I voted on last two years ago 300 and now 30 something minutes of it I'm not talking about it anymore anymore because we're going to I I don't want to set a precedence to keep going through this because I'm just not so I'm just want to go recog now so we that y'all can pass it on the committee or whatever I just won't come cuz I don't want to waste no more of my minutes cuz I have a 5-year-old at home and I'm trying to keep a tablet from let alone a phone I'm just
073being very transparent here because they live in the age of Technology yeah and so I'm trying to figure out how I mean we working to keep EJ off of a tablet 5 days a week I can't control what somebody else do in their household which that's up to the parent to control what their child does agree so yeah I'm I'm I just want to clear I just want to clarify that because at at at my baby school sometimes they do get on the tablet and I mean if it's helping him learn how to read I'm going to go with it and then I'm going censor it at home okay I've got several Odes but just to remind you we've got a motion to table on the floor and dly seconded so we can go ahead
074and vote on this and talk about the policy meeting or if you got a burning desire well you got a burning desire there Mr Conor well I'll explain it if you if you're if I'm being recn absolutely I'm I'm not going to shut anybody off well you and I won't be there you and I will be in Nashville on the 4th on at the policy yes sir so the policy meeting on the fourth you and I will be in Nashville so we'll be we'll we'll be back by then I would think coming from not if you ride anywhere near my luck I spent a lot of time in Alabama for some reason on my way back from Nashville we'll we'll be back so did let me just say that like I I I hear you
075all and I know that there's a lot so that's what I want to say case I I I'm not I'm I'm in Nashville the next day too so I'm spending the night so I'm spending that's one of those days I mentioned I'll be up there so I'm going to say this one little last bit um which is twofold the first one is it's not missed on me like I I recognize that there's a lot of things that can be very harmful on on these things but there's also can be a lot of good uses the The Comedy of this is not missed on me because one of the policy meetings Isa Ruth didn't have child care and had to sit up here on this DS with us on an iPad with headphones on while we're
076talking about cell phone usage it was really funny but she was doing ABC mouss she came out afterwards I asked her what she learned and she had a new word and she was doing all these things so there can be good things but I I heard something and I I do have to make just a quick point of clarity the storage issue talking about putting it in your lockers well we were we had somebody come up and ask us if uh Howard needed some more lockers and Red Bank was like we'll give them ours they don't use them so there's a lot of schools that don't actually have a locker for each child not to mention a way to lock said Locker for each child that we would then have to provide and that only
077brings me further into if we're talking about putting them in boxes in the office that are individual that's another expense that we don't need to have if we can just implement the policy we've already passed to make to to tell the principles hey they're not supposed to use that don't don't that goes in their back backpack don't use that on the policy we've got um and then the last thing is talking about putting it in the cars I know it doesn't feel like it today but Chattanooga gets awfully flipping hot uh at the beginning and end of the year and those phones will melt if we make them leave them in their cars and then we're yet again running into the situation of oh did did your phone melt because we forced you to do
078that who's at fault there are we getting sued for this oh God we lost your phone in the office I gave your phone to suie you're not the one with the so there's just so many different aspects that we're creating problems when we have something that doesn't have any problems except implementation okay I I want to go to our policy chair uh Miss Jodie are you there yes I'm here Mr chair okay I recognize you go ahead so I in agreement to take this back to the policy committee to work through some of the language of the concerns brought up tonight and I'd be happy to do so on March 4th but if Mr Chairman's not going to be there I'll be there you know I'll be there I'll be there okay that that'll give
079me an excuse not have to go to [Music] Nashville okay so I'm gonna go ahead and call for the question and then everybody else has had their turn I think Ahad my life is on so go ahead I just wanted to to say in regards to this even though you all are going to take it to the thing the cell phone policy for me is my concern is that a lot of teachers have called and and they have requested a ban on this cell phone they don't want it in the class it's disruptive the other problem I have is that we have a policy here in which I know the the old board members did and and did at the time made their decisions on what what it should look like and it's great I
080don't really necessarily have a problem with with all of it I would have a problem probably with not H allowing them to have it after school to call parents with but within the classroom if the problem is right now it's implementation and that people are not holding all the students to the same standard I think that's a problem so should we be addressing that issue as far as are the teachers uh the principales not addressing it and so kids are doing whatever they want to do cuz I get a lot of complaints from the Middle School that they have their cell phones out which they shouldn't but they do so I think it needs to very much be addressed this this issue and for what it looks like for me I just think it it
081they are distractions uh you can tell their kids I mean the frontal lobe is not even developed so they're going to make irrational decisions or irresponsible decisions whether you have a policy in place or not but I I just would rather the teachers be free of the disrup ruption if they don't have to be so that's all I have to say all right thank you Miss Jackie one more um Larry gr and then I'll come to you then please let's let's get question okay Mr Larry okay um this this is a problem with physical possession of the phone and I I can't tell you how much research has point Ed to cell phones are a distraction um Dr Robertson was power of me getting on his case about this and um but we've got a
082research shows that having possession of your phone in a backpack is just as distracting if it's there even though it's silent you know it still is a distraction studies show that so if we spend all this time and energy and money and Personnel to try to alleviate the dist stress to our students caused by social media some of our schools implemented uh this policy be before it was passed in July of 2023 they had they had purchased Pockets that had like 36 uh slots in it and they walked in students walked into the room their phone was turned off they put it in the slot but I think the time is over when and argued about this and argued about this that teachers shouldn't be put in the position of having to impose a personal
083cell phone policy in their class to keep phones from being disruptive and that's what I've seen in this district and so this is about possession how are we going to implement a policy that allows students to have phones at school addressing uh Mrs Black's concerns and but not having them on their person so however we do that we need to have an understanding with our only employee about how he intends to implement this at those schools that that either don't use their locker or don't have access you I'd love to know how Central High School does this so again everybody's handling this differently across the district but the vast majority of schools some of them had already implemented policies like this before we ever talked about it All Summer in 2023 but it needs to
084be like any policy that this District passes we need to hold the superintendent our director of schools accountable for making sure and I know they're going to be it's it's difficult to do some people as he said well if they're going to use their phones they'll use their phones and they'll risk getting it taken from them but we need to hold the administrators at all of these schools accountable not to interp the policy that we already spend all this time talking about and passing and letting them interpret the intent of the policy or circumvent the policy so I I think this needs to be tabled and I I second that uh it needs some serious discussion and that should take place in uh Mrs schaer's policy commit commit meeting okay thank you Mr gr that's
085exactly the the uh the motion we have on the floor is to uh to table this for tonight and take it to the PO policy committee to be voted on at our next meeting after whatever the policy committee does with this so roll call M Meritt Mrs black so we're voting whether or not to refer to committee correct that's right all right yes Mr Connor yes refer to committee Mr Dy yes Mr groan yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes yes yes Thomas no okay that takes us down to uh special courses renewal there the these two last two items are not uh they're not marked on my copy but these are action items as I understand okay so special courses renewal uh Dr Robertson just speak to that for for just a minute there
086there courses uh that typically are in high school all these are High School courses that don't have a state approved course code so we have to send them to the state to get special approval and so it's requesting the approval of uh looks like 78 if I'm reading correctly so a a leadership course seminar course and a German course okay so I need a motion to approve move second G can take it no light roll call Mrs black yes Mr Conor yes Mr guard yes Mr gr yes Mrs Haden yes Mrs Jones yes Mr ke yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes M Thomas chairman Smith yes School nutrition for inclement February 19th uh Dr Robson I want you to speak to this but um but in your comments I'd like to know uh I'd
087like to know what it cost per day to to do this and uh depending on what that cost is um I don't know that we need to look at other days so go ahead yes sir so we've done this in the past just for clarity um our school nutrition workers when we are out for an inclement weather day do not get paid they're hourly employees and so you know when we take uh a day for weather uh they're going with out um pay and so this request is coming uh ask Penny Murray and Kristen NOS to look at this uh and the the estimate per day is $ 63,5 31 Miss NOS feels like there's adequate funding in school nutrition to pay for one day um so of course if the if the board you
088know wanted to add to that each day would be $ 63,5 31 more to to date how how many days have they five days five days total so uh 315,000 36,000 3 36,000 316,000 but to be clear again 60 63 the first day what's before you is coming from the school nutrition self-funded account so then it would be so 20 25,000 so if the board decided to to pay pay one more day you would take 63,000 out of fund balance if you decided to pay two more it' be 126 three more would be 190 and then four would be 253 and these are solely based on inclement weather days yes which we really have no way to say what it would be right what do you mean well I mean we don't know when weather's
089coming it's no sir yeah that's what it's been to date this year it's been four days today right yeah been five days today but they're saying they've got in their budget to pay for one one so if we wanted to pay for all them we' pay for four out of the fund balance that's what we did last that's what we did last time yeah um I we could look at rebud getting stuff but right now it's so tight we'd have to do it out of fund balance I don't I mean in the past we haven't go gone all the way to uh days I think there's one thing the Board needs to uh also consider and we we'll get with HR to figure out this like they they do have um some sick days but
090we haven't allowed them to use those in the past during an inclement weather day uh and so maybe there's some policy things that we could do uh around there that would help relieve some of this what we're trying to do is essentially take care of some of our employees that um you know work really hard do a great job in our cafeterias uh I don't believe the last time we did this that we got all the way to like do you do you remember what how many days we I I want want to say that it was close to half or one over half so out of five if I were guessing I think that was last year we they missed several days in a row there I sure would like see us figure out
091the way to to help those folks and we can always bring this back I we can start with one and so tonight we we're just we're just what this does is just give them permission to use their own money in a different way and and then we could uh you your team come back to us with maybe some suggestions to help us make them whole I guess okay I think that's this gives us the ability right away to go ahead and get one day's pay back in their hands got so B thank you CH but when this came up last time I wish I'd thought of this and when this came back up again I I would challenge us to find other ways to fund this not just out of the fund balance like you
092said could they utilize a sick day could we like I was just reading through we were talking about the the item that came through talking about red 40 and the funds that come from things that we sell in the cafeteria can we figure out a way that's where these funds are coming from right for the first day yeah and that's what I'm saying it's like is there some way we can figure out another way like I it's awesome that we're paying the first one but I've just what I would say is is to the chair's point if you bring this back to us let's really dig and figure out how we can make this right moving forward so that they can use six days potentially but where else can we find those funds so okay
093but to be clear what we're doing tonight is just approving that one day and then you'll come back to us with some creative and that one day again it's coming out of the self funded School nutrition budget no I just I just wanted to totally Echo Mr Connor sentiments I think that's how we should be looking I know you guys probably are already are but fund balance is obviously not sustainable in terms of taking it from there so but totally worthwhile investment I mean I know in my district it's tough to keep those staff staffed it's probably one of the hardest positions to keep and these kids these people feed our kids every single day so okay so I need a motion to approve motion to approve for the one day second got a second
094no more liks Miss Mary Mrs black yes Mr Conor yes Mr Dy yes Mr gr yes Mrs haton yes Mrs Jones yes Mr Keen yes Mrs schaer yes Mr Slater yes Miss Thomas yes chairman Smith yes okay uh announcements fe uh February 24th our facili meeting with u Mr Gary and then on March the 4th our policy committee meeting with uh Miss Shaker anything else regular school tomorrow everybody goes back at the regular time regular school don't say I'm so excited about it like to make comment that you made Janette don't don't do carwheel