001this business session of this special called me to order um you you'll notice that we don't have anything projected or anything like that so I'm going to have to take care of the time and everything right here when we get to that point um so um first thing we need to do um if you you don't mind standing with us we'll have a moment of silence and do the pledge our numbers are short tonight coaches in hospital with a pretty bad infection and Danny is taking care of some family issues I think he had a de so please folks let's have his moment of sign thank Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you all
002for that so that brings us to the public input um couple things here um make sure you're speaking in the microphone clearly um and for board members later on make sure your microphones are turned on when you speak and then turn them off D going to try to help keep an eye on that so that we can U make sure everything's getting recorded for Rhonda when she listens back all right so like I said we got me on the time over here so Whenever there is a whenever you get up I'll start the timer and I'll give you a little hand raise about 30 seconds so you'll know where it's at and then there'll be a jingle at the end so how many people we got to 11 all right who's our first person K
003all Ken 604 boxwood lanean City for 10 years I conducted research on chemicals that cause cancer during that time I've served as a pay consultant to the Michigan toxic substance Control Commission and was invited to Washington for discussions with a joint working group of n EPA my opinion uh renovating an occupied school is considerably more risky for health and finances in building a new school you can inhale cancer causing asbes do and PCB Vapors without knowing it removing these in an abandoned building would Expos only a few train protected workers but in an occupied School potentially hundreds of people could be exposed children would generally be more susceptible than adults because their cells are dividing more often so DNA damage can be Amplified we would want that kind of responsibility on their hands if you
004go with renovation the contractor must keep 100% airtight barriers at all times around their work areas and around everything they take out anyone who has painted a room or standed floors or done other home renov knows that dust and odors are very difficult to contain some workers have been known to be sloppy and sometimes contractors go out of business there are plenty of lawyers who would be happy to represent anyone with health claims associated with aspes or pcbs in fact a major law firm as you may know is already working with Elementary School Employees who have had cancer any lawsuit is likely to include the school board and the county and you can't just shift blame to the contractor when that happens if I were in your position and doing a renovation like that here's
005what i' want I'd want to be able to prove in the court of law that no one in the school was ever exposed at any time during the renovation he work to do that I'd hire my own independent Tes firm that had successfully depended its data in court I want continuous realtime monitoring in every space the school uses and i' want frequent reports of the results and I'd make those reports publicly available and I'd shut down the work immediately if a problem showed up and I had I want the ability to fire the contractor uh if your contract doesn't have this level of security then and add it and watch to see if the price goes up all right thank you Sabrina Thomas good evening my name is Sabrina Thomas I'm a retired Elementary music
006teacher from Jefferson Elementary members of the school board I am here to request a delay in voting to send a renovation plan to County Commission because there are still too many unanswered questions number one even if as bestest as remediation is completed during the summer months while students are out of school can you or the construction firm guarantee that as best as fibers will not remain in the air due to the disturbance of as bestus containing materials are there any members on this board who are former teachers okay so I would address this to the audience what in your opinion you can think about this what effect will there be on the students learning while they are forced to move from one area of the building to another during a three-year renovation and do you
007believe classroom and special Area Teachers will be able to cover all state mandated standards under such adverse conditions the majority on this board obviously cares more about the financial cost to Jefferson County and plating County Commission and about the educational health and safety cost to the students and teachers at Jefferson Elementary School I strongly urge you to contact the Tennessee Department of Health Office of Environmental Health and the Department of Education legal office because I believe once both departments have reviewed the renovation plan and fully understand the logistical nightmare this plan will cause they will not allow this renovation disaster to move forward in fact I believe one or both departments May insist that students be moved completely out of building and into portable classrooms which may not alleviate all health and safety concerns but
008definitely will increase the cost of this renovation in conclusion I am totally against renovation and 100% for a new Jefferson Elementary School because the teachers and students deserve a new school thank you Chad Morris good evening my name is Chad Morris and I want to thank you for allowing us to be here and speak with you this evening I first want to thank you you for the hard work that you have uh you have proposed two different options two different plans one of renovation as well as a new construction for a new school it does not go unnoticed for the amount of work it takes to put both of these proposals together so thank you for that it is appreciated and and necessary I think for due diligence this being said I come this evening
009as a concerned taxpayer and concerned member of jeon County while the work was necessary to look at renovation I would ask at the school board to decline this option and shift your focus Focus to a more Forward Thinking future thinking new construction proposal while I'm sure the renovation will be done the best of its ability at the end of the day it focuses on the present and still leaves us with a nearly 70y old building after you after you excavate the new construction is more of a fixed price it's compared to remodeling uh as as cost will certainly fluctuate if you Remodel and while uh while while I admit I have not seen the exact or or the breakdown I'm told that to be competitive the renovation proposals had to cut the contingency line so
010in other words there's no there's no money there for unexpected costs now if you're a homeowner if you're a business owner you've ever done a remodeling process you know that there will be unexpected costs and especially in cases like this where we're talking about mold remediation and asbest a 70 years worth of settling and decomposer now I can assure you my 40-year-old body is not the same as it was 20 years ago and probably a lot of people in this room would say the same and while I know that they will do their best there is a safety concern while removing these items this becomes Airborne when they remove them and so I question frankly if it can fully be sealed off but even if it can you're talking about a nearly two plus year
011renovation where our kids are in construction zone this will inevitably impact impact the learning environment and plus though I hear it has been calculated there's there's not enough room in that building for 2 years to close off a quarter at a time to rotate fruit basket turnover after fruit basket turnover this will certainly impact the learning environment for everyone involved in the realm of safety there there are currently two uh instances and one pretty well hidden uh and with a new school there could be one point of of access it could also help with with traffic as well I want to quickly end with uh with endurance the marathon runners when they run even the best planners or trainers or best athletes in the world they hit the wall and it's an invisible part of
012the race where you have to push yourself through Schoolboard I feel that this is where we are we're close to the finish line but but uh to go through the route of a renovation proposal we hit that wall and it's going to stop us short of the future and so however we push through and this is not going to be without sacrifice I suggest that we invest into our future and come across the finish line and so I implore you implore you to vote against the renovation and vote for a future for all all of us across the finish line Thank [Applause] youor major Treadway 1341 wood point in Jefferson City Mr chair Mr director Board of Commissioners thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening and thank you for the work
013that each of you has committed to do on behalf of this County your presence on this commission demonstrates your belief in the power and promise of public education while I am appreciative of your commitment to this board and to public education in Jefferson County as I look over the agenda on tonight's meeting I find myself discouraged and disappointed you see I moved to Jefferson County in January of last year to be the pastor at First Baptist Church my wife and I quickly enrolled our three children in The District Two at Jefferson Elementary and while I was shocked at the condition of the building I was heartened to hear that the board was working to remedy the problems as a concerned citizen I started coming to school board meetings last fall in part because I had
014been hearing from members of my congregation members who are current and retired teachers and administrators parents and students and alumni of the school they shared with me their concern for the condition of the school I trusted that here I would find a board hard at work on behalf of the children in Jefferson County for the present and the future benefit of the whole County I heard your concern and your want to remedy the problem I heard your frustrations with with the County Commission I heard that there was a standing motion to build a new school I heard that you had estimates to build a new facility when I heard that you needed an estimate of what it would take to remodel the old building I understood this was a part of the process however now
015with an estimate to build a new school for 27.6 million the agenda for this meeting suggests that it is expected that this board would rather commit to spend 86% of that amount to remodel even though the remodeled facility would be smaller and the estimate lacks necessary specifications to see all of the things we need to know I've tried hard this week to think of another scenario where this spending decision would make sense and so far I have come up short I would not spend $23,000 to repair a car when 28,000 would buy a new one I would not spend $230,000 to repair a house of 280,000 would buy a new one the comparison goes down the line in every area I can think of repairs at 86% of the cost of new just do not
016make sense I've not yet heard an argument that does I appeal to your commitment to Excellence and education to your belief in its power and PR promise ask you to vote down the Motions on tonight's agenda and in their place fight for the students faculty staff and administration to build a new Jefferson Elementary School thank [Applause] you P H retire teacher from Jefferson Elementary School and I live at 724 West de Street here we are again emotions run High when we're talking about this issue because it means so much to everybody that's here we're all here and you're here because we love and value children and their safety and their education so I'm a very emotional person when I'm invested and I'm invested so I tried to put emotions aside and just look at facts
017so here are the facts that are before us the cost as we've heard over and over again comparing the cost of new construction to a renovation and we live in a house that was built in 1935 we have renovated and we have found way more problems once we get into the renovation and every project we've undertaken has cost way more than estimated that's a fact I also am very concerned about the loss of learning and the teachers ability to do do their job when you're shifting around an upheaval of a classroom that's a real concern kids need quiet kids need stability and a renovation would not deliver on that fact number three we've heard about the risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals when we know that how could we do anything to endanger more so
018than they already are our children and our teachers fact number four I've been coming to these meetings for years we have worked through this we have property on which to build a building we have architectural plans ready to go paid for it just doesn't make sense to ignore all that work that has been done so these facts just seem to point clearly to new construction being the best plan for our students and our teachers and how can it not be the best moood for our County to invest in a modern safe learning facility our last new elementary school was built in 2012 people look at this information when they come to build to come to move to our County I have to admit I leave these meetings frustrated and confused when all the facts seem
019to point to a new construction being the most logical cost effective and reasonable course of action why do we have to keep fighting this battle please make the best safest decision for our children children and staff it's the right move I'm really begging you to do the right thing and build a new school for our children and staff thank you rer hello my name is Maggie rer and I live at Drive I go to Jefferson Elementary School um I'm going to speak to you about the need for a new school our school was built in 1958 and that's 67 years old which is really old and our school has mold raw sewage and the air condition barely works in addition the bathrooms are in bad shape there are C spiders in the corners when I
020flush the toilet it leaks too and um some of the locks one of the Stalls doesn't even on the door um also there are holes in the walls and tiles to take to keep it together and cracks and events which can cause health problems for the students sometimes they do little things like Bree pain which doesn't actually help the bad conditions our schools in and the playgrounds are also in bad condition half of the things aren't even there at our playground and um students and I got fiberglass in our hands last year because we were making a soccer goal with a teacher and I've gotten splintered a lot and if we would do Renovations then where would we go whenever we would there would be like too many class being and we couldn't go any
021thank you for [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hello my name is grade student I live at I'm very concerned about my peers and future students Health at Jes the floors are made ofest which can cause theowing Asus and lung cancer the food has mold which is confirmed the school has not been thoroughly cleaned it built in 1957 there raww in the and the thees look like to fall down than thank youle Newman I'm back rley Newman I live at 2021 North Avenue City James 1 veres 4-6 that perseverance finish work so that you may be mature and complete and not lacking anything if any of you lack wisdom you should ask God to give generosity to all without finding fault and will be given to you but when you ask you must believe and not
022doubt because no one doubts like the wave of the sea is blown and tossed in the wind you know how I feel and how I think of it it needs to be a new school built and so tonight let's think about what we're voting for uh are we doing something that is good stewards with money my money everybody's money y'all's own money y'all each ran for this position to be on this board and y'all had to have a statement or something to get people to vote for you let's reflect on that and are we standing up to that you know I don't feel like our district has been representative very well I don't always agree with Mr hardy but let me tell you something new market didn't believe in in that one thing and he
023had it changed to next state I wish all y'all could be like Mr hardy with his school and his people he stood up for it and I do not feel like any of y'all have stood up for Jefferson Elementary at all I'm going to leave you with Proverbs 215 the plans of the diligent lead to profit and surely his haste leads to prty this emphasizes the importance of careful planning and prence in financial decisions thank [Music] [Applause] you Jamie my name is j I live at 11 Street here in DD um I've been teaching at Jeffers Elementary School for 29 years um it's my home and my home is falling apart and we need for you guys to get together plan to build a new school it's sad that we have come to so many
024meetings and you know that we want a new school our children deserve a new school please please we make a you don't renovate it's a waste of money it's a waste of money please for the future of this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Newman um so I didn't come to space bear with me um you know it's been since August when I started fighting this fight um and I really learned why my daughter was sick so much and as you guys know that same month I pulled her out of school um I am proud to say that we haven't had to use an inhaler since I pulled her from Jefferson City until she got sick this past weekend with a common cult a diagnosable virus that she had were no longer told they don't know why she's
025sick we're no longer being kept up at night she no longer has bags under her eyes because I pulled her from Jefferson Elementary there's so many parents that I talk to they can't even be here right now because they can't take time out of their day to join because they have to raise their children and they have to work and they have to support their family so the only way that they know to be able to join is to share Facebook posts and to talk in a private chat with us and to say we're praying for you and to pray for our teachers when they come down with cancer and to pray for all the other things that Jefferson County Schools is in the news for um we got a lot of things going on
026in this world y'all don't let the health of our babies be something something that we can affect y'all don't renovate it rebuild it there's so many kids there they can't the parents can't pull their kids out like I could and I think you guys know your attendance rates and who has been pulled I don't think we have to talk about that you guys know the amount um those in other districts also know how many children from Jefferson Elementary have came to your schools I know you know that um so please just consider our kids I won't put my daughter back in there at all because in the time period that it takes you to do something she will be in fifth grade she started in kindergarten at Jefferson element I think all of her teachers
027are probably in this room right now and and it's crazy how it ended up being my daughter that got very sick and the teachers that are so active in trying to fight for the school are the teachers that we had and those teachers they sacrific themselves for the children you guys that are teachers I know you would sacrifice yourself for your children so please just build a new school for our children please [Applause] Leandra lber I'm City I have three kids in this District I apologize I'm very emotional we moved here four years ago four years ago there was talks of a new school when I did the tour of person in elementary coming from a different state and a different County I was a is said okay they're working on things things are going
028to get better I've grown to love and adore all of these teachers I have some of the best kids and one of the most difficult kids my kid is five the last one is 5 years old he is constantly sick he's Rous there's attention he can't there's no way that if there's a renovation he could concentrate as of right now there's not even enough teachers in our classrooms for our kindergarteners I'm sorry a teacher when I grew up you had a teacher and a teacher's assistant there's one teacher and 18 kids how do you expect one teacher to shift classrooms with that many kids and hold their attention it is not going to happen they're learning is already fallen because of sickness we are losing days at school we just had a whole week off
029because of a countywide sickness is it one county is it one school I can guarantee you that the most sances are in Jon Elementary I went to visit my children at lunch and couldn't eat with them because the ceilings were dripping that is disgusting we are forcing our children in a space that is not I wouldn't want to eat in but I don't we don't have a choice where can we send them we try to transfer schools New Market is full Dandridge is full cor is full you have to pay to go to a private school there are parents in here that can't afford that can't afford medical BS we need a brand new school we are growing astronomically in this County we all know that our numbers are huge I I here because I
030thought we were coming to a good school which we are our teachers are phenomenal again we're doing wrong by our Educators by not giving them the space to make these children learn I love this County and I will fight for everybody in it in our youth our youth are what is going to grow and US putting them at risk is not going to do us any good we need to do better our kids matter my kids matter all of these kids and these teachers matter please build a new school we've seen the cost we know the difference my husband's the contractor it almost is 10 times more exensive to thank [Applause] you all right thank you all for the public put let's see so they don't brings us to the new business and at the
031last meeting um Mr evson made a motion that was um challenged by coach and he withdrew it um he said that um there was a motion on the floor to build a new elementary school and to renovate pedmont which is true I think it's from 21 that we found out so um we wanted to make sure what path we had to go down that we need to resend what we what what we got to do here um and if you can so uh the director reached out to the school board attorney U Mr hardy reached out to um the Tennessee School Board Association attorney and I'm pretty sure their responses mirrored each other you cannot resend a motion where part of it has already taken place meaning pedmont has already been took care of the
032new portion is what was out there so um from and I'll just read the email um that was from Ben Torres he's the one of the attorneys for the Tennessee school board um he said based on their conversation there was a motion that was approved by the board this motion included a remodel in the new school since the motion was approved um and only a portion of that and only half of that has been acted on the board could do a few things motion to reconsider meaning you can bring the motion back um if you receive a majority of votes of the board then the board can make changes to the motion and vote on those changes or another motion mean having another main motion on the floor this means there could be a motion
033to do something like remodel renovate if the board approves that motion then it would supersede a previous vote in both cases you must have a majority of the board um I hope this helps thanks so they both reached out and got those opinions there so yes sir before we go any further may I request a roll call vote tonight all matters presented that' be fine thank you all right then so new business J M store renovation chairman Mr Edon my mic is not working so I move to renovate Jefferson Elementary School for a total project cost not to exceed $23.6 million using $3 million from the Jefferson Elementary account $8.5 million from the fund balance and request $12.5 million from County Commission repeat that please is there office move to renovate J Elementary School for
034a total project cost not to exceed $236 million using $3 million from Jer Elementary account $8.5 million from fund balance and request $12.5 million from County Commission is there a second I'll second that all has seconded discussion I think the motion speaks for itself uh we've talked about this over and over and over again um I believe that the elementary school other than the actual walls which have been deemed structurally sound and the foundation which has been deemed structurally Sound by Structural Engineers virtually everything else after the renovation in that school will be new that includes the roof the ceiling the floors the uh Plumbing the wiring the sewage the parking and the remediation will be done when the kids are not in school during the summer so based upon that I feel the best
035thing to do would be to renovate the school thank you Mr chair first off I want to let everybody know that voices were heard were they no they weren this is not been an easy decision hey we don't get comments right now you had your chance did we where are your kids exactly I don't have to finish speaking I just thought we have for a reason in here oh so I'd like to amend my motion okay I move to renovated Jeff Elementary School for total project cost seed excuse me $24.6 million 24 24 I'm sorry $24 million using $3 million for the Jefferson Elementary account $8.5 million for fund balance and request $12.5 million from County Commission cuz there a second on that I'll second that all right grand kids go to that school you
036got anything on on the amendment just on the amendment right now because that's what we're taking care of you anything on that no may I say anything about the motion the amendment right now it went from 23.6 to 24 you got it it's just on the amendment all right we'll vote on the amendment and that is to change 23.6 million to 24 million um so we'll do a roll call vote so Dawn are you in favor of the amendment for 24 million to change it to $24 million yes Don is a yes Doug yes all yes no got a no from Bill and then I am a yes so the amendment passes so now the motion is move to renovate J Elementary School for a total project cost not to exceed $24 million using $3
037million from J Elementary account 8.5 million from fund balance and request $12.5 million from County Commission did you have anything you want to add so I listen to everybody and what I heard is the building in The public's opinion is that it leaks there's problems every day C contaminant is going to be in the air and they're not willing to wait another minute to have something done but get to build a new building they're going to sit in that same condition in that building for at least 2 and A2 years if not longer while new one gets built there will be no abatement there will be no fixing anything no roof or they just sit in there for the next three years a new one is being built you have a good contractor that won't
038take three years how long did Pont take will to let your child sit in there for another two to three years put your kid in that school hey if you don't care if there's another outburst from anybody take them out I'm I have been against remen from day one I'm still against it I don't understand these figures that have been presented we asked for to get a remodeling cost we have never got a remodeling cost we have never had an exact figure to remodel that from day one am I correct yes or no you don't have a correct you don't have where did that motion where did that figure come from Mr ion well I'll I'll let you answer question you got right now yeah the last estimate we received I received this with an
039email which I immediately forwarded to Dr arold in it it says this was done uh because we requested that he include a owner's project representative cost in which he did not have before it does have an itemized cost it has hard costs soft costs grand total project cost and it the email re as promised I'm attaching a revised and final cost summary for Jefferson Elementary School for your information I app ped remaining team members and confirmed all of the remaining costs which did not change other than the owner's representative that he added in therefore I feel that the co attached cost summary dat ated February 19th 2025 includes all of your requirements and needs for the complete and total renovation of Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson County if you or any of the school board
040members should have questions please feel to call now is that from Mr B blanket ship it is may I speak now out close yes I W to speak one more time I don't understand what's going on I have been for a new school from day one I'm always been for it we have two Commissioners from our district I support it the other one you it's your opinion to where either is or not while we can sit here and accept this motion and go to remodel at school I asked for $5 million to be removed from our fund balance adding to our what we had which was $1 million making a total of 27 something million to re build a new school I was turned down because we don't believe in taking our fund balance to
041the bottom we're sitting here right now a voting to take $8 million from our fund balance which the last time I only asked for five minut the remark was made that's not getting that's taking too much from our fund B we won't have anything left I don't have the answer to it folks maybe they do I don't any more discussion all right Mr chairman yes I don't think if we were to go to count in fact I know if we go to County commission we're not going to get the funding to do a new school so that would go completely off the bo anyways we can sit there and go to them 20 more time they've been they've seen the school board different times in the past four years and they've been denied all you
042have to do is remove get the Lewis group off the contract if they watch the thing from the I'm leaving get the Lewis group off the contract and they'll look at it thank you [Music] byebye I think we already know that if we go back to them looking for for the money to build a new we're going to be turned down we've heard that suon at the Joint Committee I think we're just wasting time and dragging our feet longer if we don't go for a Remar my only other option would be to move those kids out of the middle school and the middle school up to the Patriot and I know that nobody wants to do that and I don't think there's any other option beyond that and that's that's why I'm going to be
043for this and just I I lose sleep over this I prayed a lot for this and this is the this is the route that I feel that we need to go and that's why I'm going to vote for this any other discussion all right then we'll vote the motion is vote to renovate J Mexico for a total project cost not to exceed $24 million using $3 million from J Elementary account8 million from fund balance and request $12.5 million from County Commission um Don how do you vote n one votes yes Doug yes Doug votes yes Paul yes Paul votes yes no bill votes no the chair votes yes motion passes 4 to one disgusting all right next one repurpose and J El Reserve account Mr chairman yes I move to rename the existing account reserved
044for JE Elementary School to the Jefferson Elementary renovation account is there a second Doug has made motion it's been seconded by dawn again read it move to rename the existing account Reserve J Elementary tool the J Elementary renovation account any discussion yes Mr chairman since we have move to renovate the school the I believe the account that the $3 million is in and that we will be transferring our 85 million in for a total of 11.5 million needs to reflect the fact that it is for the renovation of jeffon elementary school any more discussion all right hearing none we vote Dawn um how do you vote on the move to rename the existing account reserve for J M SCH to Jaron Elementary renovation account yes Don votes yes does yes yes Paul yes Bill no
045bill votes no the chair votes yes motion passes 4 to one now we have number three J M School renovation architect firm Mr chairman yes I move to use blanket shiing Partners as the architect for the Jefferson Elementary School renovation project is there second second there move on FL is move move to use blankingship Partners as architect forje Elementary School renovation project you have any discussion there dou I do not I do not anybody else all right we'll proceed to vote uh the move is to use blank and ship Partners as architect for drift Elementary School renovation project Don how do you vote Yes joh votes yes Doug yes Doug votes yes Paul yes Paul votes yes Bill no bill votes no the chair votes yes motion passes 4 to one lastly RFQ which is
046a request for qualifications for Jan Elementary School construction management firm M chairman I move I move to develop an RFQ for a construction management firm to be used for the Jefferson Elementary School renovation project is there a second second I'll pass f is move to develop an RFQ for construction management firm to be used for the Jes renovation project any discussion on this all right car none we'll receive the vote Dawn how do you vote on the move to develop an rfu for construction man confirm to be used for Jes renovation project yes Don vote Yes Doug yes Doug vote Yes Paul yes Paul votes yes Bill no bill votes no no chair votes yes motion passes 4 to one that brings us to the adjournment is there move to adjourn I move Paul has
047moveed to adjourn a second move made a second all those in favor your all right we are heing