001Welcome to the April 23rd, 2026 board meeting for the Rutherford County School System. We will be opening the meeting with a brief moment of silence or prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the United States flag. No one is required to participate or be present for any of these and being in this portion of the meeting is completely voluntary. Tonight's prayer and pledge will be led by Mr. Stan Bott. All right, join me in a moment of silence, personal reflection, or silent prayer prayer, please. Dear Heavenly Father, hear us, hear our prayers, answer them as you see fit. Lead, guide, and direct us. Grant us patience and wisdom, but most of all grant us peace. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
002America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First up, we have the approval of the agenda. Any comments or questions? Second. >> Thank Thank you, Mr. Bott. Thank you, Ms. Rosales. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have the approval of the consent agenda. Anyone see anything, any comments or questions? Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you, Mr. Darby. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have public comment and we have two speakers that have signed up for tonight. The first uh speaker is Ms. Brenda Boone. There you are. Good evening. My name is Brenda Boone. Um I'm a proud parent of uh Rutherford Collegiate Prep student. Um I am here
003in support of the new um Rutherford Collegiate Prep High School initiative. I'm a bit nervous. I'm not used to speaking in public, so please bear with me. I am um Uh there's only one person in this world I would step out of my comfort zone for and that is my son, Carl. Um he is truly blossoming at RCP and um we tried home school, we tried um tutorials, we tried online schooling, we tried public school, we tried co-ops, and um I can tell you the last two years at Rutherford Collegiate Prep have been transformative for him. Um I am going to be reading a letter that I wrote because I want to capture everything um that our family believes is important um for the RCP High School um for our community. As a proud parent
004of a student at Rutherford Collegiate Prep, I want to express my strong support for the establishment of Rutherford Rutherford Collegiate Prep High School and to encourage your support of the new start application. From the moment our son entered this school community, we have seen him flourish in ways we had not anticipated. The small school concept has created a unique environment where students are not just numbers, they are valued members of a close-knit community. This setup has allowed our son to build meaningful relationships with peers and educators, fostering a sense of belonging that has significantly boosted his confidence and enthusiasm for learning. The professionalism and responsiveness of the administration truly sets Rutherford Collegiate apart. The leadership team is always striving for improvement, actively seeking feedback from parents and students alike. Whenever we have shared ideas or
005concerns, we have been met with thoughtful consideration and prompt action. This commitment to excellent not only enhances the educational experience, but also instills a sense of trust and collaboration among all members of the school community. Additionally, we appreciate the innovative approach of community classes, which prepare students for real-world challenges and future endeavors. This class is not only enrich their academic learning, but also teach them essential life skills and the importance of civic engagement. >> [clears throat] >> By integrating these elements into the curriculum, Rutherford Collegiate Prep is equipping our children equipping our children with the tools we need to succeed in high school and beyond. The establishment of a high school would be a transformative opportunity for our children and many others in the community. Ma'am, ma'am, I I I appreciate the letter, but you've
006gone over your time. I'm so sorry. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Next, we have Troy Amos. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Now, you already heard my name, but more importantly, my daughter, Cassidy, is a sixth grader at Siegel Middle School and we're here tonight to discuss the personal impact she's experiencing from the rezoning process in the hopes that you all can help us with an alternative. Our family moved here from out of state at the very beginning of this school year and we soon learned of the ongoing rezoning process and we followed along with those updates as the map took shape, all the while thinking that we were in the clear from potential rezoning only to find out with the very final map revision that
007we had been narrowly carved out for rezoning to Oakland Middle School for next school year. Now, this was hard for Cassidy to digest after just 1 year at a new school and to complicate matters even further, we're still zoned to Siegel High School, meaning she'd have to shift back again after 2 years. That can be difficult to navigate um both academically and socially during these formative years of a young person's life. Since I provide all of Cassidy's transportation and will continue to do so, we applied for a lottery seat, which unfortunately we didn't make the cut. I reached out directly to Ms. Stoker for assistance and I even searched for job openings at Siegel to see if perhaps they were in need of another custodian or maybe a good-looking lunch lady. >> [laughter] >> Having
008struck out everywhere else, I'm here tonight to appeal directly to you on her behalf for a zone exemption. Now, seventh graders were able to be grandfathered in, 15 fortunate lottery winners were allowed to remain, perhaps there could be one more spot for a principal's list extracurricular contributor with a bit of a unique situation so that she doesn't have to be bounced around even further. I fully respect that there are a lot of considerations that go into the rezoning process and a great number of students that have to be taken into consideration. And to the RCS world, Cassidy is just one student, but to that one student, your action could mean the world. And with that, I thank you for the forum, the opportunity to speak, and any consideration that you're able to give to this
009deeply personal request. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. What was your daughter's name again, sir? Cassidy Amos. A. M. O. S. S. Thank you. And I'll look at that, too. Have you um emailed our choice Dr. McCann, I don't know where you are. Somewhere. Have you Okay. We'll work with our choice one cuz you actually have an option. Normally, we don't do this, but you actually have an option to appeal to the director of schools and I can look at that on a case-by-case basis and so that that'll be our next step and I'll have Dr. McCann reach out to you. So, okay. Thank you. Next, we're moving to the RCS difference. Mr. Harris. Yes, Mr. Harris. >> No, I saw you somewhere. Oh, there you are. Good evening, everyone. It's uh honor to be here
010as always to talk about our student athletes who are in Rutherford County. Um we're going to recognize some a couple of wrestlers tonight. Uh one of them couldn't be here. It was uh Houston Reddick. Uh he's a Central Magnet student and um he wrestles through the co-op program at Eagleville and he's an outstanding obviously an outstanding student. Um and uh just asked he won the state championship in the 250 lb 215 lb weight class, uh but he was not able to be here because he's at a wrestling tournament, but it just adds to the number of other state tournaments that Eagleville has continued to pile up over the years and this year as well. But tonight we're here to recognize Yamil Rashid. I hope I pronounce that correctly from Stewart's Creek High School and he
011won the state championship in the 190 lb weight class division and his coach Kalani Mekus. I hope I pronounce that correct as well and he's going to come up here and talk about him and his accomplishment as well as introduce him to you all. Thank you Dr. Sullivan and the board for recognizing our extraordinary athlete. Yamil Rashid is Stewart's Creek's High School's first ever male state champion in wrestling. And we couldn't be more proud of his accomplishment. Yamil is a prime example of talent and hard work hard work and when they meet you can reach just about anything. After an incredible season where Yamil went 40 and two, he finished the season with the first place region finish, second place at sectionals and captured the TSSAA Division 1 state title for 190 lb. We are
012proud of Yamil's accomplishments both on and off the mat and we look forward to what he does in his future. Yamil Rashid. Next we have the March Madness Reading Award with uh Miss Caitlin Benevit Benevides. Benevides. I'm so sorry. Miss Caitlin Benevides is going to present the winner of the second annual RCS March Madness Reading Challenge. That is some trophy. Woah. My husband's [laughter] fault. Hi there. Um this year nine of our district's middle schools went head-to-head in our second annual March Madness Reading Competition using our reading engagement platform Beanstack. Collectively, our participating students logged an incredible 1.7 million reading minutes during the month of March. After weeks of nail-biting leader boardships and some very serious reading stamina, one school rose to the top. I'm excited to award this year's Friends of Linebaugh March Madness
013Reading Cup to Eagleville School. I'm going to invite Amelia Evans I'm going to invite the library media specialist Amelia Evans and Principal Pedigo to come forward and accept the cup and help us recognize their most valuable page turners, their MVPs. Thank you. Oopsies. I am Amelia Evans. Thank you Caitlin and thank you all for having us here tonight. Principal Pedigo and I would like to start by congratulating all of our middle school readers. They logged over 93,000 minutes and we have a small school. We're only about middle schoolers. So collectively we have a very competitive um student population and so they did really well. We're really proud of all of them. That would be an average of 375 minutes of reading per student. So we also want to recognize our top readers in each grade
014level and tell you a little bit about them and when we call your name, if you would come forward and accept a certificate hander. All righty. Our sixth grade top reader is Isla Young. Come on down Isla. >> [laughter] >> She enjoys singing and cheerleading and her favorite book genres are mystery, dystopian, fantasy thrillers and realistic fiction. She read a total of 2,552 minutes in March which comes out to about an hour and a half per day. >> [applause] >> Our top seventh grade reader is Ryan Kolka. Come on down Ryan. Ryan enjoys singing, playing piano, drawing, cheer and basketball. She also likes to read dystopian novels and romantasy which if you're not familiar that is a combo of romance and fantasy. We've created a new genre. >> [laughter] >> She read a total of
0154,344 minutes in the month of March which comes out to about two and a half hours a day. And our eighth grade top reader is Garrison Tolman. Come on down Garrison. Garrison enjoys playing guitar and reading. His favorite genres are fantasy, realistic and historical fiction. He averaged I'm sorry, he read about 1,486 minutes in March which averages about an hour per day. Congratulations to these students, to all of our middle school students. I also want to thank our teachers that showed such support during this initiative and the leadership at our school and the district level for giving this opportunity to our students. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Next moving on to the Strong Outstanding Staff Awards. There he is. Okay. Good evening. It's that time of month again. We have tonight's
016[clears throat] awards that represent March and then next month on May 11th is our final one of the school year. I want to always thank Alan here from Sonic for coming out. They are sponsoring these awards for the second year and are always gracious to do whatever we ask them to do for these things. Tonight we're going to start out with our administrator category. Our award winner is Erica Coronado who's the AP at Smyrna and AP at Smyrna High School. >> [laughter] >> So Miss Coronado actually had multiple nominations. I'm going to read one of those. She's an assistant principal at Smyrna High School. Miss Coronado is especially equipped to handle the needs of a multicultural community such as SHS. Her fluency in both English and Spanish has been a key factor towards bridging the
017gap in parent-school relations. Along with the school's strong ESL department, Miss Coronado has equipped more families to actively participate in the education process. So congratulations. This next person also received multiple nominations. This is from the central office category, Mr. Kevin Whittington. So Mr. Whittington is our assessment coordinator and right now he is a very popular person. Um Here is one of the nominations. Kevin goes out of his way to ensure everyone knows his door is always open. No matter what he's working on, he will stop and give you his full attention. He treats everyone with kindness and respect regarding their position. His passion for his work is evident every single day. I remember one afternoon when I was feeling overwhelmed with a last minute task, I stopped by Kevin's office unsure he'd have time to
018help. Not only did he pause what he was doing, he also walked me through a solution step by step making sure I felt supported and confident. That moment perfectly captured who Kevin is. He's always present, always helpful and always kind. And I'll add to that that sometimes where I go when it's a stressful day is I just go talk to Kevin because it's about test data and that's when I remember most of the time I don't get to be involved in curriculum instruction as much as I would like to and so I can go talk to Kevin and remember that's what it's about teaching and learning. So greatly appreciate you as a person here but also as a friend, Kevin. All right. Next up is Miss Penny Tidwell from Thurman Francis Arts Academy. >> [laughter]
019>> Miss Tidwell also received multiple nominations. That's that's a theme tonight. Here's one of them. Penny is our school nurse. She is thorough, patient and has the most gentle bedside manner. Not only does she make sure the students' needs are met, but she also ensures the faculty staff is well trained and aware of any needs that could be that could arise. In our building we have several type 1 diabetes students. She knows each of their cases, works diligently to keep their levels exactly where they need to be. She is prepped for any and all scenarios when it comes to the health and insurance. Any and all adults who encounter these kiddos are, too. She treats every patient equally, no matter the severity. She follows up and does check-ins when students have been injured or sick.
020Penny deserves this award because she makes our school a better and safer place simply with her presence. So, congratulations. Okay, next up in the teacher category, Miss Ashton Parnell from Rock Springs Middle School. Miss Parnell faces many many challenges every day. She is our school's Rutherford Works Ambassador, new to eighth-grade science, and she's the head cheer coach at Stewarts Creek High School. She pours into every student every day with great patience and care. She has made tremendous growth in the classroom this year. She comes cheerfully and respectfully to each person every day. She serves her community and loves it. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Okay, in our transportation department, this is Sydney Carter, who is the driver for bus 218. So, he goes by Mr. Sydney, or at least that's what they call him. Mr. Sydney
021uh works hard to show consistency and kindness consistency and kindness to our students on the bus. Mr. Sydney takes time each day to acknowledge each child who gets on his bus. He creates a warm and welcoming environment for our students to start and end their day each day. And I'll tell you that I was still know my bus driver, or she's not alive anymore, but I knew her for a long time, kindergarten through sophomore year, and she was like a member of the family. It sounds like you are, too. So, congratulations. >> [applause] >> We're going to do a quick photo. Think there's no other way for us to call. Come around there. Don't stand. I got the mic. Whatever we need, we're good. Okay. Congratulations. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Congratulations. One more time. Did
022we get it on the mic? Yeah, that's fine. It's okay, thanks. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, okay. Hey, while while everybody is moving, I'd like to say one thing about Kevin Waddington. I've been Kevin, I've been working a long time. And Kevin has been in charge of testing. And if you're not aware of that, as an administrator, it's a pulling teeth and gnashing of teeth when those scores come out. >> [laughter] >> But, sometimes your score is not as good as you think it ought to be, and you always call Kevin, and he always lifts you up. He makes you feel better like there's going always be another day. And uh so, I the way Kevin is, he's got recognized. That's what he is every day. So, he's well deserving. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Before
023we move on to the uh number eight human resources, there was a name inadvertently left off of our list of speakers. So, I want to give Miss Erica Roberts a moment to come and speak with us. Uh-oh. It happens. As long as we get it right, that's what matters. >> It might be partially my fault. I was a little proactive and sent it really really early to you. >> [laughter] >> Lots of things on my plate. But, thank you so much. Um good evening, members of the board, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to take a moment to speak about how truly rewarding it has been to work for Noble Education Initiative and to be a part of the Rutherford Collegiate Prep community. When I think about this work, the word
024that comes to my mind is family. From the very beginning, this has been more than just a place of employment. It has been a community, a place where educators support one another, where families are welcomed as partners, and where students are known, cared for, and believed in. Every day I'm reminded of why this work matters. Families entrust us with their children's futures, and that trust is honored through hard work and dedication. At Rutherford Collegiate Prep, academics are taken seriously. This is a relentless focus on high expectations, strong instruction, and meaningful support so that every student has access to opportunity and success. What makes Noble Education Initiative especially especially meaningful is its commitment to choice. Families deserve options, options that are grounded in strong academics, care, and high standards. Providing that choice strengthens communities and empowers
025parents to select an educational path that aligns with their hopes for their children. The vision for a 12 a K-12 school model builds on those same values. A K-12 continuum allows students to grow in a stable, consistent environment from early childhood through through graduation. It creates continuent continuity and expectations, relationships, and academic rigor. Students benefit from long-term support, families benefit from stability, and the community benefits from graduates who are well prepared, confident, and deeply connected to where they learn and grow. A K-12 school also strengthens community ties. It becomes an anchor, one place where families can build lasting relationships, where siblings can attend school together, and where educators can develop deep, long-term commitment to to the students and the neighborhoods they serve. This vision is supported by leadership that is deeply passionate about doing what
026is right for students. The leaders at NEI lead with integrity, reflection, and purpose. They are committed to growth, always asking how to improve, how to better serve the families, and how to ensure students are receiving the very best education possible. I am grateful to be a part of Noble Education Initiative and the Rutherford Collegiate Prep community. I'm grateful for the students who inspire us daily, the families who partner with us, and the community partners who collaborate with us in the shared belief that all students deserve a strong, supportive, and high-quality educational experience. Oop. Thank you for your time and your service and your thoughtful consideration. I appreciate it. Thank you for stepping in. >> No problem. When we mess up, we fix it. Thank you. Now, moving on to human resources. Yes, so now this
027is a request to update the job description job description for Rutherford County Schools Athletic Director. As we talked about on Tuesday night, this does move it to a coordinator position, which matches our fine arts position. And it is classified as either a classified or an if we've added this little change, it does say teaching experience um preferred because it can be a classified or certified person cuz we have it listed if we just need to match the classified or certified in the um job description portion at the top. Motion to approve. Thank you, Mr. Bond. Second. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. All right, next we have the Rutherford Prep Charter School. You all heard the charter committee's um recommendation. I think this is my first
028time doing this as the Director of Schools. Um so, that should speak to the strength of this application. Normally, I would ask for approval on this second read, um but because of the opening timeline and the communication that we have had with this um Rutherford Prep Charter application, understanding their timeline for 2027 to open, if we delayed it would be difficult. Um my recommendation is that the board approve this application on first read. I say that with a small request, and I mentioned this the other night, and a belief. Uh we've developed a a great working relationship, and I ask that we continue to have that working relationship with different partners in the charter spectrum. Uh we definitely need that help in addressing the funding for first-year enrollment. I think we're all in in agreement
029with that. Um because enrollment for first year is a requirement of the geographic LEA. So, regardless if students come from home school, charter school, Murfreesboro City, Rutherford County, we're the ones that are funding up front. And so, that's just a ask of good faith. This first time that I've recommended on first read, and so, that's my recommendation. Yes, Mr. Bond. Uh I'll tell you the only concern I have about that is it there is a need to be in compliance. As Mr. McCann stated Tuesday night, um I just feel like we needed to deny it and give them give them an opportunity to fix these areas in the next 30 days, which I don't think will be a problem at all. But I just know it's easier to fix these things now than it would
030be later. And I'm just thinking down the highway when we have other charters coming coming up, you know, whatever we do now, we're going to basically have to do for them also. And so I just want to make sure that's what everybody wants to do. I mean, I'm I'm at the mercy of the board, but that's just my personal opinion that it's so. Ms. Maxwell, just a moment. Um Mr. Tidwell and then I'll be right with you. Yes. Uh so I went and met with RCP toward RCP uh this week. Uh met with some of the individuals that had spoke on Tuesday or Monday our typical work sessions on Tuesday, but on Monday and got a lot of the questions answered uh for me and I think some of those responses also were sent out
031to the board. So it kind of answered some of the questions about the finances and some of the comparisons. So with that knowledge and information, I'm going to make a motion that we do approve this on the first read. >> Second. Thank you. Ms. Rosales. Ms. Do you have anything you [clears throat] want to say as well? Yes. So I just want to say that I understand your concerns um Mr. Vaught. Um I did go down to Nashville to visit the campus there on well, it's Cane Ridge, but Antioch. And it's a beautiful facility. It's got um football field as a separate field for softball and baseball. And they also are offering related arts, so there'll be band, music, chorus, all of that. So a high school, this is the first time that we're actually
032are getting an application that includes a high school portion of it. We've had applications that are K through 8, but we've not had a portion where it's a high school. And we all need with the things that are happening right now, that we do need a little bit of help when it comes to the overcrowding. Um and so that's one of the reasons why I've decided to approve this on the first read given that um Dr. Sullivan has given the recommendation that we approve it the on the first read. Um the application is partially meets. However, one piece of it is the financing and I think that that was taken care of and um in discussion last Tuesday, that they are able to handle the debt load if they were to indeed break ground and
033build a new school. They have the capacity and the means financially to handle all all of that. I believe I do believe that RCP right now in good faith wants to collaborate with us and have a partnership with us. So I am trusting in good faith that we're going to have a better relationship with um RCP than we've witnessed with since than we've experienced with the other charter schools. So I believe that's going to be a positive thing. And it's just going to be a really good positive um option that we're going to uh offer in our community with an a school that is has a different model, but it's again, it's going to be K through 8 I mean, K through 12 and offer all the things that you will have in the in
034any regular high school. So I don't think our students are going to miss something different. I think it's just going to add to what we offer. So for that, I am going to have my support behind Bill get a new school. Mr. Bowen, you. You know, you can go down there and look at the facilities. You know, that's a dog and pony show. And I I agree, it's it's nice. But that doesn't make a successful school. Um Mr. McCann and them did a lot of work legwork. And presentation made the other night, the areas of non-compliance uh the state feels like it that needs to be done. And that's reason for the evaluation. And if we don't I just feel like we need to support Mr. McCann in the work he did because um these
035areas, you know, in I don't know. I just I think we're just going to run into trouble if we start okaying schools that don't meet the criteria. So again, that's just me. Do we have any other comments or just questions? We have a motion. Oh yes, Mr. Tidwell. I think I'll just go ahead and put some of this stuff on the record real quick about the finances. I know that we all received it. That doesn't mean the public had access to it. But Knowledge Academy when it was one of the places that was taken over or asked to be taken over by ENA, chosen I should say. And when they were taken over, they were in a $5 million deficit. Now they have an $8 million surplus. So that's a huge swing when it comes
036to the finances. One of the things that I brought up uh several of us brought up actually at the work session was whether or not they were going to hit their um initial enrollment, what they thought they were their projected enrollment, what they thought they could receive. I and I still have some questions about that. Uh but the responses and conversations that we got from Mr. Wilson when he when he was here speaking at the work session, but also uh again when I met with them later on, is that they don't have to hit those numbers to open. That was kind of, you know, a lot of the charter schools that have applied, they need to hit those numbers to survive. ENA has kept uh a good balance sheet and so they have the funds.
037They don't have to hit those to open or build the school. So I think that was a point that maybe was a little bit missed at the work session in the aspect of that's not a requirement where they need to hit those numbers in order for things to happen. It's if they get delayed, it'll be because of the construction of the building, not because of the lack of funding. So that's to me was uh one of the major issues that I'd had with a previous charter school that I didn't support, but um on this particular item, I think that they have the funds. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. Anybody else? Yes, Ms. Sharp. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the things that I've seen different with this charter school is they do have a
038solid CBO and that's where I've seen some of our other charter schools that are here and they struggle. They've got other schools that are here in the state in the next county over. So they have other resources to draw from and um I was one of the school board members when they needed to go and ask the charter commission to allow that for them to open. So I I feel like they they've honored that and they've done a really really good job and I'm going to vote yes tonight. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Sharp. If that's all the discussion that we're going to have, does anybody >> Ms. Maxwell. I just want to say one thing. Um I was on the charter committee and I don't I I don't by as approving on the first reading,
039I also don't want to say to discount the work of the committee. They put a lot of thought into it. They worked really hard. They looked at this from a very objective and they gave us our honest feedback. So I don't want to discount the the work that they've done because it was intensive, it was very laborative and they're very very knowledgeable. Um we I think it needs to be said with that that by us um approving it, we're approving it with the understanding of what the committee said. So I just want to give um some kudos and praise to what the work they've done as well. You're talking about support. Uh It's my recollection that it wasn't recommended. The night there's two areas that really need to be fixed. And there's a reason for
040it and again, I mean, I won't I've had a hard time accepting charter schools, but I've realized that they're here to stay, but I want to see the ones that, you know, they talk about all this and finances and support and all like that, but at the end of the day, the academic performance of the schools that they've got is not near what Rutherford County schools are. In fact, they're terrible. And that's one thing that I want to make sure that we get every get every I dotted and to uh improve on these areas that they haven't done very well in. I mean, it smells good, sounds good. You can you can grease a pig and it looks pretty good, but you know, uh I just I just want I don't see what waiting 30
041days is going to make any difference. I think it will give them an opportunity to fix these areas. One of them they they need to have a community member on that board, which they don't have. There's a purpose and reason for that. So uh By By approving all that, you're saying all this is okay. We just like the state and legislature approving uh papers just because. So we need to we need to do what we say, I think, and support Dr. McCann in the work he did. Uh I understand. Yes. Anybody else would like to add anything? Yes, Mr. Vaught. Y'all have pulled a dirty one on me. Y'all have given me that chair again. So, I feel like a little child sitting down here below the You got that one. Yeah, yeah. It's what
042I get for being late or the last one to the table. Um two or three, if you Madam Chairman, if you'll allow me a little latitude here cuz I listening to everybody's comments. Um I myself looking at if I remember right and Dr. McCain, I may want you to slide back up here just a second. There was five criteria there and there was two of them that that caused us I think great concern. Uh the last one being the financial aspect of it. Caleb, you mentioned in your um validation there that they had gone from a 5 million deficit to an 8 million surplus. How did that happen? You know how that took place. Ms. Maxwell. Yes, Mr. Yeah, so um and if we need to suspend the rules to have Mr. Wilson who is
043present here today to explain it further. NEI was so they were offered to come in. I don't know how they were selected, but they were selected to come in NEI was which is the charter management organization. And in their financial work, they are a little bit uh more financially stable than what the school was. You know we what we've seen in some of these charter schools is that you can be really good on the academics, but not get the accountability portion right. Or you can be good on the finances, but not do on the get on the academics and you're trying to look for somebody that does both. So, when you have somebody like NEI come in, they help manage a lot of the accountability and a lot of the finances that kind of gets
044them to a much better budget shape. And that's what happened with Knowledge Academies. So, when they started with NEI which was in 2019, which was right before COVID, um they were in a $5 million deficit and then as of I think was it last year or this year? Uh last year they were at an $8 million surplus. So, that's a pretty large swing. Okay. I wish we could do that. Like I mean the and and I don't mean that that sounds like a smart aleck comment. I don't mean it that way, but I do mean it from a standpoint of hey, that to operate a school or operate any business in this county, it's you got X number of dollars for capital improvements, building costs, utilities, maintenance, upkeep. Talk to Trey about that. We're dealing
045with budgets here ourselves. And then you got a labor cost right there and then you have a curriculum. Somehow the the curriculum's established. And so, after I left here the other night, I got to thinking about this. Well, how does this really operate? And and when you said that just then, you know, that they've gone from 5 million to 8 million surplus. Okay, where are they cutting costs? Can we learn anything from them? Where is the profit in this thing? And I know in the state of Tennessee um that charter schools are nonprofit. Right? But somebody is somebody is getting something or contract or something. I I just and and I don't mean to be nosy, I don't think, but but I do want to know how the playing field is level here. You know,
046what we're in a partnership in education for our most precious resource and that's the next generation. Roughly 10% of our population, our school age population is going to be either in a charter school, private school, or something like that. Obviously, we don't step across the line and get involved in curriculum with with private schools, you know, if they're religious or whatever. That's but we've got to take care of the vast vast majority of the population. And so, I'm trying to learn from this bunch. How how, you know, is there a magic wand out here? Did they they go from this deficit to this positive thing? I, like Butch, am a little concerned. I I satisfied myself the other night with the debt load. I can I can get that. They can they can cash flow
047that debt load. They get up to speed. Any new business, yes, if you pulled one of our schools out that opened at half capacity or two-thirds capacity, if we really did the debt load charter on charter on that, it would be the same thing. But it was that fourth item and I forgive me, I cannot remember what it was now that the deficiency was there and I think that's what's causing Butch concern. And I would say this, would it do any good? Would it do any good for them? I know that I don't want to disappoint them, but the other side of it is could we put it off 30 days and actually make that application even better? That that's what I'm getting around to saying. And so, I don't know if I need to
048suspend the rules. Let Dr. McCain address this. Let a representative from that from them address it. I Madam Chairman, I would look to guidance from you or Dr. Sullivan as to maybe try to get these questions answered. >> Dr. Sullivan. It's just real quick. They you would deny an application, it would be 30 days and then our team would have 60 days to review it. So, you're looking at at least a 3-month Okay. delay which would definitely interrupt their plans to open for 2027. Ms. Maxwell. Yes, Ms. Rosales. >> Can I can I just share some information in regards to K8 Crossing? My understanding from K8 Crossing, if I'm correct, is that that whole application process from day one was not brought or set up by NEI. They were not the ones to come to
049MNPS and say, "This is the school we'd like to provide. This is the model. This is the curriculum. This is all that." So, in 2019, when NEI stepped in, they came in to take over as a CM CMO. But nothing in the application of the original application was never changed or altered. So, the model that they were going at looking at was based on the application that they had no say so on whatsoever. They didn't come and say, "This is what we'd like to do for you." They were coming and stepping in into a situation because K8 Crossing at the time was in a deficit. The academics were in a in in low. So, they into step in to kind of fix and clean up. They didn't do anything else beyond the academics of that.
050They came in to clean up the financial side of it. I believe that's my interpretation of it is that they were overseeing that piece. So, for them they they've been over this they've been over this school as a CMO in governance um of the school since 2019 and 2026. And within that time period, they've been able to turn the the um the operation around where they were in the red, now they're in the black. The academics is still something that they're working on, but it's a separate board that makes the decision of what decision of what they're of of the style of uh when it regards to academics. NEI's board does not speak into the board of K8 Crossing when it comes to the academics. I believe that's my right interpretation of it cuz it's
051two separate boards that is dealing with that. So, even though it seems on paper that they were going like this, last last school year, they were trending up. It had some improvement. It may not have been an improvement like we've seen in Rutherford County, but they were improving. And I believe that when a school is being turned around, you want to see improvement every year over year. And I believe that's what we're seeing. We're seeing improvements. They're not going kind of backwards. So, And and I appreciate that. That's not what I'm getting at. I'm wanting to learn about the finances. How is that accomplished? How do you go from a $5 million deficit to a $8 million surplus? That's what I'm getting to. The academic side of it, I'm not very good. I'm country. I
052was raised in a milk barn. That's reason Dr. Chastain's here. That's reason he's here. I do know about business. I do know about cash flow. And so, that's what I'm trying to get my arms around. As I said, I've satisfied myself a little bit with the debt load there, but where's the magic in this? And and I and I don't you know, is it a operation? Is it it's their operation? How did they accomplish that? What can we learn from them? That's what I'm getting back to. Well, is that something that we can suspend the rules and ask them to speak into? Yes. We can allow that because I that they're the ones that can speak into that. >> would like to suspend the rules, we can suspend the rules. Okay. Second. Thank you. Okay.
053We're going to suspend the rules and let's you all come up here. Mr. Vaughn, while they're coming up, go ahead and get your thought out. >> Yeah, I mean I don't understand everything we're talking about. You know, that sounds great. It's sort of like you put a dress on a pig. You know, it still >> [clears throat] >> is a pig. But the thing about it is if all this is true, if all this is true, why wasn't it put in the application to where it was approved? Why is it that it's denying those facts that if all this is all this all this is true, why was it not put in the application? That's what I'm saying. You know, it's like I said, you know, I would make my comment about the red rear
054again, but I'll get in trouble about that, but you know, I just need to I just you know, all this sounds great. I mean it you know, but why was it not put in the application to where Dr. McCain and the committee would say, "Hey, this is good. This good to go." And I recommend we put it off 30 days to give them opportunity to to correct that because it's a big piece. Tell you this, financial part of it is a big big big piece. And you know, if it doesn't if they don't if it comes down to it and there's fallacies in it that the application that didn't show in application, Rutherford County schools is going to be eating it. What are the ones going to have to solve and eat the eat the
055middle? And and and Dr. Seven said, you know, we put it off for that will be then they got 60 days to grade put it open the school off for 90 days. My opinion if you can't open the school in from July to the fall of 27 20 you know, when it was scheduled to open, you don't need to be opening the school anyway. Cuz I've been there and done that and I'll tell you so. Well, let's listen to this. So, I'm going to start with the why wasn't this included in the application and I want to try to be very clear. The application before you is submitted by the board rethink forward. It is not the same board that operates knowledge academies. So, two different boards served by my organization the CMO. So, knowledge
056academy data finances weren't include included in that application because that's not who's asking for a charter. Rethink forward different board is asking for the charter and they've hired us as the CMO. So, we serve two different boards. Okay, so that's why this information was not submitted in the application because it's two different entities that we serve. Does that make sense? Okay. So, I'm going to tell you I'm going to go to your question. There is no silver bullet in education anywhere. It is good old-fashioned hard work. That said, when we were brought into knowledge academies, the board took a different direction strategically. They knew they were in debt. They knew they were not getting the academic outcome that they wanted and they knew they were not at scale for operational efficiencies. So, they came to
057NEI and they said, we would like to bring you in to do an analysis of the school and to help us identify those strategic priorities, financial health, operational efficiencies, and academic performance. So, we went and started working April of 2019. Obviously, the finances were huge challenge for the school at that point in time. The bottom line is they were living outside their means. They had taken on too much debt. They were overstaffed. They were in leases and contracts that they never should have been in. And so, systematically we started looking at their transportation contract. We started looking at their food service contract. We started looking at the debt that they had taken on in their building. We were able to bring in the private financing market from from the public arena, private financing to purchase
058that building and lease it back to the school at a very different rate. They purchased very high. We needed to bring that down. So again, you start looking at those financial inefficiencies. We looked at staffing. Let me be clear. We terminated one staff member that year who taught one class. So, we did not touch the staffing model of the school. We touched contracts. We looked at where they were overstaffed with the inefficiencies of what my team brings to the table. We have a CFO. We have an operations person who handles food service, transportation, special contracts for OT, PT, speech. So, we started narrowing in on how do we reduce the expenditures going out the door for the enrollment in that building and we just systematically chopped away at that. But that it did take us
059a minute. But I want to look at also at the academics of knowledge academies. We took that school over and there were no school grades at that point in time. When we systematically started working through the academics, we will stand here today and I will [clears throat] tell you we are a C school that is a TVAAS 4 high growth school. If you look at the entire neighborhood, we beat seven out of eight schools in our cluster. So, while a C school TVAAS 4 is not where we're going to sit, we are we are higher than most schools in our cluster. So, the academics are nothing to kind of shy away from. We are doing incredible work with offering AP classes. We are doing incredible work. Five of our students last year entered into the
060Navy into the military. So, that academic side of the house is really moving at this point in time. Again, all the discussion on knowledge academies has nothing to do with the application before you for rethink forward. So, I hope that's really clear and answers why wasn't that information in there. We have worked really closely and I agree with you Dr. McCann and his team has done an incredible job. We have answered all of their questions. We have resubmitted questions that he might have had and I believe the other night he actually said it almost feels like an amended application because we've continued to try to work with his office and really make sure that what was there was very clear. And I know the issue around two different boards gets interesting because that's not common
061here in the state of Tennessee. But in a lot of other states, I can tell you Louisiana, Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, it's very common for a CMO to work for multiple boards. So, that's just uncommon here. But I think I've answered kind of that financial question of you can't have a school that lives outside their means and that's why in the in the report, we organizationally and operationally met you know, met that standard because that is what the NEI team brings to the table so that the school can focus on academics and education. We do their budget work. We do their contract work. We do their legal work. We do So, that's where you can scale for having multiple schools. Right. So, so essentially y'all are the central office for several schools. So,
062we are staff for the board just like the staff for the board. So, then there's a fee charged for that to do to do that. Correct? So, is it on a not getting in your business model, but again we're liable to the taxpayers of Rutherford County in the state of Tennessee. How do you charge for that service? I believe it's in the charter application. Is it it's in the budget. It's in the budget. Yes, sir. I apologize for not reading the budget closer then. I will find that number. I can tell you it's a 10% management fee. I have no problem telling you that because we work really hard to be fiscally responsible on behalf of those taxpayers. We work really hard to put every dollar possible into those classroom so that we get curriculum,
063we get technology, we get great teachers. So, you know, and all the risk, all the insurance, all of that support comes from us. All right. I'm not questioning that. I'm trying to get it in my from from a management standpoint what here how can we compare our operation to your operation or your operation to this operation? Cuz it's all about business and it's trying to stretch stretch the taxpayer dollar as far as we can. That that's the bottom line for me. So, that that thank you. I didn't I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I just I did not Well, it's a 155 page application and I'm going to be honest with you about it. I haven't read every bit of it. Mr. Look and so I think this will also helps. I
064know you're a numbers guy from our conversation the other night. So, the you heard Sherry's explanation around why they were where they were financially when NEI came in. So, the change is not the it's not surplus cash. It's net position change. Right? So, it's 5 million negative net position to 8 million positive net position over 5 years. Then the unrestricted cash fund balance was up to 3 million. So, that move all together there. So, I think if you think about unloading debt, restructuring, get those contracts back. So, that that is a you all put that together, that's the move. And what we provided you are the slides direct from the public hearing that KA for the Crossings had with the public charter commission when they were doing the renewal appeal. So, that was all information
065it's public out there that we had went and walked through with the state charter commission including the information around the academics as Sherry was mentioning where the comparisons around you know, the district of the MNPS, they stated the schools that the students that would be zoned to had that school not been renewed. And every school that's a that was a part of that cluster is performing behind KA. Seven of those eight schools are on the state's list. The two high schools in that area currently F rated high schools. So, part of the reason and you heard the executive director's recommendation from the state charter commission at that time to grant that 5-year renewal was around the fact that the last 3 years academically we were all moving in the right direction, financially sound, clean audits,
066and that move and change in net position. So, the trend of everything for the last several years of and turning around something that needs help takes a minute and and then but it's that move in that direction and those are the resources that our team has been able to lean in and provide there in addition to our work with Rethink Forward Rutherford Collegiate Prep Nashville Collegiate Prep and then now we're asking you for Rutherford Prep. Thank you all. Thank you very much. Let me ask you a question about the cluster clusters. Yes, Mr. Bond. Are you talking about you had a cluster that y'all were number one in the cluster. What cluster are you talking about? So, the cluster the Antioch cluster there. So, all the schools the students where they would have been zoned
067to go to school. So, the students who attend that school where their zoned public schools would have been both for middle and high that attend. So, you're not talking about Rutherford Cannon. >> No. No. No. So, no Knowledge Academy is in Davidson County in the Antioch Southeast Antioch community. And I know your level your C you know Rutherford Cannon is level five and uh the the top and I I guess it just bothers me if all this is true what you're telling me and I there's no doubt that it's not but why was it not put into the application where it would have been approved and Dr. McCann wouldn't wouldn't come back and say it it was unsatisfactory. So, as as Ms. Hayes was saying the this application is coming from the Rethink Forward board.
068They're the applicant here. There's a separate entity that runs Knowledge Academy that contracts us to run Knowledge Academy. That's the Knowledge Academy's Inc. board. They're not the applicant here. Now, us as the CMO and I think Dr. McCann mentioned that the other night they had done this as a a new part to the application this year and so it does ask other schools that the CMO runs and so that list is in there but as far as the specific um once again in-depth data etc. provided around Knowledge Academy that's not the board that's that is applying for this application. That's why the the five-year budget all of the application information that was provided in this application is everything for Rethink Forward schools because they are completely two separate entities. Let me ask a question. If
069we if we deny this and put it off 30 days and give y'all the opportunity to update this application to where it meets the criteria. Would that I don't I can't get my mind how it would keep y'all from opening a school in the fall of '27 is when you're planning on doing it, correct? I think that Dr. Solomon said it best around that it's really 90 days. So, a denial here tonight creates 30 days and then the board has 60. So, then it's not back in front of you all for a decision until 3 months from now and that timeline around it's a it's a totally different process when you're doing new construction and when you're building and everything that it takes. I think you all know whenever you go to build new facilities
070what that means and what that looks like and so you know and so a 90-day delay in being able to do that process definitely makes it very very difficult for us to meet the timeline of having the facility constructed and ready for the fall of '27. Now, I do think that the additional information you know what I heard from Mr. Tidwell and some of the conversation earlier is that some of the additional information we provided the other night or since has those the couple areas that you're you're talking about there Mr. Bond I believe would have moved us from partially to meets. Is that conversation around satisfying what those concerns were? Why wasn't it given to Dr. McCann? We did. We had provided that information to Dr. McCann to provide to you all. Well, why
071wasn't it enough to get approved? Ms. Ms. Maxwell Yes, Mr. Zellers. So, I was in the committee. So, it wasn't that they didn't omit information. What started some of the conversation I will have to say that the capacity interview was one of the better interviews we've ever I've ever sat through in the last I don't know how many interviews I've sat through but I've sat through quite a few. We asked as much information based on the we asked as much questions based on the information that was provided at the time of the application. What happened was that before the capacity interview there was an audit that was that was released prior to us coming to the capacity and that's what started a lot of the questions of the debt load to that they could take
072and then the and the concerns around Kaden Crossing because it was due to the audit. We didn't get the board the the committee did not get that audit in time for us to evaluate that and then use it as part of the process of asking questions. It was after the fact. So, the the information um that we were speaking of came after. So, it wasn't something that they omitted and we failed to do. It was just the timing of that audit that created a lot of these conversations. How but since then however, they've done quite a bit of work I will have to say in trying to answer the questions that I have since formulated and come out since then. So, there's been communication on both ends and now it's really up to the board
073to decide if the information that they provided to us since then is it enough to satisfy to move forward knowing that the that the um the application the recommendation is based on a partially recommend not recommend it but it partially meets. I hope I explained that piece for you. It still was not approved. I don't care you know you can talk all this double talk and show you want to but it still was not enough for Dr. McCann to pass on in the committee and that's what our our charge is. That's what his responsibility was. To say okay, here's here's what the state says is the charter school. You got to meet these criteria. If you don't you know and that's the thing about it and so this does not meet the criteria folks. I
074mean I it sounds good and talks good and there's no doubt in my mind that if we give them 30 days that can be corrected. All this information you're telling me is was available and but Dr. McCann and them did not have it. Putting it off 30 days to allow to get it right I think is the responsible way to do it from the school board. We can't approve things that aren't I mean if we're not going to go by and support Dr. McCann in that evaluation why have it? Don't even have it anymore. Just go ahead and approve them all. Cuz I mean we're not doing doing due diligence if we approve anything that doesn't meet the criteria. It doesn't matter what it is but uh that's our responsibility. If you don't want to
075take your responsibility, that's fine. But you'll be responsible for it. And I just think we got to be have due diligence and give them 30 days to fix it. I don't think it's going to put it off 90 days. I don't think that's a I think they can fix it in a short period of time as soon as they do uh they can be evaluated in in turnaround time very short period of time. But as of what we have and the information given to Dr. McCann, it was not sufficient in my opinion and if we're not going to support it we don't need to do it. I understand your point. Does anybody else have any thoughts they'd like to add? Thank you all for coming. We're going to go back into our regular meeting. We
076have a motion on the floor to approve and a second to approve the Rutherford Prep Charter School application as presented by the review committee committee to approve. So, I would like to do a roll call vote if we could, please. It sounds like we might be divided. Mr. Bond Yes. Mr. Vaughn No. Mrs. Darby Yes. Ms. Sharp Yes. Mr. Tidwell Yes. Mrs. Rosales Yes. Mrs. Maxwell Yes. Motion passes. >> Passes. Okay. Thank you all. Next we go to number two. Yep, updated job description. This is the district textbook and material supervisor. District textbook and material supervisor will be responsible for ordering, inventorying, receiving and providing textbooks to all the schools in the district. They'll also provide leadership and support to the office staff to help schedule for distribution of the system mail and monitor the
077effectiveness of the delivery services. Recommend motions to approve. Entertain a motion. Move to I second. Thank you, Mr. Bond. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next Social media and internet safety curriculum. Curriculum instruction is seeking approval to pilot the Wired Human curriculum to meet the team social media and internet safety guidance law TCA 4964601 through 4605 in grade 6 through 8 the curriculum is value-based curriculum focused on building healthy and safe screens. The modules have been specifically written to be age-appropriate for grade 6 through 8 and contain nine modules that if approved be delivered by teachers and or counselors depending on the topic. The teacher guide student journals and parent packets are provided at no cost to the district. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you,
078Ms. Sharp. It does sound wonderful. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, legal. We have first transfer student under discipline one. The board has been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. This student was expelled for a threat of mass violence. The director of schools recommendation is to deny. Move to deny. Whoa. Both sides of the table. I'm not sure who chimed in first, but I'm going to give that one to Ms. Darby and the second to Mr. Vaughn. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Next, we have transfer student under discipline two. The board has been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student was expelled for possession of a THC vape and the director
079of schools recommendation for this student is to admit and place in our online program. So move. Okay. >> [laughter] >> I'm going to give that one to Mr. Vaughn and second to Ms. Sharp. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Engineering construction and the McFadden property demolition. The engineering construction department requests approval to issue an RFP for the demolition of all structures at the five properties being purchased and adjacent to McFadden school. This request will allow unnecessary liability from these structures to be mitigated until the property is repurposed. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you, Mr. Rosales. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, financial update. We did our working fund 141 budget discussion. Um, I know one of the things we're going to have
080to look at is I've um emailed our finance director, Michael Smith, about the RFPs for insurance. I know that there was at least one that included transportation. Um, they are taking it and I believe the next insurance committee meeting is May 7th. It's the first week of May. I don't know what the recommendation's going to be. Um, outside of that I know we received an email about increased costs, so that may be something that we have to look at. Um, we also have to keep in mind that whatever we do, we also have to keep our employees rights in mind as well. So, I just ask that we balance both of those things, but we're going to be getting those about a week before our budget is due. So, it's going to come in very
081quick and heavy right in the middle of getting our final revenue numbers. So, as soon as I get more information, I'll send it to you and I've requested that information as well. So, I've requested that if any way possible that we get on county insurance because I think that would save all of us. Whether or not that's a viable solution, I don't know. But, it's what I've requested. Okay. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Tidwell. Yeah, do you think you'll have all this information before our budget workshop? It's that May 7th, same day? Yeah, they meet during the day, so I should. Should have what their recommendation is at least. Right. And I totally agree with you. Yeah, I think it'd be great if we can get them back on the county insurance. All right. So, the
082the text that I've gotten of course we've gotten emails as well about auto owners going up 50%. Uh, I don't know what that's going to look like for other insurance carriers and I don't think that was accident related to these folks. It would cuz it seemed like it was a pretty common theme. And then what happens if these carriers just all together stop carrying? I mean, I think these are things we got to have conversations about and figure out as a contingency plan. Obviously, the best fit I believe would be the back on county insurance, but we need to be having these conversations. Okay. Anything else? No. Okay, how about director's update? Okay. General discussion. I would like for us to look into and it is a five-year stipend that was thrown out for those
083I think there's four. We've looked into that. Recommend that we really look into doing that because those employees kind of yeah, with the with the ones that, you know, they came with the state with the knowledge that they thought they would keep their insurance when they retired and they didn't get it. Yes, Mr. Vaughn. >> [clears throat] >> I'd like to make a motion that we uh put the Ten Commandments back in our schools. I know it's in the state of Texas they've approved in a lot of states around us are approving that and I think now's the time cuz that's what our whole country is was based on and I just think we need to put them back in our schools and uh uh I guess it's [clears throat] something we need to do
084as a as a school board. I think there's Ms. Maxwell, I believe there's isn't there a state law that was passed about putting the Ten Commandments? Everybody has one of those plaques. That's a private move on that. >> thought they were they were they passed something for the schools. I think it's a state law that's going to be signed by the governor, so It might be something that is coming. Yeah, I think that's already in the works, so let's wait for the state. Yeah, if we can wait cuz if it's a state law, let's just go ahead and move in that direction. Cuz I think it's I think that's what happened. I think that's Yeah, I believe that that's already going to happen. If not, we can revisit it, but I believe that's at the
085state. I do believe it is going to as well. Um, Can we vote just in case it's not? Why, sure. Sure. I'll make a motion to put back in there. And then Mr. Tidwell has a second. We're going on record. Yes. You have All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion has passed. Okay. Okay. Uh, does anybody have anything because I have something. Before I run out to Riverdale, uh, I want to a little birdie let me know that certain one of our board members was having a birthday. So, Ms. Katie Darby. Yay. Give her a round of applause. Happy birthday from everybody. 29 and holding, right? I'm counting back by five. There you go. There you go. Is there anything else anybody wants to discuss? It's also our board secretary's 29th birthday as
086well. >> That's right. It was. >> [applause] >> Okay, Jazz Fest. First and second, they're giving away not one car, but two. One on Friday night and one Saturday night. Excellent. I don't know who it's going to who they're going to, but they're giving away two cars. Great. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. >> If there's nothing else. Move to adjourn. We're adjourned.