00130 p.m. Meeting board meeting for the Rutherford County School District. We'll be opening the meeting with a brief moment of silence or prayer and a 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. Before I hand it over to Miss Rosales who has our prayer and pledge, I want to say that we lost one of our own, Mr. Traylee has lost his mother this week and please be in prayer for her. Yes, bow your heads with me, please. Dear heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for allowing us to be here one more day. We thank you for how good you are to us and how loving and kind you are. Thank you, Lord,
002that you hear our prayers and Lord, I just want to lift up Traylee's family as they're having to deal with a devastating loss of their mother. I pray that you will comfort them and bring them peace in spite of the pain that they're going through right now. Lord, I just want to pray as we're gathered here to make decisions on behalf of so many that are impacted, students, families and teachers and administration. Lord, give us wisdom and discernment as we go about in making these decisions. We humble ourselves before you and we thank you for all that you do for us and in Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> [snorts] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
003indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> First up, we have the approval of the agenda. Any comments or questions? Move to approve the agenda. Thank you, Mr. Vaught. I'm sorry, Mr. Bond. Go ahead. We did remove the kid and bid like we talked about last week. Okay. Or on Tuesday. So, we have a motion from Mr. Vaught, seconded by Mr. Bond. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have the approval of the consent agenda. Any comments or questions there? So moved. Okay, thank you, Mr. Vaught. Thank you, Mr. Bond. And Dr. Sullivan? We have added a nepotism for Rebecca Larson whose mother will also be teaching at Poplar Hill Middle School. So, you have that below that's been added. Okay. All in favor, say I. Any
004opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have public comment and we have two speakers this evening. First up, we have Mr. Terry Lederman. Thank you, sir. Good evening. I've appeared before speaking to you about Smyrna High School and I'm back for the same reason. Today, I'm going to talk to you about the experience my son has had being bullied and traumatized by an assistant coach and one of his favorite bowlers. He'll tell you more about it, but basically, the assistant coach, Donnie Richardson, used information in a confidential court order given to the school and distributed that information to people that were not authorized. Not only is that a violation of a court order, it's also a violation of HIPAA and FERPA. Not to mention professional and ethical standards. Assistant Director Michael Wright and Assistant Principal Billy Harris
005stonewalled our complaints before trying to bully and intimidate us himself. Smyrna has repeatedly failed to report scoring averages as all other Rutherford bowling teams do, middle school and high school. Smyrna said that Richardson, the same coach, had lost all the records for the past five seasons. All of them. The athletic director had no copies of any of it. Right, you One moment, sir. Can I ask that I don't know what you're going to say, but could you refrain from saying any student's name? I haven't. Okay, thank you. Right unilaterally stated that Smyrna considered the matter closed and no documentation would be provided. Hint, spoiler, it was this week, Tuesday night. Last month, same coach, Richardson, escalated the situation with help from his boyhood boyhood best friend, Randy Tooms. And Donnie retaliated by falsifying scoring records
006for two bowlers resulting in a recognition for his favorite bowler, the same one that was the bully, and denying the recognition to my son. Now, this is not about recognition. My son has plenty of that, okay? This is about what's right and instead getting petty vindictive behavior from coaches that should be held to a higher standard. Speaking of that wisdom that was mentioned in the prayer. Speaking of integrity. These are things we look to in our coaches. We want them to lead by example. But why is Richardson, a non-faculty assistant coach with no employment status with Rutherford schools, given complete control of an entire athletic program at Smyrna High School without oversight? Despite repeated complaints and accusations going back 16 months to some people in this room. Instead, he got nominated by Smyrna High School
007for a State of Tennessee Assistant Coach of the Year award for winter sports and it was announced on Smyrna High School's social media today. How can this community trust the Smyrna coaches and athletic administrators in this situation? Will Rutherford schools continue to allow coaches to manipulate student athletes' futures and scholarship offers by falsifying or even withholding, as they did in this case for the last five years, statistics? I propose that this board create a website on the RC schools domain where they can host records for sports that are underrepresented like bowling, archery, things like that not covered on MaxPreps. I've extended some other requests and it's up to you what you'd like to do with that. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Eric Martin. Feel free to start.
008Good evening. Thank you for your time tonight. I'm currently a student at Smyrna High School. I know that my dad has spoken to you previously and just now about my experiences at Smyrna High School and counseling has helped me confront and process the the negative experiences that I have had at Smyrna High School. From bullying to intimidation to retaliation, I have had to confront not only classmates and teammates, but also coaches and athletic directors and principals. I was repeatedly demeaned, called names and told to kill myself before by teammates and people that I trusted. All because Donnie had told the teammate that I was at therapy when we had practice one day. And I was betrayed by the school personnel that I was taught to trust. For too long, the voices of victims have been
009silenced by symbols of authority. When victims speak out, we are often overridden and told that what happened, well, it didn't. Nine months after we complained, Athletic Director Billy Wright and Assistant Principal Assistant Director Assistant Principal Billy Wright and Athletic Director Mr. Wright ambushed my dad and I by demanding that we attend a meeting at the school. When we were arrived, I was basically told get it get right or get out. That I would not be part of the program if I spoke about anything that involved bullying or bullying or intimidation. If I wanted to stay on the team, I could not speak out. This was after three practices which meant that I could not transfer schools and maintain my eligibility for this year. I was forced to bowl next to people who had bullied me
010without the concerns ever being addressed by the team, the school or the district. I responded with my best season fueled by my anger and disappointment by nobody doing anything about my concerns or speaking out. I was stuck in that toxic culture. I did my best and was recognized by my true teammates and even mentioned in the Rutherford County Schools podcast for my leadership and ability to help teammates improve and make situations better. Sadly, after the season, Donnie falsified our scoring our scoring records to ensure that an award made it to another bowler. I respect my teammate's bowling ability and this is not about the award itself, but about the fact that they lied to put another bowler up and put me down. What is happening at Smyrna High School is simply not right. The bowling
011program is toxic, corrupt and not right. The betrayal continued today when it was announced that Donnie was was announced Assistant Winter Sports Coach of the Year. After everything that has happened, for the school to say that Donnie has brought them pride to Smyrna makes my stomach churn. I I ask that this board, Dr. Sullivan and Mr. Harris take swift and appropriate action to change the environment and culture of that of the bowling team and athletic leadership at Smyrna High School. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you. Next up, we have the RC Difference. >> Mr. Creasy, Mr. Evans, I think y'all both are doing this one, correct? And so, this is something the SCOPE Student Congress on Policies in Education is something that I normally am a presenting member with. This year, TOSS had
012our annual conference the exact same dates, and so I wasn't able to be a part of this, but it is where our board is aware of Tennessee School Board Association and TOSS host this together. And so, we have students from our high schools that present, and I'll kind of let you guys talk and explain their experience. So, we have three items tonight that we're recognizing for the RCS difference, which is the new uh title of this section of the agenda because we're trying to make sure that we highlight the the things that make our schools different, and our student achievement is one of those, of course. So, Mr. Creasy is going to talk about our SCOPE delegates. Uh we're also um Lee Ramsey back here has some students from the DAR, the Daughters of the
013American Revolution, who won an essay contest, and then of course, we're going to do our staff awards with our spo- uh friend from Sonic. Uh we'll do those there at the end of those. So, Mr. Creasy, it's all yours. Thank you, sir. Thank you, board. Thank you, Dr. Sullivan. Uh I had the privilege of taking 24 of our wonderful students to uh Belmont to participate in SCOPE. Uh it was a fun, field-packed day. Uh they do a great job with this program, and our students uh performed very well and made Rutherford County very proud. Um we have one student that I'm going to ask to come up and just talk a little bit about her experience here in just a second. Uh Emily Byrd from Eagleville, she was voted as the first vice president for
014the SCOPE conference. For So, she'll be serving uh this coming year. And what the students had to do is they was in general session when they first got there that day, and then they broke off into groups, and they were able then to 16 groups, I believe, and they were given four different topics to uh debate and learn about, and then in the afternoons, they come back and they would have a debate upon the stage the pros and cons of that. And the four topics that they had this year, one is uh that's at that's in the State Board of Education right now was the world language graduation requirement shall be an elective. Then they debated ACT shall be substituted for end-of-course examinations. Stu- uh students shall have the option of sub- substituting club sports,
015meaning kickball, club soccer, water polo for physical education requirements. And then, the fourth one was all students shall be required to participate in at least one extracurricular activity per year. So, each group then they chose the leader to get up on the stage to represent the their particular group and debate, like I said, debate the pros and the cons. And we had two students actually chosen to represent Rutherford County. One was from uh Central Magnet School, and Mr. Gamble, um John Gamble, and then I said already uh Emily Byrd from Eagleville. So, I want to ask Emily to come up and just tell a little bit about her day very quickly, and then we'll have the rest of the students that are here this evening uh introduce themselves and the school they represent. Emily? Hello,
016everybody. My name's Emily Byrd. I just wanted to say thank you to everybody for the opportunity that I got. Um I met so many amazing people. It was so great. Like you said, he covered just about all of it, but left me with nothing to say, but um >> [laughter] >> Um I got to participate in a mock school board, so I got to do just about everything that you guys get to do up here. And I got to participate in a debate. My group voted me to be our debate debate member, and I got to debate whether world language needs to be a requirement in our schools, and our debate won, and it was a it was just a great experience. The people there were so kind, and um I really had a great
017time. So, thank you all. Thank you. >> Rest of the students that participated in SCOPE, if you'd come up and introduce yourself and the school that you attend, and we'll go right in front here as they announce. So, anyone else that participated in SCOPE, come on up, students. Tell us your name and the school that you attend. My name is Muhammad Tabish. I'm representing Stewarts Creek or I represented Stewarts Creek High School. Um my name is Monica Andrade, and I represented Stewarts Creek High School. My name is Isabel Keefer, and I'm representing Holloway High School. My name is Alexa Reese, and I'm representing Riverdale High School. My name is Caroline Cole, and I'm representing Rutherford County Virtual School. My name is Ariel Perry, and I'm also representing the Rutherford County Virtual School. My name is
018Jayden White, and I'm representing Riverdale High School. My name is Kason Lawyer, and I represent Rockvale High School. My name is Blake Walters, and I represented Oakland High School. >> [clears throat] >> And earlier this week, we had um we we ran some articles about these delegates to recognize them, but I still want to get a picture of them with the board tonight if we could do that. They want us to do this? >> [applause] >> All right, squeeze in, guys. All right, you guys good? Perfect. Congratulations. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> ALL RIGHT. SO, UH MR. LEE RAMSEY'S NEXT, AND he is wearing a suit tonight, but he has another suit that I really wish he was going to wear. It's appropriate for the American Revolution. He has the George Washington full-body thing that
019he did not wear tonight, but I mean, I guess we'll we'll go with the traditional look. That's fine. Actually, it's in the dry cleaners getting getting cleaned at the moment. So, um earlier this fall, I spoke about Freedom Week and the Governor's Civic Seal, uh which is TDOE's most prestigious award in social studies. Uh spearheaded by their instructional coach, Ms. Wilcox, and their librarian, Ms. Shepherd, uh Blackman Middle School set out to be the first middle school in Rutherford County to receive the award. Uh they're well on their way. Um two of the main requirements is that they have to have cross-curricular civic education, which means that they have to teach about civics across all different subject levels, uh real-world learning opportunities for their students. So, in a true demonstration across-curricular uh real-world learning activities,
020Blackman Middle School's ELA teachers uh took up the challenge and ran with the DAR essay contest, which had their students write creative creatively about the Founding Fathers. Um and two of their students received state recognition, which we'll talk about a little bit more in a second. In addition, one of their sixth-grade students uh received first place in the state for their poster contest. So, I want to introduce Ms. Baird and Ms. Wilcox. They're here to talk a little bit more about their students and their their accomplishments. Good evening. My name is April Baird, and I'm an eighth-grade English teacher at Blackman Middle School. It is my honor to stand before you tonight to recognize an exceptional student. This is Emma, uh whose hard work, curiosity, and dedication have earned her recognition at the highest level
021of our state. Please understand that witnessing her excitement about writing an essay for a competition has been one of the true highlights of my teaching career, and knowing the work that she dedicated to her essay made this achievement even more special. I have to add that when this came up, I hadn't mentioned it to my class, but I came in, and Emma's like, "Ms. Baird! Ms. Baird! I heard there's an essay contest. Are we going to do it?" And I was like, "We are. Just just give me a minute." So, she was very, very excited. But for those who may not be familiar, the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsors an annual eighth-grade essay contest. This year, students were asked to immerse themselves into American history, research a founding founding figure, and write a thoughtful,
022well-crafted essay about a signer's contribution to this nation. It is a program designed to keep the stories of our founders alive and to remind us all why the ideals they fought for still matter today. This year marked Blackman Middle School's very first time entering the contest, and what a way to make an entrance. When most eighth-graders heard the word hear the word essay, their excitement level falls somewhere between doing laundry and going to the dentist. But not Emma. She embraced this competition with genuine enthusiasm and curiosity, choosing to write about William Whipple, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who freed his enslaved servant in the middle of a revolution because he refused to fight for liberty while denying it to someone else. Emma didn't just recite the facts. She explored Whipple's character, his integrity,
023his moral evolution, his courage. And she connected his story to lessons that still resonate today. In her essay, she writes that she wrote or she would ask him, "As a signer, what part of the Declaration of Independence resonated with you the most?" She goes on to explain, "This could be important to help explore which ideals, liberty, equality, and self-governance, he felt most passionate about." I think he would respond by saying that he resonated the most with equality, since he viewed virtue as an essential to freedom. Emma's writing is thoughtful, mature, and reflects someone who clearly understands that history isn't just about dates and battles. It's about people, principle, and the choices that define us. And the judges agreed. Out of every eighth grader who entered, Emma Tiffany placed second in the state. Blackman Middle School,
024her family, and her eighth grade English teacher couldn't be more proud. Congratulations, Emma. >> [applause] >> I'm going to go on and continue if that's okay. Just pretend I'm Miss Bederici. Uh we're also here tonight to honor Jack Nelly. He's one of our seventh graders. And for anyone who knows Jack or has witnessed his work ethic, this is no surprise. Jack is well-organized, competent, intelligent, and creative. When we initially proposed the DAR assignment to the students, some were not thrilled with the idea of additional work. This seems to be a theme. Jack, however, tackled the project with gusto. He immediately began wondering out loud what would be the best way to approach the essay. Even in those early brainstorm stages, Jack's idea was impressive. But Jack is not just personally motivated. He is a true
025team player, which Jack demonstrates in the encouragement he gives his classmates every day. Jack is a bright student, for certain. But his other pervasive equality is the one we shall all celebrate the most, his citizenship, since it is a hallmark of Rutherford County community. We at Blackman Middle School are thrilled at the achievement of Jack Nelly, and we are proud to call him a Blackman Flame. Thank you. And now I'll let you guys look at somebody else. This is Miss Wilcox. So I'm one of the instructional coaches at Blackman Middle, and when Mr. Ramsey um brought in the Governor's Seal um project endeavor to us, um we discovered that um we truly liked the project with the Daughters of the American Revolution, because it's not just an essay contest. Um have a poster contest, and
026they also have a movie contest that you can enter. And um this is my son, Owen Kaski, and he's a sixth grader, and he was not excited about writing an essay. And so we kind of dug into it, and we discovered the poster contest. And so I showed it to Owen, and what it had Owen do was to look into the early days of Tennessee becoming a state in the early um statehood of Tennessee. And so I had Owen kind of take this on. He was not excited about it. Um but he got into it. And so what we sat down and we really looked into this, and he was able to really engage and kind of learn about history and and get deep with um just all of the things in the research of
027the statehood of Tennessee. And not only did they have them research the people and the founders, but they had to create the images with it, and how could they connect the two? And I think that's what he really liked the most is he had to come up with that those creative ways of how he could make this poster and bring it alive for other people to look at. And so Owen took two weeks on this project um doing all of his research and designing his poster and putting a lot of work into that. And so um he placed first in the state with his poster. And so we're really excited for him. >> [applause] >> As someone who's part of the Captain William Lytle DAR chapter, it is absolutely so gratifying to see young people
028get excited about history. All right. Well, we appreciate you all coming tonight. We've also ran a photo of them this week. One of them couldn't be here tonight, cuz they're at another event tonight. So we thank you all for coming. Congratulations. And we're going to move forward with the next part now. Okay, so the to wrap this up, it's our friends from Sonic, Alan and Nikki. They've given me permission just to use their first names, cuz I always mess up their last names, so that's going to be it for now. It's much easier to say. Uh but they have graciously again um the Sonic Drive-Ins of Rutherford County have been sponsoring these award now. This is the second year. Uh we're going to start out with our principal recipient this this month, Dr. Theowana Hatchett
029from La Vergne High School. >> [applause] >> She is the model. I'm going to read a little bit about what they wrote. I'm not going to read all of this, cuz they wrote a novel, which is understandable considering [laughter] how great Dr. Hatchett is. But uh she is a a great example of a great leader. She sets high expectations for student behavior and academics. She goes above and beyond for her students, like my son, who has special needs with multiple diagnoses. Um she allows me to email her and even text or call her cell phone if needed, even on nights and weekends. She is often proactive and reaches out to me first with about upcoming deadlines, especially the ones for seniors. She She always makes sure my son gets to where he needs to be.
030So again, I don't know too many principals to give out their cell phone numbers to parents and let them call and text at any hour, but it does not surprise me that Dr. Hatchett does that. So great example. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Well, Dr. Hatchett, don't run off. We are going to do a photo with you. Sorry. All right. Our teacher recipient this this month is Mr. Omar Smith. >> [applause] >> Uh Omar, it says here he's a great coach and selfless person, and he really supports the kids. And I know that Dr. Sullivan has some history and would like to share something. I just think we have one heck of a former Blackman Middle School coaching staff up here between Dr. Hatchett, Omar, myself. I mean, we're all there. But make sure you
031tell them what school are you with now, Mr. Smith? That's what I thought. >> Okay, just want to make sure we brought that up. >> You know, it's it's amazing to me the history of Blackman Middle School, Omar. You have done well, my man. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> All the award recipients, I meant to tell you that I'm glad you carried on the tradition [laughter] of Blackman Middle School. Uh it started out that way, and it continues to be. Uh Dr. Sullivan made a contribution there, and Omar, and a lot of others. So Dr. Hatchett. Congratulations. Okay. Did you hire him, Mr. Okay, I I just had a feeling you may have. I learned a long time ago you you don't have to be smart, but you got to be smart enough to hire
032good people. I hired Omar, and I hired Dr. Sullivan, you know. >> [laughter] >> And uh Who else did you hire? Let's go down the list. I'm just joking. I'm tell you. Hey, listen. Okay. Um support staff in the support staff You read his I don't think you read what they said about I did. Oh, did you? Yes, I did. Okay. He's in here. It's a short nomination, but it's not the it's not the quantity, it's quality. He's such a great coach and a selfless person, and he always really supports the kids and then That's right. That's right. So thank you. Um now in our support staff category this month, Margaret Hasfeld from Buchanan Whitworth Buchanan Middle School. She is an outstanding secretary. She can always count we can and we can always count on
033her. She is generous, kind-hearted, and dedicated to her work, staff, and students. Our office would not run the same without her. Thank you. Okay, transportation. And I'm going to mess up this name. I'm just going to tell you right now. Guido He asked He told me how to say it, but I can't remember. Uh transportation, this is one of our crossing guards, and we're I'm glad that someone nominated that it was selected, because we've done a variety of people in transportation. This is I believe our first crossing guard that we've done. But Mr. Guido Husso Hussos. >> [applause] >> Mr. Hussos is a crossing guard at our Christiana School. This is his second career. He retired and wanted to do this. Um he is but the the nomination says he is dedicated to his job,
034and he's very reliable. He's a team player and cares greatly about the safety of the bus drivers, school children, and the other drivers on the road. And I can tell you that we would not make it through any of our school zones without what you all do. So thank you so much. And I pass him every morning in a Honda Accord, and he took the place of somebody who dressed up all the time. And for him to and for him to get a nomination still replacing somebody very famous out there, and you have you have done a phenomenal job, sir. Phenomenal. >> [laughter] >> All right. And last but not least is Miss Christine Bryant from the central office. >> If you know Christine, she loves public speaking and has offered to give a speech
035[laughter] at the end of this. She received three nominations. And so I'm not going to read all of them, but I'm going to read one of them. She is one of the most genuine, kind, intelligent, and fierce advocates for the K-12 school counselors. She's an expert in our field and works tirelessly to support each and every one of us through policy changes, best practices, and professional development. So, congratulations and thank you. Very deserved. Now, we are going to do a photo. [applause] Next up, we have human resources. All right. So, we talked about this on Tuesday, but this was a new job description for bus driver part-time for us to allow to begin posting. And again, if these don't fill, then we would come back with a potential full-time for special education for special education
036EA and potential, but this is just for bus driver part-time. All right. Any comments or questions? Now, I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Voit. Thank you, Ms. Rozell. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Next is Director of Schools' request to utilize up to a 20-day contract based on applicant and school situation for the hiring of a new principal at multiple locations this summer due to pending retirements. Again, we talked about this on Tuesday just based on when principal contracts end for retirements and when the new school year starts. Move for approval. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. Second. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. This is an updated job description from the Federal Programs Administrative Assistant to Federal Programs
037Account Analyst. This updated job description more appropriately reflects the essential duties of this role. This position will move from classified hourly to classified salary on the pay scale. Position is fully funded through federal programs and will not impact the general purpose budget. Any comments or questions? Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Second. Thank you, Mr. Voit. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. All right. Next, we have Career and Technical Education Textbook Adoption Section E Committee respectfully recommends approval of the following instruction instructional materials. And we went over these Tuesday, but so okay that I don't read these or I'll be happy to read all of these again. Um we have the first list are the ones that have a state-approved title. The second list are the ones that do not have a
038state-approved title that the committees have approved. Um Dr. Chastain again was available to talk about this on Tuesday. She's available today to talk about these. And the committee confirms that all of these recommended materials support the district's commitment to preparing students for high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand careers. Any comments or questions? Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. Thank you, Mr. Voit. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have legal. First, you have a transfer student under discipline labeled as number one. The board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student was remanded to alternative school for possession of a THC product. According to policy 6.318, the board may deny admission to any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from
039another school system while under suspension or expulsion. Director of Schools' recommendation is to deny. Move to approve. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Voit. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. All in favor say I. I'm sorry. Ma'am. To to deny. I'm so sorry. Thank you. Motion passes. Next, we have Transfer Yep. Transfer student under discipline number two. The board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student was expelled for possession of a THC product. According to policy 6.318, the board may deny admission to any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from another school system while Director of Schools' recommendation again is to deny. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Second. Thank you, Ms. Darby. All in favor of denial. Yes. Say I. Next. The transfer student under
040discipline number three. The board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline. The student was expelled for repeated violations of type three behaviors. Again, according to policy 6.318, the board may deny admission to any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from another school system while under suspension or expulsion. Director of Schools' recommendation again is to deny. Thank you, Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Darby and Mr. Darby. [clears throat] All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have board matters. Buy properties adjacent to the McFadden School of Excellence to provide additional land for a new school building. McFadden is the oldest school building in the system and requires extensive ongoing maintenance. There's been discussion about replacing or remodeling the building with a new
041one or doing a a major renovation on it. These five properties will provide additional land for a new school building. The purchase contracts on the five parcels were subject to inspection inspection periods. Those are coming up for expiration soon. So, the appraisals have come in on the five properties. A chart showing that the contract purchase prices, current tax appraisals, and the appraisal amounts are attached to a tab. The houses on the property will be demolished. So, the real value in the property is the land itself and allows that entire block to be squared up to give you space for a new school. The board needs to determine whether you want to move forward with these purchases or not. If we do decide to move forward with them, I have to give notice to the sellers
042that we're electing to move forward with a purchase. If we'd like not to purchase these properties, our contracts will expire. Move to approve. Second. Thank you, Ms. Rozell. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Any comments or questions? Ms. Maxwell. Just a second, Ms. Sharp. Yes, Ms. Sharp. So, there's quite a bit of difference in the appraisal price and the contract price. Is there any wiggle room in that? I talked to the I called the property owners and they were not willing to negotiate the price. I did make an effort to get the price lower. Um from their standpoint, you know, I mean, we can't went to them. They were not selling these properties. So, these are not properties they had in the market for sale. We went to them to ask to buy their property. So, it's
043kind of a different situation from someone actually selling the property. Um and these are parcels that really needed to square up that that whole lot. If you've been buying and looked at it, um the houses are not in great condition. They're older houses. Some of them you could say are pretty poor condition on it. Um so, really what you're buying here is the land. And you're paying what you're while you're paying more than the appraised value for some of these houses, it's whether you want to make the investment to square up that parcel to square it up for a school site. So, that's the really the analysis you have to undertake. So, that's a board decision. It's what you want to do. Ms. Rozell. Thank you. Um so, this idea of buying those five houses
044that were literally going to be demolished really came from the parents um the PTO that we the board was invited. So was um other county commissioners. Um I was there when they presented the um the idea of buying the five houses so that it can give them more space so they can grow and renovate. With that, I want to read the letter that we all received today from a PTO member of McFa- McFadden School of Excellence. Um it says, "Dear members of the Rutherford County School Board, I'm [music] writing today as a McFadden parent in an an active member of the PTO to share my support for the purchase of the five adjacent properties currently under consideration. McFadden has been advocating for facility improvements for a long time. Our family, staff, and leadership have consistently
045shown up, shared concerns, and worked collaboratively with the district to highlight both the strengths of our school and the very real limitations of our current building. This feels like a meaningful next step in the ongoing work. As you know, McFadden serves students from across Rutherford County, yet our facility, dating back to 1938 was not designed to support the demands of the modern county-wide magnet program. The layout, aging infrastructure, and limited space continue to impact functionality, safety, and long-term planning. The opportunity to purchase these properties seemed like an important step forward. It could open the door to a safer campus, improved traffic flow, and more intentional use of space, including the possibility of relocating areas like the playground away from a busy street. It also helps create options for the district as you continue to think
046about the long-term future of the board. I understand there are many factors to consider, including the appraisal, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into decisions decisions like these like this. From a parent and a PTO perspective, I simply wanted to share that there is strong support and appreciation for continued progress in the in this area. Thank you for your time and your leadership and for all you do to support students and school and schools across Rutherford County. And it's sincerely by PTO member McFadden School of Excellence. Um one thing that we do not that we're struggling, in my opinion, is that if you we're growing, which is great, um and obviously it's a reason and the reason is because we have great schools. We have a strong school system. And with that, we need
047to offer options. If you compare us to other counties that are bigger, there are more options of magnet schools. We are having to prioritize what schools to build and and how to compensate. This will allow, by purchasing go ahead and moving forward with this purchase and demolishing the houses, is going to allow to expand the school building. And that expansion will also means we're going to increase the number of students that can go that can apply to go to the school. And we right now it's really difficult to to make decisions from should we buy another house school, we need another elementary school, we need this, we need that. And so and yet I feel that we need another magnet school, too. Cuz we have 52,000 kids and and we're limited on how many number
048kids that it can apply to these type of programs. So with that, I have hope that the board would join unanimously in support of buying these houses so that we can expand the school, increase the number of enrollment, and provide more families with an option to send their skills I'm send their students to a school that it has a magnet program. Thank you, Mr. Sullivan. Yes, Mr. Tidwell. Um and this this thing has to be squared up, right? In order to That was my really my only question about when they showed the map the other night is there was two properties kind of on the the of the facing in front of the school would be the back right corner, but it needs to be squared up. Would you agree with that statement? >> Yes,
049as far as the design of the building Well, I'd say particularly if you're trying to keep the current school open while you're building a new school, you need really all the property. Yeah, and I think there's a couple of additional points that I think would help maybe overlay the the points that have already been made. Um it being such an old building, there's a ton of maintenance that goes into that. There's already been some major projects that have already happened over at McFadden, and it those are just band-aids that are not going to const they're not going to fix the the problem in totality. And so when you have like a major thing, I know that the the mortar got replaced at one time, and I don't remember what the cost of that was, but
050it was substantial. When you look at some of the difference in the appraisals, I think that's wiped out by one of these major changes. And all that is is a band-aid, then they have problems in the basement, and they have problems on the roof, then they have problems with the HVAC. So there's there's a lot of different things that are going into this, so I don't I don't know that it would be uh completely equal in order to just look at this as just a cost basis. There's more factors that are involved. Uh so we've we've been band-aiding this school long enough. I think it's time to take that initial step and move forward with this purchase. I think that makes the most sense fiscally. So um that's my opinion on it, and I'll be
051supporting it. Thank you, Mr. Tidwell. Does anyone else have any other comments or questions? Yes, Mr. Darby. Mr. Reed, where did the um the original contract prices were those given to us by the sellers? Uh yes, they were given to us by the sellers, yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Dr. Sullivan. The we met with the city of Murfreesboro a month month and a half ago about this as well, and they were extremely pleased for us to be looking at this. Met with Mayor McFarland and Darren Gordon and a lot of his planning team to discuss this, and they really looked at it as a way to revitalize that entire area, even potentially I won't get into all of their plans, but a huge way to revitalize all of that area using McFadden School as
052kind of a hub. So really looking long-term as a way to kind of partner with county and city for multiple ways, but this area is kind of needed to be able to do that. And the egress, and I think Mr. Reed mentioned that the other day, being able to bring cars around the backside of I can't remember that road, would be needed for all of that. Um so I think it's a good idea. I I know the city supports it as well. >> Oh, yes, absolutely. Looked at it as a win-win, and uh they didn't put up any any roadblocks at all. No. Yes, uh Ms. Darby. Dr. Sullivan, can you speak to um the funding portion of this? Where we would pull that from? Is it going to have to go before County Commission?
053It doesn't. When we did the earnest money back in December, I believe yes, December, we tried to pull it out of fund balance, and they wouldn't allow us to pull the 70,000 out of fund balance. So instead, we moved it out of 189, and so we had existing funds in 189 from other construction projects, and we moved funds from I can't remember which projects they were cuz the commission handles those, but it was moved from 189 from those. I can go back in the minutes and find it, but we tried the board passed a motion for 70 or 80,000, don't quote me on the numbers, but it was a number for the earnest money. And then commission didn't want it to come out of that. Health and Ed passed it. Budget did not, and before
054it got to budget in January, they requested Mr. Smith Michael Smith to come up with a different way to fund it. So by the time it got to budget, they just requested it to be moved around in fund 189, and that's something they can do. So they moved funds from other construction projects that had not been moved yet or not finished, they had existing leftover funds into a McFadden kind of holding property. >> full balance is going to come out of that fund. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Sharp. Listen, I support this project. Ms. Darby has for years been trying to get us to address the older buildings that we have um in our area, and it does need to be addressed. Uh and I I agree that we need the land, but what
055I don't agree with is the $565,000 that we're paying over the appraised value. So that's the problem that I have with it. Yes, Mr. Bond. You know, the appraised value, you know, when you have deals like this, if you got something you want to buy, you going to have to pay what people want. Appraised value means absolutely nothing. It's what you can buy it for. And if you want it, you going to have to pay it. And in my opinion, we just might waste money on doing the appraisals cuz we're going to have to pay cuz I think the amount's fair, and I think if we want it bad enough, you going to have to pay the fiddler. So, you know, I think that we need to move ahead with this and get it going.
056I think I think McFadden is probably the the number one uh priority in our five five-year plan cuz man, it's been it's been neglected for so many years, it's it's not even funny. And it's about time we called up. So I just recommend everybody vote for this. I've got Yeah. Ms. Darby. I went back to this it was on our January 8th board meeting. Um the way it was worded in partnership with County Finance Department request to utilize fund 189 funds currently allocated to the Church Street property to McFadden School of Excellence. That's what it was, the old Church Street property. >> Thank you. Yeah. Mr. Darby. You When you spoke to Well, I guess the first question is did you speak to all five owners? Talked to three of the five owners. Okay, so
057we have >> One parcel is There's two parcels owned by the same owner. Okay, so you spoke to all but one. >> Yes. Okay. Um I'm curious whether or not it was was it just kind of asked like if they were interested in negotiating any lower or was it an actual like formal offer? I discussed with them that the appraisals had come in on the properties, that some of the appraisals came in lower than what the contract purchase prices were on the properties. Um I said, you know, and some were lower than what what the tax appraisals were cuz we looked at both of those. So I said the school isn't system obviously has some interest in in buying the property, it'll be up to the school board to decide whether to move forward with
058these or not. So I'll be taking this back to the board. I would like you to see if you if you'd be willing to accept a different offer or give us a lower amount. So I So I I talked to them and tried to get in the lower num number out of them. Some of them were not just interested in um I got different responses from different people, but the bottom line whether or not willing to move off the price. Um they um >> [clears throat] >> Some of these people did not have a strong interest in selling, um but they were willing to sell at this price they said Um and they were not willing to move off the price. I have offered less I said what if we can discount it by 10%
059less and they were not willing to do that either. So I will just say I'm my biggest concern is just the president that we're setting moving forward that we're just going to buy whatever anybody wants to sell it for which was kind of just stated up here as well which I think is a dangerous place to be. This isn't our money. It's everybody's money. It's the taxpayers money and I do think we have a responsibility [clears throat] to make sure that we're spending it wisely. That's not to say that I don't think this is a wise investment but I think I would feel better if the board put a formal counter offer together for these properties and if they come back and reject it we can come back and decide to agree to purchase them
060at this at this price but we didn't even talk to there's one owner that wasn't even spoken to so I just feel like it's it's our job to make sure we do all we can to get the best deal we can so that we're not paying whatever anybody comes to this board wants us to pay. I don't I don't think that's a good practice to get into. I would love to buy the property. I'm all on board with renovating McFadden. I have been talking about renovating our older schools for years. It's it's not an issue of not wanting to but I do have to feel like we're making good sound decisions and that we've done everything on our end to make sure that we tried everything we could to do so. Mr. Ball And our
061decision is if you want it you're going to have to pay it. And you know we don't buy this property there's nothing to keep these people from selling it to somebody else. And somebody else buy this property we might not ever touch it again or if we do we may have to pay twice. So we've got an opportunity to buy it which is unique. And again these people have said hey if you want it you're going to have to pay it. And so I don't think we have any choice. And I think being good stewards and being responsible to the McFadden community and that we're not doing our duties if we don't take advantage of this. And again I'd like for it to be land given to us but that's just not the way these
062people going to operate. Mrs. Maxwell Yes, Mrs. Rosales. This is my last comment. I just want to remind the board one more time that the reason this even started it was because the parents came the parents of McFadden came to us and proposed the idea of us buying the five houses that were in the back because they were trying to come up with a solution to bring to the table of how they can they can expand the school without having to go and buy that land somewhere else and rebuild the whole entire school from the ground up to increase enrollment numbers and second of all I just also want to re- reiterate that these houses did not have a for sale sign on the yard either and so the owners were not even interested in
063selling to begin with and the only reason why they're even selling to us is because we came to them. And so we we've already done that negotiation price and asking back and forth when we went to them and knocked on the doors and said hey we would like to buy the house for you and they and they came to us in with a price and then we had to we had to figure out if that was the price that we were willing to even consider. So the negotiations have already been done prior to us moving here. Those houses were never for sale and we went to them. So I just want everyone to take to consideration to that and that the parents of the school of the those children that are currently enrolled in the
064school are the ones who came to the board and proposed the idea for us to buy the houses and the why and the reasons. Mr. Tidwell Yeah no I think a lot of great points are being made up here and I completely understand about the difference in the appraisal. Again for me with the construction background I wish I had the numbers and the notary is not here and that's for good reason but of what that mortar cost when we went to to do that and that they're still having moisture issues over there. It's just like Central is having a lot of issues as well. The older buildings you can't just go in there and re-renovate them the same way that you can some of the newer buildings. There's just not the space the room they're
065built differently have the concrete. So for me the justification for working out the difference between the appraisal is you have one more large repair and you band-aid another piece of the building. At some point it doesn't make sense to continue the band-aid because it's already covered that appraisal price difference and because we're talking about city land in the middle of the city that's going to be expensive if it's even available and keeping that centralized location. I just think there's a great argument for this and I I completely understand the not wanting to set precedent and I agree with that. I think this I'm looking at each situation specifically and I think for this specific situation the maintenance that goes into this building is it's expensive to begin with it's only going to get more expensive.
066So are the costs to re- to build a new building. I think now is the time and this is something that that like Mrs. Darby said she's been advocating for a long time and I appreciate that. You know sometimes we just don't get everything we want and I think this is a one of those situations where we're not going to get everything we want but if the outcome still going to be good. So that's that's kind of where I'm at on it. Uh just adding a little context from a construction standpoint. I agree with Mr. Tidwell between the Keystone project downtown and the daylighting project that land is going to get even hotter. I mean really really really really favorable and it's going to be way more expensive if we try to and and talking
067with the people did you see any wiggle room with them at all? No. Okay. Do not. So go ahead. I know Mr. Lee of course can't be here because of a death in his family which is where he needs to be. Just going back and looking at emails I have from Mr. Lee in 2023 and I know we have Dr. Blair here but he in 2023 said over the last few years we've worked diligently to solve the water intrusion. We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars tuckpointing the mortar joints and sealing the brick walls. Latest attempt was raw wall repairs the contractor informed that he thinks the window panes are installed backwards and those were installed in 2007-2008 and they've had that same type of issue since. They've had local glass companies look at it
068and I know that Dr. Blair kind of in a year before that had said we'd spend money putting tuckpoints in they look good for less than a year and then it just continually goes down the same problem. I know that you can go into the library and still yeah he's still ready to go to the library and you got to put your hand behind the curtain and get some debris from behind the curtain is a nice way to say it when you agree. >> [laughter] >> Yes, Mrs. Darby. Dr. Sullivan do you have any I know Mr. Lee is not here. Do we have any idea of the maintenance costs over the last year or two? Possibly. Let me see if I can log in. Okay. Usually I don't have access but I can text
069Brian and see if I can get in. Part of centralized government I don't get access to the funding system. Mr. Clark I see you wouldn't have access to that. Okay. I'll see what I can find. Thank you. I appreciate it. Anybody else have anything they want to ask regarding while Mr. Reed is up here? No I can't I'm not on the server. I'm not downtown. I don't know what I was thinking. Yeah I'm [laughter] not I'm not at the courthouse. I would just like to say that I think as a board I don't think there's any question that everybody's ready to rebuild McFadden. I don't think that's the concern. [clears throat] Um it's it's a big decision and there are some of these there's quite a bit of difference between what those appraisals came back
070at and what we're what we've been asked to pay for them so I just want to make it clear because it sometimes likes to get twisted that I am for rebuilding McFadden. I would love to see us do some stuff at Central at Thurman Francis our magnet schools have been I think due for a little while so for whatever that's worth. Thank you sir. Two thirds vote please. Okay. Call the end discussion. Mrs. Rosales Yes. Mr. Vaughn Yes. Mr. Tidwell Yes. Mrs. Sharp Yes. Mr. Mott Yes. Mrs. Darby Yes. Mrs. Maxwell Yes. Motion passes. And we have a motion on the floor to proceed with the purchase of the five properties as provided in the contracts. Could we have a roll call for that as well please? Mrs. Darby >> This is a tough one.
071We're looking at a difference of a half a million dollars. >> Let's vote. We just need to vote. >> Excuse me, I don't need to hear from you. Thank you. >> to vote. You don't have to speak. >> Let's please just vote, okay? >> Vote. That's it. There's no more questions. >> Mrs. Alice. Mrs. Alice, please. >> No discussion. No. Mrs. Rosales. Yes. Mr. Bott. Yes. Mr. Vaughn. Yes. Mr. Tidwell. Yes. Miss Sharp. Yes. Mrs. Maxwell. Yes. Motion passes. Next, we have transportation. So, this is as we talked about on Tuesday night, we had a used bus from um Central States that was a 33 plus one passenger bus that was used at $115,000 that was bought before we could get to it. This is a replacement of that. It is a 2027 Blue Bird
072type C 33 plus one passenger sped bus. It is new. It's $153,746. Um we do we did move enough money into that line to cover that. Um in order to have it ready by August from Central States. I'm reading what we got yesterday from purchasing. It says in order I'll make sure I've got this. Yes, in order to be able to have this by August, they need a PO approved by March 30th. So, that's why we needed to put it on this one and we had a place. And this is the exact pretty much the exact same bus for size purposes. Mrs. Maxwell. Yes, Mr. Tidwell. On the top of this paper it says promise date 4 9 2027. Is that when we're going to receive it? Are you saying Do what? Sorry. On the
073top of this uh Blue Bird Body Company Sales Quotation, it says promise date April 9th of 2027. So, I just want a clarification. Are we going to receive it in April of 2027 or is August? I have in writing from Chuck. It says as I'm mentioned, we can make delivery of this bus before school starts in August if a PO is received on or before March 30th. So, that is what he says in writing and he's great. He's the general manager, so. If he doesn't, then I'd say we probably have a reason to back out. And that'd be my recommendation if we don't. I just wanted to >> Good catch. Yes, very good catch. Any other comments or questions? Move for approval. Thank you, Mr. Vaughn. Thank you. Mrs. Darby. Thank you, Mr. I'm sorry,
074Dr. Sullivan. Can you remind me how many sped buses we got on the last vote? Was it Five. Four and we were trying to get the fifth one approved. >> five and then so one fell off, so now we're >> No, it was to make the five. This would be five again. Five. Five. This is the bigger one. This is the one Dr. Ralston wanted the most that fell off. Yes. Yeah. Any more discussion? All in favor to purchase, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Next, we go to financial update. Financial update. We are working through just about all of our department updates. So, we'll begin of course had our budget retreat. We'll have more. We did 177 that kind of draft Tuesday. We'll start doing a little bit more of that bringing 141
075funds back to you as soon as we get back from spring break to go over a little bit of that. Most districts are looking at 2% raises at the most. That's kind of what we're looking at as well. Our TCRS rates, which is what the district has to put in, those have gone up as well, which just seems like everything's hitting for everybody this year. Insurance rates go up. Uh People aren't aware Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, those retirement rates, teachers have to put in a certain percent or all staff have to put in a certain percentage of their paychecks they never see. It's been that way I guess since the dawn of eternity since that system was put there. And then the districts are told what percentage we have to put in. So, both classified
076and certified rates went up this year. And so, that'll have a little bit of an impact uh Brian and I will put in. And then we'll probably have a little bit of a draft of 141 143 over the next couple weeks to really start looking at. Okay. Thank you. Next, director's update. Yeah, couple quick things. So, we did have um History Rocks and then we'll have a better report. I'll ask Dr. Harold to come give a report from Stewarts Creek High School that they did an amazing job putting that together because it was very quick notice. So, that had the US Department of Education picks one school each state to celebrate the 250th um anniversary of the signing uh the Declaration of Independence. And so, what they are looking for when they did that was
077one school. They picked them, gave them about three days notice. We had quite a few special guests. So, we had Kathy Jackson from World Outreach. We had Dr. Carol Swayne. Uh we had the guest speaker was Catherine Gorcoff from US Department of Education. She's the US Department of Ed Senior Advisor for Civic Education. And I know kids get a lot of bad rap for not knowing history, but if you the kids had to hold up a US flag or a Tennessee flag and the kids were chanting USA the whole time answering it. Uh they then had to like answer questions based on which flag they thought it was and then the each class, freshman, sophomore, junior, seniors had to compete against each other. I haven't seen that a lot of excitement over history in a
078long time. They they knew the answers. Like she was sitting beside me. Uh she said we made these questions too easy for your kids. And so, that was that was nice to hear and they even incorporated Tennessee history, which has not been something that's been included in our state standards very heavily in the last couple years. And so, Stewarts Creek High School did an absolutely amazing job. That was a great one. It was it was phenomenal. And I'm sorry it was such short short notice. It just they show up and they it happens. >> It happens. Next, we have the legislative Mr. Stang. The biggest thing was Representative Sparks got his bill through, which I don't think many people thought that that was going to happen, but lowered the driver uh age requirement for buses.
079So, that's one thing kind of personal that on on our level. The rest of it I think the director has given us pretty good update of everything moving through right now. So, probably in the next next time we get together, two weeks, we'll probably really probably know. I've talked to most of our legislative delegate. I think I've talked to all of them to tell you the truth in the last three weeks and they think session will be finished maybe by the end of April right now is what they're shooting for. So, anyway, no other surprises other than what we've already seen right now. Okay, thank you. Dr. And I we we talked about the bill about pilots and I've heard back from um Senator White. It only talks about ELA and math the way she
080understands it, so science and social studies we should be fine. >> Continue as needed from her understanding. It hasn't gotten to their committee yet, but that's her understanding. Um and I did want to mention I know Dr. Anthony has completed this as well. Um Dr. Martin is not here. She is doing the Prospective Superintendents Academy um with TASN and TSBA. I'm not going anywhere, but she is doing that as well. [clears throat] Dr. Anthony's done that. We've had several people um do that. Dr. Blair, did you do that as well? I thought so. So, we've we always want our people to be encouraged to to keep doing that um because it's kind of like your tree, your branch and you want people to continue to do that. So, that's where she is and she'll be
081there couple nights throughout the next year. Thank you. Any general discussion? Yes, Mrs. Rosales. >> Yes, thank you. Um I want to bring something up because it was something that was said during the public comments. Um I don't know the whole context of the conversation or what happened, only what we heard, but I do want to bring up the whole bullying aspect of it when um the comments are are said that are just not very kind. And this is not the first time I've heard of an incident where um the kids have been caught up in a bullying situation where names are being used and and kids are not being kind to one another. And I just want to reiterate what we're doing as a as a district to combat that. I know we're doing
082things and I'm not this is not me trying to say that we're at fault by any means. I just want to remind what we're doing and if if something that we can do better than than whatever is, let's do better. Um the only reason one of the reasons why I am bringing this up is because I know what it's like to be bullied because that did happen to me when I was in seventh grade. Um and so, when I hear these instances of kids that are going through that, I just want to make sure that we as a school district, I know we take it seriously and I know our staff takes it seriously, but that we um that we that we remind each other of why we need to be kind to one another
083and ensure that we are talking to kids in how that they should be treated to one another because no one deserves to be treated in an unkind, unfair way. Thank you, Mrs. Rosales. Anyone else Yes, Miss Sharp. I do. Thank you. Um I'm going to I'm sorry, Dr. Hatchett. I'm going to put you back on the spot again. Um Dr. Hatchett and Chief Muse and La Vergne the La Vergne Police Department. I don't know if y'all saw that or not, but they um revamped their logos for the police cars and they put the LaVergne L on there and their logos are fantastic. So, thank you for your leadership on that, Dr. Hatchett. Um that logo is phenomenal and I think it's going to go a long way with our kids, too. They were so excited.
084Um thank you for that. And also, Jazz Fest, y'all tune in tomorrow to Brian's uh 10:30 show. There's going to be a special announcement about Jazz Fest. Um it's going to be the first time uh that we're doing this and it's going to be fantastic. So, that is all I'll have. Okay. Anyone else have anything? If not, move to adjourn. Thank you. We're adjourned.