001for meeting of the Rutherford County School Board first up on our call to order is a pledge of allegiance led by fellow board member Stan bot Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repu for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty J before I ask you to Bow your heads for a moment of silence I'd like you to ask you to please continue to pray for the families of the Blackman students who were involved in the tragic auto accident this week please bow your heads thank you first up is the approval of the agenda give you just a second any comments or questions on the agenda mam chairwoman yes ma' I'd like to request we move the bowling um for I think it's number seven believe
002it's the recognition portion is that correct yes 71 Special Olympics bowling tournament I request that we remove that above public comment maintain a motion I'll make a motion approve second all in favor say I I motion passes we will move that no problem okay uh and now I'll entertain a motion for approval of the agenda I'll make a motion we approve the agenda do I have second second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passes next we have the approval of the consent agenda do we have any comments questions move to approve approve second second all in favor say I any opposed motion passes now we will move to instead of going straight to public comment we are going to move some things and we are going to have our Special Olympics bowling
003tournament uh kid I was here thank you Miss Ralston this is our sped director the floor is yours hi good evening so area 16 Special Olympics held their bowling event on September 24th and 25th at the Smyrna bowling center and guys it was a resounding success a total of 492 athletes participated with 218 from elementary and middle schools and 274 from high schools each athlete enjoyed two games of bowling showcasing their skills and enthusiasm the event wrapped up with a fun pizza party allowing everyone to celebrate their achievements together Rutherford County had 26 schools participate several of our schools are represented tonight by members of the Special Olympics bowling team I'm going to recognize the students who are with us tonight and then we are going to take a picture in the lobby before we
004leave so don't leave without taking the picture um from Whitworth Buchanon Middle School we have Miss Brooklyn Francis from Oakland High School we have Riley fauler and Nia Payne from seagull high school we have Abby Fox and Shaw Proctor the other schools that participated in our event were Blackman Elementary Cedar Grove Elementary Christiana Elementary igal L Lake Elementary Roy Waldren Elementary Stewartsboro Elementary and I am reading them all Walter Hill Elementary Wilson Elementary Blackman Middle School Christiana Middle School lever mid Middle School Oakland Middle School Rocky Fort Middle School Rock Springs Middle School seagull Middle School Stewart's Creek Middle School Blackman High L High Riverdale High rockbell high Smyrna High Stewart's Creek High as you can see we were very well represented I want to thank murburg Parks and Rec for putting this event together
005Stacy Hancock is a Rutherford County social worker and she works with the murb parks and W to get this information out to all of our teachers and staff I also want to say a huge thank you to all of our teachers and educational assistants in Rutherford County who helped make this event such a success planning a field trip is not an easy task and there's lots of balls you have to juggle and they did an amazing job the smiles laugh laughs and hooping and hollering I heard when I walked into the Smyrna bowling alley were incredible not only making my day but making my year and by both and they were heard by both students and adults the students were cheering each other on and the adult ads we're cheering on everybody we will have
006another area 16 Special Olympics event in the spring for the field events these are typically held at the MTSU uh fields and they are over two days elementary and middle school will be one day and the high school and adults will be the second day once those dates are posted I will send the board um invitations and I highly recommend going out it will be the best day of your year thank you so much thank you so much and I would like to give you all a standing ovation all the kids M Max thank you yes um thank everybody that works in the uh special ed Department I mean it not everybody gets to work with special kids but these kids really are special so thank y'all for everything you do I do have the
007best job this County yes you do give them just a moment and then we'll get on to public comment now we will go to public comment we have five speakers this evening they each have three minutes first up is Angela Frederick you know how this works yes okay my name is Angela Frederick and I'm a resident of Rutherford County I'm here tonight to discuss two main points the first is about books and the ideas contained within them here are some scenarios that occur in one very well-known book one a brother tricks his sister into taking care of him while he's pretending to be ill but then he rapes her two a man offers up his two daughters to be raped by strangers knocking on his door one night three a daughter gets her father drunk
008and sleeps with him so she can conceive a child four a woman drives a tent Peg through the skull of a man five a woman's body is carved up into four pieces and Courier to four different locations and six there's the inclusion of sensual love Poes written between two young lovers if you haven't recognized the book I'm describing yet it's the Bible I wonder why some here tonight believe it acceptable that young people will learn the gruesome and explicit stories I've just mentioned I wonder why some here might think that young people will not be harmed in some way by hearing those stories I think the answer is that young people are learning those stories in a certain context they have parents or church members who are teaching them about why those stories are included
009in the Bible and what they mean to the story as a whole likewise students in RCS are not reading the passages you're picking out from the books you've banned in a vacuum they are reading the story and understanding the context of why those passages are included they also have parents and Educators who can help them understand and process difficult topics that brings me to my second Point RCS educators are trustworthy individuals who became teachers and Librarians so that they could help students grow into knowledgeable and professional adults the circus that has been created by Banning these books has demoralized RCS Educators please show more respect and Trust in them than you have been lately I ask you to bear in mind that teachers work conditions our children's learning conditions when we create hostile working conditions
010for teachers students suffer too thank you for listening to me this evening thank you next speaker is Mr Gary greton good evening my name is Gary greton Madam chair members of the ruford County School Board I thank you for the opportunity to public open discussion I begin by stating that my comments are my own and not an attack on any one person and should not be taken personally that being said I would like to clarify that the ruford County School Board is an elected body and that Dr Sullivan is not a member of the ruford County school board but an employee his seat at the right hand of the chairperson is a misleading representation to the public in that he is not a member of the board Dr suin also from time to time has
011made motions to the the board which the chair has allowed however this is not he does not have any authority to do so I clarify that this is in no way a reflection of Dr Sullivan's performance as director of schools I ask that the chair follow the procedure and the and the board policy of Robert's Rules of Order I would recommend that the board approve a policy requiring the new board members to amend a to attend a class on Robert's Rules or have a text of Robert's Rules of order provided to them so that they may maintain decorum during board meetings I ask the doc the board to direct Dr sent or the person responsible for updating its website of the interactive map for school zones to delete Co young and Sheila Bratton and to
012have the Zone numbers appear on the map citizens should be able to find their board members by typing in an address according to instructions on the map it does not work now I address December 19th meeting there were many public speakers that evening which the majority spoke in favor of banning the contested books I did not want to beler the subject but State statutes according to the situation had been openly read several times by several board members and Mr Reed despite this Mr VA made a general motion to remove books of obscene or of graphic nature to a cre to a created area or Zone in the school library and was immediately seconded by Mr V Mr vau also commented that he and Mr VA had conversations about this matter which is prohibited by TCA
01348441 which states officials are not permitted to have back room discussions whether by phone email text or in person this could be considered collusion really okay this motion was invalid because it went against board policy and the ruri County school board has no authority to override state law the motion was to move the books to some created space in the school library which is in contrast to state law which requires the immediate removal of the books from the library hours of conversation were needlessly spent on this subject the point of the thank you thank you sir our next speaker is Miss Hannah faler all right well unfortunately I'm here again because we have too many cowards uh on the school board um last time I was here for a vote on the books the seven
014books that we were talking about um Butch vau and Mr Stan brought up the notion that uh if parents really want to protect their kids innocence and are worried about this material they should check their kids' phones uh first off um you know that's a great idea but that was not what we were talking about what we're talking about and what's on the vote is removing this pornographic and uh sexually explicit content it is illegal as a Schoolboard member or a teacher to grab a kid's phone and go through it a parent can do that but you cannot but what you can do is do what is at stake and vote against these books uh in the libraries in public schools here in Rutherford County uh Francis during at least one of the bo votes
015um during on the seven books you left the room uh we do not elect people here uh in Rutherford County at least uh to walk out of the vote we elect people to be present and vote especially with something as simple and common sense as we're moving these sexually explicit books um Claire last time I was here uh something that frightened me and honestly discouraged me was the numbness that was on your face um as as we were coming up here talking about these sexually explicit books um I believe that should frighten every um citizen here in this County and especially parents uh but what's most concerning to me is what's next is it allowing teachers to show students pornography uh and pornographic videos in the in in the classroom is it allowing pedophiles to
016be teachers if you give an inch they're going to take a mile but to the men here uh Mr Butch vau uh you voted to keep at least one of the books in uh Stan if I'm correct you voted to keep all of the books and you can correct me if I'm wrong what does masculinity mean when you aren't willing to stand up for the innocent as a 17-year-old I call men that don't stand up for the innocent and don't stand up for my generation I call those beta boys soore boys I want to thank Mr Caleb Tidwell uh for voting against every single Vote or voting against every single book voting for common sense and voting to protect the Next Generation I want to thank Katie Darby uh for voting to protect children's innocence
017this is a common sense idea it is crazy to me that in 2024 we're even having this discussion um and I hope next time and thank you Tammy thank you Miss Tammy for voting for common sense and voting for this next Generation to protect children's innocence I hope that next time I come uh I really hope I don't have to be back uh I really I really hope I don't have to be back especially to talk about an issue um as we're moving pornographic books from public schools funded by American taxpayers I hope you guys will choose to protect children's inoc God bless you guys and may God have mercy on This Nation Miss Claire may I speak please let's Miss she's supposed to be a Chris can wait wait no no there's no there's
018no comment um Miss meckling so soia meckling good evening members of the board board thank you for allowing me to speak today my name is selia meckling and I'm a 16-year-old Christian conservative student and I'm here to express my full removal for the support of certain um I'm here to support for the removal of certain books in our school systems I believe as a public school system we have the responsibility to protect the well-being of all students many books nowadays in our Public School Systems contain explicit sexual and inappropriate content that do not belong in our schools that are meant to be safe environments for learning not places for children to be exposed to sexual materials as this can have lasting effects thank you for standing firm in your conviction in relation to beloved by
019Tony Morrison and other books however to books with topics like abuse pornography and rape will continue to be made possibly being put into our schools as a Christian I believe in the importance of protecting young minds from materials that could lead them down a destructive path I think it I don't censorship to remove books that glorify or normalize behavior that our that our community's values reject we live in a world where children are already bombarded by sexual content all over social media and online platforms school should be a place where we provide students with education and morals not contribute to their exposure of more inappropriate content furthermore protecting children from inappropriate material is not just a a Christian concern it is a common sense approach to protecting all young students there are countless wholesome books
020available that encourage critical thinking creativity and positive development without compromising their innocence I urge the board to stand firm on this issue and continue to remove books that push the boundaries of what is acceptable for students will you stand up for teens like me will you protect children's innocence thank you our last speaker is Miss Elizabeth faul hi my name is Elizabeth fauler I'm 15 years old and a high schooler here in Rutherford County the content in the books that some of you refuse to take out of the libraries are filled with things that I at 15 should not know about but are forced to do you not care about my innocence you say you want you care about children but you don't you say you want to improve the mental health among the youth
021but then allow books that sexually pervert their minds a survey done by the CDC showed that 40% of high school students feel persistently sad and hopeless another article written by the CDC said that lgbtq youth have reported greater levels of poor mental health why partly because they are filling their minds with empty debased and immoral books why won't you stand Claire Maxwell will you stand for me Francis Rosalez will you stand for me Katie Derby will you stand for me Tammy sharp Kay Caleb Tidwell BR vaugh Stan V will you stand for me and my innocence if you want to invest in our students for a tomorrow's possibility I hope to see you voting against these books for our innocence and our future thank you it will be time to comment at the end of
022the board meeting and general discussion thank you next we have the uh part two of Rutherford strong the strong outstanding staff award hello it's good to see everybody tonight we have something new tonight to celebrate and uh some guests here as well some of our valued employees so starting um this school year after we' had our meetings last year with the board Miss Darby like we've talked about before uh really wanted to have a way of celebrating uh employees and so uh we worked with some Associates she had with Sonic who are back here in the back I see you guys back there and we're going to introduce them in just a second but this is our first um time that we're doing the strong outstanding staff Awards and so we have four here I
023think everybody's here our first is and just to give you some background we took nominations from the public we'll do this once a month and then we used a random drawing uh online to to pick a name out of one of four categories one being from somebody related to Transportation either a crossing guard a bus driver something like that two being a principal um or an admin APA or principal third being someone who works as in the support staff role which can be anything classified in the schools and then the fourth being a teacher in one of our schools and this would include also counselors classroom teachers things like that our four this year is Miss Heidi Skinner she's a driver of bus 211 is Miss Skinner here you'll stand up for us please miss
024Skinner is the driver bus 211 which is one of the buses for Central magnet school and I'm going to read uh what the nomination person I'm not going to say who nominated you but I'm going to read that um Miss Skinner is a fantastic partner for our school she communicates with the school and students and is patient with when plans change and has often gone out of her way to return to school if a student misses the bus she goes out of her way for everyone that she works with she is a a fantastic School partner so that's Miss Skinner and we're going to do a group photo at the end here so don't run off uh number two here is Miss Brown Miss Christy Brown principal of John Coleman Elementary School I will tell
025you that uh Dr Brown actually got multiple nominations and so I'm going to read a couple of those one says this school year has been hectic for a lot of our John Colman staff with almost 400 new students from the rezoning board remembers we did some Elementary rezoning and so they got a lot of new students this year Miss Brown has been the best administrator and supports each of her students and staff individually we are so grateful for what she does to keep John Coleman safe and learning and growing and then another nomination for her said the first six weeks are very challenged in especially this year because our enrollment growth Dr Brown has such a positive attitude and her voice and demeanor are bright and shiny it is tough when you have a Melting
026Pot of students behaviors and educational needs but I have never doubted how hard she works to make sure the staff feels equipped and the kids feel safe so there you go uh you want me to tell you who wrote that one so you can send him a Christmas card all right Mrs Donna Hall works in the cafeteria at Eagleville School Miss Hall are you there there she is uh Miss Hall goes over and Beyond to help everyone she gives 110% at everything she does she is always helping others and never complains about it she is a blessing to everyone around her so congratulations Miss Hall all right Stephanie Hannah who was an ESL teacher at steart Creek Elementary and you all know how valuable our ESL teachers are because we've been talking about that a
027lot about the growing popul population and those kinds of things you said she was I hope she still is she still she is okay good um I meant to say she is Miss Anna has has been in education for many years this is according to the nomination to my knowledge she has taught kindergarten and first grade she is teaching ESL now she works long hours making sure her students have the best chance to learn all the while raising four kids ranging from grades one through 10th grade she is amazing so all right I also want to recognize Our Community Partners on this because we need more businesses to do what these guys that Sonic have done Mr sprag sprag would you stand up please all right I'm going to read a little bit about him
028as well Mr spragens is a supervising partner at Sonic drive-in in Rutherford County he's worked for Sonic for nearly 30 years and he oversees the stores day-to-day operations to ensure they run top level drive-ins he also oversees Community involvement in fundraisers we certainly are grateful for their partnership and we hope like I said they serve as a model to others and you brought somebody with you would you introduce us we really appreciate you when I said hey he thought we had three categories I said we actually have four he's like no problem just tell me what you need and we'll be at next month we plan to do a set of these each month for this semester and then for next semester so if we could let's all come up to the board and we're
029going to do a group photo and we have that's great who wants to stand up you stand [Music] up I'm blind that is a bright ready you guys are the first classing [Laughter] [Applause] you just need to stand up there again next we move on to number eight the communications update okay uh I want to ask Miss Janet Flanery to join me please so every month we give the communications report is something we started this year uh do s wanted us to share kind of some of our numbers that we're doing with social media websites things like that that Miss flry also is here because uh we've had some board members say hey we're doing great with social media wen't using that for job Recruitment and job postings and actually we're doing that so she's
030going to talk about that some so I'm going to turn it over her and let give you a little overview she's giving you some handouts uh one of them is um po older eye friendly is how we'll say it it's big so you can read it without your classes if you me to so go right ahead so nice to meet you um jam flry new teacher programs and recruitment so before you there are a few pieces of paper one is a recruitment report that I kind of put together that goes over all recruitment efforts that we have another is a flyer that we give out at our recruiting events that kind of just talks a little bit about Rutherford County and all the great things going on in our district and then a third is
031um a very large 11 by 17 um print out of what our campaigns look like um that we put out throughout the year and I was asked why it was so large no not for mature eyes um it is because uh that I print it this way because it posts on my wall while the campaign runs so it kind of um reminds me to actually make sure I'm checking on all the analytics for it so um briefly just to go through the report quickly uh some of the key accomplishments that we have um put into place over the last year I took this position in July of last year some of the things things that we've done to improve our recruiting efforts is we have expanded our social media presence so we are currently on
032Facebook Instagram Twitter and Linkedin um our hashtag or our um handle is RCS jobs so if anybody's ever interested in checking that out um we post very targeted campaigns based on what our needs are so if I see like most recently um you just approved the ESL positions I worked with Megan turnbo to come up with a a campaign that we just released I think last week um to try to attract more ESL teachers to apply um we also have uh created a very targeted kind of uh boost campaign when you work on some of these social media platforms There's an opportunity for you to kind of geofence some areas we target um some of our surrounding uh districts we also can G GE offense are Target based on um you know characteristics employment um
033age demographics there's a a a slew of ways that you can um select how to narrow down and Target specific audiences um so that has uh been something that we've been able to actually improve the uh drive that we get to our um job portal and also we've been seeking out opportunities in local markets so we've um done spotlights on uh News Channel 2 wgns and of course our Sunday messages um that James puts together if you look at number three that will give you a list of all the plat job platforms that we currently push our job um positions out to so they every time we post a position all of these uh job portals receive our job listing and they're posted and kind of put pushed out through there I did provide just
034a 30-day glance at what our analytics are for that and which ones are most visited um you'll see some of them have better attendance than others so um and then fourthly is uh our Partnerships and collaboration so we we communicate with some of some uh Community um partners and they have really uh helped get the word out when we're having a job fair we saw a tremendous increase in the number of Hispanic and Arabic um U applicants especially our job fair so so much to the point that next year I will have um translators there I didn't anticipate such a turnout um and so unfortunately I wasn't prepared for that this year but next year is definitely something that we will have prepared so that um you know they can assist them in the application
035process um also uh over this last year I attended 32 career fairs regionally we try not to go outside of like a three-hour drive because typically what I find is the seniors the graduates from college they still want to be close to home so we try to kind of stay um within a three-hour drive and that's something that I kind of incentivize with them you're only three hours from home come on to rther for County so um we've also been um partnering with the local universities so grow your own I was here um last month to uh honor our grow your own graduates for our first cohort through lipom University well we also have Partnerships with MTSU and UT Southern and so we are um making additional Partnerships with them and getting into the classroom
036sooner so we're actually being able to meet some of the freshman and and sophomore students that are coming through the College of Education so I've been able to be a guest speaker to some of those classrooms as well um and then also we WE Post on the social media for the the university that we attend Career Fairs for as well as we post on ours and I think Dr San really enjoyed the one when I went to Vanderbilt so um also rather teach now that's another part of my responsibilities is I'm the head administrator for teach now that's been a huge um game Cher for us we worked really hard last year and we were able to add special education and ESL to our program offerings as well as Humanities but as you know sped
037and ESL is a huge need for our district so it we were just e static that the state was able to approve us to add that to the programming and we we would like to consider that we were a a major um factor for Simon Springs to actually um get so many teachers in inside the building so little back um some next steps that I see moving forward um if it's okay that I share these um is I hear when I'm talking to a lot of uh potential or aspiring teachers ones that are willing to cross the border and kind of come from neighboring uh districts one of their biggest concerns is our monthly pay period um It's A Hard Sell um I've heard it multiple times them say well if you if you ever
038go to a twoe pay period call me um but that seems to be a consistent theme that comes up is how do they transition from the two-e in another district and come here and basically go two months without pay so that is something that I would really like to encourage you guys to consider for the future um I don't I'm not saying that that will solve all our recruitment problems but I know that that will really open up a pool that we cannot attract right now um so I'm I'm hopeful that that that will be considered the other one is a differential pay for our structured setting special education teachers um right now we have hold on let me look on my list special education we have eight structured setting positions open right now and
039I I wish I could tell you that I have a pocket full of applicants and principals call me all the time and then they'll say well who do you have I have no one I have no special education applicants for this um It's A Hard position to fill because you cannot get an emergency permit um you have to have past your sped practice um so I feel like we could attract more people from other districts if we had a differential or stien or something like that for structured setting so Food For Thought on that um other than that the clinical practice permit has been a real GameChanger that's helping us um put pre service uh graduates from MTSU or other univers local universities into the classroom in lie of their student teaching so that's been
040huge and um and I'm happy to always refer MTSU students to our principes and they're they're reaching out to them and we're getting them in the building Miss flry I also at that point want to thank Senator white Senator Don White was the one who carried that bill for us and so that was a that's a huge a huge game changer for us so I appreciate her support on that yes and oddly enough in in going to some of the career fairs one thing that I do hear is that some districts aren't doing it and so I said well no we are send them our way send them our way um so that that's been something that has actually come up in some of the Partnerships with the universities is they're like oh you you
041Mentor our clinical practice permits students yes yes we do um bring them into the building we'll we'll help support them um other than that obviously everything comes down to funding we do apply for a grant through Workforce Essentials last year we got approved for 23,000 this year it looks like we're going to be approved for 25,000 that helps pay for our grow your own funding since that has changed um the state has has changed the way they fund that and it's been reduced so we are supplementing that with the grant that we get from Workforce Essentials so that's about it thank you what questions do you have for any questions I want to give the board just an idea of what Miss planner I want to thank her cuz she again took it in July
042it was a modified position slash used to be a different position so I appreciate all your work um one our district culture is strong and Miss ler has been able to take that really run with it so I appreciate her work on that another thing that I know other districts probably don't like if we see that they're struggling with budget areas or that their teacher pay isn't as High um we geolocate and push our ads into their District so that we can attract their teachers and so Janet's Been instrumental in doing that and making sure that we address every area that we can so you and your team do it fantastic also has a really interesting background that she didn't share with was she relocated here with her family from another state she us to
043be a contractor wow wow she speaks the language she knows how to tell them more attractive her good job wonderful thank you yes Mr Tidwell I just like to say thank you for helping push out this information and as many Pathways as possible so that we can reach as many people to let them know how we are so competitive versus other counties can I make a motion we investigate moving forward to the twoe cuz I've heard this a lot and I know it's an issue with the with the County government but I think you know if this is a uh sort of a stum block to us getting great teachers you know I think we need to do all we can to try to go to whoever we need to go to to to get
044that changed we can certainly the next agenda put on the next meeting agenda all right yes Miss Shar thank you always ask yes please do I think I gave everybody business cards at the beginning of the year and those are being printed again with the new logo so you guys will be getting some of those too and please feel free to share those out on the back is a QR code that helps you know anybody who's interested kind of get more information but tell about the swag you oh oh yes so um when we go to recruiting fairs you know it's just natural that you give away things so um we have for you a charging station or charging pad and that was purchased in in collaboration with Old South who donated um to fund
045that and then the other one is a reusable lint roller um so as we're talking to professionals at or aspiring professionals at the the recruiting fairs this is you know something that we use to kind of draw attention but it is reusable so you just wash it off and then you can reuse it again I love it it features our new branding you know to these conferences the tables that kind of have the cool swag right attract your attention just one one other way to get our name out yeah thank you thank you this looks great this is awesome and you're doing a great job good job do all I'm not going to go through the communications report because we have a you should have gone first yeah yeah thank you anytime glad to but
046it but the copy is there in front of you we'll do these once a month of course it tells you what our most popular social media posts have been some of the what are our most popular pages on our website for the month this is for the month of September the growth we of course you have a peak in some of your social media activity during the beginning of the school year because that's when people are registering and things like that and then we start settling into the year which is where we are now so any questions I'm happy to answer but I'm not going to go through all the numbers because you all have it in front of you question do you uh when yall um recruit do y'all go to Conan University do
047y'all have y'all been to Conan University and contacted those people you know I was uh I Professor there in the College of Education leadership department and um we're going to have to do a better job I guess in getting kids interested in teaching and I think one of the things to do that is Start programs in the high schools to let them know the benefits you know we went through some hard times in covid and all the negative publicity we did but it's the greatest job in the world and uh uh to kind of discuss what what does that look like for seniors and juniors in high school can they get college credit um and start that process but also move them into um like Community College and then Mo into College of Education we
048just need to publicize a great what a great occupation it is so thank you all for what you're doing thank you thank you so much next we're running on to Mr to run number nine instruction first we have the Tisa accountability report approval school districts in Tennessee are required to present their Tennessee investment and student achievement or Tisa accountability report for public review and comment and board approval prior to being submitted to the Tennessee Department of Education tdoe the Tissa accountability report will be reviewed annually to determine whether a district has taken proper steps to achieve their stated goals the report must be submitted annually to tdoe by November 1 recommended motion is to approve the Tissa accountability report as presented for the 2425 school year for rre County Schools any questions or comments I'll
049entertain a motion move to approve second second all in favor say I I any opposed or abstain motion passes next we have the Orton Gillingham training for teachers curriculum instruction department is requesting the approval of for Orton Gillingham training through the institute for multi-century education or imse this training will take place in two Co cohorts with RCS teachers cohort number one is November 6th through 8th and December 9th through 10th and cohort number two is November 18th through 20th and December 11th through 12th Orton Gillingham training is a Hands-On personalized 30-hour training that's thorough engaging and designed for teachers to provide instruction influency vocabulary and comprehension federal funds will be used to cover the cost of this training with Title One paying $1 17,34 and title two paying $69,900 not to exceed 86,500 to send
05060 teachers to Orton Gillingham training we discussed uh Miss sharp brought up the fact this is some of the best training that we uh we can offer um so any questions comments I'll entertain a motion move to appr approve second all in favor say I I any opposed to abstain motion passes next we go to Legal first we have transfer student under discipline this is number one that was listed in manila folders the board's been requested to Adit a transfer for student from another school system under discipline the student was expelled for use of a THC product according to policy 6318 the board may deny admissions of any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from another school system while under suspension or expulsion director of school's recommendations to admit and place
051a alternative school recommended motion is of course the board has any option to admit or deny the admission of this transfer student under discipline as presented motion to approve would you like to admit or deny deny or [Laughter] I'll proove I'll go by with the superintendent we don't need to admit okay so the motion is to admit the student in place an alternative or deny deny okay so you're going against the recommendation okay so we have a motion do we have a second second I'll take a roll call vote Please Mr VA uh yes Mr vaugh yes Mrs Derby no Miss sharp no Mr Tidwell no Mrs Rosales yes Mrs Maxwell no it's for no okay M Maxwell yes I'd like to make a motion that we admit and place into an alterative school second
052okay just a a roll call vote Please Mr Tidwell yes Mrs Rosales no Miss sharp yes Mr vaugh no Mrs Darby yes Mrs Maxwell yes passes okay thank next we have number two transfer student transfer student under discipline this one was labeled as number two the board's been requested to admit a transfer student from another school system under discipline student was referred to an alternative program due to fighting according to policy 6. 318 the board may deny admissions of any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from their school system under suspension or expulsion director of school's recommendation is to deny admission um of course the board can admit or deny the admission of this transfer student under discipline as presented I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion we deny we
053have a second Mr tid did you second second thank you okay uh all in favor say I I I any opposed [Music] abstain all right now we have number three transfer student under discipline number three the board's been requested to Amit a transfer student from another school system under discipline the student was referred to an alternative program due to making a student or making a threat according to policy 6.38 the board may deny missions of any student except those in state custody when a student transfers from another school system under suspension or expulsion director of school's recommendation is to deny recommended motion again the board can admit or deny the admission of this transfer student under discipline I'll entertain a motion move to deny thank you ladies um all in favor say I I any
054opposed abstain motion passes next we go to number 11 Human Resources it's under Tab four the first one is seagull high and Rockville high schools are seeking approval for a co-op to be formed between them for lacrosse Rockville High School students would join with the established seagull High School lacrosse team for the 2425 spring season recommended motion is to approve the lacrosse Co-op between seagull High Rockville High Schools as presented questions comments I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve any second second all in favor say I I any opposed abstain motion passes number two Christiana Middle and Whitworth panan Middle Schools are seeking approval for a co-op to be formed between them for wrestling Whitworth Buchan middle school students would join with the established Christiana Middle School wrestling team for the 2425
055season recommended motion to approve the wrestling Co-op between Christian Middle and W worth be can in Middle Schools as present I'll entertain a motion move to approve second second thank you all in favor say I I any opposed abstain motion passes I have one question do all of we have wrestling at all of our middle schools or a co-op between them Co the option um I know it's very popular some of our magnet schools are a little bit different uh if they are not a twaa member then they can't join a co-op with a oh okay twsa member okay so we have one that is a a hold off gotcha okay next we go to safety this is the MCA radio purchase request the request is to purchase from mobile Communications America MCA between 30
056and 40 radios per school for a minimum Baseline operation of two-way radios this request will finish a repeater installation project to where all campuses will have a repeater for minimizing dead zones for two radio Effectiveness schools will be able to access a communication Network called a link capacity Plus system where four zones of 15 School clusters will be established this will give administrators the ability to communicate with each other all at one time on a radio emergency Channel this purchase will include a one-year service plan provided by MCA to help maintain the life of the radios and Equipment the cost of the equipment and service will be approximately 2,1 15,000 will be funded from general purpose fund 141 unassigned fund balance recommended motion is to approve the purchase of schoolwide rating equipment and service provided
057by mobile Communications America in the amount of 215,000 as presented in detail any questions or comments we have a motion to approve Madam chair yes I don't know who best to ask this to I tried to find you before the meeting um have we gotten any of these radios to be able to test them and make sure that they're okay okay and we're not having so we're not going to end up and the same okay awesome yes um we the principal still will have to carry two radios one to communicate with mergency management because we don't control that radio system um I did so um Patty gave me the radio service agreement just so everyone's aware the new plan dates that we talked about Mr VA asked on Tuesday the cost for the service plan
058is 110,000 a year it includes our 200 radios purchased with the great money are 1,50 new R radios all previous repeaters and the new repeaters antennas battery backups link capacity Plus and 24/7 assistance so okay so we have a this this will eliminate all the dead zones correctly is that right most of them okay that that's a big that has been a big problem as dead zones Miss sharp thank you um Miss soer thank you so much for your hard work on this I know it's been um a plate of uh worms that you've untangled for probably at Le the last six months um okay well I know it probably seems like it was six months but I know it's been longer so thank you for all the work that you've done on this and
059helping us be safe yes Mr Tidwell uh Dr s I know you explained at the work session but for those that are just tuning in can you kind of go over the funding yes yeah so the funding and just so that everyone watching it is part of number 133 that we'll discuss in a minute this is the motion to approve the purchase and then second one in a couple minutes will be the movement of funding the this is not using local funds the State Department of Education gives funds for onetime funds based on your enrollment growth from one year to the next called Fast growth funds last year in May we were told we would get right over $4 million after the school year ended which our budget of course by that point is is
060complete we received an additional 2.8 million that went straight into fund balance so when I present this to to health and Ed first next week the conversation is going to be this is not additional local Revenue it strictly came from the state to rord County school system to use to address our issues um and so I'm hopeful that we won't have a whole lot of issues in being able to obtain that funding yes Mr bot Miss many it thank I missed it somewhere I know it says 30 to 40 per School depending on size of the school but how many total units is the purchase contract okay that's trying I'm trying to get a basis of what the cost is thank you and you've already purchased no okay knew there was more no no problems
061no talking about dead zones we have taken care of those dead Z yes any have questions comments okay we have a motion to approve the purchase of the schoolwide radios do we have a second second we have a second all in favor say I I any opposed abstain motion passes next we turn to 13 financial matters first we have have a fund 141 fund balance Amendment this amendment increases budgeted fiscal year 2425 fund 141 revenue and expenditures to recognize the carryover amounts of the state funded public school security Grant and the Innovative botle schools Grant the funds for the public school security Grant will be used to provide Raptor event management license and software the purchase of radio repeaters radio software bullet resistant film The carryover amount of this grant totals $5,495 68 the monies
062for the Innovative schools model Grant will be to provide 75% of salary payment to existing CTE Personnel stiens for Project based learning work training vehicle and Equipment purchases for various CTE activities and construction renovations to CT buildings and structures at multiple schools carryover amount of this grant is 14,162 446 both grants have been approved by the State Department of Education no local matches are required for either Grant recommended motion is to amend the fiscal year 2425 fund 141 general purpose school budget to reflect the public school security Grant and innovative school's model grant carryover money as presented more questions comments I'll entertain a motion move to approve second thank you all in favor say I I I any opposed abstain motion passes next we have number two and this is the movement of money to
063purchase the radios that the board just approved so two fund 141 fund balance Amendment this amendment is to fund the purchase of radio's equipment and service for mobile Communications America for all RCS schools this project will be funded by amending general purpose fund 141 by decreasing 3900 unassigned fund balance and increasing expenditure accounts 72610 399 operation of plant other contracted services and 72610 720 operation of plant plant operation equipment in the amount of 2,1 15,000 recommended motions to approve the GPS fund budget amendment of 215,000 of both unassigned fund balance and operation of plant expenditures as presented in detail any questions comments I'll entertain a motion move to approve second all in favor say I I any opposed abstain motion passes number three real quick Mr running will you go ahead and send those uh
064Rachel Leu from the county uh health and education is waiting to update our their health and Education meeting on Tuesday where our board's decisions tonight so we are sending that over ASAP so all right now number three board recognition of the eagal band booster club at eagal schools and RCS School support organization SSO per RCS board policy 2.44 only a group of organization that's entered into a written Cooperative agreement with the board may use the name mascot or logo of a school or the school district to solicit or raise money materials property security services or other things of value the eagal band booster club has provided all information requested from the board's written Cooperative agreement and can be recognized as an RCS SSO this approval is contingent upon the organization providing an updated detailed Financial
065policy which they have been notified about recommend motion is to approve the eagal ban booster club at eagal schools and RCS School support organization SSO any questions comments I entertain a motion move to approve second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passes next we go to number four Bo recognition of the seagull high school wrestling booster club as an RCS School support organization SSO for RCS board policy 2.44 only a group or organization that's entered into a written Cooperative agreement with a board may use the name mascot or logo of a school or the school district to solicit or raise money materials property security services or other things of value the seagull high school wrestling booster club has provided all information requested from the board's written Cooperative agreement and can be recognized
066as an RCS SSO it is noted this SSO has not applied and received an IRS determination letter to be recognized as a 501c3 nonprofit entity that is in compliance with the Boe written Cooperative agreement the IRS letter allows the SSO to open and operate out of a checking account that is separate from seal high school student activity funds until the determination letter is applied for and received the booster club will utilize the seal High Student Activity funds for all its Financial activities and be subject to the Boe Financial policies and procedures also the approval is contingent upon the organization providing an updated detailed Financial policy which they have been notified about recommended motions to approve the seagull High School wrestling booster club is an RCS School support organization SSO do we have any questions or
067comments I'll entertain a motion make a motion to approve we have a second second all in favor say I I any opposed abstain motion passes next we go to construction and Engineering tab six Whitworth beanan baseball request principal April sneeds is requesting to allow the renovation of an allotted area of the baseball building anticipated cost for this project project is 1,800 at no cost to the board engineering construction has reviewed the request and has no objection any questions I'll entertain a motion move to approve second second all in favor say I I I any opposed motion passes number two additional cafeteria monitor requests due to growth in numerous elementary schools it's become necessary to add additional cafeteria Personnel engineering construction along with instruction has been assessing the need for an additional person to assist with
068monitoring and cleaning the cafeteria in schools that have grown to over 1,000 students we would like to recommend 5 8 Hour positions to be funded at the same rate as cafeteria monitors as full-time positions these positions will be funded by fund 143 managed by the principles of each School recommended motions to approve the cafeteria monitor positions request is presented any questions I'll entertain a motion move to approve second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passes number three request for an auto paint booth at sewers Creek High retherford County School's Career and Technical education department is proposing the construction of a 40x 60 metal shop building to enclose a new larger 29 by17 downdraft side exhaust spray booth for the Stewart's Creek High School CTE Collision Repair program the RCs CTE department will
069be paying for all construction installation cost of the building and paint booth using funds made available through the Tennessee Innovative schools model Grant the existing facility was not designed to accommodate a full-size vehicle currently only individual vehicle parts can be painted within the existing space this new Booth will eliminate a significant barrier and attic with preparing our students for the Collision Repair Workforce anticipated cost is 425,000 for this project and an RFP will be issued engineering construction reviewed the request and has no objection recommended motions to approve the CTE request for the Stewarts Creek High automobile paint booth construction as presented any questions or comments yes Mr Tidwell uh so this is being paid for out of that that Tennessee Innovative School models Grant Dr Chastain did you get that information that I requested at
070the work session about which which grants are being held up the ones that I have that are being held up by the permits are the ones I read aloud I'm happy to send it via email that work great yeah thank you this is awesome this is this is what it's used for it's amazing uh how do they get their cars I know quite a few of my children have had issues with um run-ins and dings and things like that and yes how do they do that I'm just joking there wait L is there a weit list I am not sure of the weight list or the actual process but I will get back to you on that thank you move to move to approve second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passes
071next we go to insurance nothing okay financial report final report no financial report director's update couple quick things uh mentioned a minute ago health and education is where we will be asking for funding for the Le high school edition um I'm hopeful that that will go through without too much controversy I'm sure we'll have a lot of questions uh something that I will bring up is us as a district in the board approving 34 million in funds to be able to build the elementary school was part of the discussion to make sure that the funding for Lever High School's addition would still be allocated and still be available with the borrowing capacity so that was part of a lot of conversations last year with the County Commission that I'm sure will come up again umet
072again will be October 29th and then budget is November 7th which is the same night of a board meeting so okay thank you Mr VA do you have anything for the legislative Network or I forgot one thing you got one more yeah okay yeah I always like to recognize our principles that are here oh one's walking out you might so Chang yes [Music] okay uh we have several to speak coming to speak several principles tonight we have Kim stoker from seagull middle school and I know a couple left but Dr Teisha farguson from smyna middle school Dr Lon Murray from Stewart's Creek Middle School Dr Kelly Newberry from Rockville Middle School Lori Lorie Gober from Blackman Elementary Christy Brown of course was honored earlier here from John Coleman Richard Reed from leverne middle school and
073then Tim Pedigo was here from Eagleville and I also see that we have SIM spring here so good to see you too so Shane and I cannot ever Whitmire Wickwire Wickwire always took me butcher his name and I'm sorry sir I don't think we have any other one we had a great principal meeting yesterday we do principal SL central office meetings once a month here to make sure we're focused on instruction and operations and efficiency we are looking at student Behavior a lot right now to make sure that that is a highlight and a focus October is usually a pretty rough month for Behavior just because students are into the swing of how School works and like to F out how they can act and what we can get away with so it is a
074focus we also have our alternative schools that are not at capacity like they normally are which means we can start modifying some of our procedures to have our students um possibly stay in those facilities a little bit long schools facilities is a bad word schools for a little bit longer so if the board members hear some parents complaining that their students are having to stay longer than the couple weeks they thought that is true we put change that procedure today um so that we can students when they're remanded or exp remanded to an alternative school it's for up to a calendar year and we have been they earn points and then they go back usually within 40 to 45 days if they earn all their points for certain behaviors like threats violence huge disruptions to
075schools we're putting in place procedures for those students to have to earn more points um instead of going back in that same time period yes yes Miss sharp but overall because usually or historically by the time we get to Christmas holiday break we're full full so this is this is very good it is good it is it's not bad it's just yeah this good news 30 days or less is not just what we need they they need a little bit more so so I think this is tremendous I have one thing I want to in general discussion uh I don't know if you all got the email regarding the dyslexia program that's going to be offered at Riverdale High School that is a very frustrating thing for parents and students alike and it's going to
076be November 2nd from 9:00 a.m to 1: p.m. and I'm going to try to go there and stay for the whole thing but even if you can only drop in I encourage the board to go even if it's just for an hour just so you can see um so it's just going to be how it it's going to how it impacts our families and they can get some real information regarding battling this um this anybody else um for General discussion Miss Maxwell yes M thank you um thank you so much for giving me the the opportunity to speak um so I'm going to address something because we're in a times right now where things have gotten way too political it started out with a mass and then now we're getting into the season with the
077books I can attest to everyone including the Librarians no one wants porn in our schools at all no one does however there's certain laws right now that are not clearly stated in how they are and there was a comment about me not particularly participating in one particular vote so I've decided to go ahead and disclose a portion of why and to that I'm also risking myself and I'm at risk right now with disclosing why when I ran for Schoolboard I did not anticipate things were going to be different when I got elected when I got elected there was a change in my livelihood and with that I am um under contractual agreement with an employer and so with that being said I consulted with my with the board attorney of what I could do in
078the event that there were certain votes that were going to happen and I was advised to do to in the action that I took which was I am not to participate in the discussion I know we're all elected officials and we're here to do a job and a duty I get that understand that and I've done that but I also have a family that I have to protect as well and so with that um I will say the from here and out and I'm publicly stating and putting again myself at risk for saying it that there will be certain votes that I will not be participating when it comes to making decisions for the books yes Mr vaugh yeah um I've got a good friend Lou Martin that uh he started making these crosss uh
079and if anybody wants one he makes them free and he donated this one to our board U and so you know I thought that just a little recognition for him um I'd also like to address the gentleman that spoke tonight um I don't know what your motive is um you know you had a never heard you saying thing one good thing about what brother Ken has done I don't know how much you've been involved with education but I think if you don't have anything else to do uh investigate a little bit to see the results of Ro County Schools compared to every other school district in the state of Tennessee now now if what you spoke tonight's all you see in R County school you got blinders on and uh you know you really you
080know you uh def find negativity in a positive environment makes me throw up and it makes me want to sell clown uniforms to certain people uh Dr Suman has done a phenomenal job comparing the school system where he took over and where it is today there's not a single principle in this system that doesn't respect him and care for him as a person because he knows he cares for them now unfortunately uh I think I know what your motive is uh so I wish you the best but as far as I'm concerned you're going to have hell to pay okay cuz I'm going to stand up against everything you say because you know we got the best we got the best teachers administrators every staff and we got people like yourself come up here and
081talk about negative things and like I said Target she perance Madam chair I'm going to ask that we be respectful of the people that come here and that we don't accuse them of being things ex that's inappropriate that is inappropriate Mr vaugh I had the floor I had the floor I think Mr Dar point of order then it doesn't allow you to be disrespectful to our constituent sir you absolutely are you're accusing someone of being something it is inappropriate I ask that we stop please stop and just be respectful to one another you have made your point and is there I got another comment motion to approve move to ajour the uh okay we've got some more discussion um yes but please make it brief Mr VA wants to say something we're not on time
082limit are we young ladies are comeing here and judgment cuse against some of my constituents and myself I know you're a young person and you insinuated that you were a Christian person we're not in position as Christians not judg okay my boss is a is a US Carpenter not a teenage young lady so please don't make judgment I appreciate the information you gave us it's F to respect everything about you and we want to protect you and give you the best education possible where you could be successful and but do it in the respectful way and don't make judgment on people cuz I know that you don't want us to make judgment on you so uh that's my own personal so thank you we can we cannot that's we our public comment's over we cannot
083have the back and forth and I would ask everyone to be respectful of each other of of everyone in the gallery and the gallery be respectful and I obviously some nerves have been hit tonight because it's it's been very emotional the last couple of votes and uh but I just ask for everybody to be respectful and just there's no more this is not time for public comment this is time for General discussion amongst the board yes Mr VA U thank you I'm going to circle back around a couple of different things I wasn't expecting that but now that that's been brought up U Mr Reed where are you you're back there um then policy committee we asked that you send a letter to State Attorney General for a is that when do you anticipate some
084type of answer uh related to these laws okay so it it we're probably looking realistically first of the year thank you uh second thing so for public discussion we have asked for the Tennessee attorney general to uh defend the laws that are on the books or at least explained to us because it appears right now that that a couple of the policies and a couple of the laws are in Conflict so for the general public we're going to try to get the explanation from the State Attorney General's office um really what I wanted to have discussion about this is something that's been on my mind just a second um the charter schools that and the charter school bill that's coming in can somebody help me or guide me with um the vouchers or if they're
085anticipated or how they work uh cuz I'm assuming it's the money that comes from the state right not trying to put answers in your mouth but but is it is it on a per puple basis that's what I want to know Charter or voucher Which Way voucher I'm sorry whichever way that whatever we're dealing with the one that was proposed last year there is no legislation filed yet on vouchers they announced okay yesterday that they will plan to do that on November 6th okay so we won't know on that so then the charter sces per pupil first year is per pupil average after that it is is the base amount for Tisa and whatever weights of the students they served the previous year are we funded different amounts for different grades your students earn the
086base amount no but your other amounts yes your outcomes your direct funding uh for example K3 gets an amount up to $500 um your high school students earn an additional amount for their CTE course so your high school is going to be your most expensive students to educate years ago that's always the way it was you know you look at average cost per student but if these Charters come in and only educate let's say k through three that's a cheaper product and I don't mean to talk about our children and students as a product but that's almost have to look at it from a budgetary standpoint we're outputting a product and if that's a a cheaper or less expensive product to to Output is that Equitable is there does the for funding formula take that
087into account it will after the first year it will after the first year first year is just a true average I'm I had that conversation with Marboro city today um so it is a true average of your students um annual expenditure and ours actually because of the lack of going up much on Moe and the the increas in students our average expenditure actually went down $36 last year which is not what you would expect out of a growing District but we went down per student and and that circles back around to the other thought process I know we're after the first of the year we'll be working on the budget and to help me get up to speed on that I'm thinking about these out of the box kind of ideas or formulas and that's
088always been um a dilemma with the city system is that it was a case six through system a lot a little cheaper to do than the high schools and there was always some oh I hate to use the word Equity problems but I'm going to say Equity problems and so some of the arrangements that have been made between the city and the county over the years as far as funding as far as sharing money as far as sharing will tax those were some of the reasons those agreements were arrived at right nobody's kind of forgotten that yet but the the the the charter skills coming in that's what's kind of got me in thinking in the back of my mind the funding on them you know if they're going to pick off the cheaper product
089you know is that the is that the monetary gain can they take that average dollar per student and add it to that elementary student and put out a better product if they had more funding right that's what I'm getting back around the saying I think it was a conversation I won't share the details today but we are about $1,500 under roughly what our sister system is and yes yes and so the charter school is their first year if they are having students from Murphy's Boro city um that is a much higher average than they would be earning from Rutherford County so they so do they if they come into Murphy's Bor then the difference in a school being in Le they would have to use Rutherford County's numbers if they locate in the city of
090Murphy's Borough they get to use the city of Murphy they to have the city of Murphy's Boro if it's a k if it's a school that has Elementary School grades they have to appeal to or apply to the city of Murphy's Boro Murphy buror School System to to to be able get they would have to get approved with them and then they get to hire formul them but we share with them right and your difference goes with a state approved shorter school then it is based off of where they were because they technically quick and open anywhere because they're within right right right that's where the questions been coming the last couple days I mean that because I because I'm trying to figure out okay are you are you for them are you against them
091I don't know really you know it but I but I do think it has to be Equitable right from from a funding standpoint hey here take our if you going to take our dollars take those dollars don't take those and these that that's what I was getting back around I I'm sorry I didn't mean to take that much time Madam chairman I that's just something that's been in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks I wanted to somebody to help me with that so to be prepared going into the budget year thank you Mr tidal as promised I would like to uh announce again because I just know there's always probably more eyeballs at the board meetings and there are work sessions which when we go through these agendas it looks like
092we're just breezing through them but it's because we've done so much work at the work session so for those paying attention but um once again uh Rutherford County Schools all count honors choirs concert is this coming Tuesday October 29th at 700 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church we have been multiple years uh we had a a great turnout again uh the most students selected for these honors in all the districts in Middle Tennessee our Fine Art Fine Arts coordinator uh Dr haford does a great job with this and it is it's awesome if you if you love good music good sound U you are going to enjoy this concert so I'm I'm asking for making everybody aware that if you can come out please make it you know and this helps if you got
093kids bring them this might get them interested and it's it's truly an amazing gift I got one real quick yes Mr um I just wanted to give a correct number on the local per student average um it was 1,000 sorry sorry where have I gone yeah $1,414 per student this year that's our average um expenditure and that's down just a little bit from last year so this year's is 10,414 and to be specific and cents as a as a state uh since they approved these Charter Schools we didn't um accountability have they said any standards they going have to be just that' be just because comparison I guess you know Charter Schools test like um traditional Rutherford County or any other schools will um whatever is in their performance is there R2 of course have
094accountability with us that'll be part of our school system accountability rather for Collegiate prep will be under the state's um Charter commission accountability anything else one other thing I guess I'd like to uh Pig back what Mr tid said um I learned in my old age I guess that kids that are in involved in music uh they do better in school than any other group of kids and I wish I known a long time ago but encourage your kids to to look at look at that and and I'm like Mr tal um if you want to see some great music it's just talented kids come watch a concert cuz when is first class absolutely well would you like to adjourn second we're adjourned