Board Meeting April 2026

001meeting to to order. At this time, would everybody please stand for the invocation and then remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Heavenly Father, as we come to you tonight, please forgive us for all of our sins. Please look over this country as it's going through a pretty rough time right now, Lord. Please be with our soldiers. Especially be with the ones that are on the tip of the spear at the moment. Heavenly Father, guide this board tonight to keep doing the great things they've been doing. Heavenly Father, also be with our teachers and our students as they are going through testing right now and it's a lot of stress and pressure on all of them, Lord. Please be with them all. In your name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of

002the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Before we move on, I would just like to say that I looking back at last month, I let last month's board meeting get away from me. Didn't manage it as well as I should have. But I can guarantee you it will be managed right tonight. I hope to never go through that again. Or rather, it's not managed right. All right, let's see. Time for public comment. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to comment to the board about any item? Mr. Atwood? Jennifer, do you want to move back so he can come to the podium? >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, Atwood. I appreciate your time.

003I actually am here to speak on last month's board meeting. Having watched the video, it it really disturbed me how a member of the community, a parent who came in to share their concern with the school board, was treated by a member of this body in a mocking and condescending manner. The parent in question shared the same concerns as many parents in the Trousdale County community have had since that time. An apparent lack of communication between the school district and parents over reported online threat. We're all thankful that threat proved to be non-credible, but the district did fall short in letting parents know that fact. The information was posted to the district's Facebook page, which is helpful, but it's if it's posted at 9:00 p.m. at night, it's almost useless. How How many parents are

004on Facebook that that time of night? The district does have the mass text message capability and it would have taken 30 seconds to send something out. Hey, this there was an issue. It It was not It was not credible. There During my time at Valdosta, there there was a there was an issue with a with a where a student had had made an online threat and was found to be non-credible. The student was still held accountable, but that information was put out almost immediately. I I reported on it in the paper that time. 2020 2021, so I don't know the exact date. The The comments by Mr. Atwood when he said, "What did he say? What What problem brought you to do this and what problem did we experience?" In reference to the parent's reasons

005for coming to the board. To me, either either shows just condescending attitude or just plain ignorance. And And I don't think anyone in this room is ignorant. Mr. Atwood also made mocking comments about we're in Tennessee, not California with regards to how Trousdale County handled handled behavior, which in my mind is completely unwarranted. Doesn't matter what part of country you're from, if you're from California, from New York, Texas, Tennessee, every parent cares about their kids' safety. Not all of us grew up here. I didn't grow up in Trousdale County, but I've been here almost 20 years. I have chosen to make this my home. I care about this this county just as much as anyone else in in this room. It also uh It also bothered me that any elected official and and I say

006this as one myself, I think any office holder has a responsibility to treat members of the public with with respect, especially when they're coming to speak to you on on matters of concern. And if you can't treat them with with with respect they deserve, then you don't deserve to be here. I do appreciate that that Chairman Kerr, you know, noted that that he that he probably could have handled it better. I was going to comment on that as well, but because You're free to say whatever you like. Well, part of the chairman's role it it is to maintain the quorum during during meetings. I chair committee myself and I'm I'm learning that that that part of the job. Now, that that could have been handled better, but again, you I think you would acknowledge but

007beforehand that that last month could have been handled better. It it did bother me though when when you stated that you know you would not second guess the director of schools. You don't have to second guess the but the director works for the board. Y'all set the the standards that the that the director of schools is is a is required to live up to. And it is this board's place to set policy even if a especially when a policy may be unclear as as from watching the video there's the same questions on on the district communication policy. When the Trusdale County's parents are telling you there's a problem, y'all need to take that to heart and figure out what how to make it better. Everybody on this board is is y'all are all good people.

008I have the highest respect for every one of y'all. Y'all fell short of that standard last month. Be be better going forward. THANK YOU, SIR. >> [applause] >> WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND? SURE. YOUR BOARD AS PART OF the communications policy and I would like to respond to Mr. Gregory. Please. It's very hard for me to stand here and listen to that. Not from anything you said but the fact that you have never supported this school system at all since you've been a a member. Every time the school board county commission, every time the school board brings a budget or anything with it you always vote against it. Is this the time for that though? I mean we're we're going to be addressing an issue. You don't have the floor. It doesn't matter. It does.

009This is exactly where we're at. If you want to stay in this meeting you'll have your chance to talk. I believe you're on the agenda, am I right? I don't know. You didn't update it. Just wait. Go ahead, Michelle. Uh the county here has one of the largest budgets there is. Okay? You always vote against us. Now but you always fight for the ones that can't make it 6 months and have to come back to the commission and ask for more money. We have never this board has never come back to the commission and ask for more money. We manage our money right. And since you care so much about us now there's a thing called the maintenance of effort that the county has to do that you vote on. Just to give you some

010numbers here that are that you can look up for the the public. Trusdale County spends $1,900 per student. I mean 19 yeah, $1,979 per student. Okay? So, I tried to get an average of counties around us that had the same amount of students, kind of the same population. Okay? But I couldn't find any that really had the same numbers that we just I I could find students but the the counties were much much smaller. Okay? So Clay County right above us right here their maintenance of effort toward their school system paid us out $2,300 per student. A lot more than we do. They have 6,000 people in their county. Perry County has 7,000 people in their county. They pay out $3,300 per student. So, with your voting record that you have against the school system

011and the school board I don't understand why you all of a sudden care now because you hadn't every time we come to the commission. You hadn't ever cared about the students here or the school board. So, I don't understand why you feel so bad the way it is now. That's my opinion. Thank you, sir. All right. Now next on the agenda is the uh invitation for audience members to address any item on the agenda. If there's an item on this agenda anyone sitting in here wants to address now's the time. Whether you're on the agenda or not, now is the time to tell me. I'll put your name down. When we get to that item, you'll have your opportunity to speak. Is there anyone that would that's not on the agenda like to address any

012item on the agenda? That would be your time to talk. Nobody? To be just certain, is she on the agenda or or is this Do we need to put her She's on the I just want to make sure. The one I saw online I didn't see it, so. Michelle Dalton. Yeah. Just keep McMorrough in mind next year. Who? Keith McMorrough. Oh, yeah. Sure. Okay. Thank you. Nope, there were two emails sent that we didn't put [clears throat] on here. Thank you. So, is there anyone else that would like to address any item on the agenda? You'll have your chance. All you need to do is raise your hand, tell me your name and you you'll be able to speak. If not, I would expect you to sit there and listen while we go on with

013the rest of the meeting. Nobody? All right. Thank you. Uh Next is approval of our consent agenda. No, I'm sorry. Approval of the agenda for tonight. Uh look over the agenda. See if there's anything that any board member would like to add to the agenda and just make sure that uh everything is there. We discussed uh of course the the main topic of discussion tonight is the budget. Uh by state law we have to turn in a preliminary budget to the county commission by May 1st. That point has always baffled me some but that by state law we have to give them a a budget by May 1st when the legislature's still in session and we don't even know what our revenues or most of our money's going to be. It's kind of hard to

014do an agenda I mean a budget when you don't even know your revenues or anything but we've always made it. The key point is this is a preliminary budget. And then it will be updated once the legislature adjourns, passes a budget, and we get all of our numbers. Do I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda? Motion. Motion by Rachel to approve tonight's agenda. I second. Seconded by Mr. Atwood. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. We do have a set agenda for tonight. Next is our consent agenda. We did go over these at our work session. Please look over those. And if there's any item that you see that you would like to move to new business to be able to discuss further, let me know and we'll move

015that item over. It's mostly field trips fundraisers a lot of stuff at the end of the year stuff. I still like that princess park. It's great. It's always good. Truly great. I just I really used to think that's where the princesses live. I drove past the high school. She said the princesses live there. That was always good. Nobody [snorts] has an item they want to move to new business. Do I have a motion then to approve tonight's consent agenda? I make a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. Motion by Deanna to approve tonight's consent agenda. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Wooten. Any discussion? All in favor please say I. I. Any opposed please say no. Okay. Ms. Cotton, do we have any school district highlights? We do have a couple. First,

016I would like to introduce Mr. Landon Satterfield. He is your board representative that will be will be taking Zoe's place after Zoe leaves and I asked him to come the next couple of months just to kind of get a feel for it. Landon we kind of used to uh when we have a gentleman board representative. I think Zoe knows what I'm about to ask. They've been known to give us updates on the cafeteria. >> [laughter] >> And we've always looked forward to that. Would you think you'd be able to tell us how the food is and stuff at the high school? I can try. Now, we did have one. Who was it Zoe that did that? Matt Decker. Matt Decker. One of the great ones. That was hilarious. And then I am very very pleased

017to announce we have a certificate of occupancy for the field house. Oh, you want me to say something about that? Well, yeah. If you noticed >> [laughter] >> Yes. You know, we talked about the speed bump. The speed bump just magically appeared. It really did. the next morning. Nobody knew how it got there. I think I talked to it. I didn't tell you. I went down and looked at it. That when I went down and talked to Jesse, he was he's the construction superintendent. And what he thinks happened was was that Dr. Satterfield talked to the asphalt people and told them that he was wanting a speed bump. And then once I had talked to Dr. Dr. Satterfield and told him that I wasn't a big fan of speed bumps and that I would discuss

018it with y'all and then we'd get back to him that you know, we were going to discuss it at the work session. And nobody was in favor of a speed bump. And uh but nobody called the asphalt people and told them anything different. >> Well, we got to speak And since this tomorrow is the last day, they're planning on moving out unless they did late today. No, we are actually going to do a final walk through tomorrow. Okay. And hopefully get it all taken care of. So, they were just doing what finishing up what they needed to do to uh you know, to uh uh finish the project by tomorrow. And Jesse did ask me did I want him to remove the speed bump? And I asked him, "What kind of damage would that cause

019the asphalt under the speed bump?" And he said, "Well, you never know." And since we had discussed I Well, that's what I actually said was, "Let's kind of go through next football season and see how it goes. And if we determine a speed bump's needed for safety reasons." That was the That was the reason Dr. Satterfield wanted it. "We can always put in a speed bump." So, I suggest now that we go through a football season with a speed bump. And see See if it causes issues or anything like that. And if it does, we can always have it removed. And it's just on one side? Yeah, it's just on It's at the very end It does not Rosalie had the building codes person inspector thought that depending on how it was placed, it could

020interfere with the runoff water going towards the drain. It was placed and so it's like 14 ft. Jesse measured it by the end of the speed bump to that drain. So, that shouldn't be an issue at all. It actually may even help push some of the water that way. But it's the at the very end, you know, you come in now the entrance is going to be the the the right gate. And you would come in that way and then you could kind of U-turn and come back out the other way. So, it's right there at the end of that entrance. And and really what it may help is traffic coming in from the from the alleyway, you know, between the the old board building the 4-H building now. >> What do we call that

021road? Uh Dr. Satterfield No, it's Clint Satterfield Way. They come in Clint Satterfield Way. If they come in that way, they would never hit that speed bump because it's on the >> [cough] >> entrance. They would come around and be coming out the other way. So, it's slowing them It also would into Yes. Yes. And it's right there where uh it it really slows it down before it gets to the existing uh uh concession stand, you know, somebody and and um the weight room and that type of thing. So, >> And just to update that a little bit more, um I talked with John White the other day and they It was miscommunication. Nobody told them not to. Everybody thought somebody else was going to. Talked to Rosalie this morning. She is going to get

022and help me, Chris, if I'm saying this wrong, a storm drain engineer? Something. Anyway, they're supposed to And John was going to try to get it done today. I haven't heard anything, but he's going to come out and look at it, make sure it's not going to interfere with the water flow. And if it doesn't interfere, then it can stay as long as we want it to stay. I don't think it will, but I'm not an engineer, so you know, it's good to have it checked out to make sure. Okay. I speaking of the sign, the roadway sign, uh I had found out I forgot the name of the company. Uh Jennifer may know, but there's a company that specializes in kind of specialty road signs like that. And they actually can do the sign

023in the school colors of whatever the school is. And they can add a a decal or a you could put We could put a yellow jacket on it or put the the logo on it, the TC logo, something like that. So, that's kind of a a decision we'll need to talk about going forward as what to put on the sign, the colors, you know, whatever. I don't do colors as y'all know, so Come on, I was going to make that joke. What did it look like? I was going to make You took my joke away. All I'll say you know, you sent out the thing this morning about the Legos, so I had to drive up there just to make sure it wasn't no Y I or nothing like that. Well, I just got lighted,

024but it's off now. Yeah, it does look clean. It does. A lot better. So, you're on. All right. All right. We're in the home stretch of the school year and we've got a lot of dates coming up. We've had a lot of big milestones in the past month. So, overall, we're currently in our 10 ready testing window and that's going to be until May 1st. This week we've got English, math, then US history and lastly is going to be biology. We had our 8th grade pathway tours on March 29th and then 8th grade registration happened on April 8th. April 7th, Mr. Bowman's calculus class attended Tennessee Tech for the TMTA math competition and two students placed. Addison Stowe placed 10th place and Caleb Patterson placed 13th place. Which that's a new thing cuz Mr. Bowman

025hasn't even been here since one of his first years in a while. And then our 2026 Beta Club induction was April 1st. We have 42 new students inducted, which is a mixture between 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. And now our Trousdale County High School Beta Club holds a total of 130 members. Then on the week of April 6th through the 9th, FBLA attended their annual state leadership competition. That was in Chattanooga. We had 23 students compete and 21 students attended in person, which is the largest group that we've had I think ever for the FBLA group. 11 of our students placed top eight in their respective categories and of those 11, five students placed between first and fourth place. And the first through fourth place students, they are guaranteed a spot at the national leadership

026competition, which is going to be in June of this year in Anaheim, Texas. Um so, those students that placed first and fourth were Zoe Vaughn, first place in international [laughter] business. And then >> [clears throat] >> Wyatt Byrd, first place business management. Allison Knight, second place in introduction to supply chain management. Aubrey Dansby placed fourth place in insurance and risk management. And then Melissa Mendoza placed fourth place in securities investments. So, those students all have the chance to go to Texas this summer if they wish. And then we've got our Trousdale County football lift-a-thon tomorrow, Friday, April 17th. That's going to be at the JSMS gym. And then FBLA Super Saturday will be this weekend on April 18th. That's going to be at the Trousdale County High School. They're going to have vendors, a silent

027auction, a car show, a lot more. They're excited for that. And then we've got free sports physicals coming up on Saturday, May 9th. That's going to be at the Trousdale County High School gym. That's for rising 6th graders to 12th graders. And then all of the students have to have their physical packet completed and signed by a parent or guardian in order to participate. And that packet can be downloaded at trousdalecountyathletics.com with more information. It can also be found at tcschools.org. And then we've got a lot of dates coming up for our seniors. We've got our senior play on April on May 12th. That's going to be at 6:00 p.m. That's going to be at the Trousdale County High School auditorium. Then we've got senior walk. That's going to be at the Trousdale County Elementary

028School on May 14th. Senior day on May 15th. Senior trip to Holiday World on May 20th. Graduation practice will be on May 21st and then graduation will be on May 22nd. Which that's all for May, but just for reference, if there's any senior parents watching, we've got a lot of dates coming up next month. You done? That's everything. I have to say the teachers with FBLA, they are growing that thing. Like it's tremendous. They are and they are doing a heck of a job with it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I have a question. You got first place in in international business. So, what did you present? So, international business, I start with a test online and that determines if I can go to state, so that's the regional test. And it's a test online and it's

029asking questions about like different insurance risks when you're going and trying to start a business or expand your business internationally. And then when you go in person to the state leadership competition, you have to present in front of a judge, which I actually got two judges, so don't know how that happened. And I was given a role play scenario, so I'm sat down at a desk. I'm given the role play scenario on a piece of paper and I have 20 minutes to come up with my solution off top of my head, no phones, no screens or anything. And then I go to the next table and present in front of those two judges. And it's a 7-minute speech and then they also are allowed to ask as many questions as they'd like. And then after

030it was like a 4-day um trip, at the end of the day we have our awards ceremony. And that's different for everybody, so there's role plays where they're going to ask you questions. And then there's just speeches where you can do that you can write down the speech and you just present it. And then there's also impromptu speeches. Um there's projects like people bring their computers and they've got like big projects, big community service projects. 7 minutes is a long time. Yeah, I would kind of talked around in circles, but I >> [laughter and clears throat] >> got first place somehow. Congratulations. That's awesome. You did a good job. Y'all notice that she said the number I don't know what was the number again in Beta Club? Beta Club has 130 members now. That's over

03125% of the student body at the high [clears throat] school is in the Beta Club. I mean, that's just awesome. There were a lot of milestones recently. It's pretty cool. I mean, that's just tremendous. I do hope that the athletes getting the testing, the physicals. Yes. take advantage of the free one that way their parent cuz they're going to have to have one if they're going to play so get it done for free so you don't have to go to your regular doctor and pay for it. Of course [clears throat] some of them some of them like to just have their regular doctor do it but I hope they take advantage of the free one too but save them some save them some money. Anybody anything for Congratulations on all y'all. Thank you guys. I

032love y'all. Thank y'all. Are you going to Texas or after graduation are you finished with us? Yeah, I don't know I can't I can't. I'm a little too busy this summer. I'd love to though but a lot of people that placed were underclassmen freshmen and sophomores. So I'm hoping to see that grow next year they'll go. Okay. It's a little warmer in Texas what time of year is it? Yeah it'll be hot for me. >> [laughter] >> Thank you sir. Thank you guys. Director's report. Ms. Katherine. Okay so as Zoe has stated we did start state testing this week. All schools all grades are tested ELA third grade through 12th grade. That will be finished they've extended the deadlines this year due to the ice storm in January. So the testing will end May 6th

033for the elementary school and May 8th for the middle and high school. And the difference in the days is because for elementary school it's still on paper and pencil and we have to actually mail those back. So they give us a couple of days leeway for that. Mid grade reports will be going home tomorrow with students. That's been pushed back I think they were originally supposed to go out Tuesday but with testing the principals got together and it's easier for them to get them out tomorrow because tomorrow Mondays and Fridays are kind of slow days for testing. So we're going to get mid grade reports going home tomorrow. I would like to note after you approve the agenda tonight that all elementary grades will be or have gone on field trips this year. So Ms.

034Bedwell has pushed hard kindergarten their field trips are kind of in house they're bringing a lot of people in because you know a lot of kindergarteners knowing it's a little nerve-wracking but they are doing extra things. And all grades are going somewhere out of the county and everybody's excited about that. As Zoe stated the high school debate initiation was a couple of weeks ago. It was during the day we opened the just building and had parents in the building that day. We had about 50 parents attend everything went well I think everybody enjoyed it. We are gradually and slowly going to start doing that with parents. I have got the principals thinking about next year and what they feel comfortable with. It may be slow for a year or two but we're eventually going to

035get back to where some parents can come in. And with that said fifth grade will be having a recognition day May 18th and parents will be invited that day to come into the school. So we are trying to open our schools back up slowly if parents will just give us a little patience it will eventually happen for all the schools. Also fifth grade will have a transition day May 8th. We do this every year fifth grade goes to the middle school and they get to spend several hours with sixth grade teachers sixth grade moves up to the seventh grade teachers seventh grade to eighth grade and then we try to do it in conjunction with eighth grade visiting a school college. They go to TCAT they go to I think they went to Tennessee Tech

036this year and if we can then eighth grade will be at the indoor facility doing something. So they will not be on campus. High school has registered everybody for next school year with their new schedule. I have talked to several teachers and a few students and parents and everybody really seems to like this new schedule that is going to be happening. Again there might be some growing pains for a year as we transition from the old one to the new one but everybody's real excited about that one. As far as project updates we have got the chiller in as I reported last month it is working very well middle school is nice and chilly now. The fence that we took down will be put back up next week. Volunteer fencing should be here to get

037that fence around to protect it from anything that might happen to it. As I sent out this morning the concrete barriers are gone from the high school they will not return. Don't know where they are don't care where they are cuz they will not be back. So that during winter weather it's the Legos. They are gone. Mr. McColl and I are looking now to put something there that's a little more aesthetic for the for the building. Well he's thinking maybe get some boulders. I know Jay brings big up speed bumps. >> [laughter] >> But we will get something there that will help. As I gave you a while ago we did get a letter of occupancy for the field house. Tomorrow we are going to do a final walk through and see if there's any

038last minute things that we need to fix and hopefully by early next week we'll be completion we'll be done with the project. Students can actually be in it now since we have the letter in hand students can be in it. We are going to set a day after Coach Gregory gets everything moved from the old field house to the new field house. We will have an open house for the community. We will get with Mr. McColl and Coach Gregory and do it one Saturday and open the doors for several hours so the community can come in and see everything. It's really really nice. And we'll give them some time to get everything in. As far as the field house I talked to Tim he's been talking with Mr. Gilmore who has ordered the ice machine

039the new ice machine will be here next week. Washer and dryer will be hooked up next week. I think from talking to Coach Gregory a day or two ago he plans to start moving tomorrow if not this afternoon. So everything by the end of next week we should see some movement. And that is all I have. I don't know but when I come by I think they keep on moving. I sent out an email letting them know that it was official and they could start doing their thing. So. I think they were already jumping on the boat. Does anybody have any questions for Ms. Katherine? All right. Thank you Jennifer. All right. We have no old business so we'll get into our new business. First item on new business is the approval of bid documents

040for Chromebooks for the coming school year. As you know all of our students have a Chromebook. And just like anything that works electronically and stuff you have to replace some from time to time and do we still give our [clears throat] seniors still get to take theirs with them? They do. So people may not know that but we've we've allowed seniors to keep their Chromebook and take it with them hopefully to college or whatever else they want to do with it. So obviously we have to replace a certain number of Chromebooks every year and uh Andy puts out these big bid documents and gets prices. I have it here for you. Okay why don't you just kind of generalize it if you would. Sure there was only two people who submitted bids ByteSpeed and Howard.

041ByteSpeed is the one that we are proposing get the bid. Each Chromebook will be the non-touch which grades three up used but they're $357 per Chromebook. The touch screen that we get for K1 and 2 is $378 per Chromebook and we have waiting a little later this year because Andy and Edgar found that it's easier to do it in the summer when they have more time and have them ready to roll out when students come back in August. So what company was it that ByteSpeed. No wait Byte Byte Speed? ByteSpeed B Y T >> Byte Oh okay. All right. So we have a recommendation from Ms. Katherine to approve the bid from ByteSpeed from for Chromebooks for the coming year. Anybody have any questions or discussion about that? Do I have a motion? I'll make

042a motion. Have it made. To approve it. Motion by Mr. Atwood to approve that bid for chrome new Chromebooks for the coming school year. Do I have a second? I second that motion. Seconded by Ms. Bowden. Any any discussion? All in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed please say no. That bid has been awarded. Next as I said earlier the is the budget. Approval of the 26-27 general purpose school fund budget. Of course this is a preliminary budget. As I was trying to explain the legislature is still in. Last thing they do is approve the budget and then they leave Nashville. And so we have no I'm sure Jennifer and them have some preliminary figures. But until they pass that budget they're that's just what they are it's preliminary. We don't you know we

043don't know. And so uh she's asking us to approve the general purpose preliminary general purpose school fund budget so that we can turn it in to the county commission before the deadline of May 1st. Would you like to say anything Ms. Katherine? Well I hit the highlights tonight. Yes please. Go ahead and do that again I think that's important for uh since we've got a good crowd [laughter] Well, if I can remember the highlights uh let's see Well, to me if I'm getting a pay raise, that'd be a highlight. We have put in pay raises for everybody this time. Uh there's no group that's been left out. Administrators will be getting a 1% raise. Um certified teachers and non-certified staff will get a 3% raise if this is approved. So, that goes for bus drivers,

044cooks, janitors. Nobody will be left out. Thank you for that. >> Um yes, ma'am. We also are putting in and I think this is a couple of um things down on the new uh business. We are making some part-time positions into full-time positions, which you will vote on shortly. So, there's a little bit of increase in that because we are making them full-time. We are putting in um a couple of extra teachers that's been in here. That we put um I had my notes, but we have a uh speech pathologist that we have um added, which Miss Larch came and spoke to you about Tuesday night and the premises behind that. And then we have got the money set aside for um the uh field house bathroom renovation when that time comes. Uh we are

045not asking for any extra money from the county. We are going to uh do everything. We've got enough money to take care of everything, so we will not be asking for any money uh from the county. Uh everything will be paid for with what we have. And like I said, we have set aside, so we're ready to move on the renovation of the bathroom just as quick as we get everything else finished and set aside. And I think that's pretty much the highlights. Perfect. Questions for Miss Cothern? Discussion? So, I'm glad that we're able to uh give our employees pay raises, especially the way the economy has jumped the last year especially with uh prices and everything and they work hard and they deserve it. And I will say I am relieved and pleased that

046this is over with. This was a big undertaking coming in January. Was not as bad as I thought it was, but I have a great person to help me and Angie has really walked me through this, so I'm glad to be done with it. Well, your first budget's always It was nerve-wracking, but I made it through. And we're good. That's good. Yeah, that's that's to be expected. All right. Discussion or questions? Do I have a motion to approve preliminary budget uh for the coming school year? Motion. Motion by Miss Petty to approve the 2026-2027 general purpose school fund preliminary budget. Do I have a second? I'll second that motion. >> Second by Miss Bella. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed, please say no. It does pass. And then of course

047along that line, it's time to approve the 2026-2027 school food service budget for the cafeterias and uh The only thing I want to say to this, and I think I mentioned it Tuesday night, is that we will be transferring out of the regular budget into the food service budget $125,000. And I explained the reason for this with the increase of cost food and everything else since COVID. The feds do have a fix for it, but they have not um officially said this is going to happen. They're just in talks right now, but we have it set aside in case food service needs it. And then this summer, Kathy Atwood and Emily Halston, who are in charge of that, are going to start doing some research and see how we can bolster our income and hopefully

048not be in this situation from here on out. One of the things I think this not just this board, but past boards have been very proud of >> [clears throat] >> is that no student in the Transylvania County school system has had to pay for a breakfast or lunch for I want to say at least 5 years, probably. >> I'd say longer than that. >> Yeah, I would too. And uh that's the thing. >> pleased about that and they're proud of that. Well, I I I am too. I mean, this thing I do back when I was in school, you had the free lunch program, reduced price lunch program and all that stuff and kids were embarrassed and then as Now they it's free for everybody. And uh I know that the food service staff

049has to do deal with a lot of uh uh paperwork for the Department of Agriculture to get that passed and everything and they're willing to do it and have been doing and stuff. It takes takes a lot of work. But I think it's a great thing that we've been able to provide or they've been able to provide for the students in our school system. So, any uh questions or discussion about the uh 2026-2027 uh school food service budget? I have a question. Does the 125 just come from fund balance? Okay. And we may not even have to use it, but we put it there just in case. >> [cough] >> If feds come through, then we won't >> If the feds come through, we will stay in the general purpose fund. Okay. As you listen

050to the news, as slow as the federal government's been operating, we better we better be prepared just in case. So, you know, we just have to take care of our own business like that. Again, any discussion? Questions for Miss Cothern? Do I have a motion to approve the 2026-2027 school food service budget? Motion. Motion by Mr. Atwood, second by Mr. Woodard. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. >> [clears throat] >> Any opposed, please say no. It does pass unanimously. And as Miss Cothern alluded to uh just a couple of minutes ago, the cost of retirements uh from people who were retired teachers that were working 120-day contracts and had worked in this system for several years, uh they were uh in a supervisor and supervision uh positions and um Mr. Cothern retired

051almost a year ago and uh Mr. Woodard will be retiring in June 30th of this year. Some people say they got to see it to believe it, but I'll believe it. He told me he was. I believe it. >> [laughter] >> We'll see. I mean, we graduated [clears throat] together before he could go. >> [gasps] >> But anyway, only the board of education can create a position. These were part-time positions. [snorts] So, we had to create a full-time position so that Miss Cothern can hire replacements for that. And so uh we have in the uh in the budget a supervisor position because that's to take Mr. Woodard's place. Maintenance, transportation director of maintenance and transportation, that would take the place of Mr. Cothern. With a salary of $65,000. The supervisor salary would be $92,000 $971.60.

052And then as Miss Cothern also alluded to uh our speech pathologist that we've had for the last several years, uh who's tried to retire How many times? every year for the last four or five years. He's finally doing it. And so that was part-time also. So, we need to create a full-time position there in order to be able to hire a if we can find one, a full-time speech pathologist at a salary of 70,000. So, uh uh we're going to take these one at a time since we are creating a position. I want to make sure that we have a roll call, that we do a vote, you know, not necessarily a roll call, but a voice vote to approve each and every position. Discussion about any of those? Okay. Do I have a motion

053to approve a to create the maintenance and transportation director's position at a salary of $65,000? Motion. Motion by Miss Petty. Do I have a second? I'll second. Second by Miss Bowden. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed, please say no. Next is a supervisor's position uh at $92,971.60. Uh do I have a motion to create that position? I'll make a motion to create the supervisor position. >> Okay. I have a motion to create that position. Do I have a second? Second by Mr. Atwood. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed, please say no. And then of course is the last is the speech pathologist position at a salary of 70,000. Do I have a motion to to uh create that position? I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr. Atwood. Do I

054have a second? I'll make second. Second by Miss Bowden. Uh all in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed, please say no. All right, so we have created those three positions. And just as a reminder, we do have another supervisor position that will be filled, [clears throat] which is Miss Cothern's old position, but it's That was already a full-time position. So, uh there was no reason to had to create anything there. So, uh Sure. Got some hiring to do. It seems some new new teaching positions. All right, next on our agenda we have some people that would like to discuss uh some policies. Uh let's see. First on our position is Mr. Keith Nick McMoran is >> Nick McMoran. Mr. He is uh He wants [laughter] to discuss policies [cough] related to parent communication and

055uh boardmanship code of ethics. Go ahead, sir. Yeah, uh so I'm here to follow up on the last board meeting. Um parent my wife came forward with a legitimate concern about communication during threats made at one of our schools. Concern was presented calmly, respectfully. She wasn't rude. She was polite. The response that followed was unprofessional. Um it was uh interruptive, it confrontational. It's just completely unacceptable. And uh you guys have a code of ethics. So, I'm not here really like asking for a general statement on professionalism from you guys. I don't want to hear anything about that. I want to know what the board's plan of action is to uh address that conduct from certain board members. Mr. McMoran, this is your time to address the board, not question the board. So, we don't get

056to know what you guys As As we always do, as we always do, if you'll let me speak, I'll tell you. At certain times of the year, we always review all of our policies, and we will continue to do that when that when that time comes. Can those policies not be reviewed at any given point during the during the year? A policy can be reviewed anytime a board member wants to bring one up. So, that everyone here on this board doesn't think that last month's board meeting deserves a conversation about the policy of code of conduct. Are you asking me personally? I'm asking the entire board. You can only deal with the whole darn thing. You can only deal with the chair. >> Yeah. No, I don't see it at this time, but uh again,

057I'm speaking for me. But again, you have the floor to address the board. Okay. So, just so I understand you correctly, you think the code of conduct and ethics policy you guys have was followed last month. At board meeting. >> That's my opinion. Okay. Then why did you apologize? Yeah, what's up? I didn't apologize for nothing. You didn't mention anything about it. You didn't apologize. >> Do y'all want to stay in here? I gave everybody the opportunity to sign up to speak, didn't I? So, we can't speak back? No. Okay. I'll be back here at the next meeting then. Right at that podium. Yeah. Go ahead, sir. All right. So, um if we're not going to move forward with that, um we can make it a topic at next month's board meeting. Um I would

058appreciate it if you guys would have a conversation internally about it. Um it's just it's something that needs to be discussed. A lot of people in the community this isn't just a concern from one family. All right. I don't know if you guys saw that on social media. A number of you tried to reach out to my wife personally and discuss this. So, why you guys don't discuss it internally makes no sense to me. Who says we didn't discuss internally? As a matter of fact, I'm going to address it when y'all get through. Okay. Go ahead. It's Yeah, it's been, you know, there's been time to discuss it. It's been almost a month. Right? So, uh can we put a timeline on it? No, sir. No? Okay. Well, um we'll move on to the next

059topic. The original concern was ne- the question was never answered. And I'm not here to talk about timelines, here to talk about what happened, anything like that. >> Which policy are you referring to? The parent communication. So, You're talking about the board community relations or the uh the one about the or the threat assessment team, which is which one I think you're referring to is the process for uh threats or how they're they're going to be communicated. Yes, that. Is that the policy? It is. Yeah. Thanks, sir. And um the post on social media, I mean, that's as a community I'm not just speaking for myself here. That was not good enough. I mean, it's easy enough to get a text message. Um that's our decision to make at the end of the day, not

060your guys's, whether we send it our kids to school, whether you find it credible or not. I mean, it doesn't matter. That's our decision to make, and you took that from us. And I don't appreciate that at all. Um we didn't we didn't find out until well after school started, and uh it's it just needs to be discussed. You guys Something needs to be done. We can't just sit there and and let it get swept under the rug, all right? Like you said last time, this has happened many a times in the past, and uh parents haven't been communicated with. That that needs to change. Um and can we put a timeline on discussing policy and coming up with a new one? No, sir. Why is that? Because we will review them as they come

061up in our in our our our calendar. But you But you just said it does you don't have to wait until that policy I said that the board has the right to address it. And is that All right. As a As a chairman, do you qualify as a board member? Sure. So, can you please bring it up to discuss? If you remember, just a few minutes ago I said I am going to address this when y'all get through speaking. Okay. I think I said that. Can it be a interactive conversation with parents? No, sir. With the community as a whole? You have a Y'all have a I don't know who where you live or anything, but you have a board member. That's your board member. >> [laughter] >> That's your board member. And the normal

062lines of communication, your first step is to contact and talk with your own with your board member from your district. How do you think that conversation went? I don't know who your board member is. It's I don't know his name. He's sitting right there. Mr. Atwood? Okay. Yeah. My wife was here at the last board meeting. It's a problem with every one of us. I am I am a That's twice now I've had to tell you. Did I not ask for anybody want to speak, I'll sign you up? Right? I will say I thought that was not for past stuff. I thought this was for today's. If I had known we were going back, I would have signed up, but I was scared to come tonight. I know. I know. This is the first board

063meeting I've ever been to. So, I thought when you said that that it was today's stuff, not last month's stuff. I will say that. I'm not sure what that I I'm not sure I understood what you said, but Probably not the only Have In every board meeting, you have to sign up in order to speak. I didn't know that. This is my first one. Last month prompted me to come tonight. Okay. Thank you. That's Go ahead, sir. Um Yeah, one other thing that needs to be addressed from the last board meeting as well is we've covered it. That conversation was extremely unprofessional, but a lot of you board members sat there and did absolutely nothing. You just let a community member be embarrassed and berated. It was it's your job to uphold the standard and

064hold your peers to that standard. And uh as he said earlier, you just need to do better. Are you through, sir? Yeah, that's all I have to say. Appreciate it. Uh Next is Ms. Michelle Dolman, if I'm saying that correct. And Ms. Dolman wanted to speak about I guess the same policies. Absolutely. I can't wait to hear their responses. But uh my name is Michelle Dolman. I'm a parent in the district, and I'm not speaking on this lightly. I'm a public school teacher, and I've personally experienced a lockdown lockout situation with an active shooter. I had to lock down my classroom, secure my students, and protect 23 fifth grade students and myself in that moment. That is why clear, immediate communication is not optional. It's critical. Whether you deem it critical or not, credible or

065not credible, that's an excuse for not upholding your own standards. And the fact that none of you today can communicate that and have a conversation speaks more about you than it does anything else. You started your meeting with an apology. I did not. Yes, you did. I said I was going to run this meeting the way I should have run it the last one. So, you admit you didn't do your job. I told you I said what I said, but there was no apology in there. I don't appreciate I don't appreciate you making up something that I didn't say. Please continue with your speech. Did you or did you not say that you will run this meeting differently than you did the last one? I said I would Well, I don't think I said what

066I would I said that I would Okay. So, you can't even remember what I'm supposed to. Got it. Okay. So, I'm here to address two concerns. The lack of clear parent communication and protocol during safety incidents and the accountability of the board's code of conduct. The problem right now is there is no consistent, reliable system to notify parents when a potential safety threat occurs. That creates confusion. It creates fear. And it creates risk. Parents should not have to rely on rumors and social media to make decisions for what is in the best interest of our families. There's also public examples of conduct that does not did not reflect your policy that you have under 1.2021. Regardless of intent, the impact is a loss of trust. >> [clears throat] >> My ask this evening is a

067defined written parent communication protocol, clear timelines for parent notification, and a transparent accountability process for code of conduct. So, my questions to you as a board is, what is the current parent notification protocol? Who is responsible for sending it? What is the time frame? And where is it documented and accessible? As I said earlier, you're here to address the board, not question the board. I'm not questioning the board. I'm questioning where the policies that you are to uphold for the district and the state of Tennessee. >> So, where are they? Would you like me to repeat my questions again? You need to do that or or What is the current parent parent notification protocol? You know the policy. Who is responsible for sending it? What is [clears throat] the time frame? And where is it

068documented and accessible? As I said before, you're not here to question the board. You're here to give a statement and address the board. I am not questioning the board. I'm simply questioning where the standards that you have >> It's in that policy. What policy? Where is it located and where is it accessible? Okay. And it does not communicate clearly of current parent parent notification protocol. That's your opinion. Please go ahead and continue with your statement. What is the process when the code of conduct is not followed for the board? Again, you're questioning. Please go ahead and continue [laughter] with your statement. Who enforces the policy? Ma'am, if you're going to continue this, you can just sit down. What consequences exist? And will you have answers to these provided publicly and when? Are you through? No.

069I'm waiting for answers. You'll be waiting a long time. You have the permission and policy to to address the board. If you can't do that, please take your seat. If you want to continue and address the board, then do so. I am. No, you're not. You're questioning. I am asking questions on behalf of standard protocol that you are all expected to follow. And clearly you're not able to answer. Oh, I can answer. And I'll as I had said earlier publicly with this gentleman that I will answer some of this, but I'm not going to sit here and be questioned uh I I because you're on the agenda to address the board, not question the board. So, if you can't continue with your address, please take a seat. I believe that's about the fourth time I've

070said that. This isn't just my concern. There's actually over 500 community members who were asked to sign the uh petition that actually I started, Mr. Atwood. I know that you uh publicly defamed uh Laura McLauren for saying that she did, but actually it was me. So, this isn't just me coming up here asking questions of clarity. It's asking for standards and protocol. That's all we want here. And the fact that you're deflecting, ignoring, speaks more about you than it does anything else. This is about trust. Parents should not have to guess during a safety situation. And you state that people are welcome here and you want parent involvement, and then they do. And this is how you treat people. I I I Only thing you've been told is that you don't have permission to question

071the board. No one has said you can't address the board. Actions speak louder than words. Sir? Yeah. I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. Oh, actions speak louder than words. >> Okay. Yeah. Okay. And my imagination is if you can't sit there >> Yeah, I understand my actions. I'm just hoping that you understand yours. Yeah, I do. Believe me. If you would like to continue to address the board, please do so. So, when will this be answered and shared publicly for parents? I'm only going to tell you this one more time. If if you can't continue with your address, please sit down. Is something funny, Mr. Atwood? I just Again, you're questioning. Yes, I am. And I have the right to. Sit down. If you can't sit down, I'm going to have you removed. I would

072like you to do your job today. I can. Believe me. That's a first. It's amazing how much people think they know. So, I actually spent about an hour today with the school board attorney. With Tennessee School Boards Association, who does all of our policies since we were a member of And I went through all of this with Mr. Jennifer White. And we talked about a lot of this stuff. And so, let's just go to since the main one seems to be the threat assessment technique. Under it the end there at the bottom, report. The director of schools shall develop a process for providing parents, guardians, information on credible threats of violence or significantly disruptive behavior directed toward or occurring on the grounds of the school their students attend. We did that. We just didn't do

073it in a way that you think you need to be advised. How how did you do that? Social media? Well, Is it through social media? If you don't have social media, did you give me my phone number when I registered my children? I don't have social media. I can't access So, would you like me to continue? Did I let you talk? Uh you let me talk quite a bit. Yeah? Yes. Okay. Uh but I'm just saying you Will you If you'll listen, maybe you'll get your question answered. Okay? You finished? So, this is from the attorney for the Tennessee School Boards Association. Our as I I believe I mentioned to you last month, this policy is written so that the director of schools has the leeway or the opportunity to use whatever means of communication

074they deem necessary to contact parents. It could have been a text. It could have been the Facebook. It could have been social media. Whatever is deemed necessary or best in that particular situation. This past incident was a safety incident. It could have been a tornado or something like that. It could have been something different. And other means of communication may have been used. That's her call as director of schools as to what that is. Just because some people don't agree with that, doesn't make them right. It doesn't make you right either or her right. Is there everything you can possibly do to notify parents? That's not the policy, sir. Just because you think it is, that doesn't make it right. The main sticking point about this policy you have a question about the policy. You

075don't like it, right? Then you should contact Ferrell Haile, state senator, [clears throat] Absolutely. >> or William Slater because this policy is pretty much verbatim state law. But it's >> We didn't make this policy. The state legislature of the state of Tennessee did. Yes. It says the director of schools should create a policy. Shall develop a process. >> And that process is there. >> Processes are usually written down in in black and white. It doesn't say that, sir. I'm just saying that's the very bare minimum. Do you guys think that's acceptable? The state of Tennessee did. No, they're putting it in your guys's hands. >> not. We have We followed the It's a process. It's And that's the process. The director determines the best ways to use it for that particular incident. So, you may

076not agree with >> As I said two or three times last month, we don't agree on everything, but she followed the policy exactly. So, uh a lot of members in the community agree that that is not acceptable. Can we discuss changing it? >> No, sir. We're not going to change the policy. >> So, the bare minimum with the state of Tennessee is perfectly acceptable for this board. >> This is state law. >> That's exactly what that is. That's the bare minimum. I I I As you know, uh If you If you happen to I gave another example. And actually, Ms. White was very shocked, I guess you would say, when I told her that uh we were talking about how we uh communicated it. And then it went to every parent in our system that

077got on Facebook or ever how social media, whatever the social media things are. I'm not much on that stuff. Me neither. That's why It went to it went to every every parent. We are one of the few counties in the state that doesn't just contact the parents of the school affected. Wilson County last week had two same type incidents. They only they sent text messages only to the parents of the of the students in that school. None of the rest of the school went. Y'all believe you mentioned earlier to all the students. Just of the parents of the school that it was affected. Which it was I don't remember what school it was. I think it was a middle school. But did our high school parents get a text? They got the same information that

078I got none, so. Well, it was on Facebook. Well, you can have that. I didn't get a text and it was on those Facebook. I'm required to give you my phone number. If you wanted to know what's going on, no. No, you're not. When I register my kid, I'm not required to give you my phone number? You are. I I think You'd be surprised how many don't. I think the problem for us as parents is we're not expecting all of us to agree with her decision. Which y'all won't is ABC. No, no, no. Well, We're going to do this thing. No, we're doing what I want. The problem the the problem is it it's ultimately up to her decision. That's great. Whatever she decides, but we don't know where to look. You know, we don't

079is there five different methods she can choose between? It's Facebook. And we can go check those. Our our problem is we don't know whether to expect a text. We don't we don't know whether we should be looking on Facebook. Should I download Twitter and create an account cuz she might post [snorts] it on there? I don't know what her options for communicating that are. And and I think and maybe she can speak to that. I think if there was more transparency as to say and maybe she doesn't communicate it. That's her decision as well. But when when we have a mass communication system and then we're going outside of that. We don't know what other options outside of that it might be posted to to Let me just mention you something about the text system.

080Uh the director of schools in Wilson County was guy was my history teacher for five years. I know him well. Jeff Luttrell. Over 30% of the parents in that school they texted never got the text. 70% are still passing. Because they don't turn in their phone number. They don't keep them updated. Yeah, but it's but it's a I mentioned this last time. They don't contact If you send a text, you can't guarantee that you're going to get a text. But I think if people also knew like these are the the five possible modes of communication and they want to be communicated to, then ultimately that's up to them to update their stuff or or or look somewhere. And if they don't, then that that ultimately is on them. >> I think you've got a good

081question there. Can I say that I have said I felt like the text message should have been sent and it doesn't matter to me if 99% of parents don't have their phone number updated. Mine is updated. I agree. But there's no foolproof My point was there's no foolproof way There's not. But don't we have don't we have all do we have all the options? Jennifer, you you you had told us that when you the way our system works and if I'm wrong, please correct me. When you post it to Facebook, then it goes to social media. Well, we post it to the website. It automatically pushes it out. What what social media Do you know what social media accounts that involve? Facebook, I believe Instagram. I'm not sure if he uses Twitter or not. But

082as soon as you put it on our website, it automatically I don't do it. It automatically pushes it out there. So, you think it's Facebook and Instagram? And I believe possibly Twitter. And the news stations. But how do we know to check for that that something has happened in the past? Ms. White said I thought that was a good question. >> the past I have gotten text notifications that there's been a mass violent I mean I've got them on my phone still. That So, I don't understand why that wasn't it. Yes. Yes. Well, then Dr. Satterfield Yeah, so I don't understand why that wasn't Again, that was Dr. Satterfield chose to use that method. Okay, but so can I suggest that maybe in the future can I suggest that in the future we maybe try

083to utilize that because I trust my children to you all. You're right. I bring them to laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh and be like, oh, well, what school do you you got to the elementary school? I have an elementary school student. So, that's not If somebody is that's not funny at all. If somebody is burglarizing your house and your neighbor or your neighborhood over, you're going to do what you can to lock down your home. You're going to be proactive cuz your neighbor's getting burglarized. So, when she asked about why did the elementary school and then it was laughed about, she wants to make sure that her home that her children her precious babies are protected. And that's my concern that I entrust my children's lives to you, Brian, for the time that they're in

084school and bring them to laugh that we even have a question why we were notified breaks my heart. I understand. I understand that. Now, let me go back to what our lawyer said. You remember me saying this a minute. And I get that you are all our people first. We should be and should understand why most parents are concerned. So, I understand your lawyer's, but you should be good decent people first and want to make sure that our children that the parents are notified so that we can make the best decision. I should have taken a blood pressure pill before I came. Now, we take the advice of our attorney and start only notifying the parents of the schools that it affects, then the in this case, no elementary elementary parent or no middle school

085parent would have been contacted. To his point you made that you should have the option as a parent to know so that you can decide whether or not to send your child to school or not. You got to remember there's a whole truancy law in Tennessee. My child's life is worth more than being in school. >> not. I'm just I'm just telling you what they got. We're we're aware of how many kids are there. I'm sorry. I'm not saying I'm not. It's my duty to make every Again, you do. Can you imagine how many don't? You know, [snorts] how many kids we got Well, that's why I said that just a day or two of absences of being on the state's chronically absent list? And all of that stuff. You probably never heard of that.

086I heard their dad is not in my right. That's right. That's what I'm saying. But there's a whole bunch that don't. This is I'm going to take that I was actually I was actually the one that asked Ms. Warren where her kids went to school because in our policy we didn't have to That's the only reason I asked. I just I'm like, okay, if my neighbors get burglarized, I'm going to shut my house down to make sure my house is protected. So, I didn't think it was irrational for her to ask or you know, about the situation even though her kids were in a different school. Because you still want your kids protected. You want to And then I was thinking that day like all the attention was on the high school and police officers

087there. What if that left the middle school and the elementary school vulnerable to something that happened because now all the resources are dedicated >> I have a granddaughter that goes to the elementary school. And I know there was a police officer I know. They got the SROs. They were there. I understand that but stuff can still happen with SRO officers. My brother-in-law is a police officer and when I told him about this, he's like, they're going to have extra protection, but that also puts us vulnerable even though there's an officer there. So, I understand and I appreciate that. But I feel like a lot of people live in the mentality that we live in a small town and nothing's going to happen. But this day and age, Oh, we have to be prepared. I know,

088but it doesn't seem like y'all are. I just I I hope my hope is you're prepared. My hope with Ms. Caulder now being the director of schools is that she will consider not only social media cuz some people don't have social media. I found out because my niece goes to the high school and my sister called me and was like, well, she's my best friend in first and third, but she called me and was like, do you know what's going on? I'm driving by and there's all these cops here. And I was like, I have no idea what's going on. Like we're getting ready for school. I don't know what's going on. So, my plea is that it will be considered too in addition to social media cuz some people don't get on and check

089their social media before school starts. So, just let the parents know so that they have the decision. Because if I send my child Sure. and something happened, you might as well bury me. So, the attendance, I understand that, but my child's life is worth more than that. I agree. And that's all I'm asking and all I'm asking is for there to be to not be mocked or laughed at when we're talking about something as serious as this because ain't nothing more precious than these babies. And that's all I'm asking. I think that's a good point. And >> [clears throat] >> I don't see the gentleman now, but he made a good point about the the ways and I think that's something that we need to [snorts] discuss going forward and and stuff. But Our But

090why is it when I asked, you couldn't answer and now you can? And you can support with You were on the agenda to address the board, not question the board. There's a difference. And just because you got all flustered because you couldn't put on, you know, whatever it was you planned on doing, that's your fault, not mine. >> [snorts] >> Uh Again, this policy was directed to the county by the It's not a minimum policy. It's state law. We can't change state law. >> It gives the the director of schools >> to change it. Read the bottom line again. How long I do want to ask this. How long has that law been in effect since we She'll develop a process. That's what she kept wanting to hit on last year. >> You can develop

091a process. It's a policy mandated by the attorney's decision. Again, y'all may not like it that's his her decision, but that's the process. The That's What is What is that process? What's the How she feels best to disseminate the information. So, it just comes and goes with every situation. So, we we don't know. There's no consistency. Oh, I Right? I can't I can't answer that. I don't know. I mean So, let's put a process in place. That's what I'm saying. We're here to help. I mean we can help you. Tell you what we want to I mean >> I know what you want. It's communication. >> heard from most of it is we're going to do this, we're going to do this, we're going to do this. We're not going to do a policy that

092states that. >> I just want something clear and concise. Let's let's know And it's not state law. Whether you [snorts] like state law or not, I know I don't like it, but I have to go [clears throat] by it. Yeah. You guys realize this could have been like a 15-minute conversation last month. >> Accountability. Take accountability. >> Yeah. Accountability is all it was. Just say we can do better next time. That's all we wanted. In every situation, and I said this last month, So offensive. >> you evaluate it, you see what you could change, what could be done better, what needs to change and stuff. And And that's how you you do it. You learn >> how you've been taking this. You've been so defensive. You've been yelling at us. When all we want is

093accountability. You Did you watch the last meeting? >> You! You both Both of you! Both of you sitting at this table! >> I'm yelling? You know I don't yell. >> at everybody for the last two meetings. You yelled at her. We all recorded it. It was on record. We watched it. >> may consider that yelling. That's just the way I talk. You're dismissive. You're arrogant. You don't know how I do that. Mr. Gregory. Uh just going to >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Rachel. All right. I was just going to I >> [snorts] >> um I understand that your policies follow the the Tennessee state Tennessee School Board Association and that and that >> No, they don't follow Tennessee School Board Association. They follow state law. But Two different things. >> Okay. Well, state law,

094excuse me. Generally, when it states states something Well, if they're usually minimum standards in in a I'm not Maybe there is something. I'm not aware of anything that says that this board could not set a stricter a or or a stricter policy. If if if if if if if there >> I've never known the board to or any board Does the county commission have the authority to subvert state law? You're not subverting it. You're adding [laughter] to it. Kind of like It's kind of like building codes. Building code is bare minimum, but you can go higher and better. It's a whole lot better. No. No. All I see is the plan. It's funny the legislatures don't see it that way. Oh my gosh. Go call them. Call your senator. Ask him about it. We're just

095not getting it. Mr. Gregory. Uh no, I was just going to say that the county commission is not asking you to subvert state law in in any way. I The county commission didn't ask us for anything. You have No, I I I'm not here in my in my county commissioner. I'm here as a as a member of the public, the same as anyone else. But the the people are basically asking you to examine this policy, but you have stated or stated that y'all have at this And the discussion does not have to take place tonight, as but at some point there should be some conversation. Okay, what if Maybe we don't need to change anything. >> did I not say that at least three or four times that as it comes up in our through

096the year, we discuss, go over all our policies? But but you also stated that y'all had no intention of of of >> say that. I mean no but I just said I wasn't going to do it here tonight. It No, it No, it it it it should not be done here tonight, but you were you were asked what what would that happen at some point in the future? And Did I say it? I don't remember that happening. I said it two or three times that we will review our policies according to our calendar. And then did I not say that at least several times? Yeah, and then we asked you to expedite it because we feel like it's important. >> And I said no. Yeah. You're exactly right. Why? Why not? Because I'm not going

097to. If you have a bunch of concerned parents sitting in front of you, why wouldn't you take Why wouldn't that be the most most important? AND THAT'S OUR CHILDREN'S LIVES THAT WE'RE PUTTING IN YOUR hands and you act so arrogant that you don't give a AT ALL. AT ALL. [screaming] THAT'S UNNECESSARY. IT'S DISRESPECTFUL. IT makes It's It's not acceptable, actually. It's unacceptable. It's not okay. That's your opinion. IT'S EVERY ONE OF US. AND HALF OF THE COMMUNITY that can't be here today. I can't Girls. >> [snorts] >> Are you through? Done. Until next week, next month, I won't be. Okay. All right. Let's see. Go ahead, Rachel. I'm sorry. Can I address Sure. Yeah. Do you have a suggestion of what you would like to see this protocol of the fine parent protocol? >> You

098guys have the threat assessment team. I just would like to see some sort of documentation that is clear and defined of what we are going to receive in a situation. So, we know what to expect. Just like Seth said, we had no idea where to look. I'm not required to follow social I don't follow the school on social media. So, I had no idea until she called me. And um just a clear defined method made by professionals, your threat assessment team, and shown to the community. So, we know what to expect. I said this to you last month. Um can I talk to you? Sure. Thank you. The Typically, I'm sorry. Did you Simple, straightforward, black and white, so we know what to expect. But that's not going to be a policy. You understand that.

099I said protocol. Protocol that that she makes Go ahead. I I asked for his suggestions for protocol. Like at the beginning of the year, can you say, "Listen, if anything ever happens, this is where you need to go to find it. This is where we post it to." >> If we have a snow day And I said like I said with that gentleman that he that he had a good idea. I I've got that down as as good discussion points. Just at the beginning of the year, communication to the parents so that we know where to look, where to go. Not getting a phone call 6:00 a.m. Do you know what's going on at the high school? There's a lot of police cars there. I have no idea. Well, I can't We can't guarantee you're

100not going to get that phone call. Well, I know, but I'm just But I you know what I'm saying? I was A text message would have been great. >> There's nothing 100%. But I had no idea. I was in a panic cuz I was like, "I don't know. What are you talking about?" So, just clear communication at the beginning of the year that this is how we're going to communicate. This is where you need to look. But also, how are we supposed to know to check the school website? You're like, "Oh, there's threat or is there going to be a threat today?" And check it. That's I just want my kids are safe. Like I said, I entrust my babies in your hands. That is a lot. And it has to be a bit of

101a blind trust because some of the protocols for safety have to be private. >> Right, and I get that. That also And And I know it it That also then makes us feel uncomfortable. Well, I would like to know what's going on. I'm not sure that That's irrelevant. The information that was on social media is open source, unclassified information that had already been put out by the police department. Could have been put out using Even just something that this is going on. It's not about you know, obviously there's you know, things in there Exactly. that need to be Yes. But also there's also problems with the algorithms of Facebook because There's also problems with the algorithms of Facebook because you just don't other. And that's great. And that's that's why I reached out to you.

102I wanted to be able to talk with you instead of at you. And that I think that's important. Mr. Payne. So, is everyone in agreement that if the text message would have been sent on Sunday night or whatever night it was, you would have felt better about it? Or even Monday morning. Or even 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. Not cuz a lot of people were asleep. 5:00 6:00 a.m. I mean I got a text at 4:30 in the morning that school was canceled because of the snow. So, I'm just like, "Okay, that's great. They can do that." But when my child's life could potentially be in danger, The problem with social media is that there's a a There's an algorithm. And chances are if Keith's not on Facebook all the time, he's on there once a

103month or whatever, that school thing might not hit him because he doesn't see it all the time. He doesn't go on there. >> either. Yeah. So, I didn't see it either. Attention, Facebook changes algorithm nonstop. So, you're seeing different things that they want you to see that you These parents may never have seen. Like I said, I think that's a very good point that Yes, at the end of the day, this is just a simple conversation. Should have been a simple conversation or a concern, but instead it turned into whatever that happened last month. That was And I actually don't think I said anything different than I did last month. I think the complaint on me was that I I guess was interrupting and yelling and stuff, but I didn't think I was, but uh

104evidently some people thought I was. Yeah. But uh I didn't say it anything different than I other than the information that our that our attorney gave us cuz I didn't know that last month. It prompted you to talk to your attorney this week, right? So >> Well, we talked to him and yeah, you always find out if your policies are up to date and and that you're following the policy the way that you're supposed to, which I was glad to hear her say that we followed it exactly as we were supposed to. And the fair minimum So Can we go to the next topic, too? What's the next topic? You said we were going to talk about both and the next one was a code of conduct and what your plans were to uphold those.

105Well, the code of conduct is is is really What the code of conduct is is really subjective. The the uh So it's written down in black and white. Well, what I'm saying is yeah, I mean the code of conduct That's fine, Adam. We don't need to argue about that. I just want to hear what you have to say about it. It's it's Every board member has the right to state their opinion and everything, which which was uh which was done but it might not have been Respectfully. I don't know if it was or not, but uh And so The thing about for an elected official the code of conduct is actually held in the hands of the voters. If you don't like the way I'm doing my job as a school board member, vote my

106butt out. Yeah, we're here to Yeah. That's why That's That's the process. Uh that's the way it is with any elected official. It That's the ultimate how you hold officials accountable, elected officials, is through the ballot. So it's it's not the It's not your job to hold the board member members accountable at all? As chairman, no. Okay. I hold myself accountable. It's each one They're each of individually elected official. It's up to each one of them to hold themselves accountable to themselves and to the people of the district they represent. Okay. We don't represent the whole county. I have a district that I represent. Do any of you plan to hold yourself accountable for the way you acted in the last board meeting? Well, I think I did. I said at the beginning that I

107evaluated myself and that I was going to that I was going to run the meeting more like I should have rather than uh relevance. If If I I'll try to explain that to you. We're small county and what I have always thought we could do is I you know, I'm naive enough to think that if I can explain it well enough you'll see my side. Well, I wasn't able to do that last month. And and that's the the position that I came to. I was not able to explain it well enough to the people that were here last month to agree. They They wouldn't agree and and I didn't agree with them. And as I said on many occasion, we don't have to agree. You don't have to agree with me. You don't have to

108agree with me. But I'm just saying we usually need to conduct ourselves professionally. Let me ask you a >> ask you I'm going to say one thing. That's up to each individual board member to hold for themselves. I don't You know, that's not my job to to to do that with them. Let me ask you one question. Yeah. I don't understand where all this has come from. If you think he'd been loud, you think I was loud yelling You ain't never seen none of it like you have been. Okay? Uh if you'd watched many many more or had come to a lot more board member or meetings, you would see exactly how my voice tone is. But you talking about this tonight and you're saying we're being unprofessional. Yes. Didn't nobody cuss. Didn't nobody scream

109at nobody. And you think tonight's process has been good. It's better than last month. How is that? Nobody up here cussed nobody. But we've already had that >> I'll take accountability. I cussed but at least I didn't face the wall when somebody's speaking to me when you can you couldn't face her when she was hearing something. This is the problem. Last Last month You might need to examine yourself. Concerned citizen came to you with a serious problem and you laughed. I did not laugh. Tell me when I did Mr. Kirk. Explain Explain to me at what point I laughed. Go watch the YouTube video. You did Explain to me at what point. Can I say this? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. We're not going to get back into that. No, I'm

110speaking I'm speaking strictly I'm speaking to him. Yeah. Would y'all let them Yes, and then I'll Because I can honestly say Yeah. just like your wife did you fully composed. Your wife was until I started asking questions of what was going on. I wasn't fully composed. Do what? She remained composed. I wasn't fully composed last month. You wasn't till we started until I started asking questions and then you couldn't answer them we had to blame this and blame that and blame this. And I wasn't You got just like anybody else. I mean if I was talking you would try to talk over me. I'd try to talk It's And it was just going around and around. You interrupted me in the first place. I did. Because I wanted to know what you were talking about.

111You came in to talk about policy. I wanted to know why you were talking about that policy. Is that not what I asked? Oh, we know that you asked that. Yes. So I can fully I don't understand all of it that we were so bad but you can consider tonight a success. Because nobody Nobody Nobody that sat here We We have something for you guys to discuss, correct? Well We didn't do anything. At And I don't know how many times I said that. That's what I was wanting to say to you last month. We do have a couple policies that I think we all need to look at. But I didn't get to them. That would have been such an easy conversation last month. But all we had was you know what? You're probably right.

112We have some policies we need to look at. We'll go look at them and we'll get back with you at the next board meeting. And then guess what? We would have We look at every policy. But another thing that I want to address you with Mhm. Okay? is It's been put out everybody likes to make it out that you know As you said, if as my board member sitting right there, how do you think that meeting would have went? You said that, right? When you stood right up there. He said what? I don't know what you I know I told You said he's sitting right beside you and how do you think that conversation would have went, right? No, I said how did that conversation go? I'm referring to the last board meeting. I know

113but he said you should have called him first and you said, how do you think that conversation would have went? No, I said how did that conversation go? Referring to the last board meeting. He's meaning by his wife speaking. No. But that's not the way he said it. That's not the way he said He said it But anyway, okay? Let me explain to you how that meeting would have went, okay? Just so everybody can hear this, okay? >> [clears throat] >> Laura used to clean my house. One of the best house cleaners there ever was. Ever. Okay? Loved her to death. Think the world of you. Y'all were my neighbors. Okay? >> [clears throat] >> Laura quit cleaning house on her own, not because of no hard feelings. I had her cleaning my I had

114her cleaning Just listen. Can I Can I say one thing cuz I have to leave. So can I just say one thing? >> have to leave. We need to have relevance. >> I just I need to I love that we started this meeting with a prayer and I think everybody should reflect in their heart and I think that after this and after your conduct during this meeting and last meeting especially, I think you need to go back and read 1 Peter 5:5. This is God gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud and you should look at your proud heart and I'm done. We start every meeting with a prayer. And I love it. And have for 1 Peter 5:5 every time. This again. So back to what we were discussing, okay? Okay. So

115great woman, y'all are great people, okay? To tell you how the conversation would have went last summer. Okay? I'm leaving my house. I'm going to my sister's pool. You were standing at the end of the driveway with your son holding a sign that says he's wanting to sell lemonade. Am I right or wrong? Yeah. Your wife. >> It's July 4th. We do a lemonade stand every July 4th. So I pull up there and I ask y'all. I talked to the little man. I said I need a gallon of lemonade, right? And me and him talked about it. You know, I think it come up $20 and he said he couldn't have or Laura said he couldn't have y'all didn't have enough. It'd be a half a gallon. Mhm. Okay? I reach in my wallet. All

116I have is a hundred. I give it to him. Y'all couldn't make change for it. I said keep the hundred. Okay? Okay. That's how much I think of y'all. Okay? So why would that conversation Then why did you react like you did at the board? I just want to know that. I I don't understand how I reacted. That's That's That's me. You If you watched any of the meetings >> was on her phone in California. She's not even from California. I did If you go back Let me Let me handle that. We're not We're not really accountable. I think what he's trying to say is is What I'm trying to say is trying to question Right there is your joke back. Okay? I did not I don't want it to be when I left here

117that I stole >> Did you bring us an empty lemonade jug? That's the one I bought. And that's the kind of people I think of you. I thought we were all friends. Even though even though you take it that way okay? When I left here, I had NO HARD FEELINGS TOWARD NOBODY. That's just [laughter] me. I guess because maybe I was I was raised by a drill instructor. Maybe I had football coaches that >> No, you're not being very helpful. that had thick skin. And that's the reason I got thick skin. But it does not When I left here, there was not a hard feeling with me with anybody. And never will be. Because I can have a discussion and we ain't got to agree. I still respect your opinion whether you respect mine or

118not. And that's just the way it is, guys. And the other thing I'd like to say, especially I'd like that young lady there, is just because y'all think I've heard you say like the whole county's I've heard of people or or something like 8,000 and something. Well, I'm just saying can you imagine how many phone calls and and people stopping me and talking to me saying that they agreed exactly with what our board meeting last month. You know just you know, I had a had one tell me Monday night that I don't know who's she didn't mention who, but that some people were trying to recruit her to come to this meeting to speak against the board. And she refused to go. I don't know if I can tell you that. No, uh and she

119refused to do it. That's not That's not what I was asking you. Well, I mean that's what you said. Who? Uh so, I mean just because there's people on Facebook and people telling y'all, you know we also have people I can't speak for them. I have people telling me at church at at every place you know appreciate what you do. Y'all keep the school system safe. Keep doing what you've been doing. And so, that does that mean that we can't do better? Course not. That's what we're asking. Do better. Well, you're still trying You're still trying to >> [clears throat] >> make a pot turn a policy around different than She has the point of what we're looking for. You're looking for a You're looking for a text Let me Let me explain that to

120you, you're looking for a text message. And that you'd be happy with that. Because y'all probably check it, too. What about it? Again, like I said last month, you'll bring I said there's 30 to 35% of our parents But it's your fault, too, that you don't check your other IT'S THE SAME DEAL. IT'S THE SAME DEAL. Those people that didn't get it will come in and be saying the same thing. That's their problem. They should have been a text message. Well, but see you're trying to pick and choose. You can't do that. [laughter] It don't work that way. Why can't it be sent Why can't it be sent out to all forms? Why Why I mean it's like you're If you can take the time to send it out to just one Facebook and sheriff's

121department, why can't you just go ahead and send it to all forms if you have a phone number on file? Or if you had Send it to it. I don't care. I mean, if it don't work, it don't work, but there's a lot of numbers on there that people keep updated. >> My point is I I don't I don't We know We We know your point. I'm just saying as a parent, also we get text messages for a bus when they're late. I understand. I mean Again you're wanting us to list how we're going to do it. And why can't you We're not going to do it cuz the policy doesn't say so. We follow the policy and we follow the advice of our attorney. I know you I know you follow the advice of

122your attorney and that's fine. But you as Transylvania and I've lived here all my life, too. A text message goes a long way. And everybody A lot of people have phones. I know you're saying that 30% may not. I didn't say they didn't have a phone. No, they may not have it. I said they don't keep their numbers updated. That's fine. But like she said, that's on them. Well, I know but if that's what people that got it THEY SAY THE SAME THING about the text. They change their number for everything. It doesn't matter if people don't update or don't get it. Sign up. Update your number. That's their fault. If they change their number, it's it's their responsibility to contact the school that hey, I changed my number. I agree. But the ones I've

123had same number since I was 15 years old and if you need to get in touch with me, it's the same number. But that works for y'all. It don't work for everybody. It may not work for everybody. And there's no way to work for everybody. But if you could push it to There's no one system If you could push it to all forms, uh Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever, and a text message yeah, that solves all your problems. That's her decision. I know it is. But I'm just this whole meeting Keith and Laura, they're great friends of ours and we were here to support them tonight. That's right. But >> Don't blame me. I just Keith and Laura are great people. They are. I I don't Everybody here is great people and it's Everybody just has

124their concerns. And I was not going to say anything, but I know all y'all and and I know y'all are all good people. But and I know I know deep down most of y'all would probably like to get a text message, too, or like to have opened your phone up and seen it right there as a notification. I don't get on Facebook. I can get on Facebook, go on Marketplace, but I don't get on Facebook to look at other things. I know I don't I know you're It just needs to be in like Keith said, in black and white at the first of the year, so everybody knows hey, if there's an emergency or something going on, this is how we're going to contact you. That's it. That's all we ask for. And again And

125I said that I think that's the best point that was put out that all the gentlemen that said that. I I I agree with just what you said. >> feel and I feel like that was said the first meeting, then we wouldn't be here right now. She was trying to make that point. It just It just No, she No, last month she was trying to make a point of she wanted A B C and all that. That's the same thing that Keith asked for. No, no, no. No, no, no. We're We're talking about the gentleman that said that. Not Not this gentleman, the Just Just Just what When I say he made a good point. If you at the first of the year if y'all put out hey, this is how we're going to communicate,

126I agree with that statement 100%. >> then you wouldn't have the parents I mean, you might have a parent No, no, you're still We're still going to have Believe me. Cuz you're not you're not going to have to notify. Right. I mean, the district I worked for in Indiana and where my children went to school, it was that. At the first of the year when you registered, we will communicate via this. So, keep your phone number up to date. I It was It was very And I I very well I I did the bookkeeping in two schools But even if and I I substitute and So, I know texts cost money. Text messaging costs money. I know Even if that's on them. It don't mean that we're still going to get get every button that

127everybody wants it to be. You know what I'm saying? I know you You can't please everybody. I understand it. And that woman right there she's been on the job for 3 months. I know. And and to come in and and people think that she didn't do what she was supposed to do. No, it wasn't I thought No, it wasn't with some of them. It was with some of them, but And that's That's not That's I mean, I was told to my face that uh you know, I said you know, she'll take this, she'll evaluate it, she'll learn from it, she'll decide what to do next time. Like you do with any decision. Like I said, I did from last week's with last meeting. It's no different. You should evaluate what you've done before. And when

128I was trying to explain that to the to I believe her name is Miss Dalton. Her big thing was that ain't no excuse. She shouldn't have got the job if she couldn't do it. No, I And and I work at a company And it's hard There's going to be change in leadership and that's that's a great great leadership. It's change is good, but if something happens to every one of us in this room, it should be written down, not a policy necessarily, but written down this is what we're going to do if this happens. >> It's a procedure. It's It's like split second. There's no one in here So, everybody knows if something happens Our primary objective, like everybody in here, is to keep our kids safe. I say that at everything we go to.

129When we have dinners and stuff with the that I I generally pray at all of them. And it's at the beginning of the year it's for a safe school year. At Christmas it's for a safe next semester. And and we're always like that. And and I think from all the people that's reached out to me is they trust us and have trusted us to keep their kids >> And I don't and I don't think that trust is gone. I think the trust is I think they know that they're going to you're going to keep the children safe. It's just if something happens, it's just reassurance on All right, hey, we had this go on today or last night, just letting you know. Well, but that brings on other stuff, too. Like the gentleman was saying

130they need to make the decision as to whether or not to send their kid to school. Some did. And then they want to have an excused absence for There was no reason for their kid to miss school other than they were just upset. Yeah, I understand. That's not an excused absence. Now, if they were like he mentioned, I said it to him they followed the the procedures. They had enough what I used to call them mama notes and stuff like that to be able to to get that absence excused. That's fine. But a lot lot of parents don't. You know, and and they don't have that and it kicks their kids over into chronically absent and that kind of stuff. And that's a That's a big problem we have in Transylvania chronically absent And one

131of the biggest things about it you know, when you send out that message as she did okay? And everybody's complaining well, I didn't see it until I got to school and there was all these cops. That's the safest your kid's going to be. That day That one day right there is the safest it's going to be because of all the cops and everything that's there. Do you see what I'm saying? That's not As far as the law enforcement safety of schools. I'm all I mean, it's I'm going to tell you right now they are they are they are wearing wanting the our board to determine whether it's credible or not. Okay? We can't do that. No, I mean our safety board. Okay? Which is by law what happens. The threat assessment. The threat assessment. But

132let me let me read you one thing right here. Real quick. Not my words. It's the by their words. Not mine. But in here they stated uh With the details of the investigation revealing the threat was non-credible, the sheriff's officer posted that the findings just prior to the start of school on March the 11th. Okay? So they're stating that the sheriff's department reported that. Then they go on to say that the school made the made the or informed everybody after school had started. Okay? Now Those were the notification times that I had saw on No, ma'am. That's Are you Are you one that wrote this? Yes, sir. I want to tell you something. You go ahead. And I want to be honest with you. To read this article I was very pleased with because it

133is how do you say uh non-biased in any way. It was very difficult. I'm going to admit >> And I'm going to tell you I'm going to tell you that most news stations or whatever you look at now is not that way and I found it very non-biased. >> [snorts] >> But back to your back to your thing right there. I would rather my police department decide what's good what's bad. I I trust all of our teachers and all the people that we had. You know what I'm saying? But they can sit here and go uh we got little Johnny in school and he's the sweetest little thing and the police station cop can be saying we went to his last his house last night. He got four ARs and pistols and all this stuff.

134You know what I'm saying? I would rather them make the decision than to trust than to put the burden on people that teach school. Okay? So that's my thing about it. So in my opinion if the police is putting out things saying, "Hey, we're good." We're good. You know what I'm saying? Uh and But the law says we have to have a threat assessment team for the school system to make that decision for the school system. And that's what that's what they were upset because we couldn't release it until we got to school and had the team do it. You know what I'm saying? And the team's going to go off of what the the cops say. Even though we knew it wasn't credible police wise until that threat assessment team made that decision. That's

135the only way the school can determine it. And that's state law. Whether you like it or not. And the next thing that I want to take with you that you made a statement about is you said "Oh, well you went after her about being cop." That's wrong. I never said that. Okay. My statement Hold on. Hold on. [laughter] You said this was in California. This is Tennessee. This is not California. Hold on. I have those for my California sweatshirt. Cuz she was convicted >> It It was not a direct per the paper. It was not a direct threat. It was already communicated it was non-credible. We are in Tennessee not California. Okay? You know why? Because California has more laws and more stipulations and this and that. We just like I reported to you being

136a small town in Trousdale County that most of the people that were in here discussing moved here because we are a small town. And that's the life they want. And I'm saying I'm I'm all for people moving here. Like I say these two right here my next or my neighbors down the road. THEY WERE I STILL THINK THE world of them. They might not me but I still do. You know? But we are a small town. Okay? Right. Communication flows a whole lot different than it does in California. How do you know? Huh? How do you know that? Small towns always have been like that. But in the absence of good communication, people draw their own conclusions. And you are correct. I I will >> and that that is the problem I think with all

137of this. So perhaps when it is time for you to look at your policies whenever you decide that to be maybe you think about and I don't think it goes against the policy if it gives the director of schools uh the the options or the opportunities to say this is how if you tell people we will communicate and yes you will not hit 100% because people will get busy, they'll forget, they won't care. Well, some of them don't have phones. They don't have phones. >> [laughter] >> I don't have kids with phone numbers everywhere I go. You can write it in every paragraph. I worked for a guy who I had to send him one sentence emails if I wanted to get anything out of him because if it was more than three sentences he

138didn't read them all. And I I think that's the point. You've got to say we're going to communicate this way you better do it or you won't know. And I think that was the best point brought up tonight is that we send out And talking to Ms. Gothard allows her to hear us in what is our best way to receive her communication. She's been in this job 3 months. >> But they still want that school system to be put in place. It's not state law. It has to It has to be put in place. They cannot handcuff It can be a procedure. Yes. It can be a procedure. >> determines by her own reasoning. And they will push then you follow it. You know? Even if people are >> already has the ability to use

139whatever means she feels is best. Yeah. But as long as the people know what the means are. >> I I said that. I don't know the gentleman. Yeah. But uh I said usually usually when we have a room full of people most of them I had in school Words matter. Details matter. But but that was to me that was the best thing that came out tonight. I'm never going to vote for anything that handcuffs Ms. Jennifer to No. Sure. do anything like that. We hired the best person to put in the position and you have to let her do her job. And I think she's done phenomenal at it and she's only going to get better with time. She's the right person for the job for sure. And uh I I'm but I made the

140comment the other night too. You got more information this time than you would have got 8 months ago. Her main objective when she came into this school came into this school was saying, "I want to be transparent." That's what we pushed for. That's what we voted for. Transparency. We had 48 hours that we had to release anything and she was on it within a couple hours. The by law she had 48 hours. She could have waited something out that night. She could have waited the 48 and nobody would ever known anything about it. And still been in within state law. But she didn't feel like that was She didn't think >> option. And that's that's what's so hard. That's that's what's so hard about it. She jumped out there and then to get persecuted for

141it it just you know? But see I I think that like my point when there is a change in leadership that's that's wonderful but if there is a procedure there so it can be kind of continued on to the next leadership it would help. Well, I will tell you right now If anything happened and it's anybody changed there has to be not to be a dead horse but 2023 years ago we still get messages that there Not to say that it was big on my mind. I have texts going back to 2022 where there's things that happened at the high school, elementary school, the stadium. Credible or not credible, we got texts. So And that's that was his main That was his that was his And that's great. We just would like procedure to continue

142have a procedure that continues with or a procedure that we all know how to get our information. Yeah. I I like I like I like that statement. I like That's the key. I I agree. We That's where I think the main thing that's come out of tonight I think I think the biggest thing is the information that was sent out whenever this happened people finding out finding out about it through other people. But that's still going to happen. I know. It's going [clears throat] to happen. That's Hey, that's a small town. It's going to happen. Yeah. It's still hard when you got a kid at school that you don't know anything about it and you drop Well, like like I say that's the safest that child ever going to be that one day. Not that

143school in Texas. The cops stood outside and they shot up the school. I don't agree with that statement. I'm just saying. Yeah, you got to be logical. Yeah. Yeah. I mean you know, we we've been very fortunate Yes. that it's only been kids being kids or kids but I say that can't be a student We're going to leave for this letter of thoughts here. Oh, is it already here? >> It's almost here. What time? Do I have a motion to adjourn? I motion to She's always first to that. Thank you. Who said it? Me. And who You know WHO SAID WHO SAID IT? I second it. I have three brothers. I think I agree with you. I agree. I had no problem Yeah. But I There's your secretary. Here's my thing and I want you

144I want you to understand it.