May 23, 2022 at 6:00 PM - GMSD Board Business Meeting

Rationale:  Upon approval by the Board on April 19 Board Meeting for the Tenure Recommended Teachers list, the Celebration is being held during the  May Board Business Meeting.
GMSD Tenure Recommendations

The following Certified Staff Members have met the requirements for initial tenure eligibility according to TCA 49-5-501 et seq.
 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Donna Jones	Dogwood Elem
Kara Lowe	Dogwood Elem
Lisa Navarro	Dogwood Elem

2020-2021


                                                                                                                                               

Certified Staff Member	Location
Susan Eaton	Farmington Elem
Kelcey Horn	Farmington Elem
Lindsay Pierce	Farmington Elem
Mary "Heather" Whitsitt	Farmington Elem

             




 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Heather Crowley	Forest Hill Elem
Rebecca Dowdle	Forest Hill Elem
Lori Graham	Forest Hill Elem
Kate Greer	Forest Hill Elem
Anthony Smith	Forest Hill Elem
Michael Stratton	Forest Hill Elem

 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Amanda Freeman	Houston High
Kelsey Gilbert	Houston High
Kinsey Healy	Houston High
Ashley Kreitz	Houston High
Piia Latvatalo	Houston High
Vanessa Stephenson	Houston High

 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Thomas Hamer	Houston Middle
Devon Pohlman	Houston Middle
Emily Squires	Houston Middle

 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Tamara Hamilton	Riverdale Elem
Laura Beth Liddon	Riverdale Elem
Perry Pennington	Riverdale Elem
Christina Wiley	Riverdale Elem
Megan Woodring	Riverdale Elem

 

Certified Staff Member	Location
Laura Freeman	District Office

 

Rationale:  Minutes from 4.19.22 Board Business Meeting

Rationale:  Revisions are recommended for the following,
First Reading 4.19.22 / Second Reading 5.23.22
*Attached - Consolidated Rationale and Revision Policies document

Revisions are recommended for the following,
First Reading 4.19.22 / Second Reading 5.23.22
Our objective is to make the policy manual more user-friendly. As has been done in past few months, we are standardizing the review date, to read "annually". Secondly, we are taking out footnote numbers so as to assist with confusion resulting from constant state board rules and regulations, state board policies and statutory changes.
1. Revision Policy 3.201 Safety - Changes recommended to exclude superfluous language, to include statutory language regarding who is authorized to enter buses/property; updated legal references.
2. Revision Policy 3.202 Emergency Planning - Changes recommended to add statutory language regarding fire statute, and AED training subjects; updated legal references.
3. Revision Policy 3.600 Insurance Management - Changes recommended to add statutory language regarding PHI, removed superfluous language; updated legal references.
4. Revision Policy 4.615 Service Animals - Complete overhaul of this policy required to comply with existing law; updated legal references.
5. Revision Policy 5.304 Long - Term Leaves of Absence for Professional Personnel-Changes recommended to change "Director of Schools" to
"Superintendent".
6. Revision Policy 5.307 Physical Assault Leave - Changes recommended to change "Director of Schools" to "GMSD Human Resources Department"; updated legal references.
7. Revision Policy 5.402 Bloodborne Pathogens - Previously named Hepatitis B (HBV)-Complete overhaul required to make this policy comply with legal requirements; updated legal references.
8. Revision Policy 5.601 Conflict of Interest - Changes recommended to make this policy be more practical for employees.
9. Revision Policy 5.602 Staff Time Schedules - Changes recommended to remove superfluous language and comply with legal requirements regarding employee agreement to earn compensatory time. Additionally, the policy will now make a clear statement regarding the inclusion of flex time for employees whose regular schedule is less than 40 hours per week (i.e. allowing flex time for those employees for hours worked between 35 and 40); updated legal references.


The Board recommended the following edits after the discussion during the 4.12.22 Board Work Session,

1.  Updated Revision Policy 5.304 Long-Term Leaves of Absence for Professional Personnel
Page 1 / Line 18 - Change "the teacher" to "such employee"

2. Updated Revision Policy 5.602 Staff Time Schedules
Page 1 / Line 9 - Change "their" to "his/her"
Page 2 / Line 22 - Fix typo in "provided"

Rationale:  5.23.22 Rationale for Revision of Policies - First Reading (PDF document attached.)
Revisions are recommended for the following, First Reading 5.23.22 / Second Reading 6.7.22
The Board recommended few changes after discussion during the 5.18.22 Board Work Session. These changes can be seen in Italics.
Globally, substituted "Superintendent" for "Director of Schools", removed footnote numbering, updated citations, capitalized letters and removed superfluous language.  Policies with no other references to rationale have recommended changes based on the above rationale.
 

1. Updated Revision Policy 1.106 Code of Ethics - Recommend that forms be filed in the Superintendent’s office rather than just "central office". Page. 1 line 9: remove the words "or servant" and add "or" in front of the word "employee"

 

2. Revision Policy 1.301 Executive Committee

 

3. Updated Revision Policy 1.400 School Board Meetings-Recommend adding statutory language. After Line 11 on Page 1, a new line will be added to read as follows: "Individuals with a disability may request an accommodation in order to fully participate as a member of the general public in School Board meetings. The Board will make every effort to reach a reasonable accommodation which will allow for participation in the School Board meeting. Such request should be made to the central office."

 

4. Updated Revision Policy 1.401 Public Hearings-This policy will remain in place and not deleted. Line 13 - substitute "Superintendent" for "Director of Schools"

 

5. Revision Policy 1.402 Notification of Meetings

 

6. Updated Revision Policy 1.403 Agendas-Recommend that language be removed to be consistent with Board’s practices. Line 15 change the word "shall" to "may"

 

7. Updated Revision Policy 1.407 School District Records-Recommend adding statutory language. Page 1, Line 17 delete the word "unless" and a period is inserted after the word "copying". Thereafter, a clause will be inserted which could read as follows:

"While Tennessee law provides that a failure to review for public records may be reviewed under a good-cause standard, GMSD is committed to making every effort to provide any records requested, subject to the above listed requirements and prohibitions."
 

8. Updated Revision Policy 1.501 Visitors to GMSD Property-For security purposes, recommend adding language that sets forth protocols for central office as well as schools.  Recommend adding statutory language. Page. 1 line 11, immediately preceding the phrase "parents of students", add the word "approved". It will now read "approved parents of students,"

 

9. Revision Policy 1.600 Policy Development and Adoption

 

10. Revision Policy 2.600 Bonded Employees-Recommend adding statutory language. Moved from Consent Agenda to Board Action item 9.B for the Business Meeting.

 

11. Revision Policy 3.400 Student Transportation Management-Recommend adding statutory language.

 

12. REPEAL Policy 3.401 Scheduling and Routing-Recommend consolidating this policy with Policy 3.400 in order to make policy manual more user friendly.

 

13. Revision Policy 3.402 Board Owned Vehicles-Recommend consolidating the first portion of this policy with Policy 3.400 in order to make policy manual more user friendly.

 

14. Revision Policy 4.804 Religious Content of Courses

 

15. Revision Policy 6.409 Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse-Recommend adding statutory language.

 

16. Updated Revision Policy 6.310 Dress Code - Based upon input from Houston High Administration, recommend updating this policy to be more generational and more apt to ensure consistent enforcement. Page 1, Line 13, add the words "or strapless" before the word "blouses" to read as "Low-cut or strapless blouses, shirts or tops"

 

17. Updated Revision Policy 6.313 Discipline Policy-Pursuant to Board Member Curry’s recommendation, Category B offenses are the same as Category C offenses; Recommend removing the word "guilty", globally. Everywhere in the policy the word "expulsion" is mentioned, we will add the following: "(11-180 days)" - Page 3/ Line 22, Page 4 /Line 30 and Page 6/ Line 5

 

Rationale:  #26 - Grant for ESSER fiscal pre-monitoring
#27 - Severance/vacation pay for Law and Grace
#28 - 30 - Summer Learning Programs
 

Rationale:  Requesting the Board to approve the Houston Middle School to start collecting a Softball fee of $250.
This fee will cover the following,
Uniforms
Team equipment (balls, lineup cards, scorebook, etc)
Official Umpires
Sponsor Fee

Rationale:  The Board discussed during the work session and recommended the following,
- On Page 2, in Line 1, after the phrase "Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Programs" add (TCAP) and that additional change should be included on lInes 4 and 8.

Rationale:  Reporting the following budgetary changes for second reading:

BEP Revenue, $23K decrease
Property Tax Revenues, $155K increase (ADA percentage increases from 4.21% to 4.27)
Expenditure increases:
Career and College Counselor, $103K
Coaching Supplements, Step Increases, $14K
ENA voice application software, $14K
TSBA BOEconnect services, $1K

Rationale: 

• Rationale for Health and Wellness Clinic RFP Selection
• Summary of Evaluation Process for Onsite Medical Clinic Services RFP