December 14, 2021 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  In attendance:  Chair Butch Campbell, Vice Chair David Settles, Wes Ballard, Roseann Barton, Becky Goff, Amanda Moore, and Jimmy Richardson III.

Staff:  Dr. Trey Duke, Ralph Ringstaff, Sheri Arnette, Lisa Trail, Joe Marlin, Greg Lyles, Charise McDaniel, Natalie Hardiman, Sia Phillips, Kim Williams, Beth Prater, Caitlin Bullard, Tiara Vance, and Kristy Mall

Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Taylor and City Liaison Bill Shacklett

 

Rationale:  The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Addison Moore, a 5th grade student at Salem Elementary, and Carwyn Wilson, a 6th grade student at Reeves Rogers Elementary.

Rationale:  During the moment of silence, Chair Campbell asked that everyone remember the family of Ms. Brenda Lee, a bus driver that recently passed away.

Rationale:  Mitchell Neilson would like to thank Ginger and Danny Demonbreun
of Sinking Creek Farm for their generous donation of $500.

At the time of the board meeting, Mitchell Neilson staff was serving hot chocolate and candy canes and reading to their students.

The Christmas Parade this weekend was a great success.  MCS staff handed out books from Bob the Book Bus and the children loved it.

Several schools had STEAM Walks last week and this week. The walks were very impressive.

Discovery School application deadline is January 7.  That information will be sent out to parents.

This week and next week, we will be announcing Teacher of the Year recipients at schools.  There will be a TOY celebration in March.

Excellence in Education will be held on April 9.  Be sure and mark your calendar. It will be held at Copper Ridge.
 

Rationale:  The board heard a public comment from Mr. Michael Dewey regarding COVID guidelines.

Rationale:  Rana Elfagi from Cason Lane Academy was the first recipient of "The Best of MCS" acknowledgement from Dr. Trey Duke.  Rana Elfagi won the 4H Public Speaking Contest for all of Rutherford County.  Her speech was on recycling.  She was inspired by a recycling project her first year at Cason Lane Academy.  She will be moving on the next level of the 4H Speech Contest. Congratulations to Rana!

 

Rationale:  Dr. Duke asked Mr. Greg Lyles to come forward to discuss our wonderful community partnerships.  Mr. Lyles and Ms. Charise McDaniel gave a brief Powerpoint overview of the program.

Mr Ballard complimented the program.  He encouraged everyone to support these partnership businesses.

Chair Campbell thanked the Outreach Team for the presentation.

 

Rationale:  Dr. Duke asked Mrs. Sheri Arnette and Ms. Tiara Vance to come forward to explain the School Calendar Process.

Mrs. Arnette told the Board that she and Dr. Duke met with the Teacher Advisory Committee in November and presented a draft school calendar.  She received feedback from the committee as far as what they liked and disliked about the draft calendar.

Ms. Vance explained that the committee received teacher and principal input. There were several things requested and most were accomplished with this calendar. Some of the requests included August start date, planning days on Fridays and Mondays, having the week of Thanksgiving off, and out of school by Memorial Day.

Mrs. Arnette said that she was proud of the calendar that was created and ultimately it meets the needs of the students.

Roseann Barton thanked Dr. Duke and his staff for the calendar and the process they went through to draft this calendar.  She appreciated the fact that the teachers have a voice in the process.

David Settles said that it was a great concept to have teachers involved.

Amanda Moore felt that the teacher input led to no half days in the middle of the week.  Dr. Duke explained that there was one full day off in the middle of the week due to that being Election Day and some of our schools are used for election sites.

Wes Ballard asked if parents were involved in the development of the calendar.  Dr. Duke explained that he did not solicit parent input. 


 

Rationale:  There was much discussion regarding this policy.

Jimmy Richardson asked if this policy authorizes the ability to make a written request to remove a student.

Ms. Taylor said yes, but six steps must have been completed before it can be given to the principal for consideration. 

Amanda Moore wanted to know how this new law intersects with Sped students. Ms. Taylor explained that there is a provision that states that we have to be in compliance with IDEA, ADA, and 504 laws.

David Settles stated that he feels that this policy is rich for our age demographic. 

Ms Taylor covered the six steps of the policy.

Mr. Settles would like to see the counselor involved in the last step.  He asked if the counselor could sit in on the last meeting with the student.  Ms. Taylor feels that would be appropriate and should not be an issue.

She explained that it would be the principal's discretion of how long the removal would be. In-school suspension and out of school suspension will also count as removal.

Jimmy Richardson made a motion that the policy be tabled.  Ms. Taylor explained that the new law goes into effect on January 1.  The motion died for lack of a second.

Roseann Barton said that from past experience as a principal, she knew that the counselor and team is involved from day one, and the teacher seeks help from everyone.  She stated that this law is not very different from what is already being done.

Wes Ballard stated that the board has time to review the policy, and if they decide they have changes, the changes can be made before the second reading.

Chair Campbell told the board that after reviewing the policy, if they had changes, they would contact Elizabeth Taylor and Dr. Duke.



 

Rationale:  Dr. Duke shared a Powerpoint on Behavior Supports with the Board. He told the Board that for this school year, we have two additional school counselors which makes that a 1-500 ratio, one additional social worker, which gives us a total of six. Additional STARS and Centerstone counselors have been hired.  We have three ACES counselors and three Behavior Interventionists and a contract with Kim Frank to supervise and oversee the counselors and mental health services.

Dr. Duke talked about the School Funding model.  He said that the new funding law will go into effect in July 2023. He feels that this will be good for our district. 

Dr. Duke briefly addressed the mask mandate that will no longer be in effect when students return from winter break, according the last board vote.  He said that this Friday will be the expiration date of that vote with no new extension in place. He said that the district will be mask optional in January. He will continue to post numbers each week so that families can make the most informed decision for their children. If he sees a hot spot, he will be direct messaging that school.

Dr. Duke said that Friday will be the last day of the semester and hopes that everyone has a wonderful two-week vacation.



 

Rationale:  The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.