August 23, 2022 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.  New board members Barbara Long and Karen Dodd were also in attendance.

Staff: Dr. Trey Duke, Sheri Arnette, Ralph Ringstaff, Kim Williams, Lisa Trail, Angela Fairchild, Adam Bryson, Ynetia Campbell, Sandy Scheele, Sonya Cox, April Zavisa, and Maria Johnson

Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Taylor and City Liaison Bill Shacklett.

 

Rationale:  The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ollie Young, a 5th grade student at Northfield Elementary and Annabelle Mallette, a second grade student at John Pittard Elementary.

Rationale:  Mitchell-Neilson would like to thank Third Baptist Church for celebrating our teachers and staff at our annual Back to School lunch at their church.  We love this annual tradition.  We'd also like to thank the church for their generous donation to our uniform fund.    

Bradley Academy is hosting a series of listening sessions and invites the community to join them for these feedback sessions.  Two more listening sessions are scheduled for August 25, 6 p.m at Patterson Park and August 30, 5 p.m. at the school.

The City Schools Foundation's Back to School Dash and 911 Heroes Run is Saturday, September 10, 8 a.m. beginning at the Murfreesboro Civic Plaza. We are still looking for runners and volunteers. Money raised by the Foundation goes directly to schools in the form of teacher and parity grants. The grant cycle is open through mid-September for educators across the district wishing to request a Foundation Grant.  

Reading in the Schools Day is scheduled for September 16.  We look forward to working with Read to Succeed and community members to make this day a huge success for our students.

Please mark your calendar for Thursday, September 22, 8 a.m. MCS will be hosting a community State of the Schools meeting at Redstone Federal Credit Union. More details will follow.

Thank you to the great volunteers at United Way for a successful school supply drive. MCS received thousands of items thanks to their efforts. Plus, a huge thank you to the many churches and community members that donated school supplies, haircuts and more as a group or as an individual.  Our students had the tools they needed to begin school successfully.

The Foundation would like to recognize and congratulate past board chair Travis Lampley on his successful bid for Juvenile Court Judge.  Travis will be stepping down from our board, but we want to thank him for his years of support.




 

Rationale:  After the swearing in ceremony, Chair Butch Campbell told the board that a new board member orientation was held on Monday, August 22, before the new board members took office. He thanked Dr. Duke and the leadership team for a well-prepared and well organized orientation. 

Rationale:  Dr. Duke explained that the Capital Improvement Plan outlines projects and major purchases over the next five years, with the Plan being revised each year as needed. The board had the opportunity to review the plan at the August 9 work session.  This plan does include a new school on the west side of town to address overcrowding at Overall Creek, Salem, and Scales. The plan would be to open that school August 2025. 

Amanda Moore said that she did review the CIP and is not opposed to it, but would like to ask the board and Dr. Duke to please look at one of the items that had to be pulled from the CIP because of the increased cost, and that is the renovation of the entry at Reeves Rogers. 

Dr. Duke agreed that Reeves Rogers renovation is a need, and there were projects at this time that were more immediate, such as HVAC, but he and his staff will continue to look at that.  

Roseann Barton reiterated what Amanda Moore said about the need at Reeves Rogers.

Dr. Duke said he plans to bring Reeves Rogers back to the board hopefully sooner than next year's CIP review.

Wes Ballard asked if the Reeves Rogers project would need to be requoted, and Dr. Duke said that it would need be requoted and looked at again.

Rationale:  Mr. Ballard had some questions regarding bids and quotations. He stated that on lines 9-12, the policy states the lowest and/or best bids will be accepted.  He felt that left bids wide open.

Kim Williams explained that historically we go with the lowest bid, unless we have had unfavorable dealings in the past with companies.  At that point, we won't necessarily take the lowest bid, but the best bid. 

Rationale:  There was discussion with Sheri Arnette at the podium explaining the recent law to catalog library books. 

Roseann Barton said that teachers feel that they are not being trusted under this new law.

Jimmy Richardson asked what would be the effect if the board did not adopt the policy.  Elizabeth Taylor said that there could be a potential lawsuit or injunction to make the board adopt the policy as the law requires. She added that the law states that by the 2022-2023 school year, each district must adopt a policy.

Dr. Duke added that both our legal authority and the state agree that this law applies to classroom and school libraries

Jimmy Richardson added that since this is an unfunded mandate, he will abstain from the vote.

Rationale:  Dr. Duke thanked Ms. Scheele and her staff for a job well done during summer feeding in the midst of staffing shortages and food scarcity.

Rationale:  Dr. Duke presented a PowerPoint to the board with updated enrollment numbers at this time in the school year.  He explained that we are at capacity and expect more students in the coming days.

Angela Fairchild also spoke about numbers in CDC.  She said that kindergartners are coming in from other districts.  She said that MCS is dedicated to students with disabilities. Dr. Duke added that Mrs. Fairchild works closely with him and principals to make sure that schools have what they need for special needs students in regards to staff.  Jimmy Richardson said he hoped that staffing needs in this area could be re-evaluated mid-year instead of the end of the year.

Amanda Moore asked what is the date for calculations for growth, and Dr. Duke told her that he would find out the exact date.

Rationale:  Dr. Duke congratulated board members, Ms. Roseann Barton, Mrs. Becky Goff, and Mrs. Amanda Moore on their recent level increase in boardsmanship.  These will all be recognized at the Fall District meeting.

Dr. Duke went over a PowerPoint presentation explaining the new 3rd grade retention law.  He explained that school districts have little to no wiggle room regarding this new law.  There was much discussion and frustration from the entire board on this topic.  Ms. Barton felt that this is just another unfunded mandate that the State is trying to impose on education. The consensus of the board was that they did not like this law and wanted to voice their opinion to that effect. 

Dr. Duke told the board that and he and Ms. Taylor would be happy to draft a resolution to present to the board for their review at the September 13th meeting.

David Settles said that he was very leery of the appeals process for parents.  He asked what the appeals process will look like.  Dr. Duke said that he is expecting the Department of Education to release a guidebook in the coming weeks explaining the appeals process, and he will update the board in September regarding this. 

Chair Campbell said that the State should have contacted the boards of education regarding this new law.

Amanda Moore said that she was very frustrated with another rigid law being placed on education.  She stated that we are looking at approximately 60% of our students falling into this group of 3rd graders not being promoted.  She was also concerned about students with dyslexia and how this would affect those students and if there was funding for them.  Dr. Duke said that there would be funds for students with dyslexia under the TISA direct allocations. He said that he will get the dollar amount per student.

Dr. Duke said that we want to continue to make sure that the right people are at the table locally when it comes to making a decision to retain a student.

Rationale:  Chair Campbell welcomed Ms. Sheila Bratton and Ms. Claire Maxwell from Rutherford County Board.

Roseann Barton thanked her colleagues on the board, central office staff, and Dr. Duke for being such a great group to work with over the past years. She said that she feels so good about the work that Dr. Duke and his staff are doing for Murfreesboro City Schools. She thanked the voting public for voting her in as a board member. She said that she loves MCS.

Becky Goff also stated that it was an honor to serve on the board with her colleagues. She thanked MCS leadership for keeping our school system on track, especially during the past difficult times. She is also so thankful for the teachers that have stuck with education and with MCS.  She said that it has been an honor to serve on the board.

Chair Campbell said that the board appreciates both of them and will miss them.  He added that we have two very capable upcoming board members to take their places. 

Rationale:  The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.