August 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM - Smith County Board of Education Agenda

Discussion:  The Smith County Board of Education met at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at the Smith County Board of Education. Mr. XXX provided the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. 

Discussion:  Mr. Ricky Shoulders, Chairman of the Board, welcomed all visitors and called the August 19, 2025, meeting of the board to order.

Discussion:  The current contract for the Director of Schools, Barry H. Smith, sets forth a term through June 30, 2026.

Discussion:  Request to approve the regular meeting minutes of the Board - Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

Discussion:  The Smith County School Nutrition Department requests permission to apply for the TN Department of Agriculture Endowment Grant for a milk dispenser.

Discussion:  Smith County High School requests permission for the following:

1. Smith County High School FFCLA is requesting an overnight field trip to attend Chapter Officer Leadership Training (COLT) at Camp Widjiwagan in Antioch, TN from September 15-17, 2025. 
2. Smith County High School would like to take all interested AV/Broadcasting CTE students to the annual Journalism Education Association conference, from November 13-16, 2025, at Gaylord Opryland hotel in Nashville. This will be an overnight trip.
3. Smith County High School would like to take all interested Theatre Arts students to the annual Thescon festival on January 16-17, 2026, at MTSU in Murfreesboro. This will be an overnight trip.

Discussion:  Smith County Middle School requests permission for the following:

1. Smith County Middle School Cheerleaders request permission to compete in the Nationals (NHSCC) in Orlando, Florida, on January 28-February 2, 2026. This will be an overnight trip.

Discussion:  The Superintendent took the following actions:

1. Staff Placement

• Bedford Allison - Custodian - Defeated Elementary School
• AJ Crips - Special Education Teacher - Forks River Elementary School
• Chrissy Davis - Special Education Paraprofessional - Defeated Elementary School
• Patrick Finey - Substitute Bus Monitor - Transportation Department
• Benjamin Gates - Volunteer Asst. Cross Country Coach - Smith County Middle School
• Amy Goolsby - Volunteer Assistant Cheer Coach - Smith County Middle School
• Abby Hackney - County-Wide Board Certified Behavior Analyst
• Brianna Hatter - Paraprofessional - Gordonsville Elementary School
• Kasi Hobbs - Paraprofessional - Carthage Elementary School
• Heather Hughes - Special Education Paraprofessional - Union Heights Elementary School
• Amelia Johnson - 5th Grade ELA Teacher - Smith County Middle School
• Kimberly Johnson - Teacher/Administrator - Smith County Alternative School
• Jennifer Krause - Part-Time Bookkeeper - Union Heights Elementary School
• David Lancaster - Custodian- Carthage Elementary School
• Hannah Maddle - Agriculture Teacher - Smith County Middle School
• JoElla Morris - Paraprofessional - Carthage Elementary School
• Sharon Raines - Substitute Cook - School Nutrition Department
• Deseree Randolph - Paraprofessional - Forks River Elementary School
• Emma Ray - Full Time Substitute - Carthage Elementary School
• Steven Ray - 8th Grade Math Teacher - Smith County Middle School
• Kandice Sapp - Paraprofessional - Carthage Elementary School
• Alexis Tomlinson - Substitute Teacher
• Corey Gilmore - Cook - Smith County Middle School
• Peggy Sevier - Cook - Smith County High School
• Natalie Dugas - Cook - Carthage Elementary School

2. Transfers

• Ramay Ashburn - Library Paraprofessional transferred to Special Education Paraprofessional  - Smith County Middle School
• Van Bryant - Carthage Elementary School Custodian transferred to Smith County High School Custodian
• Hunter Hays - Part-Time Custodian transferred to Full Time Custodian - Smith County High School
• April Ray - Special Education Paraprofessional to Library Paraprofessional - Smith County Middle School
• Angela Gibbs - Substitute Cook transferred to Full-Time Cook - Carthage Elementary School

3. Resignations

• Tawana Brown - Custodian - Defeated Elementary School
• Peggy Denton - Pre-K Teacher - Retiring - Union Heights Elementary School
• Jessica Hamlet - Guidance Counselor - Gordonsville Elementary School and New Middleton Elementary School
• Ann Hottovy - Full Time Substitute - Carthage Elementary School
• Brandy Leffew - Special Education Paraprofessional - Smith County Alternative School
• Alex Powell - STEAM Bus Paraprofessional - County-Wide
• Ava Preston - Special Education Paraprofessional - Union Heights Elementary School
• Ryan Raham - Special Education Paraprofessional - Smith County Middle School
• Emily Sterling - Paraprofessional - New Middleton Elementary School

Discussion:  Request for the annual election of Board Chair and Vice-Chair of the Smith County School Board for the 2025-2026 school year.

Discussion:  Request to approve the following Smith County Student Disciplinary Hearing Authority (SDHA) members to serve for the 2025-2026 school year:

• Heather Wilmore, Co-Chair
• Dillon Reed, Co-Chair
• Jera Huff
• Misty Smith
• Mac Petty
• Eric Swann
• Annette Hord
• LaShae Johnson

Discussion:  This letter is to ask for approval of the attached line-item amendments for the FY26 141 General Purpose Budget. The revenue is for a one-time teacher bonus that the state has sent. In order to qualify, the teacher must have been employed more than 120 days and have direct instruction for students at least 50% of their day. Our district had 234 teachers from the 24/25 school year that met both qualifications to receive the $2,000 bonus. The additional revenue is for the taxes and retirement benefits on the bonus money.

Discussion:  This letter is to ask for approval for schools to order their copy paper from one of the following vendors for the 25/26 school year since there were no bids submitted in July 2025.

Azor- $41.99/carton, 5000 sheets
Sam's Club- $40.96/carton, 5000 sheets (if there is an established school/business account)
Staples- $37.14/carton, 5000 sheets

All vendors provide free delivery within 1-2 business days.

Discussion:  Request to approve a per hour increase for our 21^st CCLC faculty and staff for this school year. Pending approval of the final budget, this will be fully funded by each grant.

Upon approval, the new pay scale for 21^st CCLC will be as follows:

            Paraprofessionals -      $20      ($18 currently)
            Certified Teachers -    $25      ($24 currently)
            Site Directors -            $30      ($29 currently)

Discussion:  The director of schools shall establish the salary rating of each person employed and shall recommend such salary rating to the Board for its approval as stated in Policy 5.110 Compensation Guides and Contracts.

See attached updated pay scale (changes/additions are highlighted)

Discussion:   Request to approve an interfund revenue anticipation loan of $600,000 from General Purpose 141 to School Nutrition 143.

Rationale: The School Nutrition Program is a federal program which works on a reimbursement basis. All meals are counted daily for monthly reimbursement.  However, our first reimbursement doesn’t come in until the end of September and we have payroll and food cost for the month of July, August and September. To prevent negative cash balances and allow for program operations, a transfer is necessary. The funds would be required to be repaid to the General Purpose School Fund on or before June 30, 2026.

The transfer from General Purpose 141 would be accounted for as an Operating Transfer Out (99100) and a reduction of Cash with Trustee (11140), which reduces the unassigned fund balance of the General Purpose 141 Fund.

The transfer into the School Nutrition 143 Fund, would be accounted for as an Operating Transfer In (49800) and an increase to Cash with Trustee (11140), which would become part of the fund equity as Designated Fund Balance (34570) in the School Nutrition 143 Fund.

Discussion:  Request to approve the attached Resolution for revenue line-item amendments for the FY26 143 Central Cafeteria Budget.

Discussion:  Request to approve the Grant Contract Between the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and Smith County Schools

Discussion: 

Annual Policy Review (August)
Please review the following policies on line for the Smith County Board of Education to remain compliant in policy review.  If you find any inconsistencies or if something needs to be discussed regarding a policy listed below, please bring it to the attention of Mr. Ricky Shoulders, Chairman of the Board, during the meeting.

Policy 1.700, School District Goals
Policy 1.701, School District Planning
Policy 1.8011, Emergency Closings
Policy 1.803, Tobacco-Free Schools