March 16, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Meeting

Discussion:  (See above)

Discussion: 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, we'd like to welcome all of our visitors, employees, and staff. We appreciate so much you being here and showing an interest in our education and your children.

Discussion: 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is our Special Recognition. I don't see any elected officials in the group. So we're all just special officials.

Discussion:   (See Above) Boston advised, I'd like to welcome our Student Representatives. I appreciate you being here. Anytime you'd like to chime in, just raise your hand, we will recognize you. Thank you.
 

Discussion: 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #2) Boston advised, next on the agenda is the Approval of the February Minutes. Hale advised, move to approve. King advised, second. Boston advised, we have a first and a second to approve the February minutes. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #3) Boston advised, next is the approval of the agenda. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Safdie advised, move to approve. King advised, second. Boston advised, so I have a motion to approve the agenda and a second. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:  See #5 Special Recognition. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, we have no Community Comments.
 

Discussion:   - Boston continued, next on the agenda is our School Board Reports. First is the TLN Report, Mrs. Shannon Stout

Discussion:  - Safdie read Mrs. Stout's TLN Report 

3.16.23 Legislative Report

The following report summarizes the current status of several bills pertinent to the BOE & District. Just a reminder that all of the Bills can be indexed and tracked by the Bill number on the TN General Assembly Website.

HB0270 / SB0197: Amended to just remove average class size requirement, but leave max class size limit in place with the option of the LEA to request a waiver from the Dept of Ed to exceed max class size. LEA BOE & DOS with a need for max size limit waiver are required to make a formal request to Department of Education, who has 5 business days to respond if an issue. If no response, district request is approved for entire school year.  This would go in effect 2023-2024 school year & provide flexibility to local LEAs. House bill placed on K-12 Subcommittee Special Calendar 3/21. Passed Senate Committee 3/6 & moved to the House Calendar Committee.

HB0595 / SB0635: School Board Member Recall Bill - passed by the Education Administration committee on 3/7 & moved to the House Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 3/22. On 3/15 the Senate Ed Committee assigned it to their General Subcommittee - date TBD.

HB0784 / SB0556: Reimbursement of licensure expenses by DOE if obtaining TN license or endorsement while employed in a TN LEA. On Education Administration Committee calendar for 3/22. Recommended for passage by Senate Education Committee on 2/15 & referred to Finance, Ways & Means Committee - date TBD.

SB0282 / HB0329: Increase teacher pay through yearly incremental plan to $50k by 2026/2027 school year. Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/22. House Bill placed on Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee special calendar for 3/21.

HB1249: Sponsored by Speaker Sexton - Create a task force of 11 members to identify the amount of money received via Federal Funds for educational purposes to advise the administration and general assembly regarding the feasibility of rejecting federal funding and how to eliminate restrictions on the State due to the receipt of the Federal Funding.  With the first meeting of the Task Force Committee to be August 1, 2023. Passed by K-12 Subcommittee on 3/14 & assigned to the Full Education Committee - date TBD.

Multitude of Bills dealing with 3rd Grade Retention:

Senate Bills are being placed on the Senate Ed Committee calendar and then the majority of them are being assigned to their General Subcommittee - dates TBD.

House Bills are being placed on the K-12 Subcommittee Special Calendar. During the 3/14 Special Calendar meeting, several of the bills were taken "off notice" meaning they will no longer be heard in committee unless the sponsor of the bill re-calendars it. This is being done in an attempt to narrow the number of bills on the subject. 

The following bills passed committees & are moving forward:

SB0444 / HB0534: Allows a student who did not test proficient in English language arts (ELA) on the Tennessee comprehensive assessment program test administered to the student in third grade, but who was promoted to fourth grade after attending a learning loss bridge camp, to be promoted to fifth grade if the student's parent or guardian mutually agrees with the LEA or public charter school in which the student is enrolled that the student has shown adequate growth in ELA based on the student's grades or performance on assessments administered to the student in fourth grade. On 3/15 Senate Ed Committee assigned to General Subcommittee - date TBD. House Bill taken "off notice".

HB0437 / SB0300: Requires the department to post on the department's website an explanation of the appeals process, administered by the department, for a student who is identified for retention in third grade, based on the student's performance level rating on the ELA portion of the student's most recent TCAP test. On 3/14 passed K-12 Subcommittee & was placed on Education Administration calendar for 3/22. Senate Ed Committee recommended for passage with amendment/s on 3/15 & referred to Finance, Ways & Means Committee - date TBD.

SB125 / HB1410: Authorizes vs. requires LEA to retain 3rd graders. Also removes requirement for learning loss bridge camp.  Senate recommended for passage with amendment on 3/14 & referred to Senate Calendar Committee - TBD. House recommended for passage with amendment on 3/15 & referred to Local Government Committee to be heard 3/21. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is Board Members Report from Training. Has anyone had a new training that they'd like to report? No one responded. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Mr. Patton your Legal Report. Patton advised, no updates on any pending litigation other than what I've already advised.

Nichols asked, can we share about our tour to the high schools? Boston replied, sure; absolutely. Nichols continued, that was amazing. I mean if I wasn't motivated to be up here, I am now. I mean I was, but I'm just blown away. I am absolutely blown away at what we offer our kids in both these schools. I am so taken back. We're we not blown away? I'm all about the aviator part. I want to join right in. He offered me to come. I can't do it, I'll never leave, but it was absolutely impressive. I went around for days talking to people who have younger children in 7th and 8th grade. Going up, look at the high school. They can do this and this. It was awesome. Kelly did a great job. Everybody did a great job. It was awesome. The students that gave us tours in both schools were fantastic. They were so educated and smart and well kept in their manners and it was a wonderful time. Thank you, it was awesome. Boston advised, maybe schedule another tour. Nichols replied, I think we should. I think we should offer it to more people. We scheduled a tour of the airport when we had just ordered all of the equipment for the aviation and it was amazing. Those kids are so; it's just an incredible program. There's a young man and a young woman. They were both in there and they were so impressive and he's going to go into. What was the title? Stull replied, he's going in mechanics. Nichols continued, mechanics. He's going to go into the making and the operating and she's gonna; oh my gosh just blown away. It was the motivation of those kids and where they are and then it makes me extremely excited because, what Mr. Stepp and what the entire team is doing. To go into the kindergarten, to motivate them through the fifth grade and then on, and then once they get to high school. I'm telling you we're going to turn this place inside out. It's awesome.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is our Director's report, Mr. Stepp. 
 

Discussion:  (See Exhibit #4) - Stepp advised, so the next guest we have visiting us, is another great young person from Cumberland County High School. I had the pleasure of meeting him last fall and this was right about the time that the board wanted to do the Lean Frog Study for teacher salaries. With the intent of improving that. So Mr. Owen Brown, why don't you come up and show us your presentation.

Good evening,

My name is Owen Brown and I am a part of the CCHS FCCLA club, which stands for the Family Career and Community Leaders of America. When Mr. Stepp invited me to present my project at this board meeting, I didn’t really know what to say. But, I want to say thank you and it is an honor to be able to stand here before you and display my campaign. Before I begin, please take a moment to view my media presentation. (SHOW CAMPAIGN VD)

Teacher compensation is an issue that has been debated and argued over for years. Teaching, in itself, is a profession unlike any other; teachers are expected to educate their students, control behavioral issues, follow state and local standards, and enforce structure. Beyond these expectations, many teachers go above and beyond to build relationships with their students and seek to create safe and welcoming atmospheres in their classrooms. With this in mind, I only see it fair that we finally evaluate, analyze, and respond to the ugly truth behind our teacher’s limited salaries and the lack of compensation they receive.

My campaign, "97th is Not Okay," is based on 2021 statistical data that evaluated the 145+ school districts in Tennessee. Taking a look at the list, Cumberland County’s School District was named the 97th lowest-paying district in Tennessee, well below the halfway mark. As of the current school year, we stand below many of our neighboring districts by more than $3,000. Some districts, like Putnam and Roane, surpass our county by $5,000 or even $6,000. Though overall teacher salary is not my main concern, it is important to understand the significance of the issue. Proving that our teachers, here in Cumberland County, need a salary increase can inspire all of us to take the steps needed to enact change. Giving our teachers extra compensation for their time spent outside school hours can be that step our county needs to take.

To gain our teachers' opinions on this subject, I created a county-wide survey that was sent out in early January that asked questions such as: "In general, do you feel your salary reflects your work ethic?"; "Does your salary or lack of salary play a role in keeping you from taking on extra duties?"; or "Do you feel that the compensation you may receive for these extra duties makes up for any free time or family time you may lose because of the additional time commitment?" 

In addition, many of our CCHS teachers are involved in extracurriculars, such as sports and clubs. After conversing with and interviewing many of these extracurricular teachers, the majority of them barely made above minimum wage, with one of our teachers making less than $1 an hour for their extracurriculars. The hours the teachers recorded for their extracurriculars were used to develop this data.

To take this research to the next level, I developed a scenario, which is displayed in the bottom right corner of the handout. Taking these teachers who participate in extracurriculars, I wanted to see how their hourly wage would measure to those who didn’t put in the extra time and work. So, first off, persay each of these teachers has a Bachelor's Degree and has worked 10 years as a teacher; this means they make around $45,000 in our district, with an hourly wage of about $30 an hour. I then took the extra hours these teachers spend coaching or leading the sport/club and added it to how many hours a teacher is contracted to work in a year. This total number of hours is then divided by the $45,000 they make plus the compensation they may receive for that extracurricular. The results were eye-opening; these teachers who put in the extra effort and work for their students, inside and outside the classroom, made less money an hour than a teacher who only worked from 7:35 - 3:05. Even more baffling, many of these teachers would have to make more than $10,000 for their extracurricular to even out their hourly wage with their coworkers. So, when their work ethic and extensive hours are considered, how does this extracurricular even benefit the teacher in any compensation-related manner?

After having looked at both sides of the scale, I asked some teachers if they felt secure, or even rewarded by the compensation they may receive, and here’s what one of them had to say... (show Mrs. Filler’s clip). 

I have also exchanged with many teachers who have worked in more than one school district, including our own. One question I consistently asked them was,  "If you were given the opportunity to reference a new teacher to either Cumberland County or another neighboring district, which would you choose?" Several simply replied that the other districts offered better financial security and more opportunities, so the other district is more suitable. One teacher even responded to a latter question with, "[Cumberland County] leaves no chance to feel comfortable or [to] ‘sustain’ a career."

When I conducted the interviews and research with these teachers, many of them stated that they felt this place was their home, and that Cumberland County is where they love to teach. And I agree; I have loved growing up in Crossville and being a part of this community. Neither I nor any of these teachers are blatantly complaining or in any way rebuking our county’s efforts to compensate our teachers, but through all the research and discourse, I’ve discovered that it is essential for us to address this growing and ever-present problem at hand.

In conclusion, it is more than obvious that our teachers are some of the hardest-working people, some of the smartest educators, and the bravest responders. Our teachers do more than babysit their students, they raise them; they nurture and cultivate each student within their classroom with the sole purpose of creating a sustainable future. 

From a student’s standpoint, I see the daily love and commitment my teachers have for each of their students. Therefore, is it not only fair that we effectively return that same love and care back to them, not only as students but as the public and leaders of our district? Once again I will say this; I, and so many others, believe it is finally time that we evaluate, analyze, and now respond to the ugly truth behind our teachers’ limited salaries and the lack of compensation they receive. Our county’s step to compensate our teachers could inspire others around to do just the same. Thank you so much for your time, and before I close, the interview videos can be found on the QR codes attached to the handout along with some "question and answer" responses from the county-wide survey. Does anyone have any questions? 

Multiple board members thanked Owen Brown and complimented him. 
 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #5) - Stepp advised, next on the agenda is the Organizational Chart. I've updated it to represent where we've been going. There are departments on each side and then there's two other pages, where it breaks down the CAO and the CEO. Boston asked, what actually changed or did anything? Stepp replied, well I just provided more detail like you asked. Boston replied, this required board approval and I will entertain a motion to approve. King advised, move to approve. Davis advised, I'll second. Boston advised, so we have a first and a second. The motion is to approve the Organizational Chart. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #6) Stepp advised, next is the School Calendar to be approved by the board. This went through a lengthy process of the committee of all stakeholders. There was probably 25 people in that room, maybe, of teachers, students, parents, and supervisors. This committee whittled down to two calendars to be voted on, an Option A and  Option B. It was presented to the public to be voted on. About 1,500 votes total and 62% percent of the votes voted on Option B. So that's for your approval. Boston advised, I'll entertain a motion to approve the 2024-2025 School Calendar. King advised, move to approve Option B. Stull advised, second.  Boston asked, any discussion? No one responded. Boston continued, so the motion is to approve the 2024-2025 School Calendar Option B. A Voice Vote was taken.  

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #7) Stepp advised, next for your approval is the Tennessee Department of Education Local Foods Grant Approval. That came from Mrs. Hamby. Boston asked, that grant is for $21.6 right? Kathy Hamby replied, that's the initial amount and if the full amount is not divvided out amongst the counties, then we go back into a pool. So it could be actually more than that. Boston advised, I will entertain a motion to approve the Tennessee DOE Local Food Grant Approval. Safdie advised, so moved. Hale advised, second. Boston advised, so we have a first and a second. Any discussion, any questions? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #8) Stepp continued, 15.E. is just an update on our Annual Planning Calendar and all the things that we're required each month. Not for your approval. Just FYI.

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #9) 

Discussion:   - Stepp continued, 15.F is just another update on our Attendance Report / Warm Body Count.

Discussion:   - Stepp continued, then 15.F.2 is our monthly Personnel Reports.

Discussion:   - Stepp continued, then F.3 is our monthly report on our Substitute List.

Discussion:   - Stepp continued, and next we have our School Newsletters. The principals have been awesome about getting this out. 

Discussion:   - Stepp continued, and the Calendars of Events. They've done a great job with that and I believe that's all the Director's Report. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is our Committees. First on the agenda is our Policy Committee.

Discussion:   - Boston continued, Mrs. Hamby is not with us tonight. We only have one policy up for review. 

Discussion:   - No First Reading Policies 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #10) Boston continued, Policy 1.809. This came out of committee, so I would recommend it to the board. It needs no second. Is there any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. Boston advised, that was for Second Reading. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next is the Athletic Committee, Mr Davis. Davis advised, so we have not met in formal fashion since our last meeting in early January. So we have been active. We've been asked to work within the framework of this Strategic Planning Committee. To be in addition to that in the Athletic Department and help embark on a quest of fact-finding, brainstorming, trying to focus on adding some career pathway curriculum. How to enhance the overall athletic experience within Cumberland County from tying to youth sports, to the middle school sports, to the high school sports and then understanding the value within that and how can we support that at all levels. How do we create that continuity there? So we're working through trying to update manuals, just talking about what things could be improved upon. Talking about how we can increase parental communication. I'm trying to create some additional academic support for those student athletes that are tasked with being the front porch of our school. So a couple of dates to be mindful of. The TMSAA group is coming down to meet with Cumberland County on March the 28th. We will also be reconvening on March the 29th to bring our information back to the Athletic Subcommittee. So that's where we are. Boston asked, what time is that? Davis replied, I believe they're both at 3:30pm. This will be a Tuesday and Wednesday I believe. Boston asked, where will y'all meet? Hale asked, where will the meeting take place? Stepp advised, I think is going to be well; we haven't decided on the exact place, but I'll get that out as quick as I can. We should know tomorrow. Boston replied, perfect. Thank you Mr. Davis.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, the Budget Committee. We have not had a meeting. There's been nothing for the Budget Committee to start working on yet. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Building and Grounds Committee, Mr Safdie. Safdie advised, well the Building and Grounds Committee has not met this month, but we are planning to have a Building in Grounds Committee meeting on the 31st of March and it will be held at 4:00pm. Apparently, what has taken place at least on my calendar is that the bids for the auditorium came in on the 15th and on the 22nd the bids for South School classrooms will come in and that will be at least two of the components for the Building and Grounds Committee. There are a list of other items that we will probably look at, but that will be determined before the meeting.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Safety Committee.  I'm going to let Mrs. Hamby do that report. She didn't elaborate, so she can combine her report for March and April. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, the Contract Committee. We did not meet. We've had nothing presented to us.

Boston asked, is there anything I left out on the Committees? No one responded. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, our Financial Report.

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #11) Bray advised, good evening. We are right on target as far as our revenues and our expenses. I have reviewed every line, as I always do each month for this meeting. I don't see anything right now that really concerns me.
 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #12) Bray continued, if you looked at the Sales Tax Report. Unfortunately, the last couple of months it has come in below budget. We're still ahead for the year. So that doesn't concern me greatly, because this really was very difficult for the focus of the finance office to even try to estimate with all the new revenues coming in, but hopefully moving ahead. We are I'm very knee deep in budget right now. I'm going through every page. I'm going back to supervisors, we're reassessing some things, but hopefully by the first couple of weeks in April we'll need a budget meeting.

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #13) Bray advised, okay we can have one as far as the budget amendments, you guys have had those. Is there any questions? Boston advised, I am assuming the Federal is, so we are in line with e-plan on most of those amendments. Bray replied, yeah. Boston continued, because if it's Federal we have very little; Bray replied, slice up, to put it politely.  Boston advised, Mr. Sexton is working on those. Safdie asked, is there any reason why we can't approve those budget amendments? Boston replied, no. I'll entertain a motion. You can do the Federal separate or you can lump sum them and I'll be fine. Safdie advised, I would like to put the items on 17.C. and 17.D. 141 budget amendment, hotels and CTE State, the Office of Superintendent and the Innovative High School Grant revision the SBED Reallocation and the Tag Revision and to approve those amendments. King advised, second. Boston advised, we have a first and a second on the 141 and 142 budget amendments. Any discussion? No one responded. A Roll Call Vote was taken.  

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #14) See discussion and motion on item 17.C. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #15 ) Boston advised, next on the agenda is the Consent Agenda. King advised, move to approve. Boston advised, we have a motion to approve. Stull advised, second. Boston advised, we have a second. Is there any discussion or is there any questions? Hale replied, no. I'm just excited that the children are getting to go to a lot of these overnight field trips. That's a good experience for them and I'm glad. Boston replied, that we're back at it. There was a period of time where we were not able to grant those. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   - Boston asked, any old business that anyone would like to discuss? No one responded. 

Discussion:   - Boston asked if there were any questions from the media. No questions were asked. Boston continued, I would like to welcome Heather once again. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. King advised, move to adjourn. Davis advised, second The meeting adjourned at 6:42pm.