June 22, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Meeting

Discussion:   (See above)

Discussion:   - Boston led the board members in a Moment of Silence. After a moment of silence, Farley led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, I would like to welcome everyone here tonight. We appreciate you and your umbrellas coming out to join us. We do appreciate that. Also Mr. Stepp is out of the country. Dr. Becky Farley will be sitting in his place and acting as Director of Schools. Farley replied, he's will be zooming. Boston continued, he will be zooming. So Mr. Stepp is here. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next item on our agenda is the Special Recognition. Officer Scott VanRuben is the SRO of the year and Mr. Bo Magnuson will be presenting that certification. Magnusson advised, we just returned from the Tennessee School Resource Officers Association Conference that we go to every year. It's a week-long training that we all go to and I can't tell you how honored I was to be there this year. There were 630 plus officers there. That number grows every year, but the fact that it's growing tells you that there are still schools out there in some communities that don't have SROs. It's just shocking. What a blessing it is to us, of course, here in Cumberland County in the City of Crossville that our leaders, County Commissions, City Council, Chief of Police, Sheriffs and everybody understands the value of SROs in our schools. So we are very blessed and we thank everybody that's involved in making those decisions, but I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. As educators there's nothing more important that we can do than to build relationships with our kids and the SROs are no different. The relationships that they build equal opportunities for kids to share with them. Opportunities for kids to work for them, the same as educators. So I was honored to be there. The most important part of this that I want you to understand that Officer Scott VanRuben's nomination came from students. That tells you about the relationships that he has with them and I wanted to share with you. Just a few of those statements that came from these students. Goes above and beyond to secure the safety of our school. Cares for each and every one of the students. These are the kids words. He calls us his kids. He's full of light, never dark. Brave and caring. Always there when we need him. Has been instrumental in my success. Is a mentor, counselor, teacher and friend and most importantly, in my opinion, makes it a priority to build personal relationships with his students. SRO Scott VanRuben.

Discussion:   (See Above)

Discussion:  - Declarations of Conflict - Per TCA 49-2-202 Board of Education Members who have relatives (per the statue: relative means: Spouse, parent, parent-in-law, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or any person who resides in the same household as you) employed by the system are asked to raise your hands to identify yourself. "Do you certify that the votes that you make tonight will be in the best interest of the school system, regardless of the effect that your vote may have upon the employment of your relative or relatives?" Boston and King certified by saying individually, "I do."

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #1) Boston advised, next on the agenda is the approval of the board of minutes. We've got May 25th BOE minutes and May 30th Special Call. Hamby advised, I'll make a motion that we approve both the May 25th and May 31st minutes. King advised, second. Boston advised, so we have a first and second to approve both sets of minutes, May 25th and May 31st. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

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

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Mr. Lowe, Mrs. Mall, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate the commission taking time, their personal time to come to our meetings and have some interest in our school district and we do appreciate that. Although they're not elected officials, I would like to welcome Chief Jesse Brooks and Deputy Chief Chris Kendrick. Thank you for being here tonight. We appreciate what you do with the SROs and what you do for our district.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, there are no Community Comments.

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

Discussion:   - Stout advised, I will be short and sweet tonight. So just a couple of things, most of the bills that have passed have now been signed into law. So the trickle-down effect of that is we are starting to see all the changes that need to be made to our policies. So Policy Committee had a really big meeting this last week and Mrs. Hamby will get into the information on that, but we're seeing some of them today in the meeting and then we'll see some more in July that are a direct result of the the bills that were passed and have been signed into law. As it stands right now, they're still looking at having the Special Safety Session 8/21 and then last I had a follow-up from last board meeting. Mrs. Hale had asked about the homeschool having the opportunity to be involved and Mr. Stepp thought that there might have been something with current legislation. So I went back and did a little research on that and there's a public chapter that's out there, but it does not address it. It's more of a students that are re-enrolling in school and addresses how they're to be allowed into the different activities. So there really isn't any kind of legislation or public chapters that address homeschool being allowed to be involved in the school activities. TSSAA and TMSAA have homeschool student participation requirements, but what I was able to find out is that having the homeschool students involved in other activities it's up to the board's discretion. So if that's something that we want to as a board, to look at and consider in the future. That's something that we can do. All right, that's my report. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised next on the agenda is board members report from any trainees that we may have may not have. Hamby advised, Mrs. Boston I'd like to bring up. We just had a good training this evening on the BOE Connect. Mrs. Jenna got out of here before I could mention her in this meeting, but I do want her to know that we appreciate all the help she has been. Nicholas advised, very helpful. Hamby continued, so that was all I had on that training. Boston advised, as long as Tabitha and Mrs. Diane have it down, we are good. Stout advised,  I was able to take part in the Board Policy and Operations class on the 9th of this month.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is our Legal Report. Patton advised, there's no new litigation and there's really no meaningful updates on the couple of cases the board is in. So I'll have some things to add as the meeting progresses. That's it for the Legal Report. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is the FCC Radio Repeater. Mrs. Bray, if you would be so kind. Bray advised, I guess about probably a month ago the road superintendent approached Mr. Stepp and I about utilizing a channel that the bus garage has, has not been used. We've never used it. We have two channels. We only use one of them. Because they were looking to upgrade their radios and I looked around. The frequencies belong to the county. They're just assigned to different departments and I did some research. There's no problem with doing this. I mean it's a very nominal fee we paid $275 dollars every 10 years. So it's not really a huge expense. It's going unused. There's no point in letting that happen, so with your blessing we just like to give it to the road department. Hamby advised, I make a motion we approve that. Nichols advised, I'll second that. Boston advised, thank you. Is there any; we've not used it and we've had it how long? Bray replied, never. Years, I can't even tell you how long it's been there. I've got an invoice here that's back to 2011 and we had it. It's just never been utilized. It was supposed to be for our mechanics, but the mechanics are in the same building with everybody. So there's just no reason to even have it. Boston asked, is there any further discussion, questions? Hale asked, so it's not used for emergencies or any or any such thing? Bray replied, we have one line of communication between the facility, the garage and all the drivers and that's the only channel that any of them utilize and the base station is there.  Safdie advised, I've got a question. So $27 a year, correct? Bray replied, yes. Safdie continued, and when we turn that over will we continue supporting the county by paying for that? Bray replied, I think we can handle it.  Boston advised, so we have a first and a second. Any further discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. Bray replied, I will let the road superintendent know. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is the Board of Education Self Evaluation. This is something we do every year. Normally in May and this May there was just a whole lot going on and so I I think the board would benefit from doing this. Normally the way it's done is Earl emails us the questionnaire. We use the questionnaire from TSBA. Is that the one we use? Patton replied, yes ma'am. Boston continued, that's what I thought . We answer it. It is a self-evaluation. We send it back to Earl and Earl does the report to us. It's completely anonymous, except to Earl. I'll accept a motion to go ahead and proceed with this. Hamby advised, I'll make a motion. Nichols advised, I'll second it. Boston replied, so we have a first and second. Any discussion? Stout advised, I just had a question. When the board's done these previously, once we get the results back what's the normal process and whats done with it? Boston replied, we take the information that each board member has submitted and if there is anything that we think we can make improvements on, if we think that there is something that we need to do as individual board members, then that's what we do. There's never been anything, I mean we've never had any. Stout replied, no meeting or retreat or something where we can get together and look at what came out of successes? What came out as challenges and what we want to do to make adjustments moving forward? Boston replied, not in my 7 years. Stout asked, so that's not a normal practice? Boston replied, like I said not in my 7 years. Stout continued, so with that in mind when I was looking at the TSBA review. I guess there's a couple different options that's available to us. There's one where we always do our own self-review and then Earl can tabulate it and get it back to us and it's just left to us, but then there's also the option that we can work with TSBA on that. Where we do the self review and they pull together the results and then they work with us in a work session kind of thing. Where we can get together and look at the areas that we're doing well in. In the areas there are challenges for us and what we might be able to do to address those things in order to become more efficient and effective. Nichols advised, to build us stronger. Stout continued, so I was going to just bring that up to the board. Its' $1,500 fee, but if it's something that would help us move forward in a productive manner. That might be something that would be good for us to consider. Nichols advised, or we just do it, get the results back from Earl and then we have a retreat and go over our own results and. Boston replied, well I think as elected officials, I think were perfectly capable of determining what our strengths are. What our weaknesses are and making suggestions of what we would need to do from there. That would be my my suggestion. Nichols advised, we can do it in a retreat. Stout advised, as long as there's a commitment to do something with that information. I guess is where I'm going. If we are going to take the time to do it. Yeah it'd be good for us to get together afterwards and look through the results and then determine what we might be able to do from there. Hamby advised, we have a motion and a second on the floor. Boston advised, we have a motion and a second. Hamby continued, that needs to be taken care of before anything else. Boston asked, any other discussion? Safdie asked, what's the issue? Boston replied, I think once we get the results back, then we determine where we go next. Safdie replied, that's okay with me. I think it's a good idea to do a retreat. So lets wait. Boston replied, Earl kind of goes over everything with us this way and these are our opinions of ourselves. This is not an opinion of. Nichols advised, not of our peers, its of ourselves. Stout replied, hold ourselves accountable for our constituents that have voted us into this position. Boston asked, any further discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. Boston asked, Mr. Patton will you? Patton replied, I will work on that. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next is the Director of Schools Evaluation by the board. That is done essentially the same way. Earl sends the TSBA Director of School's Evaluation out individually to all board members. The board members answer them, send them back and Earl gives the report and then from that report in years past, I can't tell you what we're going to do this year, but in years past the Director takes those results. He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses and he develops his own improvement plan or his own go me. I'll entertain motion. Hamby advised, I'll make a motion. Hale advised, second. Boston advised, I have a motion and a second for the Director of Schools. Any discussion? Safdie advised, I really like the way Earl presented the material last year. I have no objections, but I just want to say thank you for that work. Patton replied, you're welcome. Boston replied, he does a very good job at presenting the results. Any further discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 
 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #3) Boston advised, next on the agenda is the property transfer from the County to the BOE. Patton advised, yeah and let me explain this. The only thing that I'm anticipating the board will do tonight. This involves a transfer of the old armory property that's behind, over this way. Had been leased a while back by the Crossville Housing Authority. Mr. Lowe, I understand has talked with some county officials and I think the board probably owes him some thanks for getting this deal negotiated. The county is willing to give that property to the Board of Education. I have prepared a deed for that property that the County Mayor will sign, eventually. The issue as I understand there have been a few emails that have crossed my desk over the last couple of days, apparently the Department of Housing and Urban Development has a lien against the property for some services that they have provided to the Housing Authority in the past. My understanding is they have to apply to have that released. I don't anticipate any problems with that, but the Mayor can't sign the deed until that's cleared up and they have suggested that we not make any major modifications to the property until they have that cleared up, but what the board can do tonight is accept the transfer of the property from the County. There's a statute that specifically deals with the transfer of property between governmental entities and one of the steps is that the board has to accept the gift, so to speak. So I think the board can accept the transfer of the property from the County to the Board of Education and I think that's what this board can do. Boston advised, I'll make a motion that we accept. Hamby advised, second.  Boston continued, any discussion on this? Davis asked, what's the dollar value of the lien? Patton replied, we don't have that information and I don't know that it has a dollar amount, Mr. Davis. That has not been disclosed. It is my understanding is that the property is listed as an asset of the Crossville Housing Authority. Just for the value of services it has provided to the Housing Authority in the past. So I think they just have to apply to have that and lien may not even be the right term, because I know normally when you speak about a lien we're talking about a specific dollar amount, but I don't think that's the case with this. I think they just have an interest in it on the basis of the fact that they have provided funds to the Housing Authority in the past. Davis asked, you're confident that liability will not be transferred to us during us obtaining this piece of property? Patton replied, yes I am. Davis continued, okay so the title search would not be required? Boston replied, oh, I'm comfortable that they have already; that's how they found it, I'm sure they'll look. Patton replied, correct, exactly. I don't anticipate that'll be a necessity. Davis advised, you know the saying if it's too good to be true it probably is, but nonetheless as long as it doesn't turn into a large obligation that sounds like a good idea. Nichols advised, that was my question. I just want to make sure we're gonna in cure any debt. Boston asked,  Mitch what is the intentions of the property? Lowe replied, well the property is 2.68 acres approximately. So to be honest with you most of the Phoenix building is on the property. So the intentions on the building once we get in there. We'll see what all we can do with it. I do know that I plan on doing some storage of things down there, because our custodial supplies. Some of them up in the AG shop and some of them underneath Central. We have no storage. We've got about four or five little storage buildings that we have to repair from time to time and so that's a big plan for that. I know that Central Office has some storage needs as well. So that would be something that we would work together with, but the back side of the property in that fenced area. We are planning to put an outdoor basketball goal. Boston advised, I had heard something about basketball and I didn't think they were putting in a court. Lowe advised, yeah the basketball court was actually what really got me to move it forward. You know I look across that fence several times to talk about what all we could do with that property is as a school and then whenever I found that we were supposed to get the basketball court I really started digging. That's when I started you know trying to read this old deeds and things. Boston asked, but the intent was not to put children? Lowe replied, no. I don't think that the building would be suitable for students. Patton advised, and I'll say for the record. I looked into this property probably in the neighborhood of two years ago at the request of Mrs. Harris at the time, because there was some interest from the Central Office staff in acquiring that building, because it has a loading dock and it would solve some issues there. So this has been at least on my radar for quite some time. So I'm glad it's kind of coming to fruition. At the time that I looked into it, there was thought that there was still an existing lease with the Housing Authority and so the County Officials didn't think there was really anything that they could do. But I think that would want obviously changed. Safdie advised, I have a question. I'm unfamiliar with the armory and that is a building and what this Transfer of Property would transfer that building to us as well and the questions I have to be similar to Nick's. In that, one does it need a new roof?  One, what kinds of repairs are necessary for the building? What would it cost the school board to make those repairs if repairs are needed? None of those questions answers to those questions are being presented tonight. I don't want to stop this. Can you tell us about the building? Lowe replied, I've been in the building one time for just a very brief period of time and looked around. You know it's an old building. The roof looks good from the outside. I'm not a roofer by the way. But it does look pretty good. A good coat of paint on the outside is desperately needed, but it seems very structurally sound. The main thing is you know you can't let that building get away, because it's the same property as our school. Our school, an amount of Phoenix School building about two-thirds of the building is on this property. It's not just a little fenced in area. It actually goes from Fourth Street to Taylor Street and takes in about half of the Phoenix gym and so there's several buildings on the property that belong to Cumberland County Schools I guess, but they are on Cumberland County property.  Boston advised, well also if it's not going to house children and it's going to be primarily for storage, it does not have to be HGTV. Just be presentable. Lowe replied, correct. Boston continued, would be my take on it. Lowe advised, I'm big on curb appeal. I would want painting.  I can't hardly stand to drive by it. We will get it fixed. Boston asked, any further discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken.

Boston advised, let the record show that Mr. Safdie voted no. Safdie advised, I needed to qualify that. That you don't have enough information at this point of the condition of the building.  Boston replied, motion carries and Mr. Safdie if you would get with myself or Mr. Stepp, Mr Lowe. We'll get you the information you need. Safdie advised, I will talk to them. Boston advised, let me clarify one thing, Mr. Patton before we move on. That lien will be released before Mayor Foster signs the deed? Patton replied, correct. Boston continued, and the county is responsible for working on that release? Patton replied, correct. Boston asked, you will let us know when that deed is? I mean just a quick email would be great. Patton replied, okay. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, okay next on the agenda is the MOU between Crossville Police Department and Cumberland County Board of Education. This is for our SROs. I think everyone has had the opportunity to read those MOUs. This particular MOU is what the state is requiring. We cannot alter amend it. Take what you get. Patton advised, my understanding is that for the Departments to receive the grants that they're eligible for. This is the contract that has to be agreed upon. It's a substantial benefit to the Departments and obviously for the school system. Stout asked, and we can add on top of it if we find we need to add additional for our district? Patton replied, that's correct. I have an addendum the Department of Safety doesn't want them, but I mean they don't need to receive it. They don't mind if we have addendums or have additional agreements, but they just need to receive this one. Boston asked, and you reviewed it and it would be your recommendation? I I didn't say anything. Patton replied, there are some changes in the language in these contracts versus the MOUs that you have had with these departments in the past. What I might suggest, because the loss associated with trying to; well you you're just not going to be able to negotiate these specific contracts, but I think what might be proven is to have a meeting with the stakeholders in this MOU and the Board of Education sometime in the near future. Talk about the differences between the contract, the Department of Safety is prepared and the the MOUs that you've had with these departments in the past and you know see if there's a possibility of agreeing to some amendments. Boston replied, okay I've made a note that, but this is time-sensitive. That's why they were added late. I think the MOUs I think July 1st is our deadline. So we'd like to get these approved if we can. I'll entertain a motion to approve the City MOU. King advised, move to approve. May we add 19 on there as well? Boston replied, yes. King continued, to do the County at the same time? Boston replied, right number 19 on the agenda is the MOU between Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and BOE for SROs and it is exactly the same memorandum of understanding and the wording is the same and I think having a meeting with the powers that be between the difference in MOU's and if there are any amendments necessary, then we can do an amended contract, MOU. I would like to note that the county MOU has already been executed and signed by Mr. Stepp. I feel that he was going out of the country and wanted to make sure, because he knew it was time-sensitive. The board just has to approve it. So you're including in your motion both 18 and 19 MOUs. King replied, yes ma'am. Boston continued. both MOUs. I'll entertain a second. Hale advised, second. Boston replied, okay so we have a first and second to approve the Crossville Police Department in Cumberland County and Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and BOE of MOU for SROs. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Boston advised, I would like to make a motion, Mr. Stepp will be out of the country until June 30th and I know these are time-sensitive. I would like to make a motion that we allow Mrs. Kim Bray to execute as Mr. Stepp's designee that MOU and get it to the City as soon as possible. Hamby advised, I'll second that. Boston replied, we have a second. Any discussion? No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   - See #18. *MOU Between Crossville Police Dept and Cumberland Co BOE for additional information and the motion that was passed. 

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

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #4) Stepp replied, okay thank you. The first is a request to accept this Health Grant. It'll be for five years, $115, 000 per year directly towards Student Health and Wellness. Boston advised, I'll accept  a motion or entertain a motion to accept the CDC Health Grant. Hale advised, I'll make a motion to accept the CDC Health Grant. Hamby advised, second.  Boston advised, so we have a first and second to accept the CDC Health Grant. Any discussion? Boston asked, Mr Stepp, did you say that was $110,000? Stepp replied, five years, $115 000 per year for five years. Polson advised, I think it was $113,000. Boston asked, it was $113,000. Polson advised, before I got the confirmation about how much they had told me it was $115,000, but then when they confirmed it on email it was $113,000 a year for five years. Stepp replied, that's on page two. Sorry I missed that, but that's on page two of the attachment. Boston asked, any discussion? No one responded. A Roll Call Vote was taken. 
 

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #5) Stepp advised, the next item is from Upland Design. It's just a study, a quote for doing a Maintenance Study Proposal for us to create a long-term plan on prioritizing our Maintenance Schedule. King advised, move to approve that study evaluation. Hamby advised, second. Boston advised, so we have a first and second to approve this study. Of which if you've reviewed funds in the amount of $82,000. Discussion? Hamby asked, where did this money come from? Boston replied, this money has not come from anywhere yet. Hamby asked, do we have the money to do this? Boston replied, I mean I think we would have the money. Hale asked, why do we need this? Boston replied, well we really do need to update our Maintenance Plan, but the Maintenance Plan that we came up with seven years ago we did ourselves. It is not your major Maintenance Plan that we created. We take care of the tile, the painting, the outdoor lights, the bathroom partitions. I think, which was added a couple years ago. This does paving, this does ceiling, this does all of the general that you would think. The flooring, the tiling, the general maintenance that you know that  does. Stepp replied, yes ma'am this is a engineering perspective of a maintenance functions and operations. Not just cosmetic. So that's why I would suggest that we do this. It's a take and approach, where they can see the longevity of all of our maintenance equipment and not just look at the cosmetic side of tile and stuff like that. So that's why I would recommend this. Nichols replied, and then in the long run this may save us a lot of money. Boston replied, and we may have different perceptions of what a Maintenance Program is or a Maintenance Plan is. Nichols replied, but he's a professional looking at it. Boston replied, well maybe maybe not. I'm not sure exactly what, I mean they're looking at the electrical, the plumbing, the site. They're looking at structural. I don't know how we can do a Maintenance Plan for structural, I think $82,000 is a great deal of money at this point. Maybe if we waited until we saw where we landed might be a better opportunity. It might be better timing. Stout advised, I had a couple of questions. Mr. Stepp have other districts done this sort of thing and if so, do we have a dollar amount of what they paid for it? Stepp replied, yes so these can be very extensive, up to three and four hundred thousand dollars. There was a grant through the state of Tennessee last year that a lot of counties applied for and they're actually doing just the whole infrastructure strategic planning as well as operations. So it can get very, very expensive. This is just using Uplands and their engineers to just do our maintenance side. This isn't one as extensive as growth and infrastructure needs in the future. Stout replied, okay. So in essence, we're doing a little bit like a blended version. When we are doing this we're using some of our in-house experts to help us formulate what we need to be doing moving forward along with Upland. Stepp replied, correct. It's just the maintenance side and infrastructure. It's not growth and the other options that are available. Davis asked, in the event that we do not fund this. What would be our plan in order to take care of these activities? Boston replied, I think what we would do is, I don't know what this board would vote to do. What I'd like to do is task Mrs. Bray to kind of give us a rundown of what needs to be looked at and and try that first. I know we've spent a lot of money on outside contracting, with you know with, Lean Frog and then we spent some money on the Strategic Plan. It may or may not save us a lot of money in the long run. I haven't had experience with this. All I know is we've had our Maintenance Plan, which normally costs us about a million, a million five every year just to maintain that without any renovation. From where we were when I first came on this board to where we are now. We're doing extensive maintenance on our buildings each year. I don't know how much more we could afford to do each year. Davis replied, and that's the point right in this, looking at it tells us that the drawing documentation design and repairs, replacements, out of my costs, estimates are not included in the scope. So I guess the question would be, does it also come with a Preventative Maintenance Plan? That would say if we were to do these things, we will potentially save or avoid x amount of dollars. Boston replied, I don't know, Kim. Bray replied, I can't answer that. Boston replied, I can't either. Stout advised, all they outline is that it will include a recommended Maintenance Plan with a rough preliminary cost estimate. Davis advised, we'd have an outside opinion. It's obviously valid I mean I am not an architect, they are and and they are in the field of mechanical and plumbing, electrical, but also we have hired a COO to kind of head that department up. Is this a recommendation of you Mrs. Bray or do you feel like this is the direction you'd like to go or maybe I should ask Mr. Stepp if he would. Boston replied, he recommends it. Farley advised, so we've currently lost connection with him. I'm trying to get it back. Davis replied, I just didn't want to pass straight to Mrs. Bray without asking Mr. Stepp. Boston advised, also that was one of the the purposes for creating that position and you know anybody that gets upon a roof certainly is qualified. She would choose to give us some proposals. Stout asked, what kind of help would you be looking from Upland? In your scope? This detailed or less or more? Bray replied, day-to-day I'm comfortable with, but when I look at things like aging electrical, like major projects that they're going to have to assist us with, because it's going to be well beyond the $25,000. That's the sort of things that I need their inputs from as far as how does the electrical, who needs the upgrade next. I'm not talking about like a day-to-day thing or bathroom petitions or paint. That's obvious, anybody can see that. A roof, you basically know how long it's going to last. We have warranties and things like that, but like the electric, we need to do the electrical at Martin or do we need to do this next. I'm talking projects that are probably in excess of five hundred thousand dollars and I'm going to have an architect to be involved in it. Because they're going to spec it and they're going to put the bids out. Stout asked, so we would have to do it in an A La Carte manner. If we didn't do it this way, we would do it project by project and there would be a fee associated with that? Davis asked, I guess that would be my question. Is how much money have we spent current state, of seeking professional opinion, to tell us when it's time to do electrical? When it's time to do what maintenance? What are we spending now? Bray replied, it's been six percent every time that they quote something for us. That's their standard fee. Like on the electrical at North. The size of that project that's six percent. The roof that we've had to replace at Stone Memorial, that's six percent. That they take care of doing all the specs. They put the bid out. Well they don't, we put the bid out technically. The county does that. They take care of all of that and they're my project manager. Even though I walk it with them and they're going to see things that I'm not going to be aware of because they're an architect. I'm an accountant by trade, but I mean I've had experience with this, but that's when I look to them for. That's how they earn their money. Safdie asked, this proposal does not include, I mean it says a Life Safety and Code Compliance, but it does it include the alarm systems and security systems in each of the schools. Bray replied, we normally take care of that. The fire marshal is very good at pointing out the deficiencies there. That's part of their inspection process. Now I have consulted with them before on some major projects, but pretty much we take care of that, but like if we have to replace an entire system like the Cumberland County High School. That's going to be somewhere in excess of three hundred thousand dollars. They're going to have to do the specifications for that. That's far beyond my scope. Hamby asked, now is this something that we're going to have to do yearly? Bray replied, no, no. This would be something that they would give us recommendations probably for the next five to seven years. Where they see these major deficiencies. Boston asked, but we would not only have to pay $82,000, but we would also pay the additional six percent?  Bray replied, right. Every time that they actually did a drawing per say. Boston replied, well it's six percent on the project itself. If we enter the contract. Bray replied, that is correct. Boston asked, any further discussions?  Hale advised, I don't see the big need for this, because it's an awful lot of money at this particular moment in time we've been spending and we have gotten along with our Maintenance Plan that we've had thus far. Boston advised, we have to do a roll call. A Roll Call Vote was taken. Boston advised, motion carries five to four. 

Discussion:   - Stepp advised, okay next we have Strategic Planning update. We've been working on this for several months now. We've included the public, parents, teachers. Obviously, supervisors are running the subcommittees. We've had the Chamber of Commerce join in with this, law enforcement and County Commissioners. We made this a complete community effort. We've had several subcommittee meetings and steering committee meetings up to this point. We're now in the point now, where we've identified our strengths and weaknesses and areas of opportunity and now we're in the process of creating action steps. So at this point, hopefully, in July, we'll get several action steps together. In August the board will be able to look at that strategic plan and hopefully, by September we'll have that locked in for the next five years. Once we get all the boards input. So that's kind of where we're at. After about five-six months of meetings. So it's been a very extensive process and everything has been according to the board's intents. I'm very excited on seeing the results of that. Any questions? No one asked questions. 

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #6) Stepp continued, next we have the Tennessee Together Study Survey Results.  Bob Valerio came in last semester in October. He presented to the board what this was going to look like and we went through that process with the schools and done the survey with 8th, 10th and 12th graders I believe. Tonight we have a representative from the CPC here. Nichols advised, you have two of them out here. Stepp advised, I'm going to turn it over to them and I apologize I have to go. I have some school visits that have been set up for me to visit with principals and administrators here. So I'm gonna have to turn it over to Dr Farley for the rest of the meeting.

Representatives from CPC summarized the results of the survey to the board. See attached Exhibit #..  

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #7) Farley advised, so next you all have the annual SRO Report and it's broken down by totals and this is obviously county-wide. 

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #8) Farley continued, next is the Health Services Report that Mrs. Polson has compiled.

Discussion:    (See Exhibit #9) Farley continued, next is the Planning Calendar. It looks like you have everything completed for the month of June except the Coordinated School Health Report, which we just have. So we can complete that, but there's still some stuff from May and April that's pending. Stout asked, Dr Farley, when do we start putting the Planning Calendar together for next year? When does that work start? Has that already begun?  Farley replied, I would assume typically it's ready to go by July, since that's when the first month starts. Stout replied, okay so for next month's meeting we'll see the new Planning Calendar. Farley replied, so it should be all blank except the items that we've been able to complete by the time you meet at the end of July. Stout asked, so if there's anything that we want to have considered for the Planning Calendar. That we need to go ahead and get with with Mr. Stepp on and we'll have some discussion. I would assume in the next board meeting over the calendar. Farley replied, yes. 

Discussion:  Farley advised, next you have Personnel Reports and with school not going on, we do not have the monthly calendars or the newsletters obviously. 
That is all of Mr Stepp's report.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is School Board Communities. Mrs. Hamby the Policy Committee.

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #11) Hamby advised, like Mrs. Stout said earlier we had a very extensive, lengthy policy meeting this month and we chose because there was so much, we chose to put the most essential. There were five and then one that was left off last month's monthly meeting that we added on here also. These are having a lot of law changes that's going into effect. That's going to affect many policies, but these were the most important at this point that needed to be stuck onto the June's meeting. The rest of them will go on July. So these came out of the Policy Committee. Stout advised, they were time sensitive, because they'd already been signed into law or they addressed the summer school. We need to have updated forms. Hamby continued, so this came out of committee. We don't need a second. Boston asked, any discussion? No one responded. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, next on the agenda is the Athletic Committee. Mr. Davis if you would be so kind, the Athletic Committee Report. Davis replied, the Athletic Committee met yesterday to summarize a handful of topics starting with how our Strategic Plan. The Steering Committee has been tasked with working in the athletic role of how we're going to create framework to move forward. If we had a wish list of things of how we can take athletics from where they are in the current state into the future state. There's a number of things in there that surround the framework of the TMSAA. For those of you that are not aware of what that is, that's the Tennessee Middle School Association and all of the different pieces of that puzzle that will be required to be adjusted to allow us to move forward with that. So a lot of good things were said. We had 30 minutes of public comments. We had 30 minutes of professional comment from those that are in the admin group. Also coaches, some of them were parents as well. We had a lot of really good dialogue that came from that conversation as a result of that meeting. Yesterday a lot of you were here. So we were very thankful to have that type of community outreach. To summarize, I guess to back up. You know that this topic has been in the public's eye since I guess most recently. I should say immediately follow Mr. Stepp accepting the position as Director of Schools. We had a handful of conversations that it was going to be his decision ultimately as to whether or not we are going to make as a school district to move toward the Middle School Association. A handful of conversations have landed us back in the place where we feel like it is the board's opportunity to recommend to the full board. It's the Athletic Committee's responsibility to recommend to the full board and we voted yesterday that we would like to move forward with that and also we would like to seek the funding required to make up the differences in what our new supplements would be. The obligations for the supplements and also the membership fees that are required annually. So those are the most recent events and I think we are looking very closely at having a special call meeting to recommend those things to the full board and have you all vote on that topic. Boston advised, there was no way to, I guess, guess or know what the Athletic Committee would project and the meeting was yesterday and of course our board meetings tonight. So to give the public a little bit more notice it's going to be addressed in special called. Davis advised, we're welcome to discuss that if you'd like. I'm of the opinion that we would like to move forward with that as soon as possible. Obviously because we're all here. We took it out of committee. We got to this point. Safdie advised, well we recommended it to the full board. I'm just questioning whether or not, because it was part of the committee even though it wasn't on the agenda to approve it. Whether or not it still could be voted on, because we recommended it to the full board. Earl Patton replied, you still have to give adequate public notice to the public. Safdie replied, okay thank you. Patton continued, that's the issue that I see and you might be able to do it. The most conservative approach would be to hold a subsequent meeting. Give what is without a doubt adequate public notice and proceed. Safdie replied, I understand. Nichols asked, isn't there a July deadline for it though? Did I remember that in one of the meetings that we had, that they needed to hear by July or am I wrong? Boston relied, next week begins the dead period and that is the best time got it to adopt it. If that's what this board is going to do. So that therefore everybody's during the dead period and you can start scheduling after this. Nichols asked, does dead period mean they're not playing any athletics? is that what that means? Davis replied, they're not allowed to participate, be on school grounds in any athletic capacity or be coached or anything along those lines. So essentially, for all sports. They're taking their mandatory break. Stout advised, back into the drop drop dead date. We have to have this information saying that yes we're going to do this or no we're not going to do it. We would need to meet by to vote? Davis replied, early, ASAP. Dean Patton advised, at the end of the first week in July and actually we're behind the curve already, because our Fall sports. We've had to just move ahead to plan for both contingencies. We couldn't wait any longer. You know we were really to be honest hoping since it was on the agenda last month that it would come up under old business and could be voted on tonight. Since you know if the public notice was given in the May meeting and and we were hoping that that would cover us, but if not I understand. We're a bit behind the curve at the moment. Boston advised, well we promised to get you up straight. I promise you that. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, the Budget Committee. We finalized our budget. Presented it to the County Commission. They have tentatively approved it through the Finance Committee. We're waiting for the full commission to approve and we've not met since we approved our budget.

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Building and Grounds Committee, Mr Safdie. Safdie advised, no new news for the Building and Grounds. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, Safety Committee, Mrs. Hamby is not present, but we have not had a Safety Committee. 

Discussion:   - Boston advised, the Contract Committee that has not met. We have had no items on that.

Discussion:  Boston advised, the Chief Financial Officer's Report. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #12) Bray advised, well the year is just about complete. We're down to the finish line. In May, we had spent or we had collected almost 90% of our Revenue. We will have one more BEP payment, but everything is coming very much in line. We've done quite well. The only thing that I'm a little dismayed about and we're still within budget is the sales tax for the month of April was about $40,000 less than what had been originally projected, but after speaking with the County Finance Director, he's hoping that it will reconcile itself by the June, July accrual. So we may not come in $200,000 ahead, but we'll at least come in at budget . So that'll be good. As far as our expenditures, we've made all of our final numbers that will be reflected in June. There are some encumbrances that you will see for some very large maintenance projects like the roof at Stone Memorial that will be reflected in the June statements, but other than that everything has been done, all of our final accruals are still being worked on. Everything appears to be very much in line. Any questions? No one responded. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #13) See 22.A. for discussion. 

Discussion:   (See Exhibit #14) Bray continued, moving on to the budget amendments. Both of these are in regards to our ISM Grant. The first one is the cleanup from the 22-23. Just moving the funding from The Vocational Instructional Equipment into other charges and this is basically a cleanup in preparation for the next fiscal year and then the next one, which is a rather lengthy amendment. Basically is taking the funding that we or know that we're going to receive and this is the actual budget on how it will be spent in 23-24. Dr. Eldridge is the architect of this. If you have any questions about the particulars, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to answer. This is on a school by school basis. These are the funds. If you remember each Elementary got $500,000 with the exception of Pineview. They got $200,000 and each of our big high schools got a $1,000,000. Boston asked, when did we get this money? Bray replied, it was approved in March. It's on a reimbursement type basis, but we have to budget and she couldn't do that because we hadn't actually started employing these people yet. So this is why it's for 23-24 and  this just breaks it down. It's on a school by school basis. That's why those accounts look a little different than what you see in the past, because it's going to be accounted for on a school by school basis. That's why it says Brown, CCHS, Homestead, a little different. Boston replied, I'll entertain the motion to approve and second. King replied, I'll make the motion. Hale replied, second. Boston asked, any discussion? No one replied. A Roll Call Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   - (See Exhibit #15 ) Boston advised, next is the Consent Agenda. I'll entertain a motion to approve. King replied, move to approve the Consent Agenda. Hale replied, second. Boston replied, okay so I have a first and second on the Consent Agenda. Any discussion on any of the items on the Consent Agenda?No one responded. A Voice Vote was taken. 

Discussion:   - Boston asked, any old business? No one responded. 

Discussion:   - Boston asked if there were any questions from the media. No questions were asked.

Discussion:   - Boston continued, if not I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Hamby replied, motion to adjourn. KIng replied, second. The meeting was adjourned at 7:12pm.