August 31, 2015 at 6:30 PM - GMSD Board Meeting

Discussion:  Chairman Lisa Parker called the meeting to order at 6:44 pm.

Discussion:  Board member Natalie Williams called for a moment of silence. She recalled that looking back at the past two years, the work has moved from being operational to being aspirational. She said that she would like to share a quote at this moment, " Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you will become what you believe."

Discussion:  Board member Mark Dely led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Discussion:  Chairman Lisa Parker requested addition of two items to the agenda, 1. Capital Project Priorities as 11.A 2. Sale of Storage trailer at Houston High School as 11.B

Discussion:  Superintendent Jason Manuel was excited to announce that the Germantown Municipal School District has been named as one of the twelve Exemplary District for 2014-2015 in the State of Tennessee. An exemplary district, as defined by the State, is a district that is able to meet three criteria: -Meet the majority of their Achievement targets -Meet the majority of their Gap Closure targets -Ensure every subgroup—e.g.: Students with Disabilities, racial minorities, and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds—moves forward in half or more of its target areas. Education Commissioner, Candice McQueen, in her letter of appreciation,had said “We believe these districts are models for our work across the state. They all face different challenges and have different best practices to share. We look forward to learning from both our Exemplary Districts and Reward Schools throughout the school year.” He also announced that Dogwood and Farmington Elementary were named State Reward Schools. Reward Schools are the top 5 percent of schools in the state for performance—as measured by overall student achievement levels—and/or the top 5 percent for year-over-year progress—as measured by school-wide value-added data. These 10 percent of schools receive recognition for their success under the accountability system. Both Farmington and Dogwood have earned the distinction for overall student achievement levels. Superintendent Manuel shared the success of Houston High School topping the State with the highest ACT score of 24.1, while the state average was 19.8. He also said that the Honors Academy had an ACT score of 33 as its highest average. He said that great things are happening in the Germantown Municipal School District and hope to continue that tradition. Chairman Lisa Parker thanked the Germantown Education Foundation for its generous donation to the Germantown Municipal School District. She said that the Germantown Charity Horse Show President Jimmy Chancellor and the Executive Director Bobby Lanier, and Vice President Virginia Walker had presented two checks, in total of $50,000 towards Germantown Education Foundation and Germantown Municipal School District. It was year marked to enhance Fine Arts in Schools and was received by her and Superintendent Jason Manuel. Germantown Education Foundation President David Baytos, Executive Director Stephanie Brockway, Board member Kent Brown were also present during this presentation at the GMSD office.

Discussion:  Board member Ken Hoover suggested to move the approval of the minutes from the 7.27.15 board meeting, to the next board meeting, as it needed an amendment, the Action/Motion approved information for item number 15. Hence, the board decided to move the approval to the next business meeting.

Discussion:  Board member, TLN representative Natalie Williams gave updates on the recent meetings with Representative Mark White at the District Office and the upcoming visit by Senator Kelsey to the District Office. She briefed on how the Board and the Superintendent are trying to work with Senator Kelsey to opt out of the Federal Nutritional guidelines in order to offset the loss incurred in the Cafeterias in the Schools. Ms. Williams also informed of the upcoming Legislative workshop in October and the various education bills.

Discussion:  Superintendent Manuel said that the second school year was off to a great start with several exciting things happening in the district. He thanked Ms. Cindy Smith, the Regional Financial Consultant from the State for working with the District's Finance department in closing out the fiscal year and preparing the financial reports for compliance. He informed that the Preliminary Data Discussion is completed for Farmington Elementary, Houston Middle and Houston High School, with Dogwood Elementary and Riverdale Elementary scheduled for the upcoming week. He have updates on the new Amplify Program and the new 1:1 Pilot program that started with the distribution of more than 300 laptops to the students. Superintendent Manuel thanked Ms. Kate Crowder, the newly hired Communications Specialist for the District, for publishing several articles in the local newspapers like the Commercial Appeal and the Germantown News about the various great things that are happening in the district. He appreciated Ms. Teresa Price, Director of Academic Advancement and her Team for conducting the successful "Community Conversation Event" at the Pickering center in Germantown, involving Special needs children, their parents, teachers and community members and businesses. He thanked the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Germantown for attending and supporting this event. Ms. Teresa Price said that she would like to thank two students in particular for their valuable presentation at the event, James Lowry, the " Poster Child" and George Waldrup for his emotional speech. She also thanked the Manager of Walgreens, at the corner of Poplar and Johnson Road for the support to the employment of these special need children.

Discussion:  The following Citizens presented their request to the Germantown Board of education regarding matching funds to enable purchase of Uniforms for the Houston High School Band. 1. Gary Lindquester, Collierville TN 38017 2. Jim Smith, 556 Grand Steeple, Collierville TN 38017

Discussion:  Superintendent Jason Manuel briefed on the process of granting Tenure to the Teachers.

Discussion:  Chairman Lisa Parker said that the this item was added to the agenda upon the request from Board Member Ken Hoover and briefed on the Timeline and various information attached to these projects. Board member Mark Dely expressed concerns on the missing costs that was not included in the plan. He said that he would not support to vote at this meeting and would like to have more information and firm numbers before taking any action. Josh Cathey, Director of Operations, said that Fleming Architects are scheduled to give a presentation on the Facilities study in the upcoming board work session. Board member Ken Hoover said that he has many unanswered question regarding the five year capital project plan based on attending the Financial Advisory Committee Meeting with the City. Superintendent Manuel said that based on the City's recommendation, his recommendation would be to replace the portables at Riverdale Elementary and move forward with the addition project as there is not enough place in the schools for the children of Germantown residents. Chairman Lisa Parker announced that this item will be discussed in the upcoming Board work session on September 9, 2015 and to be voted in the next board business meeting on September 23, 2015

Discussion:  The meeting was adjourned at 7:51 pm.