September 19, 2016 at 6:30 PM - GMSD Board Meeting

Chairman Linda Fisher called the meeting to order at 6:40 pm.

Ms. Betsy Landers was sworn in by Judge Robert Brannon, as a Germantown Board of Education member, Position 2. She was selected by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen from a group of 20 applicants, narrowed to 6 finalists and appointed as School Board member Position 2.

Chairman Linda Fisher called for a moment of silence.

Anna Brignole, Teacher at Farmington Elementary,  will be one of two finalists in grades K-6 to represent Tennessee at the national level.

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are the nation's highest honors for teachers of mathematics and science (including computer science). 

The award recognizes those teachers who develop and implement a high-quality instructional program that is informed by content knowledge and enhances student learning. Since the program's inception, more than 4,400 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession.

Awardees serve as models for their colleagues, inspiration to their communities, and leaders in the improvement of mathematics and science (including computer science) education. The National Science Foundation administers PAEMST on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Olivia Brommer, Senior at Houston High School

She is the Delta Region Award Winner and will go on to represent the region at the annual conference.

Awards will be given in each of the nine districts at the September Fall District Meetings. The nine district winners will be asked to write a 1000 word essay on a selected TSBA topic to be considered for the statewide overall winner. To determine a statewide winner, the nine (9) district winners will be interviewed by a committee appointed by the TSBA President. The statewide winner will be recognized at the TSBA Awards Luncheon of the Annual Convention in November and awarded a $2,000 scholarshipEducation Networks of America will give each district winner $100 and the statewide overall winner $1000.

Board member and TLN Representative Natalie Williams updated as follows,

-In the process of setting up a meeting to talk with Commissioner Billingsley to discuss potential items on legislative agenda.

- To set up meeting with Senator  Kelsey and representative from the TN Department of Education to discuss changes to CDF and BEP.

-Our resolution was approved by TSBA and will be presented to delegate assembly during Annual convention in November

-Planning to attend the Conquering the Hill workshop in October and Legislative workshop in November and will bring updates back to the board.

The Chairman reported as follows,

"Welcome to our New Board Member Ms. Betsy Landers.

I want to thank the Mayor and alderman for their time and commitment to filling the vacant school board seat. Twenty people applied and the alderman narrowed it done to six people to interview. We had very qualified candidates, so thank you to everyone who applied.

 I want to welcome Ms. Betsy Landers. Her tenure as the President of the National PTA was preceded by several years of service to children in Germantown, Shelby County and the state of TN. Thank you Ms. Landers, for making the commitment to fulfill the vacant seat and serve our school district.

This weekend was the kick-off for the Battle of the Books, a fun, friendly reading competition to be held by the Germantown Library. Jennifer Mock, a librarian at Farmington Elementary, initially undertook this reading program, and has passed it onto the Germantown library. I know she is still working in an advisory capacity to the library. Thank you Ms. Mock for all that you do and to Daniel Page, Director of the Germantown library. The Germantown library will be expanding the program to a county and a statewide competition. This is just another successful partnership between the schools and the city. For more information on how you can participate as a school or as an individual go the library’s website."

Superintendent Jason Manuel said that he was excited to highlight the various support programs for GMSD Teachers both current and new, including the Blue Chips Program and the Professional Development Choices.

Ms. Elissa Stratton, Director of Human Resources, gave a presentation on the GMSD’s Blue Chip New Teacher Induction Program, which is geared towards any teacher new to GMSD. The goal of the Blue Chip New Teacher Induction Program is to provide support to teachers on their tenure journey. For teachers just out of college and/or with a few years of teaching experience (less than five), their tenure journey will consist of five years of formal support from GMSD. For teachers who are new to GMSD, but have earned tenure from another TN public school district, GMSD will provide them with two years of support on their tenure journey.

This year’s Blue Chip Cohort for the 2016-2017 school year consists of 53 Blue Chips. 10 teachers who are new to the teaching profession and 43 teachers who have at least one year of teaching experience prior to coming to GMSD.

Our Induction program contains different layers of support for our new teachers. The District Level provides support for the broad overarching initiatives set forth from the State or initiatives that are unique to GMSD. The School Level provides support in the form of Blue Chip Mentors. Every teacher is assigned a Blue Chip Mentor. These mentors are teacher leaders in the building that are able to provide one-on-one support. They are like the “boots on the ground” for our new teachers and are available to answer any question a new teacher might have immediately in regard to how things are done at the school level.

The District provides a layer of support for our new teachers in the form of Quarterly District Wide Blue Chip meetings. The goal of these meetings is to provide a different kind of professional development than what the Blue Chip Mentors are providing at the school level. Different District Office departments will provide training during these meetings. For example, our Technology department will provide a PD on the various technology tools GMSD has available for teachers to utilize in order to promote positive parent communication. In addition, our Student Services department will provide training on bullying and resources teachers can use in order to curtail bullying in the classroom. Our Academic Advancement department will provide training on Eureka Math, Expeditionary Learning, and RTI.

To measure the effectiveness of the program, we are continuously seeking feedback from our new teachers in the form of surveys and focus groups. Based on this feedback, our we hope to grow and evolve our Blue Chip New Teacher Induction program.

Ms. ShaMira Davis, GMSD Professional Development and Evaluation Coordinator gave a presentation on the PD Support to all teachers in GMSD, the School Level Support, Teacher Leadership and Content Leads. She briefed on how Teachers help their peers to succeed as they learn to help, support and appreciate each other as a successful Team member.

The following citizen voiced their opinion on School Bus issues,

- Jason Smith, 8193 Waverly Crossing, Germantown TN 38138

The following citizen voiced their opinion on the Houston High school Band Truck  Maintenance issue,

- Kristina Garner, 2411 Forest Hill Irene Rd, Germantown TN 38139

The following Citizens voiced their opinion on the Proposal for a new GMSD school and the choice of school site selection,

- Germantown Alderman John Barzizza, 2827 Brownleaf Cv, Germantown TN 38138

- Anna Terry, 3102 Carrick Dr, Germantown TN 38138

- Lia Savino, 2880 Carnton Dr., Germantown TN 38138

- Micah Miller, 3043 Shannon Oaks Cv, Germantown TN 38138

- Sheila Hahn, 2964 Mallard Lane, Germantown TN 38138

- Claire Van Drimmelen, 8351 Stone Creek Dr., Germantown TN 38138

Chairman Linda Fisher informed that the TSBA Fall District Meeting was Tuesday September 20, 2016 and Olivia Brommer, HHS student will be recognized during the meeting.

Superintendent Manuel answered the request from Board member Ken Hoover regarding planning a combination of Digital Survey and Satellite Meetings for the School Site Selection process.