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1. Call to Order
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
Chairman Ryan Strain called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm.
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2. Moment of Silence
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
Chairman Ryan Strain called for a moment of silence.
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3. Pledge of Allegiance
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
Board member Brian Curry led the Pledge of Allegiance.
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4. Approval of Agenda
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the agenda as amended, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Rationale:
Proposed Amendments for the Agenda 3.30.23 Board Business Meeting: Based on the requests/recommendations by the Board members and the Administration, the following amendments have been suggested for the Agenda for 3.30.23 Board Business Meeting,
Proposed 4 Amendments
Hence, all the above will be approved in Agenda Item # 4. Approval of the Agenda as amended.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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5. Recognition and Awards
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Rationale:
Staff Recognitions:
The following Staff were recognized for their heroic efforts overnight, saving their Musical "Beauty and the Beast" without any disruption during a major crisis of a Watermain burst at Farmington Elementary School. The Students of Farmington Elementary School presented an Award Script to recognize them. Super Heroes who saved Farmington Elementary School are,
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6. REPORTS
Speaker(s):
Chairman
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6.A. TN Legislative Update
Speaker(s):
Brian Curry
Rationale:
March 2023 Legislative Report
As we end March, the General Assembly has been extremely busy on the respective floors of each chamber with bills and most of the committees have held their final calendars. While not as busy as past sessions, this General Assembly has no shortage of bills impacting public education in Tennessee. Tonight, I’m going to recap some bills previously discussed and highlight a few others that will have impact on GMSD. HB670/SB712 by Rep Cepicky of Maury County and Sen Hensley of Lewis County. I have previously referred to this bill as the kindergarten retention bill. This bill has been rolled to January 2024. Our families need to be aware that this legislation is out there. The Board will need to include this for consideration on the 2024 Legislative Agenda. HB595/SB635 by Rep Richey of Blount County and Sen Lowe of McMinn County has been taken off notice. This bill would have permitted the recall of School Board members across the state. HB448/SB551 by Rep Davis of Knox County and Sen Lowe of McMinn County has passed the House and has passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee. This bill passed 82-6 in the House and has bipartisan support in both chambers. This bill will require a period of public comment on items germane to the agenda for all boards and commissions across the state, including School Boards. This is limited to meetings with action items on the agenda and not for work sessions or disciplinary hearings. In newer items: SB190/HB340 by Sen Lundberg of Sullivan County and Rep Cepicky of Maury County. This bill adds threats of mass violence to the list of zero-tolerance offenses for student discipline in Tennessee. HB1411/SB1117 by Rep Fritts of Roane County and Sen Bowling of Coffee County. This bill requires parents to opt-in, rather than opting out, for any surveys, or before receiving instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation. This bill also requires parents to opt-in prior to receiving services through the Coordinated School Health Program. Additionally, students will not be allowed to become a member of a club or organization or participate in any activity of a club or organization unless the student’s parent or legal guardian has provided consent in a written and dated consent. This bill is headed to the Senate floor and will be heard next week in the House Education Administration committee. HB959/SB973 by Rep Slater of Sumner County and Sen Powers of Montgomery County. This bill will impact the abilities of LEA’s to define open enrollment policies and the conditions for which a transfer may be denied. This bill also sets up an appeal process. This passed the Senate Education Committee and will be heard by the House Education Administration Committee next week. This bill is of particular concern. HB1377/SB1141 by Rep Ragan of Anderson County and Sen Hensley of Lewis County. This bill would have added members of the general public to the list of parties who could file a complaint alleging violation of Tennessee’s Prohibited Concepts Law. This bill failed in the Senate Education Committee. There are a few bills that will address the teacher shortage on committee agendas. A couple of bills of note are the "Tennessee Special Educator Scholarship Act" and another establishing a fund to reimburse teachers for the PRAXIS exam with a passing score. It is encouraging to see the General Assembly recognize the teacher shortage and for them addressing it in various bills. Finally, the last major bill that will impact education in Tennessee is the Governor’s School Safety Initiative. It is being carried in the General Assembly by both Majority Leaders as HB322/SB274. It is headed to the House floor and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Education Committee next week. This bill was delayed one week after the tragic school shooting in Nashville. While GMSD has excellent school safety plans and coordination with the Germantown Police Department, we will need to carefully review to ensure compliance with any requirement above our current procedures, as there are school funding implications for non-compliance.
Attachments:
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6.B. Chairman's Report
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
Chairman Ryan Strain presented as follows,
Germantown Board of Education Chairman’s Report (March 30, 2023) Board Members’ District-related activities since our last business meeting included the following: All Board Members:
Report: March Madness has always been one of my favorite sporting events. From the fun of filling out brackets, to the upsets during the first weekend, to the Cinderella team that you cheer for after your own team has lost - it’s just hard to beat. So this weekend, as I was thinking over what to report on tonight, I was looking forward to comparing the District to March Madness in some way. I don’t know, talking about Coach Manuel - that’s what I called him in high school, anyways - leading "Team GMSD" to victory. Maybe a humorous reference to Mr. Cathey knocking down a game-winning three after receiving a no-look pass from Mrs. Subramani. Or maybe an alley-oop that Mr. Jones finishes with a monstrous, backboard-breaking dunk. Who knows. I think it would have been fun, and surely there would have been a Dad joke or two for everyone to enjoy or cringe from hearing. But then, on Monday, we received word about The Covenant School in Nashville, and my planned report suddenly seemed so trivial. The tragedy at Covenant is unfortunately all too familiar, yet the searing loss experienced by families living only a few hundred miles away and our anxiety for our own children - indeed, for every student and GMSD employee - is fresh and profound. No child should fear for his or her safety at school. No parent should be concerned about whether their child will come home at the end of the school day. No teacher or other school employee should feel as though they are putting their life on the line in coming to work. Yet this is the world in which many of us live. To our GMSD families, we share your concerns and your anger in the face of senseless violence. I hope that you can find some comfort in knowing the extensive resources and preparation the District devotes to preparing for the unthinkable, and I encourage you to review the School Safety portion of the District’s website, which you can reach by scrolling to the bottom of the main page of the website, clicking on "Student Resources," and then clicking on "School Safety." To our students and GMSD employees, please know your safety is of utmost importance to us. To our School Resource Officers, the Germantown Police Department, and the City of Germantown, know how thankful we are to have such a strong partnership with you in matters of school safety. And to the Dieckhaus, Hill, Kinney, Koonce, Peak, and Scruggs families, and to the entire Covenant School community, we mourn with you. To finish, I come back to March Madness. It’s not a perfect analogy by any means. But it presents us with a visual of options available to us. We can sit back in the stands, cheer on competing teams, and vilify the opponent. Or we can check into the game, see each other as teammates working toward a common goal, and do our best to effect real change. I hope we choose the latter. |
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6.C. Financial Report
Speaker(s):
Kevin Jones
Attachments:
()
Discussion:
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Jones reported the Total Assets, Liabilities, and Fund Balances on the Balance Sheet for period ending 2.28.23
SCHOOL OPERATING FUND Sales tax revenues are trending at $10 million v. $9.2 million dollars budgeted. CAFETERIA FUND Y-T-D net income for the cafeteria fund is $250K, with SFE reporting a net income of $74K for the month. OPEB TRUST FUND Year-to-date net realized gains and unrealized gains on investments totaled $76K. |
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6.D. Superintendent's Report
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Discussion:
Superintendent Jason Manuel presented the 3.30.23 Superintendent’s Report with the following Highlights in his PowerPoint presentation,
How GMSD is INCREASING AWARENESS of the excellent education and innovative programs offered at GMSD
The above presentation can be found at our GMSD website link https://www.gmsdk12.org/apps/pages/superintendent |
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7. Citizens to be heard
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
The following Citizen voiced their opinion with a request for a change in eligibility criteria for Graduation Speakers,
Adam Saleh, Collierville, TN 38017 |
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8. CONSENT AGENDA
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve all the items in the Consent Agenda, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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8.A. Approval of the Minutes
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Rationale:
Minutes from 2.28.23 Board Business Meeting.
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8.B. Revision of Policies - First Reading
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Rationale:
Rationale for Revision of GMSD Policies 3.30.23 Board Business Meeting
Revisions are recommended for the following. First Reading - 3.30.23 Second Reading - 4.25.23 Revision Policy 4.211 Work Based Learning Program - Changes recommended due to state board of education rule and policy changes. Revision Policy 4.605 Graduation Requirements - Changes recommended due to state board of education rule changes. The Board recommended the following edits after the discussion during the 3.21.23 Board Work Session: Page 1 / Line 29 Add " students must" after " school year," Add " Computer Science in" after "credit in" Page 2 / Line 6 Replace "one" with "another" Revision Policy 6.305 Student Suicide Prevention - The changes recommended to this policy are needed to be consistent with state law. Additional changes were made to citations and footnotes removed, to be consistent with other policy changes that have been made. |
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8.C. Miscellaneous FY 22-23 Budget Amendments # 21 & 22
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Attachments:
()
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9. BOARD ACTION ITEMS
Speaker(s):
Chairman
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9.A. Math Textbook Adoption 2022-2023
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to adopt the Math Textbook Adoption 2022-2023, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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9.B. Miscellaneous FY 22-23 Budget Amendment # 23
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the Miscellaneous FY 22-23 Budget Amendment # 23, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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9.C. Houston High School Football Field Lighting Project
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the proposal from Cooper Lighting for LED stadium lighting upgrades at the Houston High School Football Field in the amount of $224,095 and authorize the executive committee to execute the contract., passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Rationale:
Houston High School Football Field Stadium Lighting Upgrade
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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9.D. Houston High School Baseball Field Lighting Project
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the proposal from Cooper Lighting for LED stadium lighting upgrades at the Houston High School Baseball Field in the amount of $193,670 and authorize the executive committee to execute the contract, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Rationale:
Houston High School Baseball Field Stadium Lighting Upgrade
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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9.E. Houston Middle / High School Soccer Field Lighting Project
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the proposal from Cooper Lighting for LED stadium lighting upgrades at the Houston Middle School Soccer Field in the amount of $109,645 and authorize the executive committee to execute the contract, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Rationale:
Houston Middle School Soccer Field Stadium Lighting Upgrade
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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9.F. Durham Contract
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to award RFP#FY23003 alternate response number 2 to Durham School Services and approve the executive committee to execute the contract, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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9.G. Approval of Board Chair & Legal Counsel to Start Superintendent Contract Negotiation
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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9.H. Revision of Policy 6.305 Student Suicide Prevention - First Reading
Speaker(s):
Jason Manuel
Recommended Motion(s):
Motion passed: I move to approve the Revision of Policy 6.305 Student Suicide Prevention after first reading, passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
Rationale:
Revision Policy 6.305 Student Suicide Prevention - The changes recommended to this policy are needed to be consistent with state law. Additional changes were made to citations and footnotes removed, to be consistent with other policy changes that have been made.
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Attachments:
()
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10. Announcements
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
Chairman Ryan Strain made the following announcements,
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11. Adjournment
Speaker(s):
Chairman
Discussion:
The meeting was adjourned with consensus at 7:49 pm.
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