February 9, 2017 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Regular Meeting

Black Fox students were not able to present because schools were closed due to sickness.

Dr. Cash introduced the students from Amy McIlvain's Event Planning Class that gave a presentation on a class project they did. The presentation was given by Kyndall Hutson and Alex Finley, 12th graders from Bradley Central High School.  The project was a 5K/10K Run from Drugs to support the Stand Out, Stand Strong, Stand United Initiative.  They raised 1,375.79 for the initiative.  They explained their goals, divided the responsibilities to get ready for the race, and race day-they worked.  After the event, they sent thank you letters to all the sponsors and totaled up their expenses and profits.  They also discussed recommendations about how to make this event better. 

Dr. Cash told the Board that it was amazing that they were able to bring a project from school into the real world and make a profit.  Great Job!

Sheena Newman, Kristan Schalk, Stephanie Jones and Corey Limburg are receiving training for a program called Teacher Leaders from the State Department of Education.  Mrs. Newman told the Board that we already have teachers in our buildings that lead other teachers.  Mr. Limburg explained that teachers learn better from other teachers.  He went on to say that the focus for our district  has been on english and language arts over the last few years.   We have one district level ELA Coordinator, 16 Instructional Coaches and 6 Technology coaches.  Now, we feel there is a need to focus on math.   We are proposing a district level Math Instructional Coach and a Teacher Leader at each school.  The Teacher Leaders at the schools would be full time teachers that would be given a supplement.  They would take on staff development, training and work with the school level Instructional Coaches along with the district level Math Coordinator.   The group has been working with Dr. Cash on the budget for this need.

Item 7.c. was pulled from this agenda due to TSBA looking at some changes to the Ethics policy.  Chairman Dillard told the Board that it will be moved to the April meeting.

Patti Hunt told the Board that this grant was received in 2014. The grant was 4.5 million dollars over 4 1/2 years.  Advanced Manafacturing, Information Technology and Health Sciences are three areas that we have trouble attracting students into in our country.  The Department of Labor funded this grant with visa money because of the work force that we have had to import into this Country.   The goal is to create a workforce in these areas.  There were 24 grants given in the country and we are the only 1 in Tennessee.  We are currently in year 3 of this grant.  We want our students to have a diploma plus.  A diploma and an industry certification.  Some of the certifications are certified nursing assistant, mouse, AWS, Solidworks, Osha 10, First Responder, NIM.  10% of our students have earned an industry recognized credential while  across the US only 5% have. Our students have participated in mentoring, work experience, leadership program, internships, and employer provided services that are provided with this grant.

When we write a grant in Bradley Count Schools, we look at what our focus is and where we are going.  Will the grant help us to get there?  Bradley County has a dream of what we want for our students.  We are currently looking at the Education, Innovation and Research Grant.  It could come along side and behind this grant (The Youth CareerConnect) and help us reach our dream.  Currently, we are in a development stage.  The grant is 4 million dollars over a 5 year period. 

Dr. Cash explained that at the Board Retreat, Angie Gill gave the Board some good news about the District Test Scores.  Bradley County was the only District in our area and 1 of 9 in the state that made ALL 5's in growth on our test scores. To celebrate the teachers, the board will have a Teacher Appreciation Reception on February 27th, from 4:00 - 6:00 at the Mueseam.  Mr. Dillard said that this was a recommendation by several of the Board members.  The Board is very proud of our teachers and we want them to know.

Chairman Dillard asked that the work session be cancelled for March and the Board meeting be moved to Tuesday.  The United Way has invited the Board to attend their Annual Meeting on Thursday and they plan to highlight Bradley County Schools.

Mrs. Beaty thanked everyone for the gifts and presents for Board Appreciation.  She read a couple of sentences from students that sent Thank You notes.