March 9, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Chairman Amanda Lee called the meeting to order and welcomed dignitaries in attendance.

Discussion:  Board member Rachel Goins led the pledge.

Discussion:  Chairman Lee asked if anyone had any items that they would like to pull from Consent Agenda at this time.
Mr. Josh Taylor request to pull 4 d.1. Chairman Lee moved 4d1 to under item 12.
Mr. Talyor then asked to pull Policy 6.3071 - Student Alcohol and Drug Testing. Chairman Lee moved Policy 6.3071 below the bids that were previously moved.
Mrs. Goins requested to pull 4 d. 3 for discussion and Policy 6.309 - Zero Tolerance Offenses. Chairman Lee moved all under item 12.
 

Discussion:  No one signed up to address the Board.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash announced that on the single event of Kindergarten Rocks, we were able to register over 502 students. She stated that we normally double that number by the start of school.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash went over a vast array of district achievements throughout the district. 

Discussion:  Dr. Cash reminded everyone that Make a Change Day is March 31. She stated that since this initiative started, we have raised over $61,000 to offset the cost of the snack pack program. The program is vital to our students each and every week. This program provides meals to our students after-school and on the weekends. Dr. Cash recognized Prospect Elementary and Mr. Montgomery and thanked them for leading this cause each year.

Discussion:  Mr. Jacob Willcutt and Mr. Andy Jenkins presented two movements in sports that will take place during the 2023-2024 school year. Starting this fall, we will be changing two of our female sports seasons. The first is softball. Historically, softball has been played in the fall. Starting with this next season, we will be transitioning that season to the spring. Now that will mirror the middle school baseball season, which starts at the beginning of February and will wrap up around the middle of May. Next, we will be shifting our volleyball season to the fall and it will replace that softball season that goes from August until fall break. 

Mr. Willcutt stated, "We've been keeping a pulse on this change really for the last two years to know when it was really a good idea for us to move this for our student athletes and really the climate of the schools around us and other districts, and we just really believe this is a great time for us to move. It's best for our student athletes. We also know that that is going to affect a lot of our current student athletes, future student athletes, and members of the community. So, Mr. Jenkins, he's going to walk through some of our reasons and justifications for why we're making this move, and hopefully provide you with some clarity about all of this."

Mr. Jenkins stated, "First I wanted to thank you all for the opportunity to come and talk about something that's very near and dear to Jake and I is allowing our students, mostly female athletes, to compete at the state championship level with other school systems in the state of Tennessee. As it stands now, volleyball and softball are not able to do that. So switching seasons would allow us, allow our girls, and our teams to be able to compete at that level, which we know they're more than capable of doing. Next, would be just the ability, particularly for us, moving volleyball to the fall, it opens up the gym access so much more for basketball, wrestling, all these things that are going on in the winter months. It also helps us with just opening up space for other athletes. It makes it a lot easier, so that parents don't have to come in at 6am to practice. Also, one of the big things with volleyball and softball over the last two or three years has been actually scheduling other schools. You know, being in Bradley County, they see us, they look at our schools enrollments, and they automatically do not want to play us or schedule us, which is not necessarily a correlation of how good your teams actually are. But most of these schools had very, very difficult this past season to schedule volleyball matches. It gives our coaches the ability to be able to move more to a high school sports calendar and be able to schedule those teams that are already playing our two high schools, Walker Valley and Bradley.  It would make the overall athletic program and Bradley county better off, thank you."
 

Discussion:  Mrs. Arlette Robinson, Supervisor of Career and Technical Education, announced that Bradley Central High School FFA was awarded their 55th consecutive year of National Gold Chapter. She welcomed students led by Ms. LuAnn Carrie and Mr. Jamie Haynes. Mrs. Robinson stated, "I want to say that in October they were awarded the 55th consecutive year of national gold chapter. That is so challenging, and this team works so very hard to do that. We are coming before you today because one of the goals that they have is to present agricultureout into the public and this meeting is one of their goals for letting you know about their agricultural program and what they have done. We are so very pleased to have them. We're so very pleased that they have this recognition. And, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Haynes and let him introduce this group of officers and then let them tell you about their work."

Mr. Haynes stated, "Before I introduce the students, I want to point out two things. This is a program; it's leadership based and it's student So a lot of activities that you do, if you come to the greenhouse, or if you if you come to Farm Day, it's organized by them, and it's led by them. I'm really proud of that. And I also want to say that I appreciate the support that we get from the assistant principals to the central office. We really appreciate you."

FFA Students introduced themselves and told the Board their favorite part of FFA.

Discussion:  Mrs. Dana Yost presented the Esser 3.0 Public Plan. She stated that Esser 3 is about spent out. There were some over-predicted employee and benefits line items; they have moved those to Materials and Supplies, and Tutoring.

Discussion:  Mrs. Dana Yost: So, just to give you some background regarding reading instruction and reading instruction in Bradley County Schools, we all know that in order for students to be successful, there must be targeted support and intentional instruction.

The instruction needs to be focused on the five big areas; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Instruction must focus on Reading Foundational Skills.
1. Phonemic Awareness - taught K & 1
2. Phonics - taught K thru 1st part of 3rd gr
3. Fluency - taught K thru 5th
4. Vocabulary - taught K thru 12
5. Comprehension - taught K thru 8

We also need to understand that learning to read is developmental and not all students acquire literacy at the same rate. Therefore, we have tiered intervention in place. Tier one is that every day reading instruction that occurs inside the classroom, is using our reliable consistent curriculum which we do have and utilize daily. Tier Two intervention is for students for whom we have been monitoring their progress and we see that there are gaps that need to be filled, and that is an additional 30 minutes of instruction for those students. If then we see that we are not closing the gap, then tier three is then put into place for that student and that is an additional 60 minutes of reading instruction four days out of the week. And then there's also tier four where a student is identified as having a learning disability, and then special ed education services will also provide reading support.

So in Bradley County Schools, reading instruction is above par, and here's why. Not only do we do all those things that I just mentioned, such as whole group reading instruction on a daily basis, extensive phonemic awareness and phonics instruction daily and routine instruction in those five core reading areas that I just talked about, but we also provide reading workshop. This is an additional 45 minutes of instruction that is targeted to that student's needs. Differentiated Instruction, if you will. And in the course of a week, we provide quizzes and assessments and progress monitoring, so that we are tracking the progress of our students. Students with significant deficiencies receive tier two or tier three interventions and that is monitored using a progress monitoring tool AIMSweb. Parents are certainly notified if their child is placed in a tiered intervention, and we send home progress reports every four and a half weeks to parents.

Tiered Interventions are needed at all levels:
1. Tier 1: Reliable, consistent instruction in Foundational
Skills
2. Tier 2: Interventions based on multiple data sources-
Universal Screener, Benchmarks, Teacher Evaluation-
with progress monitoring to track response to the
intervention
3. Tier 3: Prescriptive instruction with research-based
interventions delivered in small groups for students with
suspected learning disability
4. Tier 4: Identified Learning Disability with Special
Education support and Individual Education Plan

Elizabeth Kaylor:
How we identify students' reading abilities:

• TN Universal Reading Screener (3x’s per year) - age-appropriate measures of phonics and fluency from K to 3rd grade
• Benchmark Tests (3x’s per year) - aligned to grade-level standards but adapted to identify strengths & weaknesses outside grade level content
• Progress Monitoring (weekly) - for students in intervention to track improvement
• TCAP (once per year beginning in 3rd year)-state standardized test; teachers are not permitted to read the test
  • TCAP Standards Analysis reveals the same standards are not tested each year (2021 report,2022 report)
  • 65th percentile is the measure of proficiency on 3rd gr ELA TCAP (above average)
  • Assesses higher-order thinking about reading skills

Dr. Lovingood asked at what point of the evaluation are the parents contacted.

Mrs. Kaylor stated that if a student is in intervention, then a parent is receiving a copy that actually puts a visual graph to that progress monitoring that their child is having. Those are sent home every month, so they can see whether their child is moving upward or flatlining or what that graph might be revealing about their child's performance in an intervention. That update is very frequent, because that data is collected every week. As it comes to things like benchmark assessments or the universal screener, those are typically communicated through parent conference nights and those kinds of things. Because they're only administered three times a year, you don't have this high volume of that data, the way you do the progress monitoring. Now t cap assessment, unfortunately, in previous years, you take that test in late April, maybe even the first couple of days of May, but you don't receive those scores until about September of the next school year. So you aren't able to give very timely results back to the parent, not of our own choosing, but simply because that's when we get the data back from the state. 

Dr. Lovingood asked Mrs. Kaylor how they adjust. How does a teacher or parent adjust? So if the assessment is only gotten back in September and was taken in April, how do I adjust the training or the education of the student that is lagging behind the T Cap test, which is assessing who we retain in third grade?"

Mrs. Kaylor agreed and stated, "It is concerning that so much emphasis would be placed on a test that we don't have as good a handle on as we do these other assessments.For educators, the other assessments you see listed on the screen hold great power and weight. Those are results we get immediately. You know what a child scores on the benchmark test the minute they click their last answer into the computer. You know what they get on the universal screener, because you, as the teacher, are sitting there witnessing every answer and marking it as they are progressing through the test. So these are things we have immediate results on. We're able to really dig into that data. And I will say actually, our benchmark tests give us some fairly predictive scores. So we have really been able to dig into that data, most especially to look at what is the benchmark to predict what a student's tcap score might be. That has held some power for us, because unfortunately, we don't always see those tcap numbers coming back as quickly as we would like. Now we do dig in the minute that we get them, and we do try to make adjustments at that point. 

Mrs. Kaylor went on to explain the PowerPoint presentation. "So the second bullet that you see here points out the 65th percentile as the measure of proficiency on the third grade tcap. Mrs. Kaylor pointed out the bell curve. Some of you may have seen the bell curve before maybe you use it in your own profession in various ways, but to give you a little brief synopsis, it's been labeled here with some various color coding; 

• The average NCE, by definition, is 50. It is designated by the black vertical line in the middle of the graph within the green grade-level section.
• The large black dot represents where a student would need to score to meet proficiency on TCAP. The 65th percentile is at the top range of grade-level expectations.
• Students are not identified as having some or high risk of literacy concerns unless they perform at or below the 25th percentile as indicated by the yellow and pink sections.

Performing on grade level is a range. There is a range that is defined as an average performance. And so you can see that marked in green, one green line on one side of the highest point to the other green line on the other side of that highest point of this curve is marking the grade level range.
Then the yellow is where you start to see there being some risk for a student. Those are students that we might have placed in tier two intervention. 
When you get over into the high risk areas. You're seeing tier three or tier four interventions available for a student. 
So I'm going to point out on this slide for you for a minute. That right here, just barely above, or rarely below, I should say this highest green line is the 65th percentile. So what that means when we're interpreting third grade tcap scores, is a student is having to perform in the highest end of the average range in order to do what is considered proficient performance on that test. That's an important piece of information for both for educators, parents, or anyone else who would look at that data to understand.

Dr. Cash added, "One of the things that I want everyone to understand is the difference between proficiency and grade level. So when you look at that bell curve,  if a child is in that range, and they still may have some risk, they are actually working on grade level. They are on grade level, they are using grade level material, but they may not have reached the proficiency level to hit that every single time they take it or it may even be a different set of standards that they've been assessed on. So that's why we've been talking to the legislators and saying you need to look in that average range, because if the kids in the average range, they are performing on grade level. It's just where do they fall in that range, but the cut off and that's what we call them, where's the cutoff score? That cutoff score is at that the 65th percentile, which means if they're going to score proficient, that's how far that is. So they are right at the top of that proficiency, moving into that advanced range. So as we go through what we are doing and what we can do, we'll talk to you about the waiver that's in place, and there's some new information that's out that's coming out that we hope this is going to pass as well."

Ms. Beaty asked if the cap test was still paper and pencil. Mrs. Kaylor replied, "It is for elementary." Ms. Beaty asked, "What about I-Ready?" Mrs. Yost replied, "That is on the chromebooks."

Mrs. Yost went back to the slideshow and stated, "Now let's talk about what happens after we take tcap and we get those results and when we get those results."

Mrs. Yost went on to say, "So as Ms. Kaylor said students are screened three times each year using our IReady benchmark assessments. The winter results have already been shared with parents. And the predictions for tcap proficiency have come from our iReady benchmark assessments, because we do find that it is highly correlated. And again, parents have been notified if their student is not predicted to meet tcap expectations. A letter has been sent home and in many instances, conferences or phone calls have also occurred. Tutoring or interventions are provided for students. That is already in place for those that we feel we have the data and know that the students may not be proficient on tcap, tutoring and interventions are designed to close this gap and to help them be proficient. So now let's talk about what happens after we give the assessment and receive the results. We're talking about two different levels here. We're talking about below expectations and approaching expectations. So on the left hand side you can see, if a student scores below expectations, they will be retained and we're saying in fourth grade because we're not 100% sure when these results will be received by our district, unless the student attends summer school with a 90% attendance rate and demonstrates adequate growth on the post test. And the student attends tutoring during his or her fourth grade year.  Now if they score in the approaching range, they will be retained unless the student attends summer school was 90% attendance and demonstrates adequate growth, per the post test results, or they attend tutoring. Now there is also the option of retaking the test and during the retest, we will get the results immediately, because there will not be the writing portion of the assessment. It is our understanding that it will be a multiple choice assessment.

Chairman Lee asked who will provide the transportation to Summer School.

Dr. Cash responded saying, "Madam Chair, in the governor's budget, he has included, not only the funding for summer school, but the summer funding for transportation. They've already begun working with Mr. McElhaney and in getting those routes in line and trying  to get ahead of the curve."

Mr. Taylor asked, "What about the tutoring, is there gonna be out of pocket expense for the parents?"

Dr. Cash responded, "No, as as we move into the budget later on in April, in TISA there's earmarked money for that. There's also funding for tutoring in the governor's budget as well, because I think their prediction is we will have a large amount of students needing the services across the state of Tennessee."

Mr. Taylor asked, "How many do we feel like that we have percentage wise below in that category?"

Mrs. Kaylor stated, "We have quite a few students that we have already placed into tutoring groups. We took our winter benchmark scores and made our best predictions for tcap. This was our attempt to get in front of the law. The law says the tutoring happens after you've taken the third grade assessment, but we are actually providing tutoring now before they have taken the assessment. Because if a student is close in any way, and we can get over that hump, we want to do that. So currently, I don't think we have any school where we don't have probably at least 30 students in third grade that we're currently participating in tutoring having been identified with a prediction using the current data that we have."

Mr. Taylot asked if the interventions were reactive. Mrs. Yost responded, "Well, all of our interventions are research based, and students are placed in intervention groups, according to their deficits. So it's targeted instruction, and our interventionists do a marvelous job. So yes, we do see a lot of progress. But the other thing that you need to remember about the tcap assessment is that we aren't just measuring reading ability, grammar and writing are also incorporated into this reading score. So we aren't just measuring fluency and comprehension."

Mrs. Kaylor went on to explain, "The tutoring we're doing right now is pre-emptive. And that's just us being educators who want to do right by children. The tutoring the law requires would occur after we have the third grade scores and the child was in the fourth grade."

Dr. Cash stated, "I did want to go back to something that Mr. Taylor,  I asked Mr. Collins to try to predict the numbers for us that were below. We looked at about 10 per elementary school that did not fall into some exemption categories as we were predicted. But that's all it is, it is a prediction. We don't actually have all the numbers, but when you talk about the ones in that below category, that would need both the summer school as well as the tutoring, you're looking at about 150 Kids. . . If you look at the approaching range and the advance, about 64% of our kids fall in that range."

Mrs. Kaylor went on to explain, "We also have to be a little bit careful because you can over test a kid and you can get a kid reaching test fatigue, because they're just done with it. You've tested them so many times they no longer care how they're doing. They're just sick of taking tests. So we do try to be very careful. So a lot of the data that we're looking at on students who are in tutoring is based on the work they're performing in the tutoring group, so that it doesn't feel like yet another test, because you did see quite a list on that slide of tests they are already taking. So to explain you a little further about the differences in what is assessed.  I mentioned 80 some odd third grade ELA standards that are assessed. When they take the first version of tcap, that includes a writing assessment. So, writing is very important for a student to be able to do, but that is different than being able to read. If this third grade law is about measuring reading, then writing should really not be a part of that, because that is a separate skill set, a very needed and important skill set, but yet a separate one."

Dr. Cash added, "Just a note for the board. We have spoken to them about this and they are actually looking to see if they can separate that, so that we are really just assessing reading. That's one of the caveats that we requested. We will see whether that occurs this year or not this year. So I just want to make you aware that we have requested that and when we presented in Nashville, that was one of the things that we pointed out; it's those are two separate skills."

Mrs. Kaylor explained, "And that is the benefit with the retest, because with the initial administration, it's quite extensive time to grade the hand written assessments of writing that these students are taking. And so it wouldn't be possible to produce a score in a very quick turnaround time, when you're hand grading all of those essays. So, on the retest, there is no writing portion, which for a student for whom that was the reason your initial score was low, then you might be at great benefit of being able to just purely demonstrate some reading skills on the retest."

Dr. Lovingood asked, "How do you challenge the tcap test being a literal literacy forecaster, because it's not designed to be a literacy forecast. It is way behind. And at what point in time, are educators going to realize that we have placed a huge value in a test that is not supposed to forecast what we're saying is supposed to forecast?"

Dr. Cash responded, "We are already having that discussion with the legislators that make those decisions. We have actually requested not only this district but many other districts that they look at all of the assessments of a child and also the input of teachers and parents. At this time, they have made some concessions. Actually, I believe Mrs Kaylor is the one who pointed out in the session that we're using a test for something that was not designed for. So, we are still having those conversations and hoping that we get some movement. We will not get movement on that this year, but we are hoping for the future that there are some decisions made . . . One of the things that we are trying to tell them is the interventions are outstanding. We appreciate them providing funding for the interventions, providing funding for summer school, but it's the retention piece that I think we need to take another look at because we're using a test that was not what it was designed for. But the benefit of this is exactly what you said, we're being able to provide students with the interventions and the support that they really need, so we are very much in favor of that."

Mrs. Kaylor went on to explain, "There are some exemptions in this law. So there are several bullet points here of various student groups for whom support comes to them in other ways. 

• Students identified with a reading learning disability.
• Previously retained students
• ELL students receiving less than 2 years of ELA instruction
• Students receiving reading interventions (Tier II/III)
• Approved Appeals to the TN DOE
• Retested students scoring proficient before the new school year

So to give you a little more insight about the appeal process. The very first line says no one is exempt from taking tcap. I know there have been many people who have thought that would be their great strategy, because they're very concerned about this law. They'll just be sick that week and not take the test. And unfortunately, the law is written such that no score equates to a failing score. So, the worst thing that a parent could choose to do in this situation is not have their child take the test. So, in the appeal process, the State Department is the one managing the appeal process, and it is applicable to any student who scores in the approaching category. So as Mrs. Yost talked about these two columns where students scores could fall. Any student in the approaching category has the opportunity to file an appeal, if they had a 40th percentile rating or better on their universal reading screener. So that does allow us to look at some of that other data outside of just solely depending on tcap for allowing some students to be exempt from this law. Now, students who are in the below category, do not have that option. So they do need to get at least a minimum of an approaching score for this appeal to apply to them. And catastrophic events are the other reasons that an appeal can be filed."

Mrs. Yost added, "So just to give you the information as far as what we've done as a district to support this implementation and do what is right by kids, we have created a tutoring plan which we did give to you all at one of our previous meetings. We have purchased tutoring curricula. We have created a parent brochure. We designed a PowerPoint for third grade parent meetings. We provided a winter parent letter notifying your students needed additional support. We have met with individual groups to communicate and problem solve. So we've met with principals, our instructional coaches, our Title One teachers and our ESL teachers. Parent meetings for third grade parents at all schools have occurred and we will conclude those before we go to spring break."

Ms. Beaty stated, "I did attend a third grade meeting at one of the elementary schools. And I agree with you, Mrs Yost. They did a phenomenal job. It was led by the principal, it was very warm, kind, and helpful. Some of the parents were concerned, of course, but they did an excellent job with the parents and it's commendable. Thank you."

 

Discussion: 

Kyle Page opened the discussion stating, "So, Corbett, myself, Patrick,  Eddie, and Turner have been doing due diligence. We went down to the  track complex at Soddy Daisy High School and made a list of things we  liked and disliked, engineers that worked on that project, as well as  installed companies that worked on that project. We did the same thing at  Chattanooga Christian School, which was another one that the team from  Bradley Central wanted to go check out and look at likes, dislikes and  who completed the project. So we've been getting a lot of information,  what companies were involved, what engineers were involved. Next step,  following our spring break, we're going to go to Lee University by their request and look at that complex and get who's been involved and  who executed things. And so right now we're really gathering due  diligence. And Corbett can speak to we are getting ready to put out the  RFQ, which is a request for qualifications, at which time we did our due  diligence and really began to rein in all the information that we're  getting from the team at this point." 

Corbett added, "The other part of the due diligence is I'm pulling  plans, from existing facilities and from some of the others, to review  those in comparison to what we're attempting to do. And I'm in the  process of getting budgets for projects that were bid in the last 18  months, so that we can have an understanding as we move into this,  about what this thing we could put a conceptual budget to, before we  dive off the diving board here. But, we're finalizing with that  information, I think we can then kind of hone in and finalize the  request for qualifications and engage an architect after spring break  kind of ended March timeframe." 

Mr. Bryson asked if they were looking at Lee University. Mr. Page  confirmed. 

Mr. Bryson stated, "I think we need to track, 100%. But  I personally don't compare this to the universities.  No Soddy Daisy, Yeah. And I went by how we did there? I don't know if it is Howard or somebody's got one around their football field." 

Mr. Page stated,"Soddy Daisy's track is around their football field.  It's a little different as far as the lay of that land. Chattanooga  Christian and Lee would probably be a little more comparable, as far as  the way it sits. Soddy Daisy is built down, if you've been down  there, it's inside the bowl. Just like Bradley has the football field  inside the bowl, we don't have enough room to get a track inside there.  Soddy Daisy had enough room to get a track inside interchangeably with  the football field similar to Walker Valley."  

Dr. Lovingood asked, "When you do your due diligence, and you look at  the soil around the track. How is it gonna affect the tennis courts?" 

Mr. Drew answered, saying, "Well, we've got survey data at this point.  We understand all the existing drainage conditions and in grading. So  once we engage an architect, an engineer will look at the  modifications that need to be made to accommodate the new structure and  the expansion of the track. And once all of those are sorted out, we'll  engage a geotechnical engineer to punch holes in the dirt.  

Dr. Lovingood asked, "You thought about that now? Do you feel good  about the stability of the track now? 

Mr. Drew replied, "I have no basis to make a characterization on that. I see a lot of cracking in the existing  track, so I think there's probably some undercut and some, some better materials and some compaction that are going to benefit and are going  to have to be required there. But until we get the soil tested, we know  the configuration, it is hard to say that." 

Dr. Lovingood stated, "My concern is, as we do our due diligence,  because I'm already concerned about our tennis courts. Here's what I  would say. And I'm not the only one. Nancy and I talked, she's in  London tonight. She texted me some concerns about that. Because what's  happening is and I want to go on the record, as I asked this question  three times in this meeting, and I said, Guys, we better be concerned about the issue with drainage on the tennis courts. And then  I go to the tennis courts. And I see 10 foot poles bending that are  fencing around the tennis courts. I said this in a meeting three times.  With all due respect, I said this three times. I said, Guys, if we  don't know this, what's going to happen is, we're going to have  holes, cracks, runs, what happens when those poles fall on the tennis  court. And as they move it softens the surface, which in essence causes  spider runs on the courts. We've had these courts for five months. And my concern is we're going to look at patching these things. And Nancy said she was concerned about what the warranty is for the courts? And, what is the accountability for it, because we only had a few months of fencing." 

Mr. Page stated that Mr. Drew has not been involved with the tennis  courts, so he does not want him involved in speaking to those. 

Dr. Lovingood questioned, "I just know, with all due respect, but we're  doing due diligence. I know the track is here, yes, the court is  here. And when we move dirt here. So our . . . " 

Mr. Drew stated, "Part of the civil design that will result, before any  track improvements are made, are going to correct any drainage upstream  of the tennis courts. So any track improvements are going to leave the  tennis courts from a drainage perspective in a better situation." 

Mr. Page interjected, "I will also say in reference to the tennis  courts specifically and I hear exactly what you said. And I also want  to say that I forewarned the board and expressed hesitation about  cutting the dirt, when we cut the dirt, in the timing we cut the dirt  to start the tennis courts. That was a conversation that I expressed  and I've always and Corbett's worked with me on a few different jobs. I  always have concerns about cutting dirt and certain times of year  because of compaction concerns with the tennis courts specifically,  when the dirt was cut, we were not able to meet compaction in that  budget that was not anticipated. With that said, we got into bad dirt.  And when we got into bad dirt that could not compact, we then had to  put a footer under that dirt 18 inches thick of large rock with sole  silt stabilizer to meet compaction to make sure that everything was put  in and the rock could build off that correctly. With that said,  following that, the fence guys came in to install. The fence guys are  warranting their work and they were out this week. They were out today. 

And Jack from All Fences is happy to come and speak with the board  regarding his willingness to make sure those are right. He expressed to  me today that they have evaluated, they were up here this week, post  the phone contact. The information from Coach Elrod as soon as I got  that information. I'll be honest with you, he sent it to me when I was  in NICU mode, and as soon as I got out, I lined that up on the  schedule. And we got them up here to address those immediately. So they  are in there resetting all the posts as we speak, Not just at Bradley.  They were at Bradley today. They will be working there over the  weekend. Then they'll go into Walker Valley to address any posts that  need to be reset. As we continue, they did recommend, and I spoke with  not only Charlie Smith, who was a big avid tennis person in this  community, I spoke with Lee Murray, who is a big advocate of tennis and  surfacing, and several other folks around the community and area  regarding tennis. There were a couple of recommendations they made in  regards to the amount of pressure on the top of the fence with the  wind screens, just the flap ability and the amount of sail type  pressure. We want to make them right." 

Dr. Lovingood replied, "I disagree, totally, because I was told three  times, in the minutes we can go back and look at it, I was told three  times on three different occasions, Dr. Cash, that we had tennis  people, do the tennis courts, not turf people. And, I asked three  different times, on three different occasions. Teddy, am I right?" 

Mr. Bryson replied with a question, asking, "Did the wind have anything  to do with it?" 

Mr. Page replied, "Some of the polls have been loose for a little bit  longer than now. I have been checking those, looking at those posts as  well. With that said, wind is a concern. The wind has not just happened  on Friday, there has been wind going, I would recommend rolling those  screens up and offseason. Everybody else felt the same way. Not saying  it'll help or not. At the end of the day, we want to deliver a quality  fence installed there, that is not going to be a continued issue." 

Mr. Bryson asked, "Is the material that we play on, is it good?" 

Mr. Page explained, "The coach feels good about it with the exception  of the posts because as water gets in, that's how sealed.." 

Mr. Lovingood stated, "What's going to happen? I've been talking about tennis,  my wife played Division 1 and my daughter played, at least I understand  tennis a little too. I lived in South Florida. But the fact of it is,  like I said before, in Florida, the wind blows a little bit, don't you  think? And the fact of it is, they have wind shears. I got it. But when  you put a foundation on moving soil the whole time, if you put poles  deep enough, it doesn't matter. If it softens at the base of it, what  do you think is gonna happen to the surface? It is going to run, It's  going to spider run, it's going to split."

Chairman Lee asked, "So I have a question. Because when he mentioned  the soil, I do remember there was some conversation when we were  talking about putting these polls in, that there was a big push to get  this done, so that they could play tennis on it that year. And  there was a recommendation, that it was not the best time. So my  question is, does that have anything to do with ... Did we not let the   soil settle long enough?" 

Mr. Page answered, "Here's what I'll say with my experience at Bradley,  and I've been up there for about three years now. I'm just up there  dealing with football fields, now dealing with tennis courts, so I've  been up there since 2020. Soils up there are a concern. There's been  concerns even with Bradley Central's hall to the right where we've had  to come back through and restabilized wash. Soils are a concern out  there. Cutting dirt at certain times of year make that worse, because  it can't dry out and compact. That is a reality. It's too wet to dry  out and bake out and then compact. So when we did the football fields,  specific example, we had the hurricane come in, could not get  compaction. We had the soil stabilize those four corners to get that  thing to meet compaction. So timing can play a role in these things." 

Mrs. Goins added, "Obviously, we know there's a problem. We've  established that. Who's gonna pay to fix it?" 

Mr. Page answered, "So right now, first step is all fences, on their  dime, are up here with their crews, fixing everything again,  restabilizing everything. I talked with Jack today. And I asked  him, six months from now, a year from now, if we're back at the same  place, what's the next step that we need to take? He said, Kyle, I want  you and the Board to know that I'm in this for the long haul to make  sure these fences are done right. And I will do anything and everything  I can to take care of those." 

Mrs. Goins asked what we paid for the tennis courts.  

Dr. Cash stated, "I recommend, since we don't have those numbers in  front of us, I don't want us to throw out numbers that are inaccurate,  that we get that and we can send that to the board."  

Dr. Lovingood added, "Madam Chair. The reason I'm saying this, is because, like you said, if you're going to do due diligence on the track,  you're using the soil which's about 25 yards from the track. And so,  if you're not careful, in my opinion, I'm not so professional, I'm not a drainage professional. I've been around one or two tennis players and courts in my lifetime, in all areas of the country. But my concern is as we do our due diligence, making sure the soil is up here, how's it  going to affect down here? And then, if we fix the fence, I'm worried about the fence? Yes, but I'm more worried about the running of the  surface, because of the loosening of the bottom of the fence. Does that  make sense?"

Mr. Page answered, "It does, it does. The water's creeping into the  base of the fence, what's happening underneath it. Now, one of the  things in the design of the tennis courts, different from the previous  ones that were there, is those tennis courts now sit up on rock,  different from what was up there. Our previous tennis courts had  surface, asphalt, and then dirt. And so that was where it was running  out from underneath." 

Mr. Lovingood replied, "And what happened? I don't know, because I  can't see down. It looks like we put the poles about as far to the rock  and stopped. And, we didn't go deep enough with the pole." 

Mr. Page added, "And that's what we're looking to figure out, because  where the footer was placed, if we can't go deeper, then how do we tie  this thing in with the other areas, we can go deeper with, to pull the  structure together. So we're in step one of retightening everything and  

making decisions forward, checking off boxes to make sure we put it right." 

Mrs. Goins stated, "I just have one last question on that. So you are talking about the soil. And I know a little bit about this, because  I've had to deal with it at my house from a Tennessee State Soil  consultant. Soil doesn't change. So their soils are not going to change six  months to a year from now, so for the tennis courts, we should have  played all scenarios, and one of them might have been...well, maybe that  wasn't the best place for it, since the soil is not good. I'm just  saying when we plan for future things, we need to take in all  considerations from start to finish. And soil has to be one of them." 

Dr. Cash said, "Madam Chairman, I think that in order for us to solve  anything, we have to have engineer designs, we have to do all those  studies to move forward. So at this time, if I can turn that back over  to you and reserve those questions, please." 

Discussion: 

Mr. Taylor opened by saying, "So over the course of the last several  weeks, we've had some special called Work Sessions. And for those  of you who don't know, we don't really get an opportunity to discuss a  lot of the issues that are presented to us until the night we've got to  vote on it. So these Work Sessions have been much appreciated. However,  it's hard sometimes to work around everybody's schedule, because  they're set at different times and different things. So what my  suggestion is, and what I would like to make a motion, for us to  vote on tonight, would be putting in a permanent work session on a  monthly basis. So currently, we're meeting on Thursday, the second  Thursday of each month. I would like to see it. Maybe we have a work session on the first Thursday, and then a voting session, similar to  what the county commission does, on that second Thursday. These will be  set times that we can work with. And we know we're there. And, it gives  us an opportunity to do our due diligence, before we're making  decisions and voting." 

After Mr. Taylor put that in the form of a motion, Ms. Beaty asked, "I  just have some questions. You are talking about establishing work  sessions, every month, regardless of whether it is for budgets,  custodial contracts,or large purchases. Those are typically special called meetings or work sessions. So, are you talking about work  sessions just to go over the agenda? And, are you talking about  developing the agenda two weeks ahead of time? Would that not open up  for changes? Because we seem to have a lot of changes with this agenda." 

Mr. Taylor added, "So what this will do, in my opinion, and this isn't new, this is something that was done in the past. But, you know, for  instance, some of the items that we pulled from Consent, some of these  are the first times that we've seen some of these bids. Having the work  sessions gives us an opportunity to ask some questions, and have time  for those questions to be answered before a vote has been brought in.  And, it's not just on the big things, we're voting every single  meeting, we've done a vote on something. And, so, it gives us the  opportunity to ask valid questions and to give folks time to come back  with a response before we have to make a decision." 

Mrs. Beaty responded, "I was just going to say, I am not against work  sessions. I think they are valuable in some instances, but I served on  the Board when we had permanent work sessions. Now what happens there,  and when I say I did not serve, I was not a state board of education  member, but I was the President of the Special Education Association  and I worked with that group and I attended all of their meetings. They  do or did meet at a work session. Now the criticism is going to be that  everything is laid out, and that we discuss everything, and when you  come into a meeting, Chairman Lee is going 1.2.3.4., and maybe people  attending this meeting, but didn't attend the work session, are not  aware of what you're talking about and how much work went into that." 

Mr. Taylor added, "This would still be discussion allowed at the work  session, no different than the county commission meetings. Work sessions would have to be open. You know, the work sessions we've had  previously, that were conducted in this room, that were videoed, minutes were kept, records kept of everything. This, in my opinion, brings more transparency, because it gives more opportunity for  discussion. I feel like that as a board, you know, we're the largest  recipient of taxpayer funding; roughly 60% of the county taxpayer  dollars, we're controlling and we're voting. And so, to be able to have  the opportunity to discuss different issues and ask questions and have  time for response, before we make those votes, I think will just help  me in doing my due diligence."

 

Mrs. Goins added, "Just coming from a new school board member, that's  been here less than a year. I'm just gonna give some examples, some of  the stuff that was on the Consent Agenda. It's the first time I'm hearing about, so I will pull out some things that I think need further discussion. Not that I'm being blindsided, I just feel like I'm in the  dark with some things, because we haven't mentioned anything about,  we've not said anything about them. We're wanting to approve some of  this stuff and just let it go by on the Consent Agenda without any  further discussion. I don't want to say yes to something and not know  what I'm saying yes to. I just want the opportunity to discuss those things in  further detail and give back feedback." 

Chairman Lee answered saying, "Okay, again, I'm not against work  sessions either, but to your point that there are items on the consent  agenda that you pulled with regard to like say for instance, that North  Lee, Ocoee Middle and Lake Forest, we recently voted on Wright Brothers to handle those particular bids. And so they're just  coming before the board for us to vote on them." 

Mrs. Goins asked, "Well, we did but okay, just for instance, the Lake Forest School roof, which roof is it? Because in August of last year,  if you go back and look at Chuck McKay's email to us, it was $28,000.  This one, the bid is $61,000, and one  bid is $246,000, which roof are you  talking about. That's the question I want to ask." 

Chairman Lee answered saying,"So I guess maybe we've got a little bit  of confusion.When I get the agenda, and I get items on the agenda, or I  get the attachment. I guess I feel like it is my job to be prepared  when I come to this board meeting. I'm supposed to do my homework before I come in here. So, if I have a question about which roof this is,  whoever has handled these bids, which would be Chuck, I'm going to pick  up the phone and call Mr. McKay and say, Hey, Chuck, which roof is this for? That clarifies my problem right there. So then I know." 

Mr. Taylor responded, "And to that, Madam Chair, that's exactly what  I'm asking for, is the ability to have that conversation. Because  outside of these meetings, we can't discuss this stuff." 

Chairman Lee replied, "We can't discuss it among each other, but we can  pick up the phone and call Mr. McKay or we can call Susan or we can  call Dr. Cash and ask you know what roof this is for? I mean, we can do  that. But now are we supposed to call each other and talk about it?  Absolutely not. That is a violation of the Sunshine Law. But we can  call whoever is speaking about this item and get that information." 

Mr. Taylor replied, "I think this would just give us an opportunity to  discuss as a board to make a decision. There have been several times  that somebody else might have a different opinion than mine, but have  convinced me or shown me something that I'm not aware of, or something  unique to their district that I didn't know, that the voters that voted  them in did know, and this gives us an opportunity to make a decision as a group as a unit, more cohesive, with an understanding." 

Ms. Beaty added, "As I said, I'm not against work sessions at all, but  I have to look at situations. I agree with Chairman Lee when I have a  question, I pick up the phone and I communicate with the Director of  Schools, and typically direct me to another person, if that's  necessary. So, I get the answers to my questions."  

Mr. Taylor responded, "I agree and I've done that also. But, the work  sessions give us as a board more chance to talk to each other. I  can pick up the phone or call Dr. Cash and she has always been gracious in answering the call and returning the call very quickly and answering questions, but that still doesn't give me an opportunity to talk with  my fellow board members and discuss." 

Chairman Lee stated, "I understand what you're saying there, Mr.  Taylor, and I definitely do think that there are certainly times when  work sessions are absolutely necessary. But I don't necessarily believe  that, for instance, tonight there is nothing really on the agenda,  that really needs a work session, because we could have picked up the  phone on those particular items and just clarified very quickly what  that roof was for. And, in addition, we have to think that we're  requiring all of these administrators and principals to come and sit  for an extra night that they could be home with their families, but they have to come here and sit just because we didn't pick up the  phone and call someone and ask what roof is that?" 

Mr. Taylor said, "Well, I think this goes back to even the questions  asked to Mr. Drew, and they didn't have some of those numbers, so  they're gonna have to go back and get this. This is exactly what I'm  talking about during our work session. We can ask that they have plenty of  time to retrieve the information and come back and present it to us." 

The Chairman responded, "Again, going back to your point, you said that  they didn't have the numbers before us. Because we had a track update,  we didn't have a tennis court update." 

Dr. Lovingood asked, If you are not against Work Sessions, then why  wouldn't we have them?" 

Chairman Lee replied, "Because I don't think that they're necessary  every single time. I think that us not doing our homework as board  members, is doing a disservice to them." 

Mr. Taylor, "I feel like that every time we have a vote it's worth  having some discussion on. I think that even the small ones are  significant." 

Ms. Beaty made a substitute motion. 

Mr. Bryson stated, "...my issue, more than anything, is not having the work session, and not with Vicki's. But mine is the fact that Nancy is  not here. And ,we had an incident earlier in the year when we were  talking about some property and we didn't want to deal with it  because you weren't here, Rachel. I voted to not do it, just because  it was in your district. So, we said no. This will change and Nancy  might very well be for it, I kind of think she is, but I still want to  hear her on the record, saying it in front of God and the country and everybody. I couldn't be there for a meeting several years ago when we  were electing the chairman, and Mr. Weathers and the board graciously  changed the meeting. So I could be there. We couldn't change,  apparently, the meeting for Nancy. I think Nancy deserves the same  respect that we gave everybody else and I am not for it for that  reason. I would pass and not vote for it, so you're not going to have a  majority." 

Ms. Goins added, "I just want to go on record. I don't want to  inconvenience anyone on the staff, school board or anything. But, what  I do want to do is be a good steward with the money that we're  rewarded. And sometimes I personally can't make that decision, unless I  have had some discussion on things. I've made a request that we go to  all the schools and see what their capital outlay projects are in  person, so I can get a better understanding. Now whether or not any of  the other school board members want that, I don't know. But for me to  make some logical decisions going forward on anything, I think work  sessions are important, especially when you're not you've got to know  what you're voting for. Or what you're saying yes to." 

Mr. Taylor asked if anyone knew that they would not be at the next  Board meeting. Chairman Lee stated that it was her understanding that  Rachel would not be there. Ms. Goins interjected, stating that she  would be there. Mr. Bryson asked if someone was going to be absent. Could we change the meeting? 

Chairman Lee followed that by stating, "I think the problem with that  is that they schedule like our regular scheduled board meetings very  early on to give those to all of the schools, so that they can plan  around those. Also, so that they don't schedule anything, if at all  possible, the nights that we have Board meetings, so that they can be  here for any particular reason that they may be on the agenda for that  night. So again, that's kind of another issue with going back now and  rescheduling work sessions when we're coming up at the busiest time of the year with the end of the year. I know when we scheduled this last  work session, we literally rescheduled it four times because we  couldn't be there." 

Mr. Taylor said, "Yeah, I mean, it's hard to get there in the middle. I  understand that's why I'm asking for these." 

Ms. Beaty stated, "Well, even with my motion, I don't think any of us  disagree with work sessions. I think we disagree with the frequency. I  think that having a regular scheduled timeframe is important, whether 

 

you actually have it every month or on an as-needed basis. You can always put it on your board calendar. And then, if it's not  necessary, then you can not have the meeting. 

Mr. Bryson added, "Well, I'm not opposed to having the meeting period.  But, I oppose having a meeting or having a boat when my friend, Ms.  Nancy, and I have not talked to her, she's in Norway. What I'm saying is,  if I could talk to her, and she said I still wouldn't, because we had  the same courtesy for Ms. Rachel and I would do it again. Dr. Cash was wanting to do something, she did not want to do anything really, but just check on something, and we all said no. Rachel's not here, we're not  going to do it." 

Dr. Cash stated that, "One of the things that I would like to point out, really in line with Mr. Taylor and Ms.Beaty is that to schedule  a work session as a whole spot, I think there's no harm in that at all.  And then, you know, based on what's on that agenda, we could decide at  that time, whether it was necessary or not. There are some things that  have to have a work session, such as budgeting. If we're planning big  projects, those have to have a work session."

Discussion: 




                                                                      
Amanda Lee, Chairman



                                                                      
Dr. Linda Cash, Director of Schools