October 19, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Regular Meeting

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

Discussion:  The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mr. Ted Bryson.

Discussion:  No public comment was given.

Discussion:  Josh Taylor - Madam Chair, I had a question pertaining to Section 5.e. the Bradley County Schools Organizational Chart. I think they may have actually cleared that up, but do we vote on that every year?

Dr. Linda Cash - Yes.

Josh Taylor - Okay, and it's the same as last year? Nothing has changed with that?

Dr. Linda Cash - We did have to add our grant position for mental health that was added there.

Josh Taylor - Would it be possible for you to provide us maybe just on the part that's highlighted in green, if you could provide the names of the people who attend those positions?

Dr. Linda Cash - Yes, we can do that. But there is a reason behind there not being a name there. It is actually a position and those could change that will gladly do that for you. 

Discussion: 

 

Discussion:  Chairman Beaty recognized Amanda Lee for serving as Chairman of the Bradley County Board of Education. 

Chairman Beaty - "I would like to, on behalf of Bradley County Board of Education, to thank you so much for your commitment, your time and all of the efforts that you put into being Chairman of the Bradley County Board of Education. In addition, we have a card and a plaque as a small token of our appreciation. And the plaque reads 'Presented to Amanda Lee in sincere appreciation and recognition as chairman of the Bradley County Board of Education, May 10 2022 through September 14 2023'."

Discussion:  Dr. Linda Cash - We have a lot of things on our agenda that for the Director's Report, but really my biggest thing today is to recognize our Leadership Fellows. Thank you so much for being here and thank you to the Education Foundation for supporting that. For those of you that don't know, it's a year-long commitment. And, it's their 14 days that they have to be maybe a little more like when they go to Nashville, but it's designed for emerging leaders and that is a combination of emerging leaders from Bradley County Schools and Cleveland City Schools. And in our second year, we have now a total of 28 fellows that we are bringing through from last year to this year. They have monthly workshops, job shadowing, school visits, mentoring, study groups, leadership projects, presentations and portfolios. We hope that they enjoy it and learn from it. It's not an easy task. It is a strong commitment, but we just want to say welcome to Bradley County's Board Meeting and we appreciate all of you given your time and effort to learn integrate, so thank you. 

Chairman Beaty gave each fellow an opportunity to introduce themselves and state their school and position.

Discussion:  Denny Collins - Thank you, Madam Chair. We have done this informally already, but we certainly want to recognize these individual schools for their success in TVAAS, which is the accountability measure for growth in our state. That means we're moving students from point A to point B and we have four individual schools that achieved level five, which is the highest category for TVAAS. We want to recognize those individual schools, Charleston, Michigan Avenue, Taylor and Park View. We have a nice certificate for them, and we've been out to give them cake. So we've had chocolate cake and all that good stuff, but we're gonna give them a check and a certificate, so they can celebrate with their faculty with a lunch or dinner. We're very proud and we'd like to get a picture, so if those administrators would come on up, that'd be awesome.

A picture was taken with all schools that achieved this award.

Discussion:  Denny Collins - The report that I handed out and you have in front of you, I believe you have that digital as well, so you can access that on your computer.  I wanted to give you a handwritten copy just for you to look at and make notes on. This is a new, required element to TISA. This came out approximately four or five weeks ago. We've been asked to create what's known as a TISA accountability report. In this report, we are to identify five goals that our district will move towards within the next five years. One of the goals is mandated by the State Department of Education. You can see that on the first page under goals for student achievement. That first goal includes the goal of 70% or more of the district's third grade students to score met, met expectations, or exceeded on the English Language Arts portion of TCAP test. So that is a goal number one, and the additional four goals that we selected align with our district's goals. Those are specific to accountability measures and instruction. So Math, English, chronic absenteeism, and the last was our ESL students. Those are the five goals. One of the requirements for this is that the Board approves this accountability plan. The second requirement is that it is made public, before it is submitted on November 1. This was the only Board Meeting we had, so Mrs. Kaylor and Dr. Cash worked on this, and we're able to present this. We would like to ask that this be presented for vote and approval from our Board of Education.

Discussion:  Dana Yost - Good afternoon. I'm here to request your approval and vote of the compliance report stating that Bradley County Schools follows all federal and state education laws and rules. We have no outstanding plan of corrective action, so I'm hoping you will approve it.

Discussion:  Chairman Beaty appointed Mrs. Amanda Lee to Policy Review. 

Discussion:  Dr. Belt, members of the Dillard family, Mr. Randy Bonner, Executive Director of the 24/7 movement, and the Walker Valley SROs, Officer Kinsey and Officer Robinson presented an update on the partnership with 24/7 Movement. 

Discussion:  Dr. Candice Belt, Walker Valley Principal - I came last month and we had a discussion about the possibility of adding a Navy Junior ROTC program at Walker Valley High School. What we were asking from you is support of using funds for at least one instructor to start up the program. Dr. Cash has petitioned the Navy to ask instead of beginning with a startup unit that we start with a fully funded unit, which would allow us to use approximately the same amount of money for two instructors, if it is a fully funded program rather than the startup unit. Either way, I felt based on our discussions last month that we were all in agreement that this was a great next step to add this opportunity for our students at Walker Valley High School. So, our goal is to be a fully funded unit with the financial support of the Navy. But, we have had the financial conversations with Mrs. Wilcutt and Dr. Cash, and ask your approval to move forward with the JROTC instructor position starting in January of this school year.

Discussion:  Dr. Ruthie Panni - Hello, Dr. Cash, Madam Chair Beaty, and members of the Board. Thank you for your time this evening. I'm here to request the approval for the purchasing and relocation of a new playground at Michigan Avenue School. Currently, our playground is located on the eastern side of our property, directly in front of the school. Our playground was purchased in 2010 from a company that went out of business shortly after its installation. After many years of use, by both our students and the regular use from the community, it is in a state of disrepair. Our district's maintenance team has worked to keep the playground usable, but we're at a point where we need to make a change. We are in the process of raising funds through fundraisers, grants and donations for a new play structure. We're not asking the board for funding, but I did want you to know the magnitude of the purchase and the need we have for a new playground. The proposal, the structure, and the cost are included in the attachments on the agenda. We're hopeful to have the funds available to purchase the play structure by the spring. But again, we're not asking you for funding. I am asking for permission to move the location of the playground from its current location to a more secure location located on the north side of the campus. Relocating the play area to this part of the campus gives us the opportunity to create a greater distance between Michigan Avenue road, and the area where our children play. It also provides the children with more space to run on grass rather than concrete. Also, in the attachment or photos of the current playground and the proposed site, we feel like the movement of the playground would be a great adjustment to the Michigan Avenue campus and the experience our students have outside the school building.

Amanda Lee - The only question I had was, did we have any discussions, I know we've been doing the capacity study, if we should move it to that area?

Dr. Panni - Thank you for asking that. When I was able to see the proposed plans, I guess for any future addition that might happen to Michigan Avenue, that would be on the opposite side of the building than where the new playground would be.

Amanda Lee - Thank you.

Josh Taylor - I had one just to comment. I know the answer to this, but if you just share with the rest of the board, how much money total have you guys already raised?

Dr. Panni - Well, that the number went up on Tuesday. We are about approximately at about $70,000. Plus, the cost of mulch has been donated.

Josh Taylor - It's very impressive. It just shows the interest that the community has out there, and also all your hard work and everything that you're doing. So, thank you very much.

Chairman Beaty - When did this start?

Dr. Panni - We started about a year ago. Our apex run in 2022 was the first time that we raised funds for the playground. Then this past Apex fun run was added to that. And, we've had donations and grants. We've been awarded a grant from the county, and we've had some donations made and we're in the process of three more grants that could take us to that really close to the desired number. 

 

Discussion:  Arlette Robinson - Chairman and Board members, thank you for allowing me to come. We have a spark grant and we were able to budget a ventless dishwasher for Culinary Arts. Our current dishwasher is not working,so we need to replace this. We did put it in the banner, we did put it in the Times Free Press, and we sent it out to the to the different supply equipment companies on the form. We did receive three bids back. We are asking to go with the highest bid. It is just a little over the mid-grade bid, but they can complete this in 30 days and it met all of the all of the parts of the bid and we also had $35,000 budgeted for this and it came under at $25,683 80. So, we would like to make the recommendation to buy this. There may be a typo on the last paragraph though. I do want to to change this. The second sentence should say that we are making the recommendation for purchase using Spark funding, if it says innovative high school funding. So, this is using Spark funding for $25,683.80.

Discussion:  Chuck McKay - I think we had 14 companies attend the meeting. We only had three bids for the roof at Walker Valley Field House and recommending you go with Atlas roofing. You have the numbers in front of you. That is that bid was for $69,300. This will be one of the newest style roofs that will cover over metal roofs, it's called flute fill. It adds insulation, and we get a 20 year warranty with it, and also get a 20 year labor warranty with it. So yes, the building the top will be white. Maybe they can paint the walls blue or gray or something, you know, but it will bring the cost of the we've always had air conditioning problems there. So, it'll help out a lot, because we'll be reflecting the sun instead of attracting. That dark blue roof attracts the heat.

Chairman Beaty questioned the color being white. Mr. McKay explained to the Board the benefit of the color and the brand. 

After further discussion of the color of the roof, Chairman Beaty called upon the school principal and she stated that she would paint the building to better accommodate the white roof. Mr. McKay stated that he would check on other colors.

Dr. Cash ended the conversation by stating that the real purpose is to stop the water. This stops the water, and we have a 20 year warranty, so I think we're in good shape.
 

Discussion:  Dr. Corey Limburg, Principal of Ocoee Middle School - We are asking the Board for approval to accept a bid on cafeteria tables for Lake Forest and Ocoee Middle School. I believe you have the details in front of you in your board packet. But the highlights of those, we're looking at 41 total tables at Ocoee Middle School, 44 tables at Lake Forest, which is approximately 450 seats at Ocoee Middle and 520 seats at Lake Forest and that does include access full access, ADA compliant tables as well. That funding will be coming through school nutrition. We're asking for approval to accept the bid total for Lake Forest at $147,362, and the total at Ocoee Middle $129,904. And that was on state contract from synergy. And, we've worked with these reps and have done a great job at looking at maximizing our square footage in our cafeterias. Also helping us with sound, because you've walked through our middle school cafeterias, you know how those sound at different times. So these tables, the table designs were even taken into account as far as conversation tables, where they are not just an oval or rectangle, but they're actually designed so that students are talking to one another at these tables, so very pleased with that. And, I think Emily's done a great job on the research side of things. So we're asking for the board's approval to purchase those tables and accept the bid.

Ted Bryson - How old are the tables?

Dr. Limburg - Approximately 25 years old. Both schools have tables as old as 30 years old. And at this point, it's become a safety concern. The locking mechanisms when you fold them, many of those do not hold anymore. And, we've replaced over 120 seats on those tables in the last two years. So that gives you an idea where this is a desperate need.

Discussion:  Kyle Page - Thank you guys, Dr. Cash for the opportunity. In regards to the tennis courts, a quick full scale update after the investigation and review of the tennis court conditions at both Bradley Central and Walker Valley with the GC, Turf of America. subcontractor, school officials and our civil engineering consultant. A consensus was reached that remedies at Walker Valley were aesthetic in nature. There were both stability issues as well as aesthetic issues at Bradley Central High School. A plan of action to address the stability issues at Bradley Central were developed and directed by the civil engineer. And, we have an attachment of his reference, which includes the removal of 11 poles, replacement of them with larger diameter poles, add lateral support, mid rail sections between all three diameter poles, and re-dig and reset in concrete all loose poles not being replaced. The subcontractor executed that work the first week of October, going into fall break, on into that time. Generally, it was observed during the course of the work, over fall break, that the surface, subsurface conditions have improved considerably, a likely result of adding the drainage. Once concrete had a chance to set, the polls and fence are much more physically stiff than before. We have reviewed the conditions with BCHS admin as well as Turner Jackson, the athletic director there, and they have not expressed any concerns about the stability of the polls at this time. So the folks that came in and did the work left a little bit of a mess. I talked with Coach Jackson about that this morning, as well as Lee Murray.  Basically what it appears to have happened is when they were doing the fence project, they let water and some of that mix run across the court, so two of those courts have puddling where they let that water run across. I got on the phone with the general contractor this morning, and he will pay for the cleaning of those. We're going to try that first. Turner said please try to clean it first with pressure washing. If that does not work, then Lee is going to re-color those courts. And the general contractor of record will pay for those. So we feel like the poles are stiff, they left a little bit of a mess. They're going to try to clean that up and Lee will resurface it and the general contractor will pay for anything that needs to be completed. 

Ted Bryson - I understand there was a problem at Bradley High School. There was not a design problem with Walker Valley?

Kyle Page - Once they reviewed everything, after the walkthrough with everybody, the problem at Walker Valley is aesthetic. Meaning the polls are stiff, but the cracking at the top of the polls is aesthetic. It's basically the filler that was put over top of the concrete. So they can reapply that filler and plan to reapply that filler at Walker Valley where that filler has cracked around those polls, if that makes sense.

Dr. Lovingood - Couple of questions about this, because I have a couple concerns. One is a concern about the stability of the fencing with the poles. You know, when you have wind screens on a tennis court, you have wind screens, so the wind goes through it, and it doesn't affect the stability of the fencing and the posts. When I go to Bradley Central, I love the marketing fundraising, but we have we don't have wind shears, we have blocks of advertising on the fence, so it doesn't allow a wind to go through it. So what's going to happen, in the spring, when the wind picks up, we're gonna have a big kite up there on the tennis court, if we're not careful. And, it's going to make the fencing and the poles unstable again. So, what I would advise, I know we want marketing, but we also want the fencing stay stable.

Dr. Cash - We'll talk to Bradley Central about that and have them find a different place to put this. 

Kyle Page - So what the plan is, is when Lee comes to redo around the poles of Bradley, he also plans to go to Walker Valley, us clean out that stuff that's broken up, get all that cleaned out of there, and reapplied to firm everything back up and clean it all back up. That is the plan of action moving forward.

Nancy Casson - Areas that are holding water, they're not on the playing surface?

Kyle Page - No. So what happened as they were resetting, they pulled the loose poles out, repacking concrete, and when they were doing that, they took the hose and they're putting water back around. That water then went the way that the court was designed to take that water across it to the drainage areas. So you had concrete water going across the tennis surface. And they didn't run and clean it all the way through. They just left it, so then it dried with that concrete water. And so we're having to clean that back off. We're going to try to pressure wash it a little further without getting down into the surface. And then, if that cleans us up to where it needs to be great. If not, then Lee Murray is going to put them back on the schedule to reapply the service necessary and the general contractor will pay that price.

Nancy Casson - And about the windscreens, I think they could probably print advertising on the windscreens if we get real windscreens instead of just plastic up there. 

Dr. Jeff Lovingood - I agree with you, because it's just advertising on a metal type thing and I was worried because we're not gonna be able to go through it. It'll catch it. 

Dr. Cash - Madam Chair. I think I can speak for Mr. Spangler, but he has actually started switching to the signs that are windscreens.

Chairman Beaty - Is that an issue at Walker Valley?

Principal Dr. Belt - I think they just got blown away. The winds the wind comes through. 

Kyle Page - The wind screens are designed to break away with the break points, so don't take the whole structure with them. We've recommended not to have anything on those, just to create that force, but Walker Valley, last year, took some nasty winds up there. But thank you all for your help and support, and we're trying to mitigate and get this thing taken care of.
 

Discussion:  Susan Willcutt, Finance Director - Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening, Board. I have several amendments for you tonight. They are in line with what you normally see this time of year. If we can start with amendment number 12, this is where we have gotten approval in Eplan for the public school security grant that you guys have heard some information about. So basically, we are just amending that in, because we just got that approved in Eplan on 8/15. . . Number 13 is actually our voluntary pre-K. And again, this happens every year. This is the grant that is just a flow through for our system. This is not anything that we choose to spend, it is actually spent through the pre-k program. The funding comes through us, and then the pre-K program actually bills us and we are just a float through. So, this is something that happens every year. The next one is very similar. It's our after-school program. It's our BCU/21st Century program. Again, those funds do not get approved until after we've already presented our budget. So, we always have to amend that. And, the only one that's a little different is this last one. This is our Innovative School Models grant. It was actually awarded last year, but they chose to use last year as a planning year, so what we had to do is wait until year end, and then those funds all carried over. So, you can see it's a $3 million grant, all of that rolled, so none of that was spent last year. It's not a new award; it is a carryover award. So, that's why it's a little different from the other ones. Do you have any questions on any of those? Otherwise, I'd like to ask her approval for those amendments.

Discussion:  With no other items to discuss, Chairman Beaty adjourned the meeting.




                                                                      
Vicky Beaty, Chairman



                                                                      
Dr. Linda Cash, Director of Schools