November 21, 2019 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Ted Bryson led the pledge to the flag.

Discussion:  Chairman Weathers asked that Item 4e Tenure Recommendations be pulled from the consent agenda. It will be moved to #14a.

Discussion:  No one signed up to address the Board.

Discussion:  Dr. Cash told the Board that the schools have been celebrating Thanksgiving over the last couple of weeks. The School Nutrition Department has served over 12,000 Thanksgiving meals and still have Prospect to go tomorrow. She thanked the cafeteria staffs at all schools for their hard work.

Discussion:  Commission Thomas Crye was recognized for being a champion for education in Bradley County. Dr. Cash told him that she and the Board appreciate him going Above and Beyond for schools, teachers, and students in Bradley County.

Discussion:  Jon Sermons presented a presentation to the Board about the softball fields at Lake Forest Middle School and Bradley Central High School.  He told them that in 2008 the softball field at Lake Forest was unplayable due to several safety issues.  They began raising money and asking for donations.  In 2010 they decided to rebuild the entire field.  The estimated cost to rebuild was $40,000.00.  They did it for $20,000.00 because they did the majority of the work.  With the new field, Lake Forest was able to play games at home.   Now, Mr. Sermons is wanting to go to work on Bradley's softball field.  He is estimating the changes would cost $5,750.00.  As of today, they have raised $4,200.00.  

Discussion:  Bradley County offers 28 pathways in 16 career clusters, Mrs. Robinson told the Board. Pathways are aligned with industry to provide high skill, high wage, and high demand career paths.

Discussion:  Bradley Central and Walker Valley mechatronics and nursing pathways were recognized as Excelling in Tennessee Certified Pathways.  Mrs. Robinson presented the teachers with an award for their hard work.  

Discussion:  Bradley's Future Farmers of America just won their 52nd consecutive year 3-star gold National Chapter Award and that is an incredible accomplishment, Mrs Robinson told the Board.  

Discussion:  Peter Ludman from Cope Architecture updated the Board on the additions for Black Fox and North Lee Elementary schools. He showed them drawings of where the additions would go on the property. There are complications that we can work through at both sites, he told the Board. The additions at both schools are 4 classrooms, 2 restrooms with 4 toliets with access to the existing school and the new addition. The restrooms will be between the buildings. Amanda Lee ask if the area where the restrooms will be located could be widened to the the same or closer to the building width.  Mr. Ludman told her that would be possible but it might cause additional cost. The complication at Black Fox is that a playground is presently in the addition spot so it will need to be moved. At North Lee an electrical line is the complication.  Both can be taken care of without much problem.

Discussion:  Mr. Stevenson brought some pictures to show the progress being made on the gym at LFMS.   They showed the brick work, new panels on the upper portion, and a new store front entrance.  He updated the Board with the time line to complete the project.  The roofing, new wallpanels and guttering will be completed by December 9th (weather permitting).  The painting of the towers and louvers will begin December 9th and take about a 1 1/2 weeks to finish.  Caulking and masonry cleanup will begin after December 9th and the project should be complete by Christmas.   Mr. Stevenson reported that he was waiting on numbers from Integrated Concrete for the upgrade to the cafeteria.  They will get back with him after the Thanksgiving Break.  The grand opening will take place in the spring after all the work is complete.  

Discussion:  Kyle Page introduced the architects for PIE.  Mark Wynnemer and David Hudson from ArTech.  They brought a powerpoint to show the design work for the PIE center to the Board.  Mr. Wynnemer told them that they are excited to help bring the vision of parternships between education and industry to life by taking the old American Uniform building and creating a physical reality of what you are trying to achieve. The slides show what the outside of the building will look like, where the entrances are, parking, the new gymatorium and additions to the building to accomidate an elavator to the 2nd floor.  They are trying to capture elements of the old building in their design.  They showed the "swamp area" and what it will look like.  Mr. Dillard asked what will happen with the water that has been gathering there.  When the ground is dug back, a trench will be installed to send the water to the storm sewer system, Mr. Wynnemer told him.  The building will house GOAL Academy, a gymatorium, commerical, business offices, and training facilities all under one roof.  ArTech's scope of work is a warm dark shell.  The utilities will be stubbed and the tentents will come in and build out their own spaces.  A construction manager is being hired and that will help us move into where our stop is and their start is and into contractual form, Mr. Page told the Board.  Any project that includes a school must go to the state fire marshals office.  We met with the state fire marshal and determined this building is a Type 1-B, Mr. Wynnemer told the Board.  If we go with Type 1-B, we don't have to put fire walls between the different types of tennants.  The state fire marshal reviewed and told them that if they do this don't have fire walls for the school, they will review the whole building.  That means that every tennants drawings will have to go to the state fire marshal to be review.  As tennants come and go, all will have to be reviewed.  He told the Board that there is an administrative clause in the state fire marshal's rules that states if there is a 2 hour fire barrier between a school and any other uses, they will stop their review there.  This will add cost but over the life of the building it will save time and money or they are planning on going this way.  There is a pre submittal meeting in 2 weeks with the city and they will see if they concer with the state fire marshal.  Mr. Weathers ask how the GOAL students will access the gym.  Mr. Page explained that they will exit the building and go to the gym.  Many of the Board members had concerns about these students exiting the building.  From the fact that there are no sidewalks or awnings, to students walking in and around big trucks and equipment on the property.  Mr. Hudson explained that there had been conversations about not wanting students to be able to go into the building from the classroom.  It was agreed that they would look into other ways to get the students from the classroom to the gym. 

Discussion:  Dr. Cash ask the Board for a location to have the Board retreat. Johnston Wood was suggested and the date of January 25th. Nancy Casson will contact them to see if it is available.