Regular Meeting Minutes December 8, 2011 Members Present Charlie Rose, Chair, 7 th District Richard Baker, 1 st District Vicki Beaty, 2 nd District Christy Critchfield, 6 th District Rodney Dillard, 5 th District David Kelley, 3 rd District Troy Weathers, 4 th District The Bradley County Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, December 8, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. in the William R. Walker Board Room at the Administrative Office Building in Cleveland, Tennessee. Chairman Rose called the meeting to order, and the invocation was given by Joel Rogers, Youth Director with the Salvation Army. The Pledge of Allegiance was also conducted. 5063 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Weathers and seconded by Dr. Baker, it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Mr. McDaniel presented the Director of Schools Report. Highlights of the report included: --Black Fox Elementary School students performed Beauty and the Beast with over 100 students participating in the presentations. --Bradley Central High School JROTC students participated in competitions with the Academic Team scoring in the 85 th percentile. Both the Academic and Leadership Teams have advanced to Level II of the competition. --Hopewell Elementary School fifth grade classes participated in a service project to provide care packages to soldiers serving around the world. This project is in lieu of exchanging gifts with classmates. --Lake Forest Middle School teacher Carrie Guy received the Warren E. Shull Middle School Advisor of the Year award from the Tennessee Association of Student Councils. --Michigan Avenue Elementary School has been selected as a Tennessee Department of Education State Distinguished Title I School for 2011-2012. The award was received for significantly closing the achievement gap over the past two years. Each year four schools are recognized for this honor in Tennessee. --North Lee Elementary School has partnered with Johnston Coca-Cola to conduct recycling of plastics. Beta Club members will be responsible for the project with collection taking place during morning drop-off. --Oak Grove Elementary School has a mobile computer lab in operation. --Ocoee Middle School Student Council sponsored the annual Turkey Feather Contest. The school raised $3,800 and collected 678 canned food items for donation to local families and to provide Christmas gifts for needy students.
Page 2 --Park View Elementary School held a Veteran s Day Program recognizing service men and women. The Bradley Central JROTC provided a Color Guard and the school choir performed a selection of patriotic music. The program included a Skype with First Lt. Christopher Lawson from Kuwait. --Prospect Elementary School cafeteria served Thanksgiving lunch for 705 faculty, staff, students and guests. Trousdale Academy students provided assistance with the event. --The Taylor Elementary School Junior Beta Club organized a food drive which collected over 700 items. --Chrystal Stallings, Media Specialist at Valley View Elementary School, achieved National Board Certification. --Walker Valley High School received a 96.7 graduation rate on the 2011 Tennessee Report Card. --Waterville Community Elementary School participated in College for Me! for fifth grade students. The event was hosted by Cleveland State Community College. Mr. McDaniel reported that Bradley County Schools was in Good Standing on the Tennessee 2011 Annual Yearly Progress Report Card. Angie Lyon, KBJM, informed the board that the demo package for Blue Springs Elementary School will be put out for bids after the holidays. Ms. Lyon and Cason Conn, TriCon Construction, updated the board on reconstruction of the Michigan Avenue Gym. Work is underway and on schedule for an April completion date. Significant work will be done over the Christmas break when students are not present. The Executive Committee approved bids on November 15, 2011, to purchase new ovens at Bradley Central High School. It was necessary to move forward by executive approval in order to get the equipment on order for installation during the Christmas break. 5064 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Kelley and seconded by Ms. Critchfield, it was unanimously RESOLVED to ratify the Executive Approval to award the bid for two double stack ovens for Bradley Central High School to Supreme Restaurant Equipment in the amount of $18,615.54. Gary Austin, Transportation Supervisor, presented bids for a special education bus with funding from federal funds. Buses must be replaced after twelve years of service. Additional buses will be replaced in coming years as the replacement cycle is beginning. 5065 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Kelley and seconded by Mr. Dillard, it was unanimously RESOLVED to award the bid for a special education bus to Mid- South Bus Center in the amount of $55,443. Gary Austin, Transportation Supervisor, requested the transfer of bus routes #6 and #41. The transfer of routes will not exceed the limit of three routes per contractor.
Page 3 5066 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Kelley and seconded by Ms. Critchfield, it was unanimously RESOLVED to transfer bus route #6 from Linda Norton to Richard Norton and bus route #41 from Kenneth Baker to Anthony Poole. Mr. McDaniel presented the proposed 2012-2013 school calendar for approval. The calendar was previously presented to the board in a work session. The calendar represents as late a start possible while maintaining the completion of the first semester prior to the Christmas break. November 6 is an election day and will be used as a staff development day in order not to have students in the buildings on this day. Many schools are used as polling locations. Fall break was moved back one week to accommodate a change to the PSAT scheduled test date which will be on October 17. Mr. Weathers questioned the two abbreviated days during the last week of school. Mr. McDaniel explained that state rules and regulations allow for three abbreviated days in the calendar. It is recommended that these days be the first day of school, the beginning of Christmas break, and the last day of school. In keeping with teacher requests and in the best interest of transportation, the first day of school will continue to be a full day. This has worked well for the past several years. Due to many changes affecting teachers this past year, Mr. McDaniel recommended not eliminating the abbreviated days. The least impacting to the academic schedule was to place a second abbreviated day during the last week of school. 5067 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Weathers and seconded by Mr. Kelley, it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the 2012-2013 school calendar as presented. Rick Smith, Business Manager, presented a request for Board Contribution for Medical Insurance for Classified Retirees. Mr. Smith explained that currently medical insurance for certified retirees is paid by the board and by state funding. The request presented covers classified retirees in a similar manner with the employee paying a portion of the premium depending upon the number of years of full-time service to the school system and the type of insurance plan. Employees are eligible for retirement with thirty years of service or age 60. Cost for the plan presented is manageable within the budget. Mr. Weathers expressed that all employees should be treated equally. Ms. Beaty agreed that this was a good decision. 5068 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Kelley and seconded by Ms. Beaty, it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the request for board contribution for medical insurance for classified retirees as presented. Ms. Beaty suggested that in the future items such as #11 and #12 on the current agenda be discussed more in depth at a work session so that all board members would hear the same information in the same manner. Ms. Beaty said she contacted Mr. Smith and TSBA regarding these items but other board members did not hear first-hand the information provided. Chairman Rose presented three resolutions for board approval: Resolution Affirming Appointed Superintendents Resolution Opposing Publicly-Funded Vouchers for Private Schools Resolution Maintaining Board s Ability to Establish Academic Calendar
Page 4 Regarding appointed superintendents, Mr. Kelley encouraged the board to support the resolution based upon the business model which holds the appointed director of schools accountable to an elected board of education. 5069 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Kelley and seconded by Ms. Critchfield, it was unanimously RESOLVED to support the Resolution Affirming Appointed Superintendents. Mr. Kelley made a motion to table voting on the resolution opposing publicly-funded vouchers. He stated the resolution was only recently presented and he would like to hear both sides before making a decision, and he stated he would like to have input from the community in order to make an informed decision. The motion failed for lack of a second. Mr. McDaniel explained to the board that these resolutions had received the support of the TSBA Delegate Assembly in the November meeting in Nashville. Ms. Beaty commented that she would like more information about pending legislation and research which was mentioned in the resolution. Mr. Weathers commented that Tennessee is one of the lowest funded states in public education and Bradley County Schools is ranked near the bottom in regards to funding in Tennessee. He requested a roll call vote. Dr. Baker stated that philosophically he supported vouchers; however, I care about performance and vouchers don t work. In research I have done, students with vouchers do not perform any better. The research doesn t support vouchers. 5070 Upon motion duly made by Mr. Weathers and seconded by Ms. Critchfield, it was RESOLVED by roll call vote of six in favor and one abstain to support the Resolution Opposing Publicly-Funded Vouchers for Private Schools. Critchfield yes Rose yes Baker yes Weathers yes Beaty yes Dillard yes Kelley abstained Mr. McDaniel commented that the issue is with moving public education money to private schools. We run public schools. 5071 Upon motion duly made by Ms. Critchfield and seconded by Mr. Kelley, it was unanimously RESOLVED to support the Resolution Maintaining Board s Ability to Establish Academic Calendar. Chairman Rose offered support and praise for the school-based mobile clinic which was on site for an open house today. A doctor, nurse, and/or nurse practitioner will be available at the schools through the mobile clinic to provide services to students. The clinic will be piloted at Ocoee Middle School, Black Fox and Waterville Community Elementary Schools. Chairman Rose also reminded everyone of Christmas Memories sponsored by Brenda Lawson and associates to be held on Sunday, December 11 at Kmart beginning at 8 a.m.
Page 5 The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Charlie Rose, Board Chairman Johnny McDaniel, Director of Schools