Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

The Lewis County Board of Education met in a regular called session on Tuesday, November 9 at 6:00 p.m. at the Lewis County Board of Education Board Meeting Room located at 206 South Court Street. All board members were present: Chair Glenda Atkinson, Vice-Chair Johnny Clayton, Derek Cotham, Cassie Couch, Paula Dyer, Blake Farr, Lindsey Himes, Jackie Holt, and Phyllis Townsend.

The invocation was given by Billy Dyer. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mrs. Couch.

Consent agenda

Upon motion by Mrs., Himes and seconded by Mr. Farr, the Consent Agenda was approved:

• Approved minutes of the October 12, 2021, regular called meeting.

• Adopted agenda

Director’s report

• Employed Jerri Henson, LCHS full-time custodian, effective October 11, 2021.

• Employed Karen Kendrick, LCMS Paraprofessional, effective October 18, 2021.

• Employed Cynthia Crigger, full-time bus driver, effective October 18, 2021.

• Accepted the letter of retirement from Terry Whittenberg, Family Resource Center Director, effective December 31, 2021.

• Approved leave of absence for Jerri Henson, LCHS full-time custodian, effective November 1, 2021 through unknown.

• Accepted resignation of Carolyn Hargrave, LCMS full-time custodian, effective October 25, 2021. Ms. Hargrave later rescinded her resignation and returned to work on November 1, 2021.

• Transferred Maci Dodson from substitute teacher to LCES Special Education Paraprofessional effective November 1, 2021.

• Transferred Kaci Meek, LCES Special Education Paraprofessional, to LCMS CDC paraprofessional effective October 25, 2021.

• Director Pace asked Sasha Powers to give the most recent COVID report. She stated that there were 15 covid cases in Lewis County and four students and one staff member who are positive in the school system.

• Mr. Pace informed board members that he and some of the school staff met with representatives from the Ayers Foundation recently. He asked Mylie McKissack to give a report on this meeting. Ms. McKissack explained that the TRAIN organization partners with the Ayers Foundation who also partners with NIET which is providing a professional learning partnership with the schools. This partnership will help with a supplemental resource for the developmental needs for our teachers. Karen Marklein, who is Lewis County’s representative, met with the principals, central office staff, and then she went out to each school and met with the teachers and asked the teachers what their professional learning needs were. Ms. Marklein will take the information that she received from our teachers, and we will partner with her to come up with the professional development needs for our teachers.

• Mr. Pace asked Pat Couch to give a report on the follow-up report for Lewis County High School graduates. Each board member received a handout from the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation Outreach Specialist showing the follow-up on 2020 and 2021 high school graduates. She informed board members that as of 2016, schools are no longer required to follow up with every student that graduates. She explained that she had talked with the Ayers representative at the high school and high school principal, Stacy Graves, about the follow-up plans. She stated that they both indicated with the next graduating class that they would be doing follow-up reports for all graduates. She further explained the process of keeping track of concentrators.

• Director Pace stated he wanted to publicly recognize the Intermediate School as being a rewards school. He stated that the state told that some of our TCAP tests were not in the count that we recently received. After calculating those test scores into our scores, the Intermediate School was designated as a REWARDS school. He reminded everyone that the high school is also a REWARDS school. He commended everyone’s hard work and making an effort keeping the students in the classroom last year.

• Mr. Pace informed board members that he attended the School Funding Summit in Murfreesboro on November 3, 2021. The new state funding formula would be a student-based funding formula. The current BEP funding is a resource-based funding formula. The new formula would establish a base cost for funding for each student’s education. After the base is established, there would be a weighted dollars amount for student needs outside the norm. After the total dollar amount for each school is sent then the district would have some flexibility in how those dollars are spent. This funding formula will not be put into place until after next year. He stated that the assistant commissioner of education will be coming to Lewis County on December 9, 2021, to see what the county’s funding needs are.

• Director Pace informed board members that he and Mr. Trull had met with Kevin Turner, consultant for Stephen Ward and Associates, Inc., on Monday, November 8, 2021, and Mr. Turner still does not have a solution for the replacement of the Intermediate School windows. Mr. Turner informed them that he has been in contact with Columbia Glass Company and that they would be able to do the project for $340,000. Mr. Pace explained that there were several exclusions from Columbia Glass for the job specs that he would not accept. These exclusions included replacing the windows from outside, no inside clean up, and no repairs to flashing of the roof. Mr. Turner stated he was going to be in contact with another contractor that he thought would be able to replace the windows and fix the flashing on the roof. Director Pace stated that he was willing to give him another chance to find another company to replace the windows and if this was not successful then he would consult with the school’s attorney about getting out of the contract with Mr. Turner, paying his fees and going another route to find someone to do the project. Board members agreed to give Mr. Turner another chance and hopefully there would be something to report at the next board meeting.

• Mr. Pace informed board members that he had talked with Vance Hamilton of the USDA about the new high school. He stated that they were waiting on the final drawing to see how much money would be available for the school to receive for the construction of the new high school. He informed board members that as of now, the projected date of March 2022 is to break ground with a completion date of July 2023 for the new high school.

Unfinished Business – There was no unfinished business to discuss.

New Business

Upon motion by Mr. Farr and seconded by Mr. Holt item (a) under new business was unanimously approved by the board.

a) Submission of Compliance Report, certification of compliance with all Tennessee statutes and State Board of Education rules.

Item (b) under new business was dismissed.

b) Intermediate School Windows

Announcements

Chair Atkinson reminded everyone to keep Jill Selby and Amanda Matteson in their prayers for the recent loss of their fathers.

Chair Atkinson announced that the next regular monthly meeting is scheduled for December 14, 2021. She stated that Mrs. Leigh had been in contact with Adam McInnes about the band coming to play prior to the meeting and that the annual Christmas dinner would follow in the Middle School Cafeteria.

Adjournment

Upon motion by Mrs. Dyer and seconded by Mrs. Townsend, the meeting adjourned at 6:42 p.m.