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

The Lewis County Board of Education met in regular session on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lewis County Board of Education board meeting room located at 206 South Court Street, Hohenwald. 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. Dr. Tracy McAbee, Director of Schools, joined the group via Zoom meeting.

The invocation was given by Johnny Clayton. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Blake Farr. Chair Atkinson called Lewis County Trap Team coach, Adam Clark, before the board and asked him to recognize the trap team members. Mr. Clark told the trap members and board members that Angela Leigh wanted them to know how much she regretted not being able to attend the meeting tonight. Mr. Clark explained that Mrs. Leigh was the main person to get the trap team started in Lewis County. As Mr. Clark called each member out, he told of the accomplishments that they had made this year. Coach Clark also made a special recognition of the members that were on the academic team.

Chair Atkinson called Raegan Murphy, Lewis County High School student, to present her presentation of Anti-Bullying. She stated that she started her campaign to make awareness to bullying in schools and has sent several packets to schools across Tennessee. She stated that it is her goal to get anti-bullying information into the elementary schools across the state. She also explained the purpose to the Stand for Silence program. She encouraged everyone to work together to get this goal accomplished.

Chair Atkinson opened the floor for public input. Nancy McDonald stated that she sat on this board two years ago and that transparency was a very big problem. She stated that she was here to ask about the 1.5 million dollars that had been found and was the school board aware of this before the money was discovered. How was this money found and by whom was it discovered and are you continuing to look for more money that could possibly be hidden or misappropriated by the past administration. Do you as a board know where this money will be used or going to put it and will the public get the answers. Chair Atkinson asked Dr. McAbee if he would like to address this matter. Dr. McAbee stated he would first like to recognize Penelope Tharp, Michaelena Kelly and Mylie McKissack who help on the federal projects and the wonderful job that they do. Dr. McAbee stated that first of all we have not found any money in the GP at all. He explained that what he did was he got the administrators, academic coaches, and supervisors together and that the school must reapply for the ESSR 2 and ESSR 3 funds and know how to spend. He further explained that the group went through the funds and Ms. McKissack went line item by line item and where that money was approved for last year. He stated that they went across the room at the meeting asking if there were different kinds of needs.

Dr. McAbee explained that within the line item there was 1.2 million dollars in ESSR 3 funds that were put aside for the new high school. He asked that since that has been put on hold is there another way that we need to spend the 1.2 million dollars. He stated that he had typed up a lot of the ideas that had been discussed in the meeting and then I sent this information to the board to let them know of where we were at. He stated that they were looking at all of the different ideas of how to spend these funds and how it needed to be used before 2024. Dr. McAbee stated that he would not say that this money was found because it was in the ESSR narrative and that this one was pulled out because it may not be needed because of the Hewlett Spencer issue that has put us in a bind with building the new high school. Dr. McAbee stated that he can address any other questions if needed. Ms. McDonald asked Dr. McAbee if the board was aware of this and were they told about this money prior to last week’s meeting. Dr. McAbee stated that he had an idea that there were people who had an input as to where this money went. He further explained that there were only certain places that this money could be placed into the ESSR fund balance. He stated that Lewis County wanted to put 20% of the ESSR 3 money toward academic achievement and 80% toward capital projects. Dr. McAbee stated he was sure that this was made known because it had to be presented to the state and if they went line item by line item, he did not know that information. Ms. McDonald asked if it was voted by. Chair Atkinson explained that the one million dollars was voted on and set aside for the furniture for the new high school. Chair Atkinson stated that they did not receive a line-by-line item, but the board was aware of the one million set aside for the furniture. She further stated that there is a little over $600,00 set aside for the Intermediate School Window replacements and the school still did not know what was going to happen with these funds yet. Ms. McDonald asked what date this was voted on. Chair Atkinson stated that she did not know the exact dates. Ms. Himes and Mr. Cotham stated that the board minutes could be pulled to find out this information.

Consent Agenda

Upon motion by Mrs. Dyer and seconded by Mr. Cotham, the consent agenda was unanimously approved.

Approved previous minutes from the July 12, 2022, board meeting.

Adopted agenda

Regular Agenda

Director’s report

Dr. McAbee stated that he would like to give a big shout out to the trap team and to Ms. Murphy for her anti-bullying campaign. He also wanted to give a big thanks to Mr. Hildenbrandt and Mr. Trull for making it possible to set up the zoom meeting. He stated that the school year has started out very well and he wanted to thank the bus drivers and mechanic, cafeteria staff, custodians, school office staff, teachers’ assistants, teachers, administrators, SRO’s, central office staff, and maintenance staff. We have football and volleyball starting and appreciate the work of the coaches and the substitute teachers that are available. The Ayers Foundation and community sponsors have been great. The opening ceremonies were great this year. He acknowledged Ms. Dyer and Ms. Atkinson for attending the opening ceremonies. Dr. McAbee mentioned that Commissioner of Education Ms. Schwinn was at the Lewis County Schools on Friday, August 5, 2022. He stated that sadly, we will be losing two fine men from the board after the meeting tonight. Dr. McAbee expressed his appreciation for their guidance and support while they served on the board. He then welcomed Ms. Pollock and Mr. Mitchell to the board.

• Dr. McAbee informed the board members that he had received the drawings of the new high school and that he had asked Mr. Trull to bring them over to the meeting tonight so that people would know that we do have those now.

• Dr. McAbee stated that the school is in the process of getting bids for the keyless entries for the schools. He stated that he has met with City Mayor Danny McKnight and Chief of Police Kip Kelsey, Sheriff Dwayne Kilpatrick and the SROs with this project. He stated that he is looking at some radios they will only be for the schools and goes directly to dispatch and these can be quite high in price.

• Dr. McAbee stated that he has been looking into the ESSR funds. He stated that he had sent the board members a list of some of the things that are needed after he met with the supervisors last week .He advised the board that if they had any questions about the ESSR money that they need to get them to him soon because the school will be able to send in the addendums on August 15th to the ESSR funds.

• Dr. McAbee said that he has had some questions about the stockpile days. He stated that we get 13 stockpiled days, and they can be used for many things such as professional development, parent-teacher conference, and weather-related issues. At this time, he turned the discussion over to board member Lindsey Himes. She stated that it had been brought to her attention around the first of the summer that we have support staff that are only being given 3 of those stockpiled days. She stated that she took this matter before Dr. McAbee and asked him if there was anything that the board could do to make this fair across the board for all staff. She stated that when Dr. McAbee got back in touch with her he stated that some of our employees only received 3 stockpile days and when these are used and if any more inclement weather days were used then the employees had to pay this back at the end of the year. He stated that understood the cost savings measures that had been in place but what he could not understand was why we could not take care of these employees also in the event the district is closed. They are employees of ours and are missing work of not fault of their own and if the district were open then they would be here ready to work. Ms. Himes further stated that Dr. McAbee let her know that as the Director of the schools that he has the authority to decide on how many stockpiled days the support staff can received. Ms. Himes stated that we both agreed that if it is not safe for employees to be at work then all staff members should be treated fairly. So, with that being said, let it be known that effective this school year all employees will receive the same about of stockpiled days. In the event that we go over the number of allotted days, then that will be discussed at that time. Dr. McAbee added that a lot of private business can offer incentives to their employees to show their appreciation. He further stated that this is not done in public education and deal with tax dollars and want to make sure that this is given as much as possible to the students in the school system, but he thought that this would be another way to show the employees how much they are appreciated.

• Dr. McAbee stated that he is still working with Mr. Heath with the Hewlett Spencer situation. He stated that he had talked with Mr. Heath today and Mr. Heath stated that he had sent the letter to Hewlett Spencer’s lawyers about three weeks ago and the had 30 days to respond. That only leaves about one week left for Hewlett Spencer to respond to the letter that was sent by Mr. Heath. Dr. McAbee informed the board that they would definitely have say so into this matter. Ms. Couch asked Dr McAbee if he had a copy of the letter that was sent. He stated that he did not have one and that he would request a copy of the letter.

• Chair Atkinson asked Dr. McAbee about the progress on the Intermediate school roof. Dr. McAbee stated that he has not been able to get over to the school to see what progress has been made. He said that he thought that the biggest majority of the work on the roof has been completed. Dr. McAbee asked Mr. Trull to please give an update on the roof. Mr. Trull stated that he had been in contact with Kevin Turner last week and that the equipment out in front of the intermediate school would be moved and the work on the front would be completed by Thursday. The equipment is still there, and the work has not been completed. Mr. Trull stated that he has texted Mr. Turner, and he is waiting on another response. Dr. McAbee assured the board that they would be contacting Mr. Turner at least twice a week.

• Employed Elizabeth Redmon, 3rd grade teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Landree Carroll, 2nd grade teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Ashley Pennington, 4th grade teacher, to be effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Vanessa Stephenson, High School Science, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Dr. Justin Barden, High School Principal, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Christina Franks, High School Special Ed teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Tiffany Boyd, High School CDC Paraprofessional, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Jessica Stacy, Intermediate school Special Ed. Paraprofessional, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Delana Bean, Intermediate school paraprofessional, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Diana Runions, Middle School secretary, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Melissa Sparks, LCIS 5th grade teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Felicia Cross, LCMS full-time cafeteria worker, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Karsynn Rowell, LCMS full-time cafeteria worker, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Catlin Pollock, LCES Kindergarten teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Heather Whitlow, LCMS 8th grade math, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Paris Thompson, Part-time teacher, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Joseph Slaughter, LCHS Personal Finance/Civics, effective August 2, 2022.

• Employed Tabitha Dickerson, LCHS Math, effective August 2, 2022.

• Accepted the resignation of Bethany Keltner, LCMS 8th grade math, effective July 20, 2022,

• Accepted the resignation of Sabrina Baker, 5th grade teacher, effective July 22, 2022.

• Accepted the resignation of Wyatt Stockdale, LCMS Band Director/Music teacher, effective July 25, 2022.

• Transferred Jo Ellen Johnston from LCMS Special Ed. Teacher to LCIS Special Ed. Teacher effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Brice Van Hook from LCHS Special Ed. Teacher to LCMS Special Ed Teacher effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Alexis Bailey from LCIS 4th grade teacher to LCES 2nd grade teacher effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Christa Staggs from LCMS 6th grade Science teacher to LCIS 4th grade teacher effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Stacy Smith from LCHS counselor to LCHS Assistant Principal, effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Brandi Feichtinger from LCMS Principal to LCHS counselor effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Amanda Natschke from LCES Kindergarten teacher to LCMS 6th grade science teacher effective August 2, 2022.

• Transferred Adam Clark, LCHS Personal Finance/Civics/ to LCMS Principal effective August 2, 2022.

• Approve FMLA leave for John Spears, Full-time bus driver, effective August 4, 2022, through September 16, 2022.

• Chair Atkinson asked Ms. Powers to give the COVID report. Ms. Powers stated that there was less than 5 cases system wide.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS- There was no unfinished business to discuss.

New Business

Upon motion by Mr. Farr and seconded by Mr. Clayton, item a) was unanimously approved by the board members.

a) Volunteer coaches

• Jyles Bratcher Clayton-Football coach

• Bo Shelton- Football coach

• Rick Stevens- Softball coach

b) Resolutions of Commendation

WHEREAS Johnny Clayton has served as a member of the Lewis

County Board of Education from September 2018 until September 2022 and,

WHEREAS, he has rendered good and faithful service to this county as a member of said Board, and.

WHEREAS his wise counsel and good judgment will be greatly missed.

NOW THEREFORE, the Lewis County Board of Education composed of Chair Glenda Atkinson, Cassie Couch, Derek Cotham, Paula Dyer,

Blake Farr, Lindsey Himes, Jack Holt, and Phyllis Townsend, assembled on this day of August 9, 2022, hereby expresses its sincere appreciation concerning the service of this good person. It is hereby authorized that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the school board.

WHEREAS Blake Farr has served as a member of the Lewis County Board of Education from September 2019 until September 2022 and,

WHEREAS, he has rendered good and faithful service to this county as a member of said Board, and.

WHEREAS his wise counsel and good judgment will be greatly missed.

NOW THEREFORE, the Lewis County Board of Education composed of Chair Glenda Atkinson, Vice Chair Johnny Clayton, Cassie Couch, Derek Cotham, Paula Dyer, Lindsey Himes, Jack Holt, and Phyllis Townsend, assembled on this day of August 9, 2022, hereby expresses its sincere appreciation concerning the service of this good person. It is hereby authorized that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the school board.

Announcements

Chair Atkinson said that the board would like to send their condolences to Justin Slaughter in the recent death of his father and to Melissa Sparks in the recent death of her father.

Chair Atkinson announced that the board’s checks will be mailed out by the end of the week.

Chair Atkinson announced that Mayor Keltner had sent her a message to let the newly elected board members that the swearing in ceremony will be held at the courthouse on August 25, 2022, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Adjournment

Upon motion by Mrs. Dyer and seconded by Mrs. Himes, the meeting was adjourned at 6:34 p.m.