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Across the Board – August 18, 2014

Published August 19, 2014

The Williamson County Board of Education celebrated students and staff at its first meeting of the 2014-15 school year on Monday, August 18. From Ravenwood, Sruthi Madhu was selected to represent Tennessee at Girls Nation. The third year in a row that a Ravenwood student has represented the state at Girls Nation.

A number of students excelled on language exams at the national level. Franklin student Louanne Maes placed first on the National Level 2 French Exam. Her teacher is Allison Nixon. There was a tie for first place on the National Level 2 German Exam between Brentwood student Andrew Eledge whose teacher is Emily Dawson and Ravenwood student Ben Thieme whose teacher is Jonathan Sawyer. Brentwood student Angela Caprio placed first on the National Level 4 German Exam. Her teacher is Emily Dawson. Ravenwood’s Haiz Webb won first place on the National Level 1 Latin Exam. His teacher is Jason Nabors. Brentwood’s Chiraag Kaushik, whose teacher is Rebecca Roa, and Independence’s Lucas Marques, whose teacher is Jennifer Jezierny, tied for first place on the National Level 2 Spanish Exam. Brentwood students Akash Oza placed first on the National Level 5 Spanish Exam, and Kimberly Eddleman placed first on the National Level 6 Spanish Exam. Their teacher is Ron Thompson.

Page High students Wilson Cochrane, Brock Bolton, Ben Wilt and Jacob Albert and Juhi Pathak presented the colors and performed the National Anthem during the opening ceremony of the Technology Student Association National Conference. Their teachers are Beth Foreman and Jimmy Baker.

In Staff Spotlights, Brentwood High teacher Jan Little received The Don Jenkins Award for Excellence in the Teaching of English.

In School Spotlights, both Page High and Franklin High won the High Schools That Work Platinum High Achievement Award, the highest award SREB offers.

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Looney shared that the district continued to break its own records as ACT results would be released on Wednesday. He also recognized outgoing School Board members and thanked them for their service. They include Janice Mills, Tim McLaughlin, Cherie Hammond, Pat Anderson, Eric Welch and Vicki Vogt.

In the Board Chairman’s Report, Pat Anderson thanked the outgoing Board members for their service, and she shared memories of former teacher and staff member Eugene Wade who passed away last week.

In New Business, the Board:

  • Approved the deletion of three policies on first reading including Equipment and Supplies Records, Transportation Records and Demonstrations and Strikes.
  • Approved four 2014-15 General Purpose Budget Amendments including $28,000 for CTE child care equipment; $37,317 from a Verizon grant to be used for professional development; $42,500 from the United Way’s Raise Your Hand initiative for tutors at Bethesda, Hillsboro,
  • College Grove, Allendale and Chapman’s Retreat; and $75,000 from the State LEAP grant for after school tutoring at Centennial High.
  • Approved three 2014-15 Intra-category transfers including $221,000 for renovation at Renaissance High; $25,000 for classroom renovations at Scales Elementary; and $9,000 for restructuring in the Communications Department.
  • Approved two 2014-15 Budget resolutions that must also be approved by the County Commission including $638,784 for 10 additional teachers and a resolution for $150,000 for additional portable classrooms.

In other business, the Board:

  • Approved recommended field trip fee requests.
  • Deleted seven policies on second reading including School Board Goal and Mission Statement, Officers-Method of Elections, Staff Involvement, Public Involvement, Local Government Involvement, Student Involvement and Publication of Recommendations.
  • Approved one police on first reading, Policy Development.
  • Approved the School Board agenda for 2014-15.
  • Approved School Board meeting dates for 2014-15.
  • Approved Sick Leave Bank Trustees for 2014-15.
  • Approved Board Parameters for the 2015-16 calendar.
  • Approved outstanding purchase orders for school activity funds.
  • Approved the 2015 IDEA, Part B, Discretionary Grant.
  • Approved the Crossroads Bible Church lease at Independence High.
  • Approved construction of a storage building at Trinity Elementary.
  • Approved the construction bid for Mill Creek Elementary and Mill Creek Middle.

The next regular meeting of the Williamson County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, September 15 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Administrative Complex.