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Across the Board – February 20, 2017

Published February 21, 2017

A record breaking number of National Merit Finalists were honored during the regular meeting of the Williamson County School Board February 20, 2017.

A record 46 students earned the national honor including Brentwood High’s Andrew Brown, Shirley Cai, Sarah Dillender, Matthew Donahue, Abigail Ezell, Riley Graves, Joseph Gripenstraw, Brooke Horesh, Chirag Kaushik, Arjun Keerthi, Sophie Khomtchenko, Shreyas Kumar, Justin Lambright, Aleya Prasad, Alexander Qin, Richard Sheng, Harry Westbrook and Emma Young. Other National Merit Finalists include David Price and Daniel Seifferth, Centennial; Caleb Patrick, Tian Geng and Kelli Kee, Franklin; Harold LaCroix, Liam Spoletini, Evelyn Teeple and Evelyn Williams, Independence; Hunter Spivey and Olivia Snow, Page; and Emily Berexa, Jared Boggs, Kurt Erickson, Garrett Foran, Cailyn Goodbred, Theodore Grosson, Preston Johnston, Young-Rae Kim, Ashley Klee, Adriana Kurowski, Jerry Lu, Jessica Mixon, Daniel Nicastro, Alyssa Parker, Alexandra Plukis, Kathryn Rigsby and Dalton Shaub, Ravenwood.

In athletics, four athletes won individual state titles during the TSSAA State Wrestling tournament. Franklin High’s Jack Shrader won in the Division I-AAA 126 boys weight class. His coach is Frank Barbrie. Independence High’s Isaiah Demello won in Division I-AAA boys 220 weight class, and Zanaya Shropshire won in the girls 185 weight class. Their coach is Jared Grindstaff. Page High’s Houston Tywater won in the Division I-A-AA 182 weight class. His coach is Benji Gray.

In addition, Brentwood High’s Brodey Hasty was named the 2017 Gatorade Tennessee Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. His coach is Billy Anderson.

In the arts, many students across the district were honored for earning Gold Key awards from Scholastic Art and Writing including Brentwood Middle’s Caroline Southard-Smith in the category of Drawing and Illustration. Her teacher is Maggie Tucker. Brentwood High’s Jenna Lowe won the American Vision Award and a Gold Key Award for Drawing and Illustration, and her teacher is Lindsey Quitmeier. Katherine Jones won for Sculpture and her teacher is Heather McHugh.

In addition, Centennial High’s Jamie Gim won for Drawing and Illustration. Her teacher is Nichole Guerrini. Franklin High’s Ashlyn Anderson and Lindsey Heath won for Drawing and Illustration. Their teachers are Rachel Berzina and Mike Boyle. Independence student Karissa Selby won for Photography and Art Portfolio. Her teacher is Stephanie Prewitt. Cami Vollmer won for Printmaking, and Ethan Valk won for Drawing and Illustration. Their teacher is Andrea Howard. Page High’s Alyssa Dinkins and Olivia Snow both won for Drawing and Illustration, and their teacher Sharon Johnson. Ravenwood High’s Johnny Park won for Drawing and Illustration, and his teacher is Wendy Watts. Summit High’s Emily Turner won two awards for Drawing and Illustration, and Brandon Nurczyck won for Drawing and Illustration. Their teacher is Beth Affolter. Matthew Parris won for Photography, and his teacher is Warne Riker.

Thanks to the Woodland Middle School Brass Quintet under the direction of Jay McCulley. The group performed prior to the meeting.

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Mike Looney told the Board that he would continue to work to get funding for a number of construction projects. He also told the group that the district’s student attendance rates are still running close to normal with adult absenteeism seeing a higher rate.

In the Board Chairman’s Report, Gary Anderson reminded the Board that that Strategic Plan meetings begin Tuesday at Independence, followed by a meeting February 28 at Fairview Middle, March 7 at Nolensville High and March 9 at Ravenwood. All meetings will run from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. He also encouraged all to attend the Fine Arts Festival on March 4 at The Factory.

In New Business, the Board:

  • Approved a General Purpose School Fund amendment for $27,000 from Middle Tennessee State University to cover the costs of WCS teachers who teach dual credit career and technical education courses.
  • Approved two General Purpose School Fund resolutions including a resolution for $379,190 for 40 additional special education teaching assistants, and a resolution for $1,450,000 for seven replacement and six growth regular buses and four growth special education buses.
  • Approved open zoned schools for 2017-18.
  • Approved the family tuition rates for 2017-18 including an employee rate of $3850 and a premium charge of $6,418 for families moving into the district but have not established residency within the county.
  • Approved school fees for 2017-18. Voluntary fees at the elementary level include a $25 materials fee and a $5 recorder fee. At the middle and high school levels, fees are determined by courses and activities.

In Other Business, the Board:

  • Approved recommended field trip fee requests.
  • Approved two policies on second reading including Retirement, Sick Bank-Teacher, and during Unfinished Business approved the Dress Code policy which will take effect in 2017-18.
  • Approved construction of a shade structure at Hunters Bend Elementary School.
  • Approval construction of a Ravenwood High School stadium entrance arch.
  • Approved discontinuation of participation in AdvancEd accreditation.

The next regular meeting of the Williamson County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, March 27, 2017, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Administrative Complex.

Board packet information can be found on the school district’s website old.wcs.edu. Select About WCS; select Board Meeting Schedule; select the meeting date; and then select Agendas. Supporting documents are linked from the agenda.