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Across the Board – May 15, 2017

Published May 16, 2017

Students from across the county were honored for their achievements at the May 15, 2017, Williamson County Board of Education meeting. The Brentwood High Yearbook staff won first place at the Varsity Sports National Competition for Most School Spirited Yearbook. Their advisor is Katharine Urmy.

Preston Jonston from Ravenwood won the Tournament of Champions Public Forum Top Speaker Silver Division. His teachers are Elise Dirkes-Jacks and Brian Kaufman.

Several students won first place at the Tennessee High School Speech and Drama League State competition. Zaynah Ajmal from Brentwood won for TV Broadcasting. Her teacher is Harriet Medlin. Ravenwood students Kallen Fons won for Set Design and Madi Thomson won for Prose. Cailyn Goodbred and Matthew Goodbred and Yaseen Sharara and Joe Owens were Co-Champions for Public Forum Debate. Their teachers are Elise Dirkes-Jacks and Brian Kaufman. Austin Cushey from Summit won for State Senate Outstanding Speaker. His teacher is Jackie Zigelsky.

Ryan Tyler, Bethany Foust, Grant Perdue, Matthew Willoughby and Jack Burke from Brentwood TV and Film Class won the Tennessee Be In The Zone – Turn Off Your Phone BITZ PSA Contest. Their teacher is Ronnie Adcock.

Several students brought home first place from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences competition. From Brentwood Rachel Ault, Katie Hart, Stephanie Steel, Morgan Yoder, Ryan Tyler, Matthew Willoughby, Jack Burke and Reed Smith won Newscast; Ryan Tyler, JJ Blanton, Katie Hart and Morgan Yoder won the PSA category. Their teacher is Ronnie Adcock.

Franklin students Jacob Ferguson, Bryson Sams, Porter Edwards, Dante Cameron, Ryan Coke, Brandon Kelly, Jack Durham and Cole Winton won the Fiction category; Jacob Ferguson won the Arts and Entertainment, Cultural Affairs, Photographer and Writing categories. Their teacher is Keri Thompson.

William Putty from Ravenwood won the Animation/Graphics/Special Effects category. His teacher is Shane Showmake. Summit student Morgan Haymer won the Non-Fiction category. His teacher is Patrick Nichols.

Harlie Orr and Cassidy Berry from Fairview High earned Tennessee FFA Association State Degrees. Their teacher is David Harper.

Colin Anderson, Alison Dropp, Becca Lilly and Ella Tubbs from Spring Station won the Tennessee History Day Junior Group Exhibit. Christopher Harrod is their teacher. Pranav Saravanan Joe Roebuck, Sithara Samudrala, Saitheeraj Thatigotla, Leah Farmer, Vamsi Konjeti, Arshia Basutkar, Andrea Huang and Noelle Link from Ravenwood won the Tennessee History Day Senior Group Website. Andrew Elrod is their teacher.

Steele Schoebrel from Independence won the Rotary District 6760 Four Way Test State Speech Contest Winner. His teacher is Jezel Stanbridge.

In Staff Spotlights, Cassie Bates from Centennial was named the Mullane Geography Teacher of the Year.

In addition, the Board was treated to a musical performance prior to the meeting by members of the Independence High Declaration Singers under the direction of Sydney Shadrix.

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Mike Looney recognized three Central Office employees for their years of service with the district. Denise Goodwin was honored for 25 years of service while Carol Birdsong and Leslie Holman were recognized for 20 years of service. In addition, he called on Laurette Carle who introduced the 10 science educators who will be creating Open Education Resources for science during the 2017-18 school year.

In the Board Chairman’s Report, Gary Anderson reminded the Board of a number of school events and graduation ceremonies that they are invited to attend.

The Board approved a rezoning plan for the 2018-19 school year. The plan establishes the transportation zones for the elementary and middle school in Thompson’s Station and the elementary school in Brentwood. It also reflects additional changes. The approved maps will be on the district website by the afternoon on May 17, and a story will be featured in Friday’s InFocus.

In New Business, the Board:

  • Approved several budget amendments and resolutions for 2016-17 a Central Cafeteria Fund Budget amendment of $112,936 for commodities; a General Purpose School Fund Resolution of $575,000 in the Trustee Commission Line; a General Purpose School Fund Resolution of $366,400 in the Bus Driver Salary Line; a General Purpose School Fund Resolution of $250,000 for Workman’s Compensation Insurance Claims; a General Purpose School Fund Resolution for $60,000 in the SRO Officers Line; and a Cafeteria Fund Resolution of $470,000 from the Central Cafeteria Fund Balance to Complete the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year.
  • Approved two policies on first reading including Discipline Procedures for Classified Personnel and Student Clubs, Activities and Organizations.

In other business, the Board:

  • Approved recommended field trip fee requests.
  • Approved the Middle School Examinations policy on second reading.
  • Approved the ePlan Applications and Budgets for FY2018 School Federal Projects to include ESEA, IDEA, IDEA Pre-School, IDEA Discretionary Grant, Carl Perkins Basic Grant, CTE Perkins Reserve Grant, with Superintendent Authorizations
  • Approved the ePlan Application and Budget for FY2017 School Federal Project Read to be Ready Summer Grant for Fairview and Westwood Elementary Schools
  • Approved the Fairview High School Sign Replacement
  • Approved a Ravenwood High School Storage Shed at Baseball Field
  • Approved the Thompson’s Station Area Elementary & Middle School Smoke Evacuation System

The next regular meeting of the Williamson County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, June 19, 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; and select the meeting date. Supporting documents are linked from the agenda.