Summary of the Collierville Schools Board of Education business meeting. Full board present, except for Mrs Chism (vacation).

Large crowd in attendance at the start of the meeting in part due to the teacher tenure reception.

Recognition of Sycamore Elementary with a performance of the school’s Chorus Lion. Mr Aitken did not seem amused by their Snow song…

Tennessee Education Association (TEA) presentation presenting their president’s award to State Representative (and School Board Member) Kevin Vaughan for his leadership in the State Legislature in the spring of 2018 in regards to the TN Ready testing issues.

No Public Comment

Approval of agenda, previous meeting’s minutes, and December 2018 financial reports.

Chairman’s update:

  • Mr Hansen asked Mr Vaughan to provide a legislative update. Mr Vaughan described the committee structures and some key members, a lot of whom are from the immediate area. Upcoming priorities will be to watch out for school voucher and school safety issues, which are expected to be prominent topics.
  • Election Day today for State Senate district 32.
  • School Board Appreciation Week – gift baskets from various schools – much appreciated.

Superintendent’s Update:

  • Reminder to the attendees that items before the board today have been discussed in the working session two weeks prior.
  • Tenure will be granted today.
  • Teachers of year per grade band announced today: Michelle Miller (BSES), Mark Beadle (WCMS), Myles Beaupre (CHS).
  • New Commissioner of Education has been appointed by the new Governor
  • Crosswind Elementary received a donation for their playground from Zach Cozart an MLB player who is a Crosswind alumn.
  • No work session on 2/14; Will be combined with business meeting of 2/28.
  • Expressing appreciation for school board members.
  • Looking at Board Retreat to be scheduled in near future – locations and dates/times will be proposed to the board.

Business Items – all unanimously approved:

  • Teacher Tenure Approval.
  • Textbook Selection Committee. Recommended selections will be before the board for approval in April.
  • Non-resident student attendance policy updates. Removes reference to count of Collierville Schools (used to say ‘eight’). This does not set limits or specific conditions for students, those are annually set by the Superintendent.
  • Closing out contract on fixed seating in CHS gym. Cost overrun of $18k due to water damage – this has been reimbursed by insurance.
  • Closing out contract on athletic and PE lockers.
  • Closing out contract on kitchen equipment, including concession stands and the culinary arts classrooms. Cost increase by approx $57k that covers three approved change orders for the athletic concession stand equipment.
  • Distributed Antenna System – needed for bidirectional radio services for first responders inside the building. Shelby County Sheriffs department also installed some equipment at their own expense.
    Note from Mr Vaughan: there is work under way to add a cell tower in the are to improve cell phone service.
    Mr Aitken also mentioned that there are cell signal boosters being added in Collierville Schools buildings, funded by a safety grant.
  • Change to the board calendar – moving the February work session to 2/28. Mr Vaughan made a big show of presenting that motion to support all romantics. This must be a skill he picked up in Nashville.

Meeting adjourned.