Summary of the June 10 Board Meeting, from my notes and observations.

Board member Cox was not in attendance. Low attendance from the public, but approximately a dozen Collierville Schools staff were present.

There were no public comments.

At the request of Mr. Vaughan, the proposed policy on Interscholastic Athletics was removed from the agenda for further discussion at a later time.

In the Chairman’s report, Mr. Hansen touched upon the June 9 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting where they reviewed the town budget with the school budget included. The inclusion of the school system doubled the overall town budget. The BMA responded favorably to the budget, and also notified the school system that $5M in an advance has been made available to allow for seamless transition until the August 15 first payment from the State. Mr. Hansen also discussed the move into the Central Office. While there are some minor logistical items to address, the move has been completed successfully, and the Board expresses its gratitude to all the Town personnel that have made the past 6 months as smooth as possible.

The Superintendent’s update covered the hiring of Mr. Roger Jones at Collierville Middle, the logistics of the move into the central office and the fact that the agreement with Durham Transportation should be finalized any day now.
Mr Aitken also performed the reading into the record of certain federal funding details, as required by federal law. This essentially covered the Title I funding for Collierville Elementary and Sycamore Elementary ($606k), the Title IIA funding for all 8 schools ($285k) and the Title III funding ($25k) for English Language Learners (ESL).

Mr. Hansen asked about the Request for Qualifications for architects and engineers, and was informed that a list of qualified firms is being compiled from which the school district will be able to choose.

Mr. Simpson’s consultant update – he highlighted the central office hours of operation (7-5 daily).The other update revolved around the work that has been put into motion to create a 5-year capital improvement plan. This is a plan that is taking inputs from all areas of the school district, and reviewing the state and utilization of each facility. The plan will be presented to the board when finished, and will be updated annually after that. A committee with representatives from all major departments of the school district, as well as the town, parental representation and a board member will be involved in this plan.

Mr. Hansen asked if the transportation contract delays are holding things up from a planning and preparation perspective. Mr. Simpson replied that the routing and planning activities are progressing, and are independent from the selection of the provider. Mr Hansen also asked if the facility handoffs were smooth – which they were, with nothing extraordinary as exceptions. Finally, Mr Hansen wanted to know if there were any significant repairs to be completed at this time, and there were no major ones to discuss. The high school roof will not be done until the end of the next school year. Mr Vaughan asked about high school parking lot paving – and was informed by Mr. Aitken that something is being worked out with the town in that area.

The next agenda item covered the updates to the policy items that were covered as first reading at the May 27 working session. All updates were cosmetic to reflect typos and minor textual refinements, and one legislative update that needed to be made. Following a quick walkthrough of the changes only, the board suspended the rules and approved all the policy items up for discussion.

Mr. Vaughan made a statement that these policies may seem strange at times, but are almost exclusively mandated to be put in place by state law. “Check the cross references for the laws that govern this”

The next agenda item is the budget. It has had minor adjustments since the last presentation, and these were to address an adjustment in the state enrollment estimate (up a little) and the reduction in staffing estimates from 711 to 704. The total budget is in excess of $61M, and is a balanced budget. The total budget calls for 443 teachers, which is an increase of 17 over the count for last year. (Ms Chism pointed out that in addition of these 17 new teacher positions, approximately 15 teachers either retired or resigned, and will be replaced).

Mr Aitken mentioned that in an exception, the state has agreed to perform a review of enrollment and make any funding adjustments for the new municipal districts in October, which is normally done at the end of the school year.

Mr Vaughan asked if the transportation vendor (Durham) has any local competitors, and if the contract details to be worked out include pricing. Mr. Aitken clarified that the details are about contract language and stipulations, not pricing.

In the special revenue fund budget (funding from other sources, mostly federal programs), the nutrition budget for Collierville Schools is $2.26M, and the IDEA special education budget is $1.37M.

In a unanimous vote, the budget was passed, which was followed by applause from those in attendance.

The board then moved on the approval of the agreement with the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement fund, which passed.

The final two agenda items covered technology contracts:

  • Blackboard Connect – the tool used to robocall and mass text parents about school closures, early dismissals and special messages – $12k
  • Microsoft software, including the OS, Office, and the Office 365 online email service. Teachers will have many Gb of space in their cloud storage. Teachers will also be allowed to purchase a full MS Office license for home use for $10. – $32k.

Both of these contracts were approved, and the meeting was adjourned.