August 17, 2026 at 5:00 PM - Smith County Board of Education Agenda

Discussion:  The Smith County Board of Education met at 5:00 pm on Monday, August 17, 2026, at the Smith County Board of Education. Mr. Scotty Lewis provided the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. Mr. Tommy Manning, Chairman of the Board, welcomed all visitors and called the meeting to order.

Public Comment - Tommy Manning collected the sign up sheet for public comment. Janet Wilkerson spoke for two minutes regarding the budget and possible ways for the board to trim costs. The Board thanked her for her comments.

Discussion:  Request to approve the agenda for the August 17, 2026, meeting of the Board.

Discussion:  Request to approve the regular meeting minutes of the Board - Monday, July 20, 2026.

Discussion:  Smith County High School requests permission for the following:

1. Smith County High School FCCLA requests permission to attend Chapter Officer Leadership Training (COLT) at Camp Widjiwagan in Antioch, TN, from September 29 - October 1, 2026. This will be an overnight trip.
2. Smith County High School requests permission to take interested AV/Broadcasting CTE and Yearbook students to the annual Journalism Education Association conference in Orlando, Florida, on November 16-22, 2026. This will be an overnight trip.

Discussion: 

The Superintendent took the following actions:

 

1. Staff Placement 

• Candy Carlyle, assistant cross country/track coach, Smith County Middle School

• Mandi Fulton, paraprofessional, Smith County High School

• Hayley Goad, librarian, Smith County Middle School

• Robby Napier, sixth grade math teacher, Gordonsville Elementary School

• Ashley Portillo, Spanish teacher, Gordonsville High School

• Ryan Raham, fifth grade ELA teacher, Smith County Middle School

• Mark Sampson, bus garage mechanic, Transportation Department

• Tara Saunders, substitute teacher, County-Wide

• Lairen Warden, full-time substitute, Gordonsville Elementary School

 

 

2. Transfers 

• Gustavo Albear, transferred from Spanish teaching position at Gordonsville High School to a Spanish teaching position at Smith County High School

• Ashley Bolger, transferred from music teaching position at Forks River Elementary School and Union Heights Elementary School to a paraprofessional position at Forks River Elementary School and Union Heights Elementary School

• Cali DeRoush, transferred from kindergarten teaching position at Carthage Elementary School to a kindergarten teaching position at New Middleton Elementary School

• Kaiden Kinslow, transferred from first grade teaching position at Carthage Elementary School to a kindergarten teaching position at Carthage Elementary School 

• Alisha Preston, transferred from a full time substitute position at Carthage Elementary School to a ISS paraprofessional position at Smith County Middle School

 

3. Resignations

• Olivia Lawson, teacher, Carthage Elementary School

• Tara Saunders, paraprofessional, Smith County Middle School
  
  Director Ash spoke regarding student enrollment, clarification on the current line item questions, and possible ways to trim the budget. He explained that he did not want to fire anyone, but that he has been able to absorb some positions naturally as people have resigned or retired.

Discussion:  Request to name the newly renovated CTE Building "Smith County CTE Center".

Discussion:  Request to approve the 142 Consolidated Budget for the 2026-27 school year. The Consolidated Funding Application encompasses ESSA (Federal Programs) and IDEA (Special Education) funds from the federal government. The accompanying document lists the allocations for each sub-fund in the Consolidated Funding Application along with the carryover from the previous
year.

Title I - Original: $635,594.17, Carryover: $76,028.60, Total: $711,622.77
Title II - Original: $119,331.70, Carryover: $87,688.76, Total: $207,020.46
Title II - Original: $4,704.22
Title IV - Original: $50,414.90, Carryover: $8,132.02, Reallocated: $2,999.40,
                 Total: $61,546.32
IDEA, B - Original: $771,917.00, Carryover: $332,997.99, Total: $1,104,914.99
IDEA Preschool - Original $28,843.00, Carryover: $15,623.44, Total: $44,466.44

The FY26-27 Consolidated Application Funding with original allocations, incoming carryover,
and any reallocations totals $2,134,275.20.
 

Discussion:  Request for approval to enter into a five-year agreement with Canon to bring brand-new copy machines to every school in the Smith County School District. This proposal utilizes pre-negotiated State Bid pricing. Piggybacking on the state contract allows us to bypass a long, expensive independent bidding process while securing the best possible rates.

This request will cover all equipment, maintenance, service, and toner under a single, streamlined lease agreement — reducing overall district expenditure while improving reliability across all campuses.
 

Discussion:  Information will be presented and discussed at the meeting.

Discussion: 

Annual Policy Review (August)

Please review the following policies on line for the Smith County Board of Education to remain compliant in policy review.  If you find any inconsistencies or if something needs to be discussed regarding a policy listed below, please bring it to the attention of Mr. Tommy Manning, Chairman of the Board, during the meeting.

 

Policy 1.700, School District Goals

Policy 1.701, School District Planning

Policy 1.8011, Emergency Closings

Policy 1.803, Tobacco-Free Schools