May 7, 2018 at 6:30 PM - GMSD Board Meeting

Superintendetn Jason Manuel said, 

"This past week we had a historic moment in the Germantown Municipal School District and the City of Germantown.  We were able to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for our new elementary school.  I believe that we have only been able to accomplish this goal throughout the partnerships between the City of Germantown leadership and our local school board.  However, two individuals in this district have committed an inordinate amount of time to make sure that this project has proceeded on schedule and will be a future source of enduring pride of the school district.  To get to this point, Mr. Cathey and Mr. Law spent six months in the site selection process—and another six months in the design process—both utilizing and listening to voices of various stakeholders, committees and focus groups. The approval process lasted four to five months and took an incredible amount of attention to detail.  Just so that everyone understands, that included preparation for meetings and presentations to EIGHT different deciding bodies; The Board of Zoning and Appeals, Design Review Commission, The Planning Commission, The Financial Advisory Commission, the City of Germantown Engineering Department, the State Fire Marshall, the Local Fire Marshall, and, of course, the Germantown Board of Education.  These reviews yield numerous changes in the plans that must be addressed quickly.  The journey from planning to bid day produced over 1300 pages in this project manual.  

At this time we would like to recognize the two individuals who had made this possible, Mr.Josh Cathey, Chief of Operations, GMSD and Mr.Aaron Law, District Foreman."

Board member and TLN Representative Suzanne Jones presented the following update:

This session of the General Assembly ended with a bang at the end of April.  The failure of TNReady created a swirl of activity in the last week of the session.  The General Assembly once again passed legislation to address TNReady Testing and Accountability concerns following these additional assessment issues.

·       There was an amendment to HB 75/SB 578 by Kane/Gresham states the following:

"Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no adverse action may be taken against any student, teacher, school, or LEA based, in whole or in part, on student achievement data generated from the 2017-2018 TNReady assessments.

·       This bill is in addition to the legislation passed the previous week by the General Assembly which addressed the TNReady testing issues districts were dealing with. The House and the Senate passed a conference committee report that amends HB 1981/SB 1623 by Smith/Gresham. The legislation does the following:

• Allows LEAs to choose from a range between zero and fifteen (0-15%) percent when determining how much TNReady scores will count in a student’s final grade for the spring semester;
• Prevents the use of 2017-2018 TNReady student performance and student growth data in the A-F letter grading system;
• Prevents the use of 2017-2018 TNReady student performance and student growth data when identifying priority schools;
• Prevents the use of 2017-2018 TNReady student performance and student growth data when determining if a school should be assigned to the Achievement School District; and
• Prevents LEAs from basing employment termination and compensation decision for teachers on data generated by 2017-2018 TNReady assessments.

·       The Summer will be a time for significant campaigning and not as much focus on future legislation.  Later in the Fall, we will begin to engage with our Legislators on potential legislation in the next session of the General Assembly.

Chairman Betsy Landers reported the following:

·      Represent Board at the Financial Advisory Commission, City of Germantown (4/17)

·      Chaired Special Called Meeting of the Board (4/20)

·      Attended Superintendent’s Roundtable for Parent Leaders (4/23)

·      Attended GMSD Retiree Luncheon (5/1)

·      Participated in GMSE New Elementary School Ground Breaking (5/1)

·      Attended Executive Session of the Board (5/2)

·      Attended Republican Women of Purpose Luncheon (5/2)

·      Attended Houston High Choir Concert (5/3)

Safety summit report:

It was a pleasure to attend the TSBA School Safety Summit in Nashville on April 18, 2018. Also attending for our school district was Amy Eoff, Mason Grace and Chauncey Bland.

After the opening pleasantries of the day, we began looking at the law and policies that we already have in place by State Statues and what should already be in place; Crisis Management Policy, Policy on Security, School Safety, First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments; carrying or possession of weapons; safety drills; searches; and the Constitution and Federal Law.

Lifesaving Technologies was discussed by Kecia Ray, Ed.D., Center for Digital Education Executive Director. Technology for Campus Safety including for the front office: fingerprint scanners, retinal scanners, and facial recognition scanners. For the perimeters: barricades and cameras and for classrooms; door control systems and shelter pods. Key take-aways from this session are “if you see something, say something” and our best protection is a well-trained staff. 

The next session was the Role of the SRO (School Resource Officer) in Crisis Situations. Two SRO’s with National and State credentials spoke about this important role that they play in the schools. They mentioned the “Triad Concept” in which they play a key element in teacher, counselor and cop. They must know criminal, juvenile and school law. These police officers request to be in the schools. Not all police officers can be SROs. They create a safe environment.

Law Enforcement Response to an Active Shooter was the next session to be discussed. How to respond as a school board member was most interesting to me. While I would want to jump in the car and drive immediately to the scene, as I’m sure everyone would, that is exactly NOT want to do. They DO NOT WANT TO SEE ME OR NEED ME!! This is why we have drills and we prepare for crisis management. Those in the schools are trained to remain calm, provide a safe environment for those in which they have charge.

Next was Crisis Communications: What Local Law Enforcement Needs from Schools. SRO’s photo all schools and they develop a plan in which is shared with school district and local law enforcement. Limit the number of entries into the school. Make sure all staff and students do not obstruct doors with chairs, books, cans, etc. Encourage all your employees to look for those concerned students. Listen to your students, watch social media. Most of the school shooters in the past years have been a student or former students of the school. And it all happens in 7 to 9 minutes. Students have a right to do what they are meant to do…to be educated in a safe environment.

Nicole Cobb, Ed.D., lead School Counselors & Mental Health in the next session. Tennessee ranks 12^th in the nation on the number of bullying incidences found in public schools. Between 20 to 38% of youth in US have diagnosable mental health disorders. Between 9 and 13% have serious disturbances. Between one-sixth to one-third of youth with diagnosable disorders receive any treatment. “No school can be a great school unless it is a physically and emotionally safe school.” Use counselors for what they are trained to do…counsel!

The last session was a panel discussion on funding. Most districts do not have SROs and were looking for a way to fund them. GMSD is fortunate to have the City if Germantown provide these police officers in each and every one of our schools at no cost to our district, an approximate $500,000 annual expenditure.

Thank you for the opportunity for me to attend this summit. I have a hard copy of the booklet if anyone would like to take a look at it or I have also sent each of you a link to it by email.

CFO Kevin Jones reported the Total assets and Total Liabilities and Fund Balance as of 4.30.18.

SCHOOL OPERATING FUND

The Local Government Investment Pool has generated $107K in interest income y-t-d, a favorable variance in the other local revenue category.

CAFETERIA FUND

Record sales and USDA reimbursements at $160K.

OPEB TRUST AND HEALTH INSURANCE FUND      

The OPEB Trust currently owes the health insurance fund $124K for retiree claims.

Superintendent Jason Manuel, Director of Student Services Chauncey Bland and Director of Curriculum Technology and Communications, presented the GMSD School Safety Update developed by the Team of Cabinet members, Administrators, School Resource Officers and Plant Managers.

He detailed on the following topics:

• Professional Development -Rigorous training during In-Service 2018 
• Current Campus Security
• Current Security Software
• Goals for Improvement
  
  

The following Citizens voiced their concerns on School safety and current events in the School District:

• Dawn Grayson, 7007 Loddon Cv, Memphis TN 38119
• Herschel Freeman, 7684 Apahon Ln, Germantown TN 38138
• Sarah Freeman, 7684 Apahon Ln, Germantown TN 38138
• Sheila Hahn, 2964 Mallard Ln, Germantown TN 38138

The following Citizens voiced their concerns on the Student Safety and Bullying issues in the School District:

• Cherie Didier, 3111 Windstone Way, Germantown TN 38138
• Jacob Vincent, 2090 Allen Court Dr., Germantown TN 38139
• Lori Vincent, 2090 Allen Court Dr., Germantown TN 38139
• Suzanne Walls, 2376 Redbud Tr., Germantown TN 38139

The following Citizen voiced her concern on the TN Ready Testing issues:

• Terri Harris, 1816 Old Mill Road, Germantown TN 38138

This message will be shared with all GMSD parents this evening:

During tonight’s GMSD Board Meeting, the board unanimously voted to revise the GMSD Board Policy IP 4.700 Testing Programs.  This policy has been changed to reflect recent legislation which holds students harmless from the results of the TNReady tests for 2017-2018.  Previous legislation required districts to count the TNReady data as 15% of a student’s course grade.  As a result of the GMSD board policy approval, the policy has been revised. 2018 TNReady results will not be a factor in a student’s course grade. The updated policy will be available on our website immediately.