May 12, 2026 at 6:30 PM - GCSSD Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Mr. John Campbell led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Discussion:  Mr. Tom Lannom called the meeting to order.

Discussion:  Principals of each school recognized educators of the year and retirees.

Discussion:  Mr. Kevin Turner and Ms. Emily Pitt presented the CTSO accomplishments. Advisors and students shared their experiences and accomplishments through the Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO).

Discussion:  No public comment

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett presented the Extended Learning Stipend, recommending that the extended learning teachers receive $2,000 and extended learning teacher assistants receive $1,200.

Discussion:  Mr. Rory Hinson presented the Project Raise Budget Amendment. Project Raise is a grant that provides a stipend to school counselors, totaling $25,000. 

Discussion:  Mr. Rory Hinson presented the State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Budget Amendment. This $69,000 grant will be used to purchase items on the technology list. 

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett presented the middle school's Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings and recommended Option 1: hiring a computer science teacher and busing students from Spring Hill to Yorkville in the morning.

Discussion:  Todd Brang (Principal), Brian Bell (Education Planner), Lily Lovelady (Project Coordinator), and Seth Schweitzer (Project Manager) from Lewis Group Architects presented the findings of the Feasibility Study. 
Option 1: New Central Elementary-Middle School (Pk-8), GCHS (9-12), SGCES (PK-4), SGCMS (5-8), SGCHS (9-12)
Kenton, Rutherford, Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville would consolidate into a new K-8 school. Students would transition to the new facility, which would provide access to modern learning environments and enhanced K-8 programming, promote stronger academic alignment across grade levels, expand extracurricular opportunities, and enable more strategic and efficient staffing. 
Option 1a: Kenton (PK-4), New Central Elementary-Middle School (PK-8), GCHS (9-12), SGCES (PK-4), SGCMS (5-8), SGCHS (9-12)
Rutherford, Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville would consolidate into a K-8 school, while Kenton would remain open as a PK-4 school. Closing four aging campuses and replacing them with a single modern facility improves energy efficiency, optimizes staffing, and enhances space utilization. Maintaining Kenton preserves community access and limits the scale and cost of new construction. However, total operational savings would be more moderate than under full consolidation. 
Option 1b: Kenton (PK-8 adding 4 classrooms), New Central Elementary-Middle School (PK-8), GCHS (9-12), SGCES (PK-4), SGCMS (5-8), SGCHS (9-12)
Rutherford, Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville would consolidate into a K-8 school, while Kenton would open as a PK-8 school, adding 4 additional classrooms. Closing four aging campuses and replacing them with a modern facility improves operational and staffing costs and reduces long-term maintenance costs. Utilization remains under 40% with the increased functional capacity. 
Option 2: New Central Elementary (PK-4), New Central Middle at Rutherford with addition (5-8), GCHS (9-12), SGCES (PK-4), SGCMS (5-8), SGCHS (9-12)
Kenton, Rutherford, Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville would close as individual campuses. The Rutherford school would be converted into a centralized 5-8 middle school, creating stronger academic teams, expanded extracurricular opportunities, and more efficient staffing. A new central elementary (PK-4) would serve students from the affected communities, provide modern learning spaces, consistent programming, and broader support services. By consolidating students into fewer, better-equipped campuses, the district can focus on resources where they have the greatest impact.
Option 2a: Kenton (PK-4), New Central Elementary (PK-4), New Central Middle at Rutherford (5-8), GCHS (9-12), SGCES (PK-4), SGCMS (5-8), SGCHS (9-12)
Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville would close as individual campuses. Kenton would remain as a Pre-K elementary school, and Rutherford would be repurposed into a centralized 5-8 middle school to improve academic alignment, expand extracurricular offerings, and support more efficient staffing. A new central PK-4 elementary school would serve Spring Hill, Dyer, and Yorkville, providing updated facilities, consistent programming, and expanded support services. By concentrating resources on fewer, stronger campuses, the district can improve instructional quality while managing long-term costs.
Another option is to keep the existing structure: system-wide upgrades.
This is the least operationally efficient path forward. Yorkville (53% utilization) and Rutherford (58% utilization) would continue operating well below capacity, meaning the district pays high utility and maintenance costs for significantly under-filled buildings, and declining enrollment in certain zones goes unaddressed. It preserves the existing community-based school structure, avoiding the disruption caused by closures. It addresses pressing safety needs—most notably, by adding secure vestibules to all campuses to improve perimeter control.
The estimated cost of secure vestibules includes access control work, security film, MEP, doors and hardware, sheet rock and repairs, masonry repairs, flooring, ACT, security cameras, and paint. Pricing assumes projects are completed individually and that there is no travel or per diem, no night work, and open space not during school.
The board members questioned whether a community impact study had been conducted, noting that it was not included. They discussed taking the data to the individual communities by creating committees to discuss the results of the study, composed of board members, principals, teachers, community members, and students. 
The feasibility study will be available on the website, along with a link for people to ask questions.

Discussion:  Mr. Rory Hinson presented the Yorkville Freezer Bids. 

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett presented the 2026-2027 Annual Agenda & Board Meeting Schedule. 

Discussion:  Mr. Kevin Turner presented the Honors and EPSO courses. The following changes were made: Honors Physical Science was replaced with Honors Bio STEM 1. Additionally, new courses were added, including: DE Diagnostic Services 1, 2, 3 (TCAT), DE Teaching as a Profession 1, 2 (UTM), DE Coding (CSF) (TCAT), DE Entrepreneurship 1 (TCAT), DE Small Animal Science 2 (TCAT), DE Large Animal Science 3 (TCAT), DE AG Experiential Learning (UTM).

Discussion:  Ms. Michelle Goad presented the Textbook Adoption and recommended Goodheart Wilcox as the Wellness textbook.

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett presented the Summer Programming, which is a camp available for rising Kindergarten through rising 9th-grade students. The camp runs from May 26 to June 18, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at two locations: Dyer and SGCES. Transportation and free breakfast and lunch will be provided. Students are prioritized according to CASE test results and will receive instruction in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. In addition, they will participate in Response to Intervention (RTI), have daily recess and physical education (PE), and engage in STREAM activities (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). The Tennessee Department of Education allocated $477,647.31 for the Summer Program.

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett presented the GCSSD Virtual School Name.

Discussion:  Mr. Eddie Pruett reminded the board that graduations are next week: SGCHS on Thursday, May 14, at 7:00 pm, and GCHS on Friday, May 15, at 6:00 pm.
The end-of-year luncheon for all staff will be on May 21. Board members are invited to attend any location. 

Discussion:  Mr. Jack Ball informed that the seniors are preparing for graduation. The senior walkthrough is on Wednesday, May 13, and the seniors' award day is on Thursday, May 14, at 10 AM.