Obion County BOE adopts 2019-20 calendar

Members of the Obion County School Board voted unanimously to adopt the 2019-2020 school calendar, as presented to them by Director of School Dr. Leah Watkins, during regular session Feb. 8 at Ridgemont School.

Board chair Fritz Fussell and board members Brian Rainey, Jared Poore, Tim Britt, Barry Adams and Kyle Baggett were present for the meeting, with board member Keisha Hooper absent.

During student recognition, Lake Road Lady Generals’ softball team was recognized as the county champion, with team members introduced, as well the coach.

Shane Upchurch, who oversees the Gifted Program at Ridgemont School introduced three students who are part of the program, who have successfully completed coding projects which included a computer game and Tennessee Ready Study Guides adaptable for cell phone APs.

In the Director’s update, Dr. Watkins thanked the host school for providing a meal and meeting place for the board and expressed her gratitude to teachers, students and administrators who offered expressions of appreciation to board members during the recent school board appreciation designation.

Dr. Watkins also thanked local law enforcement officers, Obion County Sheriff’s Department and municipal law enforcement agencies for their assistance with off duty stationing at the county’s schools and praised them in their efforts to partner with the school system to make school safety a community focus.

Board chair Fussell also expressed his appreciation to Obion County Sheriff Karl Jackson, who was in attendance during recent middle school basketball sectional tournament play at Millington, to support both Hillcrest and South Fulton Middle School girls, and also wished the SFMS Lady Red Devils good luck in their bid for a state championship, with their first game scheduled for Feb. 8 at the state level of play.

In the personnel report, resignations were listed for Jerry Preston Martin, Hillcrest Special Education teacher and Misty Yarbro, Obion County Central High School Food Service; new hires included Ali Daniel, Hillcrest Special Education teacher; and leaves of absence were approved for Jennifer McConnell, South Fulton Elementary, Ashley Brundige, Ridgemont teacher, Pam Wade, South Fulton Elementary teacher, Krista Vise, Lake Road teacher and Brittany Mathis, HIllcrest teacher.

Substitute teachers approved for Obion County Schools were Sheena Carson, Andrea Opilka, Jansen Rhodes, Wendi Wright, Kathryn Kerr, Stacey Hayes, Allison Garner, Ginger Bard, Kristen Roach and Jiton Dave.

Two amendments to board policy were listed for the board’s review and consideration, one regarding Safety and one regarding Substitution Teachers.

According to Director of Schools Dr. Leah Watkins, the Tennessee School Board Association recommended a change in board policy #5.701 with the policy update to include the “designee” in reference to who is responsible for making a list of substitute teachers. Current board policy states a list of substitute teachers will be prepared by the Director of Schools, Designee, Personnel Director, etc. who will maintain files which may include credentials, recommendations, and other pertinent information.

As to board policy #3.201, Safety, the current policy revision recommendation was to include “In addition the director of schools or designee shall provide the local law enforcement agency with all safety and security plans.”

With both amendments recommended by the Director of Schools, the board approved the amendments.

A new board policy, #3.218 Service Animals in District Facilities was provided to board members present for their review, in accordance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, service dogs and trained miniature horses, referred to as service animals are permitted for use by individuals with disabilitites on district property and in district facilities provided the individuals and their animals meet the requirements and responsibilities covered in this policy.

The policy allows for the district to be entitled to ask the individual if an animal is required because of a disability and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. The district is not entitled to ask for documentation that the animal has been properly trained but the individual bringing the animal into a district facility will be held accountable for the animal’s behavior. Any service animal brought into a district facility by an individual with a disability must have been trained to do work or perform tasks for the individual, and the work or tasks to be performed by the animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability.

The new policy was approved.

Two bids were listed on the regular session’s agenda, for door hardware and for firewall.

As to door hardware, bids were solicited for door hardware upgrades for the current magnetic door system, with requested bids from Townsend Systems and Dorma Kaba. Only one bid was received, from Townsend, in the amount of $10,178.

As to Firewall, bids were solicited for firewall user authentication, with requested bids from CDW-G, Central Technologies Inc., Connection and Zones, LLC.

Central Technologies submitted the low bid, at $10,360.21, followed by CDW-G’s bid at $11,355; and Zones, LLC, $11,375.99.

Dr. Watkins recommended the low bid from Central Technologies, approved by the board.

With a designation of “Option C” the “clear winner for all groups, administrators, educators and support staff” Dr. Watkins presented for board consideration the 2019-2020 school calendar.

Three options had been presented to the groups, with 21 votes or 7% of the total number of votes cast, for Option A; 61 votes, or 22% of total votes cast, for Option B; and 197 votes, or 71% of the total 277 votes cast for Option C.

In July 2019, the new calendar includes July 15 as new student/kindergarten registration/early registration and July 25 as early registration for the second date.

In August, Aug. 1,2,5 are professional development days for teachers from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the first day of school Aug. 6 and no classes on Fair Day Aug. 20.

In September, Labor Day holiday will be observed with no classes Sept. 2, an abbreviated day for students Sept. 20, early dismissal, no lunch served, for parent/teacher conferences from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m.

In October, Oct. 14 will be observed as Columbus Day holiday with no classes and Fall Break is scheduled for Oct. 15-18.

In November, Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 27-29, with no classes held and in December, Dec. 20 will be an abbreviated day with no lunch served, ending the first semester, and Christmas holiday break Dec. 23-Jan. 3, 2020, which includes New Year’s Day holiday. On Jan. 6, a professional development day will be observed with no school for students and classes will resume Jan. 7. On Jan. 20, there will be no classes in observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

In February, parent/teacher conferences are set for Feb. 6 from 3:30-6:30 p.m., and no classes will be held on Presidents Day Feb. 17.

In March, Spring Break is scheduled March 23-27, and in April, there will be no classes April 10 in observance of Good Friday.

In May, the last day of school will be May 22 with an early dismissal and no lunch served with Graduation ceremonies set for the evening of May 22.