Board Receives Bids for New School

By Mark Darnell

The Macon County Board of Education held their monthly meeting on July 8th at 6 pm at the Macon County Junior High auditorium.

Chairman Dale Hix called the meeting to order and Mark Darnell led the prayer and Wayne Marsh led the pledge of allegiance.

A motion was made by Lionel Borders and seconded by Tim Case to approve the Board agenda as presented. Motion carried.

Director Shawn Carter presented the consent agenda. He highlighted the minutes of both the Jun 12th and Jun 26th meetings as what he remembered transpiring. There were two leave requests presented and no trip requests. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda by Borders and seconded by Michael Cothron. Motion passed.

There were no new positions to authorize and no appearance requests.

In old business:

Director Carter stated that there has not been an up-to-date and/or workable MOU between the MCEA and the Macon County School system in a number of years. One has been crafted and presented to the Board. A motion was made by Cothron and seconded by Borders to approve. Motion passed.

A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Borders to approve a formal written MOU between Macon County High School and the local Peewee Football League. Motion passed.

American Contractors then asked for approval of the bids that had been received. At the end of June bids were opened for the construction of the new elementary school. American notified the Board that they felt that they had good numbers on almost all of the bids and they felt they had a good estimate of the total cost of the project.

American estimated a total cost of construction of the new school to be $46,552,000, which is less than the previous Upland estimate of almost $49,000,000. The $46.5 million also includes a $1,700,000 built-in contingency for cost overruns but does not include money for any furnishings, only construction. Director Carter stated that he had hopes that the total cost for construction and furnishing the school would come in below $50,000,000, which was less than anticipated.

A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Case to accept the bids for construction of the new school. The motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.

A motion was made by Case and seconded by Marsh to accept the only bid for parking lot improvements at Fairlane and Red Boiling Springs. The motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.

The visitor’s bleachers at the football stadium in Red Boiling Springs are in need of certification. Jared Claiborne from Mid TN Engineering stated that someone was coming in next two weeks to inspect. A preliminary estimate was that it would cost around $80,000 to get them up to code for a 5-8 year ‘band-aid’ fix. When asked by the Board what he would estimate it would cost to pour a concrete pad and purchase aluminum bleachers Claiborne thought that might be $280,000.

A motion was finally made by Case and seconded by Borders to advertise for bids to pour a concrete pad and purchase aluminum bleachers which would provide seating for the current visitor capacity of fans at the stadium now. The motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.

In new business:

Director Carter presented the Board with the finalized School Budget for the 25-26 SY. A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Borders to approve the budget. Motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.

Carter also presented the Board with a finalized list of school fees for the 25-26 SY. A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Case to approve. Motion passed.

Carter had a list of all the fundraisers at all the schools and indicated that he would go through them individually at the meeting, but told the Board that he had looked at each one that day and did not see any that stood out. A motion was made by Cothron and seconded by Case to approve the list. Motion passed.

Director Carter indicated that there were a number of graduates that were applying for early graduation (at end of first term). A motion was made by Cothron and seconded by Borders to approve the requests for early graduation. Motion passed.

A motion was made by Borders and seconded by Case to approve the School Nutrition Local Agriculture Products Compliance Plan for the 25-26 SY. Motion was approved.

Director Carter then presented the Board with eleven revisions to policies that were all legislatively driven to change by the TN General Assembly. Those policies were: Policy 1.901 Charter School Applications, Policy 1.903 Charter School Oversight, Policy 1.905 Charter School Renewal, Policy 1.906 Charter School Revocation, Policy 2.403 Surplus Property Sales, Policy 3.202 Emergency Preparedness Plan, Policy 3.204 Threat Assessment Team, Policy 4.100 Instructional Program, Policy 4.212 Virtual Education Program, Policy 4.403 Library Materials, and Policy 4.601 Reporting Student Progress.

A motion was made by Borders and seconded by Cothron to approve all the revisions to these eleven policies. Motion passed.

Director Carter then presented changes to Policy 5.110 Compensation Guides and Contracts. Two most notable were changing the ability to pay unused sick leave to an estate of a deceased employee and adding a loyalty bonus for retiring employees with 32 years of service (along with a few other stipulations).

A motion was made by Cothron to approve the revision and seconded by Borders. Motion passed.

The TSBA made procedural recommendations to change Policy 5.305 Family and Medical Leave, Policy 5.500 Discrimination/Harassment of Employees, and Policy 6.304 Student Discrimination, Harassment, Bullying, Cyber-Bulling and Intimidation.

A motion was made by Borders and seconded by Cothron to accept these revisions. Motion passed.

Director Carter then informed the Board that the State had said that systems must adopt a policy on wireless communication devises, which Macon County already had. However they had added five new items that must be in any policy. Carter indicated that he had given the Board five different options to look at. A discussion then ensued, with the Board and those in attendance, on what was needed/wanted at different schools.

After a healthy discussion a motion was made by Cothron and seconded by Borders to revise the current Policy 6.312 Use of Wireless Communication Devises to include the five items from the state and to give principals the discretion to adjust usage as they deem necessary. Motion was approved.

The next work session for the Board is scheduled for Aug 7th at 6 pm at the Central Office and the next monthly meeting is on Aug 14th at 6 pm at the Central Office.

A motion was made by Case and seconded by Borders to adjourn. Motion passed.