The Union County Board of Education met on October 3.
The elementary schools will be participating in a bullying prevention and child abuse prevention program called Child Safety Matters. The program is funded by a grant and is recommended by the Coordinated School Health Program. The board unanimously approved the program on Union County School Superintendent Jimmy Carter's recommendation.
Lauren Effler, Supervisor of Curriculum, and Cheree Rutherford presented the 2019 TN Ready Testing Results for each school to the board. Effler explained that the district received a designation of Level 3, or Satisfactory. The district met the achievement goal in English - Language Art (ELA) and in Math, but missed the growth goal which resulted in the overall score being four-tenths below the next higher level of advancing.
Individual schools received the following designations: Big Ridge - 3 (Satisfactory), Luttrell - 3, Maynardville - 1 (Comprehensive Support and Improvement) for Math, Paulette - 1 for ELA and Math, Sharps Chapel - 3, HMMS - 3, TNVA - 1, UCHS - 3.
Big Ridge had an extremely low absentee rate of 4% while other schools were within the 10% range.
Routine budget amendments and transfers and the consent agenda which includes the minutes were approved.
The board approved the LEA Compliance Report which ensures that all state department requirements for being a public school have been met.
Carter requested that the athletic trainer bid be reviewed to add the summer months of June and July and to allow the trainer to teach one course on how to become an athletic trainer under the physical education program. The cost of these additions would increase to above the $25,000 bid limit, so the board authorized Carter and Anne Dyer, Union County Director of Finance, to work out the particular requirements and bid the contract.
During the business item dealing with contracts, the board approved the contract with Mitchell Emert and Hill, PC, to audit the school activities funds and the cafeteria funds. The renewal of the K12 Contract for TNVA failed for lack of a motion.
The next meeting of the Board of Education will be Thursday, December 12. The board combines the November and December meetings into one session.