The Union County Board of Education will partner with East Tennessee Children's Hospital to offer telehealth with parent permission for routine minor illnesses. The service will be available at Luttrell Elementary, Paulette Elementary, Horace Maynard Middle School and Union County Pre-K.
The partnership was approved with Brad Griffey in charge of the meeting on March 10, due to the absence of chair Coppock and vice-chair Gibbs. Dr. Jimmy Carter, director of schools, chaired the workshop.
UCEA President Carolyn Murr asked if the new formula would help or hurt Union County. Carter responded that he would be attending a meeting to find that out and would let her know.
Murr also asked about teacher raises and Carter related that Governor Lee has put teacher raises in the state budget for next year. Finally, she commented that bus contractors needed help with gas money. Carter noted that Union County's fuel supplement would help the bus contractors with high fuel costs.
Union County Public Schools received two state awards. One award was Best for All Districts which honored Union County for committing most of its ESSER Funds to address Learning Loss.
The other award was Reading 360 which notes the high quality instruction and professional development being used to mitigate the Learning Loss. In addition to these awards, Union County High School has received a grant to partner with TCAT Knoxville to train students in fiber installation. Union County Public Schools is cooperating with Union County Health Department to provide required immunizations during the kindergarten and preschool registration. Parents can find out the dates and times by calling the local elementary school.
The board renewed the contract with TNVA and added a clause to equate the number of years for the terms of the contract to the Level of Performance. For example, a Level 1 performance would dictate a one-year contract, but a Level 2 performance would cause the contract to renew for two years if approved by the board.
Board members approved all budget transfers and amendments. Most of the changes involved adding grants, paying subs and making office renovations in the high school guidance department.
The board approved Phase I with Lewis Group to allow Geotech Service to core drill the possible sites for the new middle school. A new contract would be negotiated before construction could begin when Phase I is complete.
Blake Morris, Union County Youth Football Coordinator, appeared before the board to request permission to build a field house weight room on the far sideline of the HMMS Football Field. Preliminary plans call for the building to be approximately 30'x40' or 40'x50' and about 14' or 15' in height. It would be constructed on a concrete slab with water and electric, a bathroom, and no school funding. Final decision is postponed until April in order to ensure that the proper insurance is carried by Youth Football.
The Tennessee Department of Education has sent over $52,000 to be used to hire an independent firm to oversee the expenditure of ESSER Funds. Union County had already hired retired director of finance Ann Dyer to oversee the funds, but voted to accept the money and hire the firm to provide redundancy and ensure compliance.
The next meeting of the Union County Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 14.