The Union County Board of Education recognized two school leadership groups and two state legislators at the February meeting. Dr. Kim Turner organized the Big Ridge Elementary Student Council as a way to grow school leaders. The council began small, but this year grew to have representatives for each grade level.
The all-female group organizes class meetings, suggests menu items for the cafeteria, reads to students and leads book talks and mentors younger students.
Another leadership group, the Horace Maynard Middle School Leadership Class, also formed during the pandemic to promote community service and learn the various aspects of leadership. The class has planted memorial trees, built a blessing box to combat food insecurity, and mentored struggling students.
The board also approved to send letters of gratitude to Representative Dennis Powers and Representative Mark White for their work to fund a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) and add an extension of Walters State Community College for Union County to the budget of the Tennessee Board of Regents. Grants for equipment have already been approved and an announcement should be forthcoming soon that the remainder of the state funding has been approved.
Regarding the new middle school, the board approved the final draft of the contract with the architect, Lewis Group. The middle school is being partially funded by the ESSER 3.0 monies, so the ESSER plan was updated to include milestones and a plan to share the progress with all stakeholders.
The architects are reviewing property to make a recommendation for the location of the middle school. The ESSER 3.0 plan also calls for a review of instructional accommodations for special education and 504 to be performed every six months.
Stacy Warwick gave the financial report in lieu of Missy Brown, who was recovering from COVID-19. Warwick reported that expenditures and revenues are as expected for mid budget. The board approved all budget amendments and transfers, which mostly made changes due to reallocation of funds, added revenues from state and federal grants, and incorporated plans for ESSER. The board approved three additional contracts including infrastructure to provide internet-based instruction, Certified Language International LLC to interpret for non-English learners and documents in foreign languages, and Mitchell, Emert, & Hill to perform the internal audit.
Dr. Jimmy Carter, director of schools, recommended members of a committee to set policy regarding vaping on school grounds, which was approved.
The next Union County Board of Education Meeting will be March 10, at 6 p.m. for the workshop with the meeting to follow.