B

Superintendent Arnold Bunch presented updates on the third grade literacy law, and the Lincoln Heights Elementary school project during his director’s report for the month

Bunch announced the board received approval to move funds to the elementary school project to cover the bid and that the contract signing is in its final stages.

“When I briefed you last we were going to get approval to move ESSER dollars from a HVAC project for Lincoln Middle School to the elementary school project to ensure we had money to cover the bid coming in because it was higher than we expected,” Bunch said.

“We got approval from both the state and the county commission and we are working with Merit Construction to finalize a few amendments and get on contract. The board will be hearing from me soon about a ground breaking ceremony because we want to get this school built as soon as possible.”

Bunch said the state legislature is meeting this week about the third grade retention law and he explained how continues to prepare to handle the law.

“The legislature is planning to meet this week about the law and we are hoping they will make some decisions soon,” Bunch said. “I am told they are looking at commonalties out of the multiple options that have come forward as proposals to amend it.

“We continue to march forward in educating the kids, closing the reading gap, preparing for summer school, and preparing for intense tutoring. We are pressing ahead and doing the best we can to educate our students.

“I am really proud of our third grade teachers and our administrators for all the great work they are putting into this. I have visited schools in the district and talked with parents and guardians about their thoughts and how we can help their students and I believe those talks have been very productive.”

“I was approached by a school board member about the incident that happened at a football game in Cincinnati Ohio, where a Buffalo Bills player needed CPR and an AED and the question was, ‘Are we training our own coaches in CPR?” Bunch said.

“That has not been a requirement in the past but we have been training coaches at the high school level and right now we have 30 coaches trained in CPR and how to use an AED. We are working to schedule a day where we can get the rest of the coaches trained. Once we get all the high school coaches trained, we will work our way down to the middle school level.”

“We have ordered more AEDs for the high schools specifically for the sports training areas. We have two at each of the high schools and we have eight on back order.”

The board then recognized two board members for their long history of serving the school district while on the board.

Clyde Kinder and Roger Greene were awarded for the 30 years of dedication to the students of Hamblen County.

“Last month many of you saw us give plaques to those staff members who have 30, 40 or 50 years of service and there were a few we didn’t mention who have given more than 30 years to the district,” Bunch said. “This is recognition for your time and dedication to the students in the district.”

The board recognized the students from Morristown-Hamblen High School West’s speech and debate team which won at the state competition.

Jefferey Glover won first place in dramatic interpretation, Abigail Snider won first place in program oral interpretation and Joseph Parrot won fourth place in program oral interpretation.

“I am very proud of what you all have done,” Bunch said.

Suzanne Terry, West High’s speech and debate coach, explained the importance of this win.

“These three students competed in the state wide championship and we have two state champions with Abigail and Jeffery,” she said. “Joseph is a senior and he came to me four years ago with a small speech impediment, but he overcame that and now he is headed to represent the State of Tennessee at the national championship. This has been a highlight in my career and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Buddy Smith, assistant superintendent for instruction, discussed the math textbooks chosen for the 2023-2024 school year.

“We had committees for each grade level that did the work and were very thorough in choosing the best textbooks for our students,” He said. “I appreciate the work they put in and they choose the curriculum we will use for the next seven years.”

The school district will be using McGraw Hill TN Reveal Math for grades K-12.

“Many other districts in the state are using the same textbooks and stay consistent with this company all the way from K-12,” Bunch said.

Among the several action items and capital projects that were approved, a total of $18,000 was approved for design fees for a Dog Grooming classroom, the relocation of the greenhouse and a classroom upgrade at East High School. $80,000 was approved for the expansion of vocational classrooms at West High School and $18,500 was approved to cover engineering fees for the Meadowview Middle School bus lane project.