Board of Education - Regular Meeting

I am calling this meeting to order. Welcome everyone. I'm Jason Goolan, superintendent for Williamson County Schools. And those of you who come to meetings regularly may wonder why I'm presiding over the meeting to start. This is the month where we elect our board chair and I preside over the meeting until we hit that board chair election and then upon that election I will turn the meeting over to our board chair. So with that I will start with item 1A record attendance. So board members if you would please record your attendance.

There are 11 members present. Thank you. Uh and uh um uh I do ask our audience if you would please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. And a moment of silence.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Our next item on the agenda is election of school board chair. Uh board members, I do want to let you know that from a process standpoint, what we will do first is call for nominations. I will leave the floor open to allow uh the appropriate number of nominations based on what you as individual board members desire. Uh and uh then I will close nominations and upon that close I will speak to the method of the vote. So uh the nomine the time for nominations uh are is open. Do we have any nominations for chair of the school board for 202526?

We have a um a motion from Jay Galbreth. Mr. Galbreth. Yeah, nominated Josh Brown. We have a nomination for Josh Brown. Any other nominations? Mr. Cash, you've buzzed in. I'll second that.

Okay, we have a second for Mr. Brown. Are there any other nominations? Nominations are now closed. With that board, uh because there is one nomination, we will have a voice vote uh wi with the motion that Mr. Brown become board chair for the coming year. Uh and with that, uh I'm going to ask for a voice vote at the same time. All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed, like sign. Motion passes. Mr. Brown, your board chair. Congratulations.

Uh, ladies and gentlemen, we're just going to take a minute or so to change seats. Well, board members, thank you for um once again giving me the opportunity to chair this board. I appreciate your confidence and uh we will move into our election for vice chair and in like manner we will uh open it up to nominations and uh proceed to a vote once nominations are closed. Are there any nominations for the role of vice chair?

Mr. Cash, I'd like to nominate Miss Claire Reeves for vice chair this year. Thank you. I second motion as vice chair. Thank you. Are there any other nominations for vice chair? Hearing none, I will declare the nominations closed. We will take a voice vote. All those in favor of Clare Reeves to serve as vice chair say I. I

all opposed. Okay. Vote is unanimous. Congratulations, Dr. Reeves. [Applause] All right. Thank you very much, board. All right. We will now move into our uh public comment period. We have 11 speakers who have signed up to speak tonight. So, I'm going to allow each person three minutes, up to three minutes. Um, I will uh I'm going to read off three names to start with. So, uh please listen for your name and then if you're in that first three, be prepared to come up when the person before you uh is finished. First three names are Ryan Brown, Brad Davis, and David Gibson.

Sir, there wasn't a spot for me to sign up. The uh signups are done online and are done by noon of the day of the board meeting. Thank you. Thank you. And I should have said that you'll please uh look at the monitor on the podium. That'll keep uh keep you track of the time. It'll be uh clock will start running when you begin. I'm going to yield my three minutes to Brad Davis.

Um that is not customary. You you signed up to speak. So do you you care to speak? Why can't I give my three minutes to him? Is it customary or allowed? Let me let me confer with council on that. just give them more time. So, there's nothing in the rules that permits that to get their arrivals.

I I'm going to respectfully decline that request. We've not done this in the past and I think it sets a precedent that I'm not sure we want to set. Um we want to allow individ as many individuals as possible to speak. So, if if you'd like to speak, you have three minutes. If not, we'll we'll move on to Mr. Davis for three minutes. I'll move on to Davis, I guess. Thank you. Okay. You guys realize I'm going to have to come back more and more because of this stuff. You're welcome to come back as often as you'd like. Let's let's restart his clock for three minutes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Brown. Uh, Mr. Golden, I want to be clear. I don't want to be here tonight. And I didn't want to be here last month either and publicly share the story of how my daughter was bullied, attacked, and her life was threatened by a fourth grade classmate. But as a parent, I'm having a hard time following your leadership as superintendent of Williamson County Schools um on this potentially life and death matter when it comes to security of our of our students. When you and I spoke on the phone in April after I shared my daughter's story with you, as I recall, the conversation shifted from talking about my daughter's specific situation to talk about legal theory in general because I know you can't speak about private, you can't talk about any specific situation, including the one involving my daughter. And I asked you hypothetically speaking, if a student has documented bullying multiple students, has documented being violent against other students, and has documented threatening the life of other students, what on earth keeps a school system from sending a child who checks all those three boxes to alternative school? And you said, Brad, in this hypothetical situation, our hands would be tied. And I know you said you didn't use that phraseology that your hands were tied, but I vividly remember you doing it because I then asked you, who's tying your hands? And you said to me, Mr. Davis, these are federal laws. That would be our federally elected officials, our Marshia Blackburns, our Bill Hagerties. I then asked you if you would use your position of influence as superintendent of the wealthiest school district in the state of Tennessee to make a phone call or send an email on my behalf. and you never responded. I sent nine follow-up emails to you, ask you, begging you. You know, you're you're saying to keep our students safe, it's going to take an act of Congress, and I am just a lone father who is literally

trying to get an act of Congress passed. I asked for you to make a phone call for me, and you never did. I have here copies of all of our correspondents from that time, and you finally responded to me uh on August 15th, Friday, August 15th, the day after I signed up to speak at last month's board meeting. I don't want to be here, but I'm here because this is the only way I could get your attention, get a response from you. And like I've got, you know, my my friend is a parent in Williamson County Schools. He signed up and he he's concerned about his his children's safety as well and you're not giving him the time. I have another friend, a grandparent who signed up, took their time to come to this board meeting and you're saying their voices can't be heard. I'm just I'm sorry that that is the reaction response that you're taking on such a valuable issue. My time is up. I'll see you guys next month. Thank you very much,

Mr. Davis. To be clear, the the the gentleman before you who asked to speak had three minutes to speak. He chose not to use his three minutes. Yeah. But I think we we both understand the fact that like on his behalf, I I could speak and I think that's it's not uncommon in parliamentary procedure for time to be yielded. I It's your choice. This is your house. We're going to respect it. I'm not saying it, but I just think it's Let's be clear that he had an opportunity to speak. I just want for the record, he had an opportunity to speak. Yeah. And I I get it. I get it. and and I yield and I respect it. I just like it's it's very hard to get thank you your attention and voices of parents and grandparents are being silenced about this. So thank you guys. I'll see you next month.

David Gibson, Mr. Chair, did we have the volume turned up a little? Is that possible to get the volume on this? Okay, if speakers can be a little closer to the microphones, uh we might be able to hear it more clearly. Okay. All right. Thank you. So, could I have three more minutes since we weren't able to hear? I'm I'm I'm asking a question. He said he couldn't hear. He asked for the volume to be adjusted. So, may for the record, may I be able be given three more minutes from which u Mr. Driggers can speak? No, sir. Thank you. David Gibson,

it's the same thing. So, if you're going to deny a parent and a grandparent, that's the same issue. So, all right. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I had not planned on speaking tonight. I've known Brad for a long time. He's a good man. He's a good father. Uh, I know he means well in this. And I know you guys mean well. Um, and I realize things are really difficult now in government. Uh, there are things you have to submit to that you might not agree with. Uh, but I just want to say that Brad wants good and he really wants to make a difference and I would like to see my school board support him however they can. I would like you to see him as an ally. He doesn't have some of the pressures and responsibilities you have. Um, I don't have kids in the system now. I've had three children graduate from Williamson County High Schools. I hope to have grandchildren in there. Every graduate of Williamson County school system impacts my community with the culture they bring from their school. And I think we're living in a culture where victim's rights are not supported nearly as much as instigators are. I'm not saying you have control over that. I'm saying you have an ally here who wants to help do what he can, who is maybe not bound by some of the things you folks are bound by. And I would love to have you guys embrace that and use that resource. He has incredible energy. He's a very driven man and he would love to work with you guys and I hope you see him as a friend instead of as an adversary.

Thank you. Our next three speakers, uh, Brittany Ruiz, Robert Jackson, Steve Maidulski. Howdy y'all. Um, my name is Britney Ruiz and I'm here, um, our family has by and large been huge fans of Williamson County schools, just so you know. Have three kids in school, elementary, middle school, and high. I'm coming before you due to a series of unhandled concerns I've brought before this board, Mr. gold and also my children's principles. With the assassination of Mr. Charlie Kirk, I now want my concerns taken seriously. Last year, I testified about the concerns with access to porn, violence, and inappropriate age related content on school Chromebooks. This year, small changes were made, but it's not fully resolved. The changes still allow my kids to view inappropriate content. One child told me she loves her Chromebook because it's not monitored like her iPad at home. Other districts have banned the use of YouTube and Google, and only school approved programs are allowed. July 2025, I wrote to Mr. Golden outlining my concerns regarding internet searching not causing alerts to the district until the data is saved and downloaded. Last week, I wrote to wrote to my schoolboard members and Mr. Golden about an Indie teacher coming to school on Neon Day with a t-shirt promoting DEI trans LGBTQ nonprofit named Franklin Pride. Indie shared this on social media pages as the first image you see. I have zero qualms with this staff member wearing this type of t-shirt or apparel outside of her work hours, but an employee of the district. She is paid by the taxpayers's dollars and should not be wearing a t-shirt of this kind at school during work hours. I reported this and Mr. Golden said it was being investigated. I saw the photo was removed off of social media but got a conflicting email from Miss Vicky Hall saying the staff member did not cause a disruption of learning so she was not in violation but also went a step f further to lay out that Indie does not even have a dress code policy for its staff.

Between the legacy incident in May, the counselor involved moving to Indie, I am concerned that DEI ideology is still running and its implications not being taken seriously. The assassination of Charlie Kirk by a young adult who was radicalized by his local high school in college. And seeing a Franklin High School teacher applauding his death simply suspended confirms yet again my concern that Williamson County schools need to get back to being 100% non-partisan, solely educationbased school district. When I checked into the DEI history in Williamson County, Miss Vicky Hall, the same person tapped to investigate this concern of mine, was accessible to the media promoting her work with the DEI consultant. Is she truly unbiased? Then a year later, Williamson County School was super vocal and quick to admonish Turning Point USA all over social media and to the local media regarding Nolanville High. Williamson County needs to start taking a deep look at how DEI and inappropriate content is still accessible and active in this school. As a parent of this district, I would like to see a hard line on making access to inappropriate content banned and a proper uh dress code for the school. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Good evening and uh thank you for your service to our schools and students. Congratulations uh on election. Uh my name is Robert Jackson and I teach United States history at Centennial High School. I teach because I care about preparing students to thrive in a diverse and complex country. Today, when a child grows up, they will work alongside people and for people who are different than them. They think different, they look different, and they may pray different.

And that's just because we live in the United States of America. It comes with the territory. We've always been a diverse nation. And part of our story is learning to listen to voices that haven't always been heard. From farmers fighting monopolists to marchers in Selma, Alabama and to the cries of cries of the gay community during the AIDS epidemic. Our national progress has come from listening to those who are overlooked. One way we teach students to listen and lead is by modeling diversity in our schools. That means ensuring teachers, administrators, and the school board reflects the fullness of America, providing students with integrated schools, and encouraging critical thinking because we don't raise good citizens by avoiding hard conversations. That's why I urge the board and the state to reconsider the decision to remove policy aimed at diversifying school staff. We need to continue the work left after Brown versus Board of Education, recruiting and retaining talent across racial, geographic, and political lines. Why does this matter? In March 2024, the state collaborative on reforming education found that black students make up 41% of the population, but only 23% of teachers are black. Hispanic students are 18% of the student population, but just 2% of teachers are Hispanic. These are children, students who show up hoping to be seen and understood. A black student may never have a black teacher, let alone two. A Hispanic student might never hear their culture spoken with depth or pride. And these are missed opportunities, not just for representation, but for trust, connection, and belonging. An

Asian-American student might never have a teacher who looks like them or shares their cultural perspective. Every child deserves Every child deserves to look at the front of the classroom and think that could be me. When the classroom only reflects one kind of experience, we send the message that only one kind of person belongs. And for a nation as big as a statement as we the people, then we ought to have a teaching core as a county, state, and country that reflects it. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause]

Good evening. It is fun to see some people out tonight. My name is Steve Midulski. I'm a 20-year gardener and horiculturalist. That is correct. Being a gardener isn't a job. Many of you have been out to the garden that my wife and I, Laura, created uh 22 years ago when my daughter attended Williamson County Schools. The garden was just a beginning. And now she is 20 working in an amazing restaurant in Nashville because of Williamson County Schools. And I would like to thank the garden she grew up around. I also provided you tonight with a continued conversation. When so many of you were out, there were a lot of ideas about how do hands-on classrooms, garden and nature come together for kids. So, professionally, I've been in like you all have for so many years, a lot of boardrooms, meetings like tonight where experts come up. So, I had a lot of that information already in my mind. And so I put a packet together that has five points that I think really show like what gardens do, what nature does to teach. The first one is the screen issue. Teachers, parents, people of all ages currently have the screen as a other thing to think about. There is scientific data now that shows nature reduces screen time. There is also scientific evidence that proves nature increases physical activity. The biggest thing sometimes for mental health is can students can parents, faculty find joy, their mental health. Gardens do that. Nature does that. It allows people to have a distraction. It allows people to see a caterpillar become a butterfly. I have client kids who didn't know that a caterpillar

becomes a butterfly. One of my most fun moments of my career is seeing little kids have moments where they learn not through a book, not through an iPad, but from a caterpillar who tells them a story that they become a butterfly. So, what I'm proposing to you tonight is we continue the conversation about gardens and nature being classrooms for that child to have that moment of education in a hands-on setting. The other big component of this that completely was great for me as a professional is that both male students, female students have direct correlations. I didn't know that little girls between the ages of nine and 12 typically have a decrease in physical activity, time spent outside, but there was a program done and guess what? Nature gardening, those little girls didn't have that same problem. They stayed outside because they stayed in the garden. So, there's amazing opportunity for hands-on science across Williamson County. I'd like to thank all of you that came out, continue the conversation. hope you have a chance to go over that packet that I'm leaving with you tonight and I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next three speakers uh are Emily Delicate, Brent Han, and Carolyn Brown. Hi, my name is Emily Delicott. I thank you for this opportunity to speak. Um, I am a Williamson County School's mom. I have a senior at Franklin High School. Um, and mo many of you have heard from me in the past. Although, um, I said I was going to make the joke, um, longtime listener, first- time caller. This is the first time I've gotten up to speak in front of you. Um, and not just through email. Um, violence is never okay. Period. No question. Never okay. No one should be physically harmed for their beliefs. I'm here to speak about a Williamson County teacher that I trust implicitly with my child's learning and her very life. I have sent this my child on trips, overnight trips with her and I trust her with my her very life. If you believe the federalist portrayal of Emily Orbison's social media post, then you don't know her and you didn't read it as she intended. She's being vilified for a post that was taken out of context and shared without her consent where she used irony to process the death of someone who once called school shootings, including one that happened here in Nashville, a prudent cost of freedom. Miss Orbison is well-loved. She's respected. She's admired by her students. Her students have received national recognition in HOSA competitions and many including my own have decided to confidently move forward into health related occupations because of her influence. And now she may lose her job not because she ever said anything inappropriate to a single student, but because someone stole a message that she never intended for anyone other than her friends on Facebook to read. Yes, I know nothing's

private. She never intended for anyone to read. They took that and sent it to a public news art news place and then people in this very room shared it publicly on social media. I want you to know that the only reason that my child knows that that existed that those comments existed is because of people in this room. And that's not okay. And I love all of you and I'm so thankful for what you do. But it is not okay that the only reason students are talking about this is because one person stole this woman's post and then people in this room spread it. and so more parents know about it. I ask you who did the damage. I am a praying person. I pray for the Kirk family. His death was tragic. It was unacceptable. It should never have happened. I pray for the families that have lost children to the gun violence that he dismissed as a price worth paying. I pray for Miss Orbison who's learned a terrible lesson about online privacy and does not deserve the hate and vigil that she's getting that's being spurred on by people like you in this room. Um, we live in a complicated world full with both of beauty and terror and two truths can exist at once. His death was tragic and his rhetoric minimized the tragedy of others. A teacher should not be punished for wrestling with that. My child should not be punished by losing one of her best teachers because that teacher's trust and privacy was violated. Violence is never okay. If that's the point, let's make it. but let's do so while showing our students that privacy, fairness, and integrity matter and hold ourselves to the same standard we expect from them. Thank you. And I appreciate the couple extra seconds.

Thank you. [Applause]

Good evening. I came here tonight to speak about the comments that Emily Orbinson made on the heels of the murder of Charlie Kirk. And I took a look at the code of ethics and these comments are directed at the people who don't believe that Miss Orbitson violated that code. If you haven't seen the video of Charlie being shot, I want you to watch it. I want you to see him get shot in the neck. And I want you to think about this. When the shot rang out, one of Charlie's little girls was there and she ran toward her dad. She did that because the gunshot frightened her and she was looking for her father's protection. So, I want you to think about that in the context of the code of ethics and I want you to look parents in the eye and tell them that Miss Orbinson's remarks did not violate that code. Because if you can do that, then your code of ethics is meaningless. It's a husk, purely symbolic. And I don't want to hear, "Oh, Miss Orbinson was using irony to spin his remarks back on him." Everyone in this room knows exactly what she was doing. She called him a piece of This is not political. This is decency. allowing someone like that to continue to be employed, that's political. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Hi. Um, I appreciate the opportunity to speak. Um, I want to dovetail on what the last gentleman had to say. Um although we all have the right to free speech, when you're in a leadership position or a mentoring position, there's a cultural understanding that you are a role model that has the ability to influence others. You need to think before you speak. You need to think about the impact your actions will have on others. In this case, the teacher in question did none of this. She publicly mocked the death of an individual who held a differing point of view. Do we want teachers that mock others? Do we want to give the message that only one perspective is correct? And if you don't agree with with that um aspect, then you deserve to be punished. Does this encourage our students to want to weigh and measure each other and be open to different points of view? I don't think so. In 1963, a Democratic congressman read the 45 communist goals for America into the congressional record. Some of these goals need to be read here. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in textbooks. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, student newspapers,

editorial writing, and policymaking positions. Eliminate all laws governing obstinity by calling them censorship and a violation of speech, freedom of speech. Break down cultural standards of morality for promoting pornography and obscenity in media. Eliminate any religious expressions in schools as a violation of se separation of church and state. support any social movement to give centralized control over our culture, including education. How many of these goals have been achieved? How many of our children learn about the pitfalls of communism, the positives of family, individualism, free speech, debate of politically charged issues, and the values within the Ten Commandments. We look to you as leaders to have the courage and conviction to set policies that teach our children to search for facts, weigh and measure our the arguments and to assume the responsibility of being an informed citizen in this wonderful country of ours. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our final two speakers are Karen Rail and Brandon Ogles. Hello. Okay. Social media students across the country are held to extremely high standards for their online behavior. As a parent, I've seen this firsthand. My daughters were athletes in the WCS system and on travel teams. coaches warned them repeatedly that their social media would be used in scholarship considerations. Before my oldest applied for an internship this summer, we had the same conversation again. Be careful what you post because it can cost you opportunities. And it does. There are numerous cases where students lost scholarships or positions solely because of poor choices that they've made online. A Louisiana high school student lost her scholarship after a private video of her dancing surfaced. A Florida quarterback had his scholarship rescended for using offensive language in a video. A Tennessee high school cheerleader lost her scholarship when a private Snapchat became public from middle school. This is the look back that kids have to deal with. These are life-altering consequences for teenagers, many who are still minors just beginning to navigate the digital world. They are constantly reminded that colleges, employers, and clubs will look at their social media. If we hold students to this level of accountability, it is only fair and necessary that we hold educators to the same, if not higher, standard. Teachers are role models, guiding students not only in academics, but also in responsibility and digital citizenship. An employees online misconduct, whether posted publicly or privately, reflects directly on our

school district. Allowing it to go without consequences, creates a dangerous double standard. We've already seen universities take action. UT, Knoxville, MTSU, ETSU have all moved to terminate faculty over inappropriate social media posts. And those were professors teaching mostly adults. We're talking about teachers that are shaping minors in our district. Think about how young children view their teachers. Many of us remember when our kids lit up with excitement just seeing their teacher at the grocery store. It was like spotting someone famous. That's how influential teachers are. They spend more hours each day with our children than we do. Their role as models of behavior is as important as any proathlete or public figure. To allow a WCS teacher or staff member to remain after making disturbing, mocking, or harmful posts about someone's murder sends the message that adults in positions of trust face fewer consequences than the students that they lead. I urge the board respectfully to take decisive action and terminate any WCS employee who shows such poor judgment. Our students deserve role models who meet the same standards that we expect of them. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, thank you, chairman, and members of the board. Uh, my name is Brandon Ogles. I have, uh, three students at Franklin High School, a freshman, sophomore, and junior, and one upcoming student that's at, uh, Grassland uh, Middle. Uh, the reason I'm here tonight is I got some um, text messages concerning uh, some posts made by one of your staff. um previously I guess ended last week uh this weekend. I was first made aware of it Saturday and I would like to commend um Superintendent uh Golden and his staff for fielding calls over the weekend as well as I know many many of you were called as well. Um and um fast forward I think some of the first time some of y'all met me. I was actually an officer with the Williamson County Sheriff's Department. Back then, there was only one of us and I got to do security at these meetings for a couple years. Um, back when the most uh contentious thing y'all were dealing with was reszoning uh West Haven to Fair View, I believe. Um, which y'all got in trouble for. Anyway, fast forward. I had the opportunity to work with Williamson County Schools at the state level as one of your state representatives out of Northern Williamson County. And during that time, Williamson County was the leader in school safety. uh many of the initiatives that y'all did here in Williamson County, we mirrored across the state and by 202021 because of the initiatives you had taken in Williamson County, Tennessee had the largest I'm sorry, um saturation of nearly 84 to 87% statewide of having school safety officers. So, I would like to thank y'all for that. y'all led the fight uh putting our students first across the

state uh as well as many other initiatives and pieces of legislation. Um I'm here tonight because I'm very concerned in the post made by that teacher specifically because with my time at the state we prioritized a lot of our efforts towards identifying uh violent predatory behavior. Um, and it seems like from the post that I w I saw, uh, this teacher condoned predatory violent behavior from towards an innocent person in a very public forum. Um, and that's concerning. any teacher that condones a public educa a public murder of somebody based on their beliefs uh speaking their point of view. Uh that and um that's very troubling and um I'm sorry I haven't done this in a while. Pretty nervous. Uh but I appreciate all y'all being here and all the concerned citizens that came out tonight. Um, and in closing, I just hope uh the school board will investigate this and do your due uh diligence. And I'm praying that there's been some mistake made and somehow this is a a hoax because this is not a representation of what I expect from our Williamson County teachers. And I have not seen behavior like this in the past. Uh, and I'm just praying there's been a mistake. Thank you.

Thank you. I want to say thank you to uh all of our speakers. Um if you were here and you did not get to speak, we would invite you to send an email to uh Mr. Golden and the board and express any of your views uh through that those channels. Um I want to take a second to thank um members of our Williamson County Sheriff's Department who are here. Uh Mr. Meadows, Mr. Britain, Mr. Shonberger. Uh thank you all for what you do for this county u every day and and for tonight. [Applause] Okay, let us proceed with our agenda. The first the next item on the agenda is to uh vote to for the approval of our agenda. So board members, please cast your votes on your devices.

I'm sorry. We I've already forgotten that we uh do this by voice vote. So, do I have a motion and a second? I see we have a motion and a second on the board. All those in favor of approval of the agenda say I. Any opposed? Okay, the agenda is approved. We'll now move on to the consent agenda. Uh we will also uh do this by voice vote. You see the items uh listed on the agenda. Are there any questions about any item on the consent agenda? Okay, we have a motion in a second, I believe. Is that right? Okay, all those in favor of approval of the consent agenda say I.

Any opposed? Consent agenda is approved. And with that vote, the board has approved uh the following items. Approval of the August 18th, 2025 school board meeting minutes. Board policy 5.310 on second reading. Approval of e-plans early literacy prek teacher stipens grant for FY 2026. Approval of e-plan idea partnership for systemic change K through2 implementation grant year two for FY 2026. approval of building modification requests for an LED marquee sign at Bethesda Elementary and recommendation for field trip fee requests. Okay, we will now uh move on to our uh superintendence report. Before we do that, I'm going to make just one brief comment uh before Jason begins. Um obviously the last week has been for has been very heavy um for a variety of reasons and I think it's safe to say it's impacted all of us in one way or another. Um, I asked Jason, we we've spoken several times over the weekend and today, and I asked him tonight to address um the actions that have been taken uh with respect to the the situation, the post that was made um that we all know about and have spoken about um that the public has been communicating about. Um I've asked him to talk about what actions have been taken in that regard. I've also asked him to talk about the process, what that process will be going forward based on state law and based on our policy. Um, I know there will be questions and comments from the board. Uh, my ask is that we keep those to the substance of

what was posted um andor the process that we're involved in. And I would ask that we not try to adjudicate this matter at tonight's meeting in terms of any ultimate final outcome. Um, and I think if we need to get into reasons for that, I'm happy to, but my request is that after we hear from Jason, please ask whatever questions you'd like to ask, make whatever comments you feel you need to make. Um, but let's let's please refrain from trying to adjudicate this matter at this meeting tonight. So, Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, board members. And I want to specifically thank those uh individuals who came and spoke at public comment. Uh for us, safety is a constant ongoing effort. Uh I want to specifically thank Mr. Davis for giving us some prompts for some opportunities uh to continue to grow in that. Uh Mr. Chair, you mentioned specifically uh the the issue that came up over the weekend and many of you who spoke at public comment mentioned that as well. Uh, and we we um we did receive a report on Saturday uh from a reporter uh alleging a post from a Williamson County uh schools teacher regarding the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. And a quick internet search would uh would reveal to anyone who checks that teachers in many other professions have in recent days posted disturbing comments about this tragic violence. Uh these posts have have have been posted across the country. Unfortunately that has happened here as well. Uh so over the weekend that story that was published uh uh about the teachers post on a personal account uh uh led us to initiate some work on Saturday and into actually this morning and we responded to some media requests in a statement that we published this morning and I want to share with you board members. I know you've already seen it uh in in email form, but I want to read it to you uh as a threshold to our discussion. Over the weekend, the district was made aware of a concerning social media post made by an employee. This employee has been suspended pending investigation, which is standard procedure and followed state law requirements. Expressions that glorify or trivialize

violence, especially in moments of a national tragedy, are inappropriate and unacceptable. They do not reflect the values of Williamson County Schools and undermine the trust and unity we strive to build in our community. In addition, board members, as you know, on Saturday, I sent an email to our entire faculty and staff. uh and we have thousands of staff members and we felt like and I felt like it was important to let our our our team know uh how important uh this is and we published this following up this morning to the media request and that reads everyone I wanted to reach out to address the tragic events that have occurred across our country and the world over the past few days and how we as professionals react and respond across the country. Concerns are being expressed over recent comments and social media post. We are hearing concerns, too. During this emotionally heightened time, I want to remind you of what we teach our students. Words matter. As you navigate through the remainder of the weekend and into next week, I ask you to pause before hitting send on an email or make a social media post regarding recent events. Please recognize that this is a painful time for so many people and professional teachers need to lead the way in empathy, compassion, and decency in how we communicate. Think about how your word choice might affect others in this difficult national time. And as always, treat others how you would like to be treated. So board members, in addition to that suspension, I wanted to give you a little bit of additional detail about the process. Uh first uh the the state structure for for teachers uh allows uh in the course of an investigation school systems to suspend pinning investigation. I felt like that was the appropriate first

step. It doesn't require it. It allows it. We did suspend that teacher who was the subject of that story uh uh from from their work and we suspended the teacher without pay pending investigation. The from a process standpoint uh the first step is to notify that employee of the suspension. We notify that employee this morning. Next, uh we it it we give them the notice of the issue and then schedule an opportunity for them to be heard with representation if the employee has chosen that representation. That is not yet scheduled. Uh but we will be scheduling that uh with the employee. Uh then at that point the conversation with the with the uh with the accused will drive the nature of the investigation. uh what we hear from that employee will influence the next steps uh in the investigation. Uh and then after all the information that that is available as part of the investigation is shared either through speaking with that employee or doing an investigation potentially um through computer work or speaking with others based on wherever that that conversation leads. Uh we do evaluate the the act. We look at the impact on the school system uh and we compare what the investigation reveals that that employee did to the standards in the code. uh and that includes the teacher code of conduct and that also includes the standards uh for for uh discipline uh of a teacher and that includes uh incompetence, inefficiency, neglect of duty, unprofessional conduct and insubordination. We will go through that process, make sure we do a a quick and thorough job in

evaluating that uh and make a decision. After that point, when a decision is made, then the teacher has an opportunity uh for for a potential appeal. Uh I won't get into all the details of that. I know Miss Osbrooks has given you an email with some of that detail. So, Mr. chair. Uh that's that's where we stand with uh with our approach to it that what has been reported does not meet Williamson County's values uh and does undermine the trust and unity we strive to build in our community and we will go through that investigative process. Thank you for that. Um board members, we can open it up for questions or comments uh if anyone has uh or wishes to be recognized. Mr. Galborth.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um Jason, I have a question about another one of the um the speakers um who spoke tonight and I don't believe I think he's not here anymore, but um but he spoke about the he spoke about the makeup of our staff um and and so then the diversity of our staff. And I just I just wanted to ask you or or maybe you could maybe this is a Vicky Hall question, but do we make hiring decisions whether in favor or against using any of those um any of those factors that he spoke about, age, race, geographic, gender, political views. I just want to know if if that's a consideration at all in our in our hiring process.

I'll give you a clear and succinct answer. No, we do not make decisions based on that. We do make an effort to recruit the largest possible pool of highquality candidates for our staff to choose from.

So, we don't have any evidence that that we're not hiring people who come through come in interviews that we're disproportionately not hiring people who who have diversity by whatever measure. um that's just that's simply not a a factor. Is it is it more a factor of it's more a factor of who comes through the doors um who's qualified, who who presents themselves for candidates, and like you just said, we we do make a an effort to to cast a wide net. I mean, I know you've talked about our partnerships with CSU and and some of the other organizations. I just want to make I just want to make it clear like this is this is not something that we're actively trying to prohibit. It'd be great if our if our teachers were I don't think anybody and nobody has said I've never heard Vicki say I've never heard anybody say or do anything to the to to the effect of limiting our diversity. It's just a function of of how do we how do we have more people apply that are qualified that we could that we could hire. Is that fair?

Yes, that is fair. and and since you mentioned Miss Hall and and invited her to speak, I do want to give her that opportunity as well if there's anything else she'd like to add related to that. Thank you. I don't really have very much to add except that you're correct that we we don't have any kind of record that we are um denying hiring opportunities for any of those um classifications that you mentioned, Mr. Galbreth. and we do make that opportunity to try to go um and find a a diverse pool of candidates because we're always looking for um more candidates, the best and the brightest. Thank you so much,

Dr. Driggers. Uh last year I looked into this issue after someone made a comment and I l found the demographics. It's all public information. The background of our students and the background of our uh employees and the background demographics of Williamson County. In one case in particular, the presence of students was 4% but the presence of that ethnic group was 7%. So I would now Pacific Islanders specifically that's a little harder. We're pretty far from the Pacific, but I would suggest a spreadsheet of some kind breaking down that data.

Thank you for that. The state report card does include student data based on the state reporting. We'll make sure we give a a link related to that. If I'm not mistaken, Miss Hall, the state report card does not include similar data for faculty. It's exclusively students. I don't think so. We'll make sure we at least get you that. Mr. Cash. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh Mr. Golden, I'd like to go back to the teacher issue. Yes, sir.

Um thanks for explaining the process and we're in the process. Uh there was also another incident uh where it happened in the classroom. Is that the same process? And just so the public knows that uh that's being in looked into too.

Thank you for that. Yes sir. There was a uh we received a report of a discussion uh with a between a social studies teacher and students. Uh and that is under investigation too. Yes sir. Under that same process and that includes a suspension without pay pending investigation. Okay, I just have one, excuse me, one other comment. Um, we have 3,000 teachers employed for in Williamson County. Um, we can't let a few disgrace the other 3,000. So when people are on social media and communicating back and forth, we have thousands of dedicated teachers that are abiding by the laws or the rules or the codes of conduct, if you will. And I just want I just want the general public to know that. But a few there's always going to be people that say things they need to be taken care of, whatever. But don't look at all our teachers with that in your mind because they're hardworking, dedicated people. Thank you,

Dr. Reeves. Yes. Um, Superintendent Golden, for the for clarity for the board and for the public, and I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but could you provide a general timeline in terms of how long the investig the investigation could take?

Thank you. I'll speak to I'll speak to goals and then and then I may ask Miss Sbrooks to speak to end deadlines. Uh, when we investigate an issue, uh, we we we address it immediately. If somebody has representation, I will tell you for practical purposes that ends up being the the uh the the most significant potential delay in finding the right day. But even in that situation, we'll set a date within typically a week or less uh to meet and give that op to give that employee an opportunity to be heard. Uh uh at that point, depending on the investigation, it could lead to others. Uh I will tell you my from an estimate standpoint uh we we try unless there is some extremely unusual circumstance to make decisions within a two-eek period as a as a goal in all our investigations. Um I can't anticipate and Miss Hall I I I'm looking at you. I can't anticipate uh uh anything influencing that. And I will tell you the twoe part is because most of our investigations as I mentioned are suspension pending investigation without pay. Uh and so if at all possible we try to close those investigations out within that twoe pay period. Um Miss Miss Hall or Miss Osbrooks can you can you put fill in some additional detail? So, um, just to be clear, Tennessee state law states that any suspension pending investigation can't be any longer than 90 days. Um, and we do abide by that timeline, but just know statutoily that timeline is there.

Again, as I mentioned, that's the max. Dr. Superintendent Golden and maybe Miss Hall. Is there a difference in the process between a tenured faculty and an atwill faculty?

Uh, number one, yes, except I'm going to correct your question just a bit. There is a difference between a tenured faculty and an untenured faculty. our faculty members do sign contracts and so there there is no if I'm not mistaken I can't think of a scenario where a a classroom teacher is an at will employee they are they they are all under contract but a tenure teacher has a slightly different process from an untenured teacher uh under state law what about the teacher in question

uh so to to Mr. Cash's uh um comment. Uh one teacher, the one that was who was the subject of uh the uh the Saturday notice is not a tenure teacher, has worked for the district less than five years. Uh the other teacher that Mr. Cash asked about is a tenure teacher. Thank you. And is there value in us giving you the a nutshell of the difference in process?

It's very minimal. The timelines that you have already received from me are the same. whether the teacher is tenured or not tenured. I'm also going to remind you that board policy under personnel, we do have a separation practice for nontenured teachers in policy as well as a separation practice for tenur teachers. those time both of the timelines um are set out in policy and again very little difference um in in those timelines. They're all done by state law. Um so there is to Mr. Driger's point at will classified employees um there that is also in policy and that will look very different than the process that you'll see for our tenur or non-tenured teachers.

So Mr. Driggers, Dr. Driggers, there are there there are two policies in section five. one of which addresses tenure teachers and and outlines the state process for that and in the next policy addresses non-tenured teachers. Thank you.

All right. Does anyone else wish to be recognized? All right. Thank you, Mr. Golden for that report. Uh we'll move on to new business. Uh there I should say there is no board chair report. new business. Uh the first item uh we have a series of budget items to vote on uh all pertaining to the 2526 budget. Uh the first one is approval of general purpose school fund 09.25 public school security grant in the amount of $855,618. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh as you all know from the work session, this is the carryover uh amount for the uh annual public schools safety grant. Much of this is related to construction projects uh to improve safety such as uh lock mechanisms, etc. Uh Mr. King is here if you have any uh specific questions, but I do recommend approval of this accounting measure.

All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay, we're ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Thank you. The uh item passes. Um item number two, approval of general purpose school fund 09.25 United Way grant in the amount of $59,525. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. uh United Way and I want to thank them for this work donates every year to Williamson County schools based on the donations they receive in this region. Uh and the specific grant is for afterchool tutoring. Uh so do recommend approval of acceptance of uh of this grant and placing it in the appropriate location in the budget.

All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay, we're ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that grant is approved. Item number three, approval of general purpose school fund 09.25 transition grant in the amount of $220,833. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The state transition grant is a grant for our student support services for students with disabilities who are transitioning and preparing for life outside of Williamson County Schools. Their budget, the state budget is on is on on an on on an October one budget year. And so because of that, we do need to roll some of those funds uh to uh to this budget. Uh so do recommend approval of that. All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no.

Okay, that grant is approved. Item four, approval of general purpose school fund 09.25 innovative school models carryover in the amount of 10,234,529.93. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the grant that the governor initiated just a few years ago for their innovative schools model. We are spending the money to build the new facility that's just on the north side of Franklin High School's campus for our what I'm calling our innovation hub or our innovation center. Uh because this is a a uh hard construction project, we are pacing the the payments based on the completion rate of the project. And so this money is required to move to the next budget year as we finish that construction project in the coming year. Do recommend approval.

All right. Thank you. We have a motion in a second. Any discussion? I do have one question. When is the estimated time of completion for that? Um Mr. King, you may have an exact date. If I'm not mistaken, it's going to be in the late spring, but I don't have an exact u date or month.

Yes, you're you're correct. That's the ETA right now, but for sure it'll be open for next school in plenty of time for next school year. But I believe it was late April was the the last date I heard. But again, thank you, Mr. Gers. So, I guess piggyback on that in terms of the following fall um and we're registering for classes. So, do we have any idea of the of the programming there? um I guess in addition to to the EIC like how is that going to what are what are we going to what are the going to be the options for for people because I know they can come in from anywhere.

Thank you for that question. Uh and I'm going to try to hit every new program uh off off my memory. Dr. Webb, I may I may pitch it to you. Uh we are including aviation, hospitality and tourism, fire prevention and suppression services. uh diesel power generation. Um I'm hitting a snag, cyber security and artificial intelligence.

Thank you. Okay, I I hit all but one. Uh so that is that is uh um some some very specific local marketdriven college and career technical education programs. It will be at this location. Every student in the district will have the ability to set in their schedules uh that work. And is it is it all is it all on in person or are there any is there any online ability to to kind of remote into that? Thank you Dr. Web. Can you speak to that?

Thank you for the question Mr. Galbreth. Um our current programming is face toface. There may be some components especially with the fire science as students are often seeking in addition to that fire science certification EMT certification through dual enrollment with Columbia State. Some of those courses may have an online component, but the primary method of delivery will be face-to-face instruction. Thank you.

And if I may, Mr. Galbard, you didn't quite ask this, but I'm going to add this. From a budgeting perspective, the director uh position is in this year's budget, and the director is working towards putting those programs together concurrent with a construction project that uh that um that that is being driven by our operational folks. So they're they're this in this school year. So they're getting the program up and running and that's that's part of the grant. But next year it'll just be

it'll it'll be funded and as part of I mean it it's hard to say that we're there were I mean we are going to be spending dollars and they're operationally part of that student teacher ratio but but were it not for this program we would have been those teachers would have been we'd had to hire them elsewhere at some point maybe driven by like all the other schools. Well, from a ratio standpoint, that's going to be difficult to say in year one, uh, because of enrollment. I I I we are of the opinion that over the course of probably the next two or three years, as enrollment builds up and stabilizes, we'll have a a clear understanding of that. I will tell you just to be as open as I can, chances are just statistically because of how we measure student numbers at each school, we will be spending a little bit more on college and career technical education programs in next year's budget than we than we are this year.

That's fair. But no other but the as far as the construction, it was 100% we didn't we didn't spend any other any other WCS funds out. This is 100% paid by the grant.

Thank you for that. We are making sure that the facility itself uh is 100% grant funded. I let you all and the commission know on the front end that we would not be asking for any additional funding for the construction project. We've kept it within that. I got to add one little piece. We as in any project you do have a contingency. If there is contingency funding left over, that can actually help us with our with our day-to-day operations uh funding that for the first year. Okay, any other questions? Okay, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, the item is approved. Item five, approval of general purpose school fund 09.25 25 state special education preschool grant in the amount of $677,520. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh the state, as you see, has given us that grant for what they describe as special ed education preschool. It's what we call early childhood. Uh and uh this amendment places the grant in the budget. So, do recommend approval. All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. And Mr. Bostic?

Yeah, just a comment. Um, I shared this at the uh work session, but I wanted to say it here, too. Um, the early childhood program is truly a beautiful program and my son benefited greatly from it. I can't speak for all of the EC programs that we have around the district, but the one at Fair View is truly phenomenal. Miss Lucy, Miss Lesley, Miss Tia, I know I'm leaving out several of them, but they are uh wonderful, wonderful ladies who did a phenomenal job with my son and many of the other kids there, and I just I can't say enough about it. And thank you. Shout out to Dr. Murray who's here tonight as well, principal down there at at Fairview Elementary. It It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So, I'm happy to vote for it. Thank you for that, Mr. Boss. Mr. Chair, I have to mention this. Uh, you all spoke about brainstorming board goals next year. I don't know that there's anything cuter than watching um uh the the early childhood students uh in the in the school. Uh walking the halls, visiting the library. It's it I I hope that you're going to have an opportunity in the next year or two seeing that. Thank you for those comments. Um all right, any other questions or comments? Okay, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, the grant is approved. Move on to item B, approval of the 202627 budget preparation calendar. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, as you know from Miss Rachel Farmer speaking to you at the work session, it's already time for us to set the calendar for the budget. Uh, we have that there and we do recommend approval for that detail. All right, we have a motion in a second. Any discussion or comments? Mr. Cash.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, since we're going into the budget, I'd like to back up to the work session. Uh, the subject that Mr. Galbreth brought up about fees. Uh, I've just really been thinking about that. And when we voted that there would be actually no fees, uh I never dreamt in a million years that the whole budget process for the fees would fall on to the principles and teachers. I have four I get four uh emails from four schools and every one of them I think except one is asking for donations all the time. I never thought it would be that way. I thought it was in the goals for uh the superintendent to search out different avenues of donations and uh and I I know Mr. Golden has been doing that. But uh Mr. Galbbert brought up a good point. If we're going to get into this budget, we need to budget that money. It needs to be in the budget. And I don't know where we're going to get it. I know there's impact fee money out there and other areas that could cough up a couple of million dollars if they had to. But I think this should be in the budget taking the burden off principles and teachers because people hate to continue asking And I think it's uh it take a a big load off the schools themselves. Thank you,

Mr. Chair, if I may respond to that. Uh Mr. Cash, thank you for that. We've already started preliminary conversations about that. Um um it it we're at the brainstorming stage and we'll make sure that we factor that in when we discuss the budget. Thank you, Miss Clemens.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, first of all, Miss Farmer, thank you for all the work that you guys do on the budget. I know we've had meetings before and it's it's it's a lot of work and I'm so glad you're doing it, not me. Um, but I would like since we're at the beginning of the year and you're starting in on this, I would love to see us try um to move our teachers up in the pay scale. I'm not sure where we are um this year compared to the others. I know last year we were I think 27th in the state for teachers and um for our county I'd really like to see us really bump that up and put a focus on that. Um so I just wanted to add that. Thank you. Thank you for that. Any other comments or questions?

Well, just acknowledge that there's an awful lot of detail on that screen in front of us. So, thank you in advance for all the work you've already done and that you will do. Um, okay. We are ready to vote. We have a motion in a second. We are ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, the calendar is approved. Item C, board policy for first reading. We have uh one for first reading and then several for first and final. Uh after that this one is uh 3.202 emergency preparedness plan. Mr. Golden.

Thank you Mr. Chair. As you mentioned this is for first reading. This will go back to the policy committee. Uh it includes a substantive addition that uh we will conduct an afteraction review of an event involving a major incident, a major accident or major response at a school or schools uh as immediately after the event as possible. Just as a reminder, we've had some discussions about timing of that uh and uh and certainly opening any additional discussions we we might have at the next policy committee meeting. I do recommend approval for first reading. All right. Thank you. Can we get a motion and a second? Thank you. Do we have any questions on this? All right. We'll proceed to a vote on first reading.

Do recommend approval. I'm sorry. I thought he said that, but maybe I missed it. All right, let's let's vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. All right, that is approved on first reading. Um, move on to item D. Um, we have several here for first and final reading. Um, Mr. Golden, I'm just going to let you I guess we have to vote for each one separately. So we'll start with 1.901 charter school applications.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Because these are changes uh per state law and it's first and final for compliance purposes. I'm not going to give you the detail. Uh certainly uh refer to the discussion we had at the work session. I do recommend approval for compliance purposes. Okay, we have a motion, a second. Any comments? All right, we're ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes zero no. Okay, that policy is approved on first and final reading. Next is policy 1.903 charter school oversight. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Likewise, I do recommend approval for this. I do did want to mention uh because we we are going through four different charter school uh policies. We actually do not have a charter school in Williamson County schools. Just want to make sure those who are watching this are aware of that. Do recommend approval of this policy change. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that policy is approved on first and final reading. Item three is policy 1.904, charter school intervention and revocation. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This adds a reference to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission in the process uh outlined in this policy. Do recommend approval. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Okay, we're ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that policy is approved on first and final reading. The final policy is policy 3.204, threat assessment team. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Likewise, uh we have a change in the process per state law. Do recommend approval. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Oh, I'm sorry. Did I Did I hit the wrong one?

I'm sorry. I skipped one. My apologies. So, what do we have in front of us? I'm Can you scroll down? 1.905. Okay. Sorry. I I I I For what it's worth, Mr. Chair, my comments were related to 1.905. Oh, okay. Well, I'm the one that messed it up. So, we'll go I'll restate this. We are voting on item four, policy 1.905 for charter school renewal. So you stand by your Yes, sir. comments. Okay, a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that policy is approved on first and final reading. Now policy 3.20 204 threat assessment team. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Likewise, this is an addition to state law, but I I felt like it was important to give you guys a little bit better description of that. If you could, Tim, scroll down. Uh what it basically says is that if a reported threat involves the school or the or the building SRO to go for additional help and additional investigation outside the district, then we shall notify parents of of the of that within 48 hours. Uh I will tell you generally speaking our practice is that we've actually notified for many other incidents even beyond that but we are incorporate this incorporating this into the policy uh to make sure we are complying with state law. Another piece is that quarterly I am to report to you how many of those incidents happen. We are working on structuring that mechanism. We're actually going to give you more more detail uh than the state law requires related to those reports in addition to Miss Bird Song's emails to you uh that keep you updated uh in the moment when those investigations occur. Do recommend approval.

All right. Thank you. Any comments? Okay, we're ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that policy is approved on first and final reading. Now move on to item E, approval of the collaborative conference team. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The uhou structure or the PEKA collaborative conferencing structure includes an annual approval of the management team. For what it's worth, the law requires from 7 to 11 uh of of management team members. Likewise, the teachers associations represented would have the commensurate number. I've included the recommendations here uh and recommend approval for this year. Final piece I want to mention that was also mentioned at the board meeting. We are currently in year one of the three-year. So, this coming year we will be in year two. It will not be a total review. It will be uh a limited review based on the law governing.

All right. Thank you for that. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that item is approved. Item F is approval of board parameters for the 202627 school calendar. Mr. Golden.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had a discussion at the work session regarding the board in recent years not setting specific parameters. Uh and the discussion there led to uh what I'm characterizing as very positive discussion about how our calendar has been structured most recently. uh and one of the requests of us was to include in the memo uh an additional sentence which I have included in there uh which is the committee's intent is to keep the basic calendar structure for the upcoming school year. That's the last sentence in the first paragraph. Uh so based on that uh um I do recommend approval of what's been suggested uh there uh in the in the uh in the memo that we do not have any recommended parameters but we intend to honor the the basic structure that we currently have.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Miss Wyatt. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wondered if Dr. web could just speak to the um how the past year we've gone you've gone two years ahead just to help our families with their planning and if we'll continue doing that. Absolutely. Thank you for the question Wyatt.

So this past school year or the calendar committee it was requested by the board to in addition to establishing the school calendar for the upcoming school year to lay the foundation for the school calendar two years out. Um so we will actually be starting our calendar committee work with the framework that we established last year keeping the the same basic structure um that has been successful in the school district previously. So the intention is to continue that practice. Also noted five bullet points from our conversation at the work session uh from you as board members that even though you may choose tonight not to set parameters, I have taken notes on five things that we'll continue to discuss. One was uh the review of inclement weather days and its need and purpose that was mentioned. Um they're looking at teacher start times uh to see if there's any way for us to push that as uh close into August as possible. Uh a review of early release days as part of our conversation. Continue the two-year layout as Miss Wyatt just indicated and my favorite don't break it. Uh it seems to be working great. So we'll be sure to encourage our our calendar committee on those five items.

Thank you. All right. Any other discussion? Seeing none, we're ready to vote.

The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that is item is approved. Our final item for tonight is approval of the calendar committee membership. Mr. Golden. Thank you, Mr. chair. Uh related, we do have a memo with the recommended calendar committee. Uh and just I I wanted to point out that it does include uh um Williamson County Schools parents. We've had a long tradition of including that. Do recommend approval.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, we are ready to vote. The vote is 11 yes, zero no. Okay, that item is approved. And with that, we've concluded our agenda and we are journed. Thank you very much.