BOE modifies cellphone policy

Feb. 8—The Cumberland County Board of Education approved changes to its cellphone policy for students during the Jan. 25 meeting.

The policy adopts the model policy for personal communication devices in schools developed by the Tennessee School Boards Association.

Under the policy, students may possess personal communication devices and personal electronic devices at school so long as they are turned off and kept in backpacks or purses. Teachers can grant students permission to use devices at their discretion.

Board members had questioned how this would impact daily operations at schools. Director of Schools William Stepp said school principals had weighed in on the policy's procedures.

"We polled all the principals," Stepp said.

Those are available online, though not cross-referenced within the policy.

The procedures outline the penalty for violations of the policy, starting with the parent or guardian being called to pick-up the device from the school. Devices taken by school employees are subject to search, according to the procedures.

The policy was approved on first reading. The board does not approve administrative procedures, which were shared for information purposes.

The board also approved changes to the annual operating budget policy, setting a timeline for budget preparation targeting a May 1 budget approval.

Under the changes, Director of Schools William Stepp is to complete gathering suggestions and needs from faculty and staff no later than March 1. Stepp and the chairman of the board, currently Teresa Boston, 8th District representative, are to prepare and review the budget no later than March 20. Stepp is to present the budget to the full board no later than April 1. A time for public input is to offered from April 15-May 1.

The board is to submit its proposed budget to the Cumberland County Commission no later than May 1.

The budget committee is slated to meet during the board's monthly committee meeting, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m.

The testing programs policy was also approved on first reading. The policy changes the scaled score used to determine a student's grade on TNReady and End of Course exams used to determine a student's final grade.

The state average score will be assigned a scaled score of 79 — a change from 84 used previously — to calculate final grades. This score makes up 15% of the final grade for high school students and 10% of the final grade for students in grades 3-8.

Policy changes require two successful readings before taking effect.

In other action, the board approved the following items:

—Application to Tractor Supply/FFA Grants for Growing on behalf of Homestead Elementary agriculture program for $5,000 intended to purchase a chicken house and chicken supplies

—$13,500 budget amendment allocating funds from a TVA Battelle Education grant to support STEM education at Pine View Elementary, North Cumberland Elementary and Cumberland County High School

—$140,000 budget amendment transferring funding from instructional supplies, supplies and materials and other special education equipment to transportation equipment for the purchase of a new bus

—$1,000 budget amendment transferring funds from travel to the teacher pay line of the budget

—$1,000 budget amendment transferring funds from in-service and staff development to other contracted services

—$34,000 budget amendment transferring funds from other supplies and materials to vocational equipment within the Perkins Reserve Consolidated grant budget

—$9,930.96 budget amendment to allocate increased revenue from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for foods and commodity delivery costs

—$170,995.48 budget amendment to allocate increased U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for food supplies

—Overnight and out-of-state field trips Feb. 21-22 for the CCHS FFA to attend the legislative breakfast in Nashville, Feb. 23-24 for FFA Alumni Convention in Burns, TN, March 8-9 to attend the FFA Officer Prep Course at UT Martin, March 23-27 to attend the FFA State Convention in Gatlingburg, April 19-20 to attend the FFA state veterinary science session at UT Martin, April 29-May 3 to attend national soil judging in El Reno, OK, June 22-30 for a tour of New England state, July 1-5 for FFA Leadership Camp in Doyle, TN, and July 15-21 to attend Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.

—Overnight field trip for Crab Orchard Elementary eighth-grade students to visit Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg May 17-18 and out-of-state travel for the school's archery team to participate in tournaments March 13-15 in Murfreesboro, TN, May 9-11 for the national tournament in Louisville, KY, and June 6-8 at the world tournament in Daytona Beach, FL

—Overnight field trip March 20-21 for Martin Elementary FCCLA students to attend the state convention

—Overnight field trip April 14-17 for Stone Memorial High School students to visit the Chattanooga Conference Center for competition; FFA trip to Dallas, TX, March 5-8 for Next Gen Conference and March 25-27 to attend the state FFA Convention in Gatlingburg; HOSA to attend state convention March 25 in Chattanooga; and the Mycology Club to visit Cades Cove Campground May 1-3

—Fundraisers at Crab Orchard Elementary, Pine View Elementary, Pleasant Hill Elementary and SMHS Student Council

—Disposal of surplus property at Crab Orchard Elementary, The Phoenix School and Stone Elementary

While not approved during the meeting, minutes from May 2023 budget meetings were published with the agenda. Boston said those minutes would be up for approval at the next budget committee meeting.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.