Photos by Amanda Swain
After a well-attended open house for the Bartlett 9th Grade Academy on July 24, the Bartlett City Schools board met to tie up loose ends on transportation, interlocal agreements (ILAs) with other districts, computer leasing and multiple district policies.
The board authorized superintendent David Stephens to negotiate the final details of a contract with the district’s transportation provider, Durham.
Members also unanimously approved ILAs on career and technical education, systems technician, purchasing, payroll, and network and telecommunications. The board amended the systems technician contract to omit Lakeland School System, with that district’s approval. Stephens said it didn’t make sense for Lakeland to participate as the district only has one school.
Chairman Jeff Norris also said he was frustrated with the Germantown Municipal School District not proving to be the best business partner over the past couple of months, particularly in changing directions after general agreement with other districts. He asked what the consequences would be for striking that district from the purchasing ILA.
He agreed not to pursue that after Stephens said it would be a problematic change with just one week before school started.
Stephens also said that there are legal provisions in each ILA for any participating district that breaches a contract. He emphasized that the cost savings achieved with the ILAs’ economies of scale make the work worth the effort.
“The thing that we have to look at is, from my perspective, this is probably some of the best things that we’ve been able to do to really get our schools up and running, to be able to add positions back, to be able to have good insurance programs and benefits for our employees, to drive these operational costs down,” he said.
At the meeting, the board also approved more than 30 routine district policies addressing topics that ranged from student discipline procedures to buildings and ground management, dress code, student fundraising, substitute teachers and textbooks, to name just a few. School policies are posted on the district’s website at bartlettschools.org, under the “board” category. (Click here for a direct link.)
The school board also approved a memorandum of understanding with the city about new Apple computers for the district. On July 22, the Bartlett city board authorized a lease purchase agreement to replace aging school district computers, as well as an agreement with the school board to make the payments and a memorandum of understanding between the city and the school board. The existing computers that are still operational will be put to use in the classrooms for students’ use.
Norris said he wanted to correct some inaccuracies reported in the Commercial Appeal about the previous week’s meeting between Durham and representatives of the new municipal school districts. While the meeting had some intense moments, he said it was productive.
“We all sat in that room, and we all agreed to the terms that existed in that contract when we left. So no one was shocked. There was nothing that Collierville did to hold up that contract. Germantown was never singled out in that contract as an individual entity. It was always written to basically any district who made a change to create that indirect cost increase to another district would be held responsible.”
The attendees spent most of the meeting determining what that threshold would be, he said. “Everyone was in lockstep agreement when we left that room.”
Superintendent’s monthly report
Stephens spoke about the success of the Bartlett 9th Grade Academy kickoff earlier that evening. “The thing that really made me happy and excited was all the smiling faces.”
The building, formerly used as Shadowlawn Middle School, has been transformed since the first week in July at a cost of about $78,000, he said. He credited the city for providing start-up money, and he also credited a donation of about $80,000 in office furniture that the district didn’t have to purchase.
In other preparations for the new school year, the district has also completed some in-service work for teachers and training for substitute teachers, including some subs that will be shared with the Lakeland School System, Stephens said. Bartlett also participated in a West Tennessee school districts’ roundtable with the governor and commissioner of education.
He also said the district has 122 bus routes each morning and each afternoon, and drivers are now testing the routes for easy turn-arounds and route timing. Evaluating all the routes helped them to decide to move Altruria Elementary School to an 8 a.m. start time, increasing efficiency and potentially saving the district about $14,000 to $16,000.
The change pleased community members, the principal and the teachers, letting them avoid the 9 a.m. time proposed earlier, he said. The district is also ensuring there will be enough crossing guards on hand despite the change in hours.
Stephens listed upcoming events before the start of school on Aug. 4:
- The district will have a system-wide address on Aug. 1 at Bartlett Baptist Church, kicking off the new school year for all employees of Bartlett City Schools. The event will include a vendor showcase and speeches to set the tone for the Bartlett schools’ “family,” Stephens said. A new teacher luncheon will be held the same day.
- A community-wide celebration of the new school system will be 10 a.m.-noon on Aug. 2 on the grounds of Bartlett United Methodist Church (near Bartlett High School).
He said every district has a few minor bumps in the road at the first of the school year, whether it’s a late bus or kids having trouble getting through a lunch line, but the district has prepared well to minimize issues.
“I think we have got everything in place, and we have checked and rechecked and double-checked, and that’s what we’ll be doing to make sure that that first day is not only a success, but that it sets the tone and the tenor for our district for the entire year,” Stephens said.
Written by Carolyn Bahm. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to carolyn.bahm@journalinc.com.
