A busy summer is ahead for Bartlett City Schools facilities, with 19 projects that will be underway, according to Superintendent Dr. David Stephens.
At the May 18 school board work session, he briefly discussed those projects, including the Ellendale Elementary roofing, partial roofing at the 9th Grade Academy, roofing of the high school’s West Gym and renovations of the gym for its conversion into a band hall.
An additional topic at the work session was the board’s agreement to no longer routinely schedule work sessions in advance of each business meeting. Board members will still be able to request a work session when desired; they will just no longer happen automatically and will no longer be on the published calendar as they will happen irregularly with the required public notification. This change will be up for a vote at the May 25 business meeting.
Work sessions are public meetings used to discuss background information that may be placed on the agenda for the regular business meeting and to receive information about about educational programs, legislation, and other issues relevant to the school district. No official action can be taken at work sessions.
After the work session, the board also met in executive session to discuss pending litigation. Details are not yet publicly available on this topic.
The board approved the following topics for the agenda at the May 25 business meeting:
- The proposed 2018-2019 Bartlett City Schools Instructional Calendar
- The Coordinated School Health District application and a related addendum, which allow the district to get some state funds for the Coordinated School Health position
- Bid awards for contract painting at Altruria Elementary and Ellendale Elementary
- Bid awards for contract paving at Bartlett Elementary, Bon Lin Elementary and Oak Elementary
- Bid awards for custodial services at all district schools and at the Central Office
- The creation of a separate booster club for the high school girls’ lacrosse team
- Wording changes to the board’s insurance management policy
- A memorandum of understanding (MOU) allowing the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Memphis to hold night classes in advanced manufacturing at the high school. The purpose is to maximize use of equipment in the school’s technology lab and to support graduates and other community members who want further training in this area.
- An MOU with Southwest Tennessee Community College to meet the educational needs of students who don’t quite meet the University of Memphis’s dual enrollment requirement of a 21 on the ACT. This will give students with slightly lower ACT scores a chance to get some college credits while still in high school.
- An MOU with the City of Bartlett about the city’s leasing of Apple equipment for the school district’s use. (By law, the district is prohibited from entering into such agreements, so the city does it on the district’s behalf.) Over this summer, this will allow teachers to trade in their three-year-old laptops that are starting to show their age but which still have value. They will receive new MacBook Pros with more RAM and solid-state hard drives at a special price. The cost will be an increase of about $300 more per device.
- A General Fund Budget amendment to transfer funds for this summer’s work projects at BCS schools
- The district’s 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan
- The superintendent’s evaluation
