McKenzie School Board Installs New Members

McKENZIE (September 1) — The McKenzie Special School District Board of Education installed four elected members, elected its officers and reviewed several policy and procedural changes during its Tuesday, September 1 meeting in the MSSD Board Room.

Matt Lane, Spiridon Roditis, Brian Stafford and Brian Winston, who were elected in the August election, were installed during the meeting.

Following the installation, the board elected Roditis as chairman, Winston as vice chairman and Karen Fowler as treasurer. Misty Aird was selected as the Tennessee Legislative Network representative, with Stafford serving as the alternate.

The board was presented with updated MSSD travel regulations covering mileage, lodging, meals and other reimbursable expenses. The regulations set the standard mileage reimbursement rate at 76 cents per mile and allow a maximum parking reimbursement of $8 per day without a receipt.

Travel must be approved in advance by the building principal, supervisor of instruction, food service director or director of schools. Receipts are required for lodging, conference registration and miscellaneous expenses claimed for reimbursement. Staff members must charge lodging reservations to the district credit card and provide hotels with the district’s tax exemption certificate.

In-state lodging and meal reimbursements follow the federal CONUS rates for Tennessee, with a standard lodging rate of $110 and a standard rate of $68 for meals and incidental expenses.

The board also considered an MSSD Facility Use Agreement, with the primary focus centered on insurance requirements for outside organizations using district facilities.

Related changes to Policy 3.206, Community Use of School District Facilities, were considered on first reading. The proposed changes included three amendments. A Facility Use Agreement must be on file for requested use and signed by representatives of both the district and requesting organization.

The policy also states school facilities may not be used for private profit, with an exception allowing unused facilities to be leased for private day-care centers providing educational and child care services to the community.

The third amendment addressed non-school-sponsored athletic organizations receiving permission to use district facilities. Those organizations must adhere to all Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association heat and lightning guidelines during practices and games.

The board also considered changes to Policy 4.600, Grading System, on first reading. Under the proposed change, Advanced Placement, Cambridge International, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), International Baccalaureate and Dual Enrollment courses would receive an additional five percentage points.

Director of Schools Justin Barden presented the director’s report before adjournment.

The MSSD Board of Education consists of Misty Aird, Chad Brown, Karen Fowler, Matt Lane, Spiridon Roditis, Brian Stafford, Brian Winston and Madelyn Morris (student representative).