McKenzie Schools Hear About Possibility of Free Meals for Students

McKENZIE (May 7) — Could free school lunches for students be in the offing at McKenzie? That’s what is being explored in an effort to boost the number of students eating the school-provided lunches.

Greg Jones, school food service supervisor, told the Board of Education members during the May meeting. Jones presented statistics indicating the utilization of school meals - breakfast and lunch.

Of the 1,208 students enrolled in the school system, the percentage of students eating breakfast were 54.04 at the Elementary, 33.83 at the Middle School, and 36.07 at the High School. Lunch utilization was 69.15 percent at the Elementary, 71.88 percent at the Middle School, and 38.42 percent at the High School.

Jones indicated its possible to achieve a financially sustainable level of government reimbursement with an average of 70 percent of students eating the school meals. No decision was made during the meeting.

Presently, student lunch fees can be paid at the school or online, the latter bears an additional convenience fee. Students who do not pay have the option of an alternate meal, which is very similar to the meal of the paying students. Student lunch fees that are overdue are being covered, in part, by a donor. Anyone can help pay for student lunches.

Four McKenzie High School rising seniors attended the annual SCOPE Conference in Nashville on the campus of Belmont University. The Tennessee School Board Association’s Student Congress on Policies in Education invites students to attend and discuss contemporary issues.

TSBA hosts the Student Congress on Policies in Education (SCOPE) conference, which brings together 9th-12th grade students from across the state to discuss current topics in education. Participants will explore education issues through mock school board meetings, group discussions, and debates with their peers. These events are designed to give students an understanding of how school boards operate.

This year’s SCOPE’s topics were: Required Internships for Graduation, Artificial Intelligence Use for School Work, Four-Day School Weeks, and Cell Phone Use in School.

Attendees were Tate Surber, Carter Kee, Rachel Essary, and Emma Smith. They were accompanied by Ashley Lowe, guidance counselor.

The Board discussed the district’s Attendance of Non-Resident Students policy. Non-resident students must apply at least two weeks prior to the first day of school. The school has the right to reject any non-resident student and possibly add a tuition fee. Rejection might be based on a student’s scholastic standards or failure to meet standards of behavior. The policy allows non-resident students to continue at McKenzie if they moved from the district. Also, a student may attend MSSD if his or her parent is an employee of the district and the student is in good standing with the district.

One policy that is being revisited is an existing policy in which a child of a property owner within the school district may attend based on that ownership.

McKenzie Special School District is limited to the geographic area in and around McKenzie in Carroll County. It does not include areas in Weakley and Henry counties (even in the city limits), although the district has many students from both counties.

Justin Barden, director of schools provided a list of faculty and staff changes for the end-of-year.

Retirements include: Tiffany Smith — MES; Amy Wilkes — MES; Vera Shipp — MMS Nurse; Beth Bailey — District-wide; Keith Breeden — MMS and MHS Band Director.

Resignations include: Jamey Roney — MHS; Wade Comer — MHS; Bryant Comer — MHS; Alex Hayes — MES; John Wilkins — MHS; Virginia Arnesen — MHS cafeteria; Cindy Williams — MHS cafeteria; Brittany Standridge — MMS; John Walker — MMS.

In-House Appointments
Dru Emerson — MHS Girls Basketball Coach; Ashley Lowe — MHS Assistant Basketball Coach; Gale Edwards — MMS Nurse.

New Hires
Keith Hodge — MHS Business, Head Football Coach; Janet Esch — MHS English Language Arts; Justin Lowery — MHS Wellness, Head Boys’ Basketball; Ben Carter — MHS Asst. Football Coach, History; Merritt Spence — MHS Driver’s Education/Physical Education, Asst. Football Coach; Kelly Allen — MES Nurse.

The Board approved the purchase of a second Ford F250 maintenance truck at a price of $62,286 from Pepper’s Ford, which had the low bid on the previous truck purchased this year. This is the matching price, said Barden.

The Board meets in a workshop on Tuesday, June 4, 5:30 p.m. in the MSSD office and again on Tuesday, June 11, 5:30 p.m. for the monthly meeting.