West Carroll Recognizes Student, Faculty

The West Carroll Special School District held its monthly meeting last Thursday, where they recognized Junior Hannah Fowler as she will go through the Tennessee Governor’s School of Agriculture Science at the University of Tennessee at Martin this summer. Fowler will attend a four-week program for high school juniors and seniors to experience various aspects of agriculture and natural resources both in the classroom and through hands-on learning both on and off campus at UTM and will receive three hours college credit.

Agricultural Instructor Noah Rogers gave the board a progress update on the greenhouse operation. The greenhouse is full of flowers just in time for spring, and Mr. Rogers said that he contacted the Co-Op in Huntington and has worked on a plan to contract some plants to them as the greenhouse had too many. They were contracted for hanging baskets as well as bedding plants, and the hanging baskets were delivered to the Co-Op on April 4.

“It was a good opportunity for the students to do some networking and to see a little bit of the agriculture industry as well,” Rogers said.

Director of Schools Preston Caldwell mentioned the ESSER funds (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency (COVID) Relief are running low and new chairs and desks are needed for the primary, elementary and high school for the upcoming school year. Advertising for bids for these chairs and desks were published with the school receiving multiple quotes. JC Educational and Office Supply is a local company, located in Paris, and will not charge for shipping. For an extra $450, the workers can meet the truck at the schools and help unload everything as well as adjusting the heights of the new equipment. The bid for this is $61,665.84 and was the lowest bid of the five bids.

“Because this is over the $10,000 threshold, we had to advertise it and put it before the board to choose the bid,” Caldwell said.

Mr. Caldwell recommended going with JC Educational and Office Supply as it it the lowest and local and has a lifetime warranty.

Board member Betty Wallace asked if the desks and chairs could be taken from a state bid, to which Caldwell said that he had not seen a state bid for them before.

Vice Chairman Jeremy Jackson made a motion to approve the desks and chairs bid from JC Educational and Office Supply, to which it passed with a unanimous vote.

Mr. Caldwell asked the board to use the ESSER money once again for seven new heating and air conditioning units to be installed. Three of these would go in the primary school and the other four would go to the elementary school. He said that this deals with the air and germs and COVID-19, which would be funded by ESSER money. The cost is approximately $43,000-45,000. Caldwell asked the board for permission to advertise this, to which it was approved unanimously.

“We really need to spend the ESSER by the end of this fiscal year, which would be the end of June,” Caldwell said.

To use this money, Caldwell once again asked the board for permission to advertise for a sign to promote the school. The last item on the agenda to be approved was for the CEITA metal detectors to be purchased with grant money instead of ESSER. Previously, it was approved that these detectors be purchased and the cost was $23,000-25,000, but there has been a delay and Caldwell found out that these could be covered with a grant and can be ordered on July 1, to which it was approved.

The five-year strategic plan is reviewed each April, and the board reviewed it during their meeting. The plan had many goals, the top one being safety for the students and faculty.

“We have very carefully followed all safety drills and they are up to date,” Caldwell said.

Another part of the plan is to improve student achievement and motivate teachers. For the new 24-28 plan, they are moving from school safety officers to a full Student Resource Officer program starting this upcoming school year. SROs are contracted through the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and are trained law enforcement officers.

Before concluding the meeting, Mr. Caldwell commented on the greenhouse’s progress. He also commended Deputy Tyler Haley, Food Service Director Mandy Drewry, Dale’s Recycling and all of the emergency responders who helped develop the mock crash in advance of the annual prom.

Caldwell also gave each board member a copy of his performance evaluation and asked each of them to complete it within the next few weeks. He also requested a work session in May to discuss the performance evaluation.

The next West Carroll Special School District meeting ise May 2 at 6:30 p.m. All board meetings are open to the public.