Shoaf Takes on "Filth" in Schools

 Sumner County Commissioner Matt Shoaf says he and his fellow County Commissioners are taking on "filth" in schools.

More from NewsBreak:

"We won't stand for filth that has made its way into our schools. We're not going to get stuck on process - we want it fixed, because that's what our children deserve."

In reference to "filth" making its way into schools, Shoaf appears to be referencing a recent County Commission resolution calling for the School Board to ban two books from Sumner County school libraries.

READ MORE local news at NewsBreak 

 

Book Battle in Sumner County

 A pair of stories from NewsBreak detail a battle between the Sumner County Commission and Sumner County School Board over books:

The County Commission last week passed a resolution raising objections to two books:

The resolution specifically mentions the books A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliott and Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.

The resolution states "text found in the books has examples of racism, underage drinking, foul language, violence, drugs, prostitution, alcohol, hatred of police, overthrow of the government, destruction of the nuclear family, and communism."

Meanwhile the Sumner County School Board held a hearing and retained "A Place Inside of Me."

The Sumner County School Board last night voted in favor of keeping "A Place Inside of Me" on the bookshelves in the school system's library. The move comes following a complaint that the book violates a new state law around objectionable content. Seven members (out of 11) voted in favor of keeping the book.

The vote on the library book - an award-winning illustrated book by Zetta Elliott - took place after a public hearing featuring speakers both for and against the text.

READ MORE local news at NewsBreak 

 

 

Liberty Creek Names Baseball Coach

 Liberty Creek High School has announced that Eli Carlisle will be the school's Head Baseball Coach.

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Can Tennessee Solve the Teacher Shortage with Temporary Licenses?

 From Tennessee Education Report:

House Bill 1901 sponsored by Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (and in the Senate by Sen. Joey Hensley) would allow for the granting of temporary teaching licenses to individuals not otherwise trained in order to address the growing teacher shortage in Tennessee.

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It's worth noting here that Weaver represents a portion of Sumner County in the House.

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A Tennessee Message for Education Secretary Cardona

 From NewsBreak:

During Education Secretary Miguel Cardona's recent visit to Nashville, a group of Tennessee pastors and parents urged the Cabinet leader to take action to protect public schools.

“No matter what we look like, where we live, or what's in our wallets, most of us want our neighborhood public schools to inspire imagination, cultivate critical thinking, and ensure our children can live fulfilling lives,” said Rev Dr Kevin Riggs, Pastor of Franklin Community Church. “But Governor Lee and the Legislature are dividing us and working to bypass local leaders and voters when they promote charter schools over local public schools."

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Station Camp's Van Huss Wins Outstanding History Teacher Award

 From Sumner County Schools:

Station Camp High School social studies teacher, Drew Van Huss, can add state winner to his list of accomplishments. Van Huss has been named Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) state chapter.

Van Huss began his teaching career at SCHS in January 2011 and has taught United States History, World History, United States Government and Civics, Advanced Placement Human Geography, Current American Issues, Ancient History and Sociology.

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                                                        Drew Van Huss

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This Week at Hendersonville High School

 From the HHS Twitter feed:

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Craighead Joins Team at Liberty Creek Middle School

 Elizabeth Craighead has been announced as the Lead Teacher for Liberty Creek Middle School, the school's Twitter feed announced:

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Kerrie Foster of Hendersonville Arrested for Bringing Gun to Lakeside Park Elementary

 Here's more on the incident that occurred on Friday:

Woman Brings Gun to Lakeside Park Elementary

 WSMV has the story:

A woman was arrested on Friday for taking a handgun on a school campus, Hendersonville Police said on Friday.

Hendersonville Police were called just before 10:30 a.m. by the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office to respond to Lakeside Park Elementary after getting reports of a woman wearing a ballistic vest outside of the school.

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Sumner Schools Sets Graduation Dates

The Sumner County School Board has set graduation dates for the Class of 2022.

More information here>

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Portland East Hosts Battle of the Bots

 From the Portland Sun: 

The Battle of the Bots was held at Portland East Middle School (PEMS) on Nov. 13.

The competition was part of the VEX IQ Challenge. Students build robots from VEX IQ kits and compete with other teams to earn points to advance to higher levels of competition. This year nine schools competed involving around 100 students.

Schools can also order parts and build their own robots rather than using kits. PEMS uses parts to build their robots. The school has nine teams with 23 participants.

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Supply Chain Shortages Hit Sumner County Schools

 The Sumner County School system is reporting that global supply chain issues are impacting the meals offered in cafeterias. 

Fox 17 in Nashville has more:

Sumner County Schools posted to Facebook Monday night letting parents know the shortages will be affecting breakfast and lunch menus for students in the district.

"While we will continue to provide a healthy meal for your student, we are no longer able to guarantee the accuracy of the online menu," the district wrote. "Some food or beverage items normally provided to students may not be available or arrive as scheduled."

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Gov. Lee Bringing School Funding Dog & Pony Show to Hendersonville

 Gov. Bill Lee will be hosting a Town Hall on the state's funding formula for schools in Hendersonville on October 27th. The event will be held at Merrol Hyde Magnet School at 5:30 PM. 

The Town Hall is part of Lee's effort to pitch his plan to re-work the formula for funding schools while not actually increasing education funding. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is an unapologetic champion of school privatization. While the Tennessee Supreme Court has delayed implementation of the voucher scheme Lee succeeded in passing in 2019, Lee has put on a full court press of other measures in order to bring privatization to the Volunteer State.

The latest effort comes by way of Lee attempting to “reform” the state’s school funding formula, known as the BEP. The move includes 18 subcommittees designed to make recommendations for revising the formula — even though Lee has indicated he has no plans to actually increase funding for schools.

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Lee's Administration has come under fire for failing to make a serious attempt at increased school funding in the midst of a giant surplus:

Tennessee ranks 46th in the nation for what we invest per student. It is irresponsible and harmful to Tennessee children to continue the pattern of insufficient state investment in our schools, especially at a time when Tennessee has the largest revenue surpluses in state history. We can and must do better for our students.

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Teacher Shortage Crisis Hits Tennessee

 For years, policy advocates and those paying attention have suggested a teacher shortage crisis was imminent. Instead of implementing strategies to attract teachers and keep them in the field, state policymakers have instead foisted more responsibility on already overwhelmed educators. Of course, these new responsibilities didn’t come with significant pay increases. In fact, teachers in Tennessee experience a significant pay gap compared to similarly educated peers in other professions.

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Tennessee School Funding Falls Flat

 Tennessee ranks 46th in the nation for what we invest per student. It is irresponsible and harmful to Tennessee children to continue the pattern of insufficient state investment in our schools, especially at a time when Tennessee has the largest revenue surpluses in state history. We can and must do better for our students.

Any review of the BEP funding formula must include more than recommendations on how to change the formula. Until the state makes a significant increase in public education funding to address many challenges plaguing our schools, updating a formula will not get us where we need to be to provide the high-quality public education Tennessee children deserve.

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School Enrollment Bouncing Back

 Sumner County Director of Schools Del Phillips updated the School Board on enrollment numbers in light of COVID-19, according to a recent story in the Tennessean:

Phillips said that Sumner County Schools had 29,177 students enrolled during the first 20 days of the school year. That is roughly a thousand students less than last school year.

“Approximately 1,450 students chose to home school,” Phillips said. “In comparison, that's usually around 150, so a pretty sizable number chose to homeschool.”

 

Phillips also reported that 4,100 students have enrolled in the Sumner County Virtual Academy, with 2,600 of those students being K-8, during the first nine weeks of the school year. About 550 of the K-8 virtual learners are returning to the classroom after fall break, he said.  

READ MORE>> 

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Mask Mandate Extended

A note on back to school and the local mask mandate ... from a post by Sumner County Schools:

Sumner County Mayor Holt has extended his mask order through August 29, 2020. Per Sumner County Schools Pathway to Re-entry Plan, SCS is subject to all local and state requirements.

Students in middle and high school and all staff are required to wear face coverings while at school. Elementary students are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings while at school.

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COVID Prayers

A church group in Gallatin held a "park and pray" event ahead of the start of school with a special focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's more:

This isn’t the first time members of the First Baptist Church in Gallatin have prayed for students, teachers and staff, but this time it’s different.

"We know that the virus is limited us and in the past we’ve gone into the schools and prayed in the highways and prayed for teachers and the doors," said Jeremiah Scott, youth pastor.

So instead, the church and the community parked and prayed in the parking lot of Gallatin High School. The church even used a radio transmitter to pray through the radio.

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Back to (Hybrid) School on Monday

Sumner County Schools will open doors to students on Monday, August 3rd. The return will be on a hybrid model that features students attending in-person two days a week and via online learning three days a week. After two weeks, students in grades K-5 will attend each day, while those in grades 6-12 will maintain the hybrid schedule until COVID-19 infection rates decrease significantly. It's possible the infection rate in Sumner County could rise, in which case all school for all students will be delivered online.

Here's more from NewsChannel5:

Sumner County Schools is taking a hybrid approach for the upcoming school year.

All students in the county will learn from home for three days and at school for two days for the first two weeks. If all goes according to plan, kids from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade will learn at school completely. Everyone else will remain in a hybrid schedule. However, the plan could always change depending on the COVID-19 case count.

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