Obion County BOE agrees to support feasibility study

The Obion County School Board came together Jan. 6 at the board office for its first regular meeting since early November 2024, with Director of Schools Tim Watkins, school board chairman Fritz Fussell, vice chair Keisha Hooper, chair pro tem Barry Adams and board members Shannon Graham, Tim Britt, Jared Poore and Chris Akin present.

Along with many Obion County teachers and a few members of the public, three Obion County commissioners were present for this meeting, including District 3 commissioner Rob Holman and District 6 commissioners Eugene Hudgins and Terry Roberts.

Board member Tim Britt proposed an amendment to the agenda to include a feasibility study for the County School System contingent upon adequate funding for the 2025-2026 school year. The board approved the amendment without discussion.

Under normal circumstances, neither the school board nor the Obion County Commission meet in December, but when a Dec. 6, 2024 “joint orientation work session” was announced for both boards in late November, it sparked public concerns regarding the financial state of the publicly funded school system. 

As this work session approached, many residents feared school closings and consolidation were in the district’s future. The combined session was extremely rare, and the projected number of public attendees prompted moving the meeting to the courtroom of the Obion County courthouse in Union City.

The packed audience that night heard from Obion County Mayor Steve Carr and Watkins that financial inflation nationwide had taken a serious toll on federal funding for schools and Obion County was no different and would look at a serious cut.

The state legislators would take what money is given to them by the federal government and divide that up to each county commission, who then disburses it to their school districts. The funding amounts are determined by several conditions, such as enrollment.

“No one wants to close any of our schools, but we only get what we are given, “ Watkins explained to those on hand for the courthouse orientation, adding budgets have been set and if not met, the state would step in and take action.

At the work session held in December, Watkins promised to generate multiple scenarios for balancing the budget and get those options in front of the commission before moving on a decision.

The Obion County budget committee then announced last week, another joint orientation session with the school board would be held the morning of Jan. 6 at 8 a.m., preceding the budget committee’s regular meeting at 9 a.m.

 Watkins discussed the session and said budget committee member and county commissioner Danny Jowers proposed that the school district hire an unbiased company to do a feasibility study on the entire school district. 

He said this would allow a group with no emotional or sentimental connection to the district to generate a 5-10-year plan and use their findings to determine the best way to “right the ship.”

Jowers, who is also the Mayor of Kenton, said neighboring Gibson County School District had done this in the past, and it seems to have worked out well. Jowers also included the caveat that he would support the Obion County Commission paying for the study, for the benefit of both the commission and the school board.

The budget committee agreed to forward Jowers’ proposal to the full Obion County Commission where it will be approved or denied. 

Before moving on to discuss other items on the agenda, Fussell noted that there would be another special called meeting to discuss details of this action in the near-future, with the date, time and location to be announced in local newspapers and radio outlets.

After the meeting was called to order with prayer, the board held its annual recognition of outstanding teachers and support staff from schools across the district.

Building level Teachers of the Year and Support Staff of the Year were honored for their dedication and service. 

Winners included Black Oak Elementary Pre-K-4th grade teacher, Jackquelyn Hayes and 5th-8th grade teacher, Angela Tobian, Hillcrest Elementary Pre-K-4th grade teacher, Melody Baker and 5th-8th grade teacher, Laura Robinson, Lake Road Elementary Pre-K-4th grade teacher; Kenthia McKinnis and 5th-8th grade teacher, Jason Pate, Ridgemont Elementary Pre-K-4th grade teacher, Allie Clark and 5th-8th grade teacher, Ed Pledge, South Fulton Elementary Pre-K-4th grade teacher, Karen Goodrum and 5th grade teacher, Mindy Galbraith, South Fulton Middle/High Kevin Seymour 6th-8th grade teacher, 9th-12th grade teacher, Dawn Robinson and Obion County Central High School 9th-12th grade teacher, Donya Angel and 9th-12th grade teacher, Lauren Hudson.

The building level winners were followed by the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) award winners. They included Anna Nunnery of Black Oak Elementary, April Gansert of the Board Office, Janell Gegg of the Bus Garage, Stephanie Flowers of Hillcrest Elementary, Lavonda Stanley of Lake Road Elementary, John Ward of South Fulton Elementary, Kelly Key of South Fulton Middle/High School, Merany Gantt of Obion County Central and Katie of Ridgemont Elementary.

Finally, the system-wide award winners were awarded, including Pre-K-4th grade, Teacher of the Year, Kenthia McKinnis of Lake Road, 5th-8th grade Teacher of the Year, Kevin Seymour of South Fulton Middle/High School, 9th-12th grade Teacher of the Year, Dawn Robertson of South Fulton Middle/High School, Principal of the Year Sandi Bigham South Fulton Elementary, Assistant Principal of the Year Chris Lownsdale of Obion County Central and Supervisor of the Year, Adam Stephens.

The personnel report was approved, including the resignation of Katelyn Austin as the nurse at Hillcrest Elementary, BreeAnna Parnall, as an educational assistant at SFMHS, Jessica Rice as a Ridgemont Elementary bus driver, Ryan Schueneman, as a Lake Road Elementary teacher, Jamie Johnson, as an educational assistant at Lake Road Elementary, Don Gwaltney, as a bus driver at Black Oak Elementary and Angie Lamb as a librarian at OCCHS.

The report also included the retirement of Dana Lynch as a Ridgemont Elementary food services employee.

Listed in the report was the hiring of Holly Stanley, as a nurse at Ridgemont, Mallorie Ruddle, as a nurse at Hillcrest Elementary, Evan Robertson as an educational assistant at SFMHS, Alvin Webb, as a bus driver at Black Oak Elementary, Destiny Neil, as a bus driver at Black Oak Elementary, Kylee Blakesley and Christina Rollins, as educational assistants at Lake Road Elementary.

The report included the transfer of Chancy Roach from an educational assistant to a teacher at Lake Road Elementary.

Finally, the board approved leave of absence requests made by Hillcrest Elementary teacher Haley Klutts, OCCHS food services employee Sheena Tharpe and Hillcrest teacher Sydney Maloney.

The board also approved the monthly financial reports and the minutes of the board’s Nov. 4, 2024, meeting.

There were several overnight trip requests from student groups approved. The requests included the SFMHS Cheerleading team’s national competition in Dallas, Texas Jan. 23-27, 2025, the SFMHS Key Club to attend the LaMissTenn Key Club District Board Meeting, in Ponchatula, La., from Jan. 24-26, 2025.

Requests were also approved for the Hillcrest Elementary History club to travel by chartered bus to several historical places in Nashville from March 20-22, 2025, the Hillcrest 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes to travel to Brandon Spring Group Center from May 5-7, 2025. The final request approved was from the OCCHS Band to travel to Orlando, FL, from May 27-31, 2025.

The consolidation of the Hillcrest and Lake Road middle school football teams was tabled because of lack of attendance. Watkins told the board that there was another event held at the same time as the board meeting, which the football coaches were involved in, and they would attend the February meeting.

Watkins informed the board that the school district recently completed its annual policy audit, which is conducted each Fall to review and update existing policies as needed.

One policy that required updating was the district attendance policy. There were two key changes that needed to be made to bring the policy into compliance with state law.

The first change relates to released time courses, which are courses conducted entirely off campus. The updated policy now allows the board to award anywhere from less than half credit up to a full credit for released time courses. However, the district does not currently have any students taking part in such courses.

 The second change to the attendance policy involves the conditions under which a student’s driver’s license can be revoked. The state law has been updated to remove language that tied license revocation to grades. Now, a student’s driver’s license may only be revoked based on attendance - either 10 consecutive unexcused absences or 15 total unexcused absences. The district keeps the ability to recommend license revocation to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

According to Watkins, the proposed amendments bring the district’s attendance policy into alignment with current state law, which led the board to approve the changes to the policy.

The board also approved an amendment to the district’s background check policy to align with the state’s rap-back system. 

The rap back policy on background checks is a system that provides real-time updates on an individual’s criminal history, eliminating the need for periodic re-checks.

 In 2008, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law requiring background checks every five years for teachers and other positions involving proximity to children. To comply with this requirement, the state has enrolled all school employees in the FBI’s rap back system, which is tied to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) background check system.

Under this policy, when a new teacher or staff member is hired and undergoes an initial background check, they will not need to get another one for the duration of their employment, even if they work for the school system for 50 years.

Watkins said the rap back system provides real-time updates, so any criminal activity that needs to be brought to the school’s attention will be immediately notified.

This policy applies to all new hires, and there is a process for transferring existing employees into the system. Volunteers, substitutes, and parents chaperoning field trips still have the option of getting the old background check system every five years. The rap back system is more expensive upfront, costing $80 per person compared to around $30 for the old system, but the school district reimburses employees for this cost on their first payroll.

Watkins said the policy will save the school district money because they will only need to conduct background checks for new employees rather than budgeting for all employees every five years.

 Watkins said overall, the ramp back policy provides a more efficient and effective way to ensure the safety of students and comply with state requirements.

Watkins then opened a discussion of the 2025-2026 school year calendar. He presented two options for the 2025-2026 school year calendar, with no action required at the meeting.

Option one was the same as the current year’s calendar, while option two would include more abbreviated days and earlier breaks.

Watkins asked for the board to review the options and provide feedback at the February meeting.

The meeting closed with announcements about the return of teachers from winter break. Watkins said he had been told everything went smoothly and was optimistic that the return of students to school on Wednesday, Jan. 8 will go just as well.

Watkins expressed his personal appreciation of the board’s support and that January would be School Board appreciation month and many of the schools will celebrate the board members. He encouraged the board to attend any of those events.

Watkins and Fussell reminded everyone to stay safe in the cold weather that had hit the area and they hoped there would be minimal weather-related closures this year.

The meeting was then adjourned by Fussell.