Board of Education met Monday

The Lake County Board of Education held their regular meeting on Monday, September
12th. All active members were present for the meeting. Ms. Penny Childress gave the invocation
and the pledge was said to begin the meeting.
The next order of business was to elect officers for this term, resulting as follows:
Board Chair: Jason Stanley
Vice Chair: John Cochran
Pro-tem: Debra Holiman
TSBA representatives: Dianne Homra & Jason Stanley
TLN representative: Dianne Homra
Jamie Beal, Maintenance Supervisor, addressed the board along with Eric Williams of Eric
Williams roofing to give them an update on the progress of fixing damage caused by the December
2021 tornadoes. All LC School locations suffered damage, and at this time they are still working with the insurance company to finalize the claim for repairs.
Dr. Burton, Superintendent, then addressed the board about a Maintenance Position Proposal. He informed the board that by creating another maintenance staff position, supervised by Jamie, they could consolidate currently contracted jobs, such as upkeep at the central office and grounds aintenance, into the duties of the new role. Jimmy Dale Snyder asked if the plan was to begin taking
open applications or promoting within, to which Jamie replied that he would like to promote within as doing so would build a professional ladder. Currently, custodians hire in with no real possibility of career growth.
This position would create that growth, adding incentive to encourage good workers. Debbie Cox made a motion to approve this position proposal, seconded by Jimmy Dale Snyder, and passed unanimously.
Next, Dr. Stacy Alexander, Federal Projects and ESSER supervisor, gave a presentation on data collected from last year’s state testing. The data was presented based on TCAP/EOC scores in grades 3-12. Individual achievement as well as growth in relation to peers is calculated.
While Lake County students are not overall the highest scorers in the state, several new plans to address weak points in curriculum and changes to staff have already been implemented. The data shows that our students show lots of promise in ELA and Social Studies. Math and Science are our weaker areas. Dr. Alexander also presented data on Chronic Absenteeism.
A student is considered to be chronically absent if he/she/miss 17 days of school or more.
Last year, 255 students out of the 718 enrolled in Lake County Schools were considered chronically absent. Dr. Burton and the central office staff are working to figure out what is the root of the cause of these massive absentees, so they can work with parents and the community to find solutions.
The central office staff then discussed the new third Grade Retention Law that the Tennessee State Legislature has recently put into effect. This is the first year that this law, which does not affect students with an IEP, will be practiced. State testing will be the factor that determines retention, but there are options to keep students from repeating the third grade that include summer camp and low ratio tutoring. As with all Tennessee legislation, the dynamics and actual guidelines surrounding this law are vague and do not provide detailed explanation on executing these options, but Dr. Burton assured the board that Lake County Schools will follow this law and provide the best education plan for each student.
A few changes to equipment purchases were approved, including a plan for a special meeting on the 23rd to approve the final bid for a new maintenance truck and the meeting was adjourned.