[0:14] to our Williamson School Board meeting

[0:15] . Welcome to everyone

[0:17] present this afternoon. I'm Lee Webb,

[0:19] current superintendent of

[0:20] Williamson County Schools, and I'm

[0:21] proud to welcome you. We're going

[0:23] to start this afternoon with an

[0:26] oath-taking process. It is a privilege for

[0:28] us to welcome the

[0:29] newly elected members of the

[0:31] school board at the start of each

[0:32] academic year in an

[0:34] oath-taking ceremony, and we are starting this

[0:35] ceremony at 6:30 on purpose, so that

[0:37] all of our constituents and

[0:39] family members who are here

[0:40] tonight can witness this

[0:42] momentous occasion.

[0:44] In addition, we are broadcasting live

[0:45] so that family members we know

[0:47] who are at home or voters at

[0:48] home can also watch. At this

[0:51] time, I would like to welcome

[0:52] to the podium our Mayor of

[0:54] Williamson County, Andy Marshall, who

[0:56] will introduce and swear in the

[0:59] newly elected school board members. Therefore,

[1:01] I would like to welcome the

[1:02] school board members and their

[1:04] families to the podium at this time for

[1:05] our oath ceremony. Yes.

[1:25] Just make a small circle.

[1:27] Yes.

[1:28] Fill the well.

[1:29] Forward. So, let's

[1:39] swear everyone in at the same time, so there's

[1:41] a little bit of harmony. We'll

[1:44] see. We're in Nashville, right

[1:46] , Tony? So, we'll harmonize our

[1:47] answers, but we're going to

[1:49] swear everyone in at the same time. But

[1:51] , before doing so, I first want to

[1:54] congratulate and thank you.

[1:58] Williamson County thanks you for your service

[2:00] and your willingness to run, win, and

[2:03] serve. So, thank you

[2:05] all very much. So, let's begin the

[2:07] ceremony. I say his name. I

[2:18] solemnly swear that I will

[2:22] faithfully fulfill the duties of the

[2:26] office

[2:28] to which I have been elected

[2:31] and which I am about to assume. I

[2:38] solemnly swear to

[2:39] uphold

[2:40] the constitutions

[2:41] of Tennessee and the United States.

[2:47] And to

[2:49] faithfully fulfill the duties

[2:54] of the office of member of the

[2:59] Board of Education representing

[3:01] the fourth district, performing

[3:03] all the obligations corresponding

[3:05] to said office.

[3:06] Excellent. from Williamson County,

[3:09] Tennessee.

[3:12] Congratulations to all. Thank you.

[3:29] If I can take your oaths so you

[3:32] can sign them before then. Yes, I'm going to have him sign them

[3:34] .

[3:50] Very good, guys.

[3:52] Randy, can everyone make some space?

[3:57] Very good, right here in 3. 1 2 3.

[4:07] Excellent. Thanks, guys.

[4:18] Okay, we'll take a moment to

[4:20] let you all sit down and then we'll

[4:21] begin.

[4:47] Very well, while you take your seats, we will

[4:49] give you an official welcome and

[4:50] congratulate you individually. From

[4:52] District 2, Randy Allen. From District 4

[5:00] , Tracy Anderson. From District 6,

[5:05] Kimberly Caldicott. From District 8,

[5:11] Donna Clements. From District 10,

[5:16] Jennifer Canady. And from District 12,

[5:25] Jessica Licciardello. Welcome and

[5:30] congratulations to all of you.

[5:32] I now call this meeting to order.

[5:34] I request that all

[5:35] board members register their

[5:36] digital attendance at this time.

[5:46] There are 12 members present.

[5:49] Thank you. We would like to

[5:51] welcome and thank our

[5:54] Williamson County Sheriff's deputies who are here tonight,

[5:56] Officer Matt Smith and Officer Jason

[5:58] Curtis. Thank you for your service to

[5:59] our district and thank you for being

[6:01] here tonight. We would also

[6:02] like to welcome

[6:04] Boy Scout Troop 86. Could you please stand

[6:05] , gentlemen? Troop 86 is

[6:12] here tonight from Brentwood and

[6:14] they are working on their

[6:15] communication badge. So, welcome.

[6:17] Thank you for being here with us

[6:18] tonight. And I believe we also have

[6:20] some Summit High graduates who

[6:22] are enrolled at Columbia State.

[6:23] Future teachers, could you please stand

[6:25] to be recognized? Thank you for

[6:27] being here tonight. Thank you and

[6:33] welcome. They are here as part of

[6:35] their class project which they are

[6:36] working on at Columbia State University

[6:37] . Alright, to start off

[6:39] tonight, we'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

[6:41] led by

[6:43] Summit High School students

[6:44] Lyric Hudson and Owen Stratton.

[6:46] We will stand firm tonight.

[6:49] We will welcome the singing of

[6:50] our national anthem by the

[6:52] Summit High choir, and when they conclude

[6:54] , we will pause for a moment of

[6:56] silence. So, come closer, Lyric and

[6:59] Owen.

[7:05] Pledge allegiance

[7:06] to the flag

[7:07] of the United States of America

[7:09] and to the republic for which it stands,

[7:12] one nation

[7:14] under God,

[7:15] indivisible,

[7:16] with liberty and justice for all.

[7:49] Oh, can they see in the early light of

[7:56] dawn what we so proudly acclaimed in

[8:04] the last glimmer of twilight?

[8:08] Whose broad stripes and

[8:11] bright stars, through the perilous

[8:14] struggle, waved so gallantly over the walls we observed

[8:21] . And the

[8:27] red glow of the rockets, the

[8:29] bombs exploding in the air,

[8:35] proved throughout the night that

[8:41] our flag was still there. Oh,

[8:44] tell me, does that star-studded flag still fly

[8:48] for the land of

[8:57] the free and the home of the brave?

[9:17] Thank you. Please remain standing

[9:19] for a brief moment of silence.

[9:31] They can sit down. First on our

[9:38] agenda tonight is an annual item,

[9:39] the election of the president and

[9:41] vice president of our board of

[9:42] directors. So, to begin this

[9:45] process, I'm going to ask for nominations

[9:47] verbally. All nominations will be

[9:49] heard until we close the

[9:51] nominations. So, at this moment

[9:54] , I will ask you to open the

[9:56] nominations. Once I close the

[9:58] nominations, I will ask for your vote for

[10:00] president by voice call in a

[10:02] roll-call voting system that will be

[10:03] run by Lydia Glenn. We will begin

[10:07] that roll-call vote first by the

[10:08] first district and then proceed

[10:10] numerically until we have

[10:11] reached seven votes for our

[10:13] new chairman of the board.

[10:16] At this time, I would like to open the

[10:17] nomination process for the position of

[10:19] president of our board of directors

[10:21] for this academic year. Very good.

[10:28] Dr. Driggers?

[10:29] I would like to nominate Dr. Claire

[10:31] Reeves.

[10:32] We have a nomination for Dr.

[10:33] Claire Reeves, nominated by Dr.

[10:35] Driggers. Mr. Bostick? Does he have any

[10:42] nominations? No? Very good. The

[10:44] nomination period is still open. Any

[10:46] additional nominations? At this time,

[10:51] I will close the nominations and we will vote

[10:53] by district. Mrs. Glenn?

[10:56] Tony Bostick?

[10:57] Yes.

[10:58] Randy Allen?

[10:59] Yes.

[11:00] Dennis Driggers?

[11:01] Yes.

[11:02] Tracy Anderson?

[11:04] Yes.

[11:04] Margie Johnson?

[11:06] Yes.

[11:07] Kimberly Calcoat? Yes.

[11:09] Melissa Wyatt? Yes.

[11:11] Donna Clements? Yes.

[11:13] Claire Reeves?

[11:14] Yes.

[11:15] Jennifer Conine?

[11:17] Yes. Yes. Yes.

[11:22] We have 12 yes votes, zero no votes.

[11:25] Congratulations, Dr. Reeves. Come on.

[11:28] Let's take a moment. Let's give a round of

[11:29] applause to Dr. Reeves. We'll take a

[11:37] moment to have the chairs changed. The

[11:39] next item on the agenda

[11:40] will be the election of our

[11:42] vice president, for which we will let

[11:43] our new president lead the

[11:45] process. The process will work in the

[11:47] same way as the nominations and

[11:49] voting for the chairman of the

[11:50] board. In a moment, Dr. Reeves

[11:53] will open the floor for

[11:54] nominations for vice president.

[11:56] We will leave the floor open and

[11:58] then begin the voting.

[12:26] First, I would like to begin by

[12:28] thanking my fellow

[12:30] voting board members for that vote

[12:31] of confidence. I feel I had great

[12:36] respect for our outgoing chairman

[12:39] , Mr. Josh Brown, and I believe he provided

[12:41] strong leadership to this board and I

[12:44] look forward to following in his footsteps. Whenever

[12:48] there is a transition, five

[12:51] board members leave, and tonight we just

[12:53] installed five new members.

[12:55] I believe that change brings

[12:58] opportunity, and I know that each of

[13:00] the five new board members

[13:03] has unique backgrounds and experience

[13:05] , and I welcome the fresh

[13:07] perspective they will bring to this board

[13:09] . Therefore, what I hope to offer

[13:13] are efficient and respectful meetings.

[13:17] My goal is to keep this board

[13:20] focused on policy and

[13:22] governance, and to give everyone the

[13:24] opportunity to be heard.

[13:27] Thank you very much, and now we will return to the agenda

[13:29] . OK. The next

[13:33] item on the agenda is the

[13:35] election of the vice president of the

[13:36] school board. We will follow the same

[13:39] process that we just used for

[13:41] the position of president. Then,

[13:44] I will open the floor for

[13:46] nominations and we will hear the

[13:48] nominations until no

[13:51] more names are presented, and then we will hold an

[13:55] oral vote starting with

[13:57] district one and moving around the room.

[14:02] The floor is now open for

[14:03] nominating the vice president.

[14:06] I would like to nominate Margie Johnson,

[14:09] Dr. Johnson.

[14:17] Mrs. Calcote, you have the honor of being

[14:18] recognized.

[14:18] I would like to nominate Tonya Hickman. Are

[14:24] there more nominations? Well, since we don't see

[14:28] any, we'll close the nominations and

[14:30] proceed to the voting. Mrs. Glenn

[14:33] .

[14:34] Tony Bostick.

[14:37] And this is the person we'll be voting for

[14:38] , Margie, right? For this or...

[14:41] Please indicate the name of the person you would

[14:43] like to support.

[14:44] How will we do it? Very good, Margie

[14:45] Johnson.

[14:47] Randy Allen.

[14:49] Tanya Hibma.

[14:50] Dennis Triggers.

[14:51] Tanya Hibma.

[14:53] Tracy Anderson. Tanya

[14:54] Hibma.

[14:56] Margie Paget.

[14:59] Kimberly Calcoat.

[15:00] Tanya Hibma.

[15:01] Melissa Wyatt.

[15:03] Tanya Hibma.

[15:04] Donna Clements.

[15:05] Margie Paget.

[15:08] Claire Reeves.

[15:10] Tanya Hibma.

[15:12] Jennifer Cannine.

[15:13] Tanya Hibma.

[15:18] Jessica Lucian.

[15:20] Tanya Hibma.

[15:25] Nine votes for Mrs. Hibma and three

[15:28] for Dr. Paget.

[15:29] Very good. Congratulations to Ms.

[15:32] Hibma on being elected vice president.

[15:36] Now we will move on to topics of special

[15:39] public interest. This is our

[15:45] afternoon public commentary segment and I believe we have eight speakers

[15:47] registered. So I'll say we have

[15:51] 30 minutes allotted. Each person will have

[15:54] 3 minutes to speak. I will announce the

[15:56] names of the first three, and

[15:58] please come forward to the podium when they

[16:01] have finished speaking. If the

[16:03] first person has finished speaking,

[16:05] ask the second person to do so

[16:07] immediately to save time. The

[16:11] first three are Lily Graver, Ed

[16:15] Wagner and, oh, Lisa Schraufnagel.

[16:29] Should I start?

[16:30] Begin and pay attention to the time

[16:32] displayed on the screen. Thank you.

[16:36] I propose that

[16:37] Winston County and District schools ban

[16:39] books from school libraries

[16:41] and impose two censorships on

[16:43] newspaper articles and publications. Therefore,

[16:46] policy 4.43 states that

[16:48] Winston County supports the principles of

[16:49] intellectual freedom and recognizes the

[16:51] right of students to access

[16:53] different types of material, and that

[16:55] censorship of instructional material will be discouraged

[16:57] . However, his own

[16:59] track record proves otherwise. A

[17:01] couple of examples I mentioned were

[17:03] The Perks of Being a Wallflower, whose

[17:05] themes represented in this book are

[17:07] trauma, friendship, identity, and

[17:09] growth. In The Catcher in

[17:11] the Rye, isolation,

[17:13] survival, relationships,

[17:14] truth, and justice are shown. And Extremely

[17:16] Loud and Incredibly Close, it

[17:17] shows the pain, 9/11,

[17:19] war, and trauma. Thus, in 2023,

[17:22] it was decided to keep them in the

[17:23] school library, but in 2024 the decision was made to

[17:25] prohibit access to

[17:27] students in Williamston County schools

[17:29] . But I believe the

[17:33] purpose of having a library is

[17:35] that everyone can read books according to their

[17:37] own preferences, not according to what

[17:39] someone else censors, because everyone

[17:40] has a different idea of what is

[17:42] comfortable and appropriate for

[17:44] students. And another thing I want to

[17:47] mention is that the Supreme Court

[17:49] addressed the removal of books from

[17:53] public school libraries in the case Board of Education

[17:55] versus Pico in 1982 and recognizes that

[17:57] students have

[17:59] First Amendment rights to receive

[18:00] information. And that removing books

[18:03] because officials disagree goes

[18:05] against

[18:06] constitutional concerns. And some of them

[18:08] would be Sarah J. Maas, The Hate U Give.

[18:11] All have been challenged for

[18:13] sexual content, and yet all were allowed to

[18:14] remain in libraries. And if

[18:17] you start framing them in terms of

[18:18] an adult audience, there would be nothing left

[18:20] to read. It's the story, not the

[18:22] activation warning. And then the

[18:25] other issue I want to mention was the

[18:27] ban on censorship of

[18:28] journalistic publications, which dates back

[18:30] to 2025. This shows that

[18:31] Tennessee already has situations where

[18:33] schools have restricted

[18:34] access because administrators

[18:36] deemed the topics

[18:37] inappropriate. The topics covered

[18:40] were birth control and the

[18:42] LGBTQ+ field, both fundamental to

[18:44] providing students with access to information

[18:45] . And not only are they prevented from

[18:47] reading a newspaper, but they are also

[18:49] prevented from accessing information on

[18:51] issues that directly affect them.

[18:53] It meant that they lost the ability

[18:55] to listen to different perspectives and

[18:57] form their own opinions.

[18:58] He conveyed the message that certain

[19:00] topics were not appropriate because they were

[19:02] controversial. And that has a

[19:04] greater effect on student journalists

[19:05] because it basically discourages them from

[19:07] reporting on issues in the future.

[19:08] Thank you.

[19:09] Next up is Ed

[19:17] Wagner.

[19:20] Good night. I didn't realize I

[19:23] only had 3 minutes, but I understand

[19:24] everyone has the same amount,

[19:26] so it's fair. To begin with, my

[19:29] experience was that I was a

[19:31] primary school teacher and school psychologist for

[19:32] more than 30 years. I am very

[19:35] familiar with

[19:36] public education. I really want to propose not

[19:40] just for this school district, but

[19:42] a regional vocational high school

[19:44] that covers

[19:46] Williamson County, Davidson County, and

[19:49] Maury County. In this way,

[19:53] we lose many gifted children

[19:57] who do not have the opportunity and are

[19:59] forced to go to university. I

[20:01] love university, it did a lot for

[20:04] me, but I'm not a very

[20:06] handy person. I lift the hood of a car and

[20:08] I could point to the engine, and that's about it

[20:09] in terms of my skill level.

[20:12] But I think it's very important and that there will

[20:15] potentially be a million

[20:17] jobs a year looking for people

[20:20] with those skills. Now, I know there is

[20:22] some vocational training

[20:25] in schools, but I mean

[20:27] licensed plumbers,

[20:29] licensed electricians, licensed welders,

[20:31] sheet metal workers, HVAC technicians,

[20:33] not just technology, but I do think

[20:35] technology is important in school

[20:38] . I hope I can convince some of

[20:41] you to meet with me and

[20:43] talk and explore how we could

[20:45] talk to the other districts. I don't

[20:48] mind doing a lot of grassroots work,

[20:50] but I truly believe, as a former

[20:52] educator and in the importance of

[20:55] education, that there are 132,000 children in these

[20:57] three districts. If you took 20%, you

[21:00] would be looking at more than 13,000 children whose

[21:06] needs we may not be meeting, and

[21:09] we could. Well, right now

[21:14] I'm hoping that Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook—

[21:17] I'm not a big fan of his, but he has the

[21:20] Workforce Academy, which tries to train

[21:24] people to work and create the

[21:27] new technological systems they

[21:30] want, or the A1, etc. AI, I should

[21:33] say. The president is starting

[21:37] one where they look to do internships,

[21:39] etc. But those programs could

[21:41] appear and disappear. They are not

[21:43] guaranteed. A vocational high school

[21:45] would be a constant.

[21:47] I would be there every year, every

[21:49] year, for the children who

[21:51] need it. I don't know how much time I have

[21:53] left. So I'll leave it here. I had a

[21:56] lot of information, but I couldn't give it to you right

[21:58] now. But I hope some of

[22:01] you are willing to sit down

[22:02] with me and talk about doing this. I think it would be a

[22:05] wonderful thing for the

[22:07] region and I think it would meet many

[22:08] needs of the children who are left

[22:10] behind. I'm going to tell you a

[22:12] quick story. I met a guy who was a

[22:13] plumber. He is 27 years old. He graduated

[22:16] from high school,

[22:17] unsure of what he wanted to do.

[22:19] After talking to her parents, she went

[22:20] to university. I'm

[22:21] sorry, Mr. Wagner. It's time. It's

[22:23] over. I'm sorry

[22:23] . Okay, thank you very much

[22:25] for your time.

[22:30] Next up is Lisa Schrouth

[22:32] Schrouthnegel. I regret having ruined

[22:34] his name. And after her we have

[22:36] Beverly Purvis followed by Emma Graw.

[22:38] Good night. Thank you all. My

[22:40] name is Lisa Schrouthnegel. I have two

[22:42] students who attend

[22:43] Thompson Station Elementary School. First,

[22:45] I want to thank you all for your work.

[22:46] We love Williamson County and

[22:48] the Thompson Station community. We

[22:50] moved here specifically because of the

[22:51] schools and their excellence. That's why

[22:53] I'm here to talk about what

[22:55] a reasonable expectation of

[22:57] bus transportation is. We have

[22:59] ongoing challenges specifically at Thompson

[23:00] Station. For the last 4 years,

[23:03] transportation was predictable. Whether it was their

[23:05] first or second trip in our

[23:07] area, students usually got back

[23:08] home by 4:20 p.m. m.

[23:10] Parents could plan their

[23:12] work days, childcare, appointments, and

[23:14] activities around a schedule they

[23:15] could rely on. However, since

[23:18] the first day of classes this year,

[23:20] that predictability has been

[23:21] completely diminished.

[23:24] My children's school is 1.4 miles from our

[23:26] house. Our original delivery time

[23:28] was 4:17 p.m. m. Then it changed to

[23:30] 4:42 p.m. m. Without explanation, we are

[23:32] simply supposed to

[23:33] accept it. It set us back 25

[23:36] minutes, almost half an hour. We were never

[23:38] notified of this new standard time. It

[23:40] is not unreasonable for a family to expect to

[23:43] know when their child will return home

[23:45] . I say this with privilege because I work

[23:48] from home. I can't imagine being a

[23:50] single mother who might work outside the

[23:51] home and trying to guess every day

[23:53] when her child will arrive, especially

[23:54] if he is a minor. The impact is real

[23:57] . Those young children wait at

[23:59] school long after

[24:01] dismissal time, as do the staff who

[24:02] look after them. Working parents can't

[24:05] just quit their jobs,

[24:06] join a line of cars at

[24:08] 3:30, and do this every time

[24:09] changes occur. It has been a continuous challenge and I

[24:11] cannot emphasize enough how

[24:13] difficult it has been. I imagine they

[24:15] have much more important things to

[24:16] do than this. That's why being here at

[24:18] the county board to address this

[24:19] issue is like making a mountain out of

[24:21] a molehill. Last Friday, a

[24:23] driver became ill and

[24:25] my children had to be picked up 4

[24:26] minutes before

[24:27] school started. Like many others, I decided to

[24:29] take them to school that day. But

[24:32] I went to the bus stop just to

[24:33] see what was happening, and the bus passed by

[24:35] without any students. So,

[24:36] many parents, again, simply

[24:38] made arrangements to take them to

[24:39] school themselves. It is a reflection of

[24:41] how families have

[24:43] completely abandoned a transport service that is

[24:45] owed to us as taxpayers in this

[24:46] area. After school that day,

[24:49] my children stayed in the cafeteria

[24:51] for almost an hour waiting for

[24:52] the bus to arrive. Illnesses

[24:54] happen, I understand. I have three

[24:56] deceased children who had been in

[24:58] daycare services. I understand. But that doesn't

[25:00] explain the unpredictability and the

[25:01] ongoing challenges and delays that

[25:03] I and many other families

[25:04] have faced since

[25:05] classes started 8 weeks ago. I have requested

[25:08] changes to our program. I have asked

[25:10] that we have different loads. They've given me

[25:12] excuses. There is a shortage of

[25:13] buses. There is a shortage of drivers.

[25:15] Again, I understand. What I'm asking is

[25:17] that they be held accountable for what they're

[25:18] doing about it. I haven't seen

[25:20] any information explaining that my

[25:22] bus is full, therefore, my

[25:24] route cannot be changed. I haven't given any

[25:27] data on how many drivers

[25:29] they need. Again, what's the plan

[25:31] for hiring them? When are

[25:32] our children expected to

[25:34] get home from school on time? They have not once

[25:35] arrived home on time.

[25:37] Thank you for your time. Thank you.

[25:48] Good night. I am Beverly Purvis and I

[25:49] have the privilege of serving as

[25:51] president of the

[25:52] Williamson County Education Association.

[25:54] Tonight, I want to ask you to

[25:55] carefully consider the vote

[25:56] before you regarding the

[25:58] superintendent search process. As you weigh up whether to

[26:00] spend district resources on

[26:02] hiring an outside search firm

[26:03] , I encourage you to consider a

[26:05] simple but important question. If we already have

[26:07] a qualified,

[26:08] reliable, and proven leader performing this

[26:10] role, why spend

[26:11] additional taxpayer money

[26:12] looking outside the district for someone

[26:14] who may be highly qualified

[26:15] but lacks the deep

[26:17] institutional knowledge that has

[26:18] helped make Williamson County Schools

[26:20] one of the

[26:21] top districts in Tennessee and across

[26:22] the country? Dr. Lee Webb is not

[26:25] an unknown candidate. It's not

[26:26] someone we would have to spend

[26:28] months getting to know, nor

[26:29] our schools, our staff,

[26:30] our students, our culture, or

[26:32] our community. She has been an

[26:34] integral part of the leadership team that has

[26:36] guided this district through years of

[26:37] growth and success. He understands what

[26:39] makes Williamson County schools

[26:41] exceptional because he has

[26:42] helped build that success. The

[26:44] reality is that leadership matters.

[26:47] The direction set by a

[26:48] superintendent ultimately influences

[26:50] every school, every

[26:51] educator, and every student in this

[26:52] district. Decisions made at the

[26:55] district level have a

[26:56] domino effect that eventually reaches every

[26:58] classroom. These priorities set by

[27:00] the district leadership affect the

[27:02] working conditions of

[27:03] educators, the

[27:04] learning conditions of our students, and

[27:06] the overall trajectory of our

[27:07] schools. And that is why the WCA has

[27:10] encouraged teachers and

[27:11] educational support professionals across the district

[27:13] to contact their

[27:14] representatives on the school board and

[27:16] share their perspectives on those

[27:17] decisions. Regardless of whether they

[27:20] support Dr. Webb as

[27:22] permanent superintendent or believe an

[27:23] outside search is necessary, we believe

[27:25] educators deserve to have a voice in this

[27:27] process. These are the people who

[27:28] experience the impact of

[27:30] leadership decisions every day

[27:31] . The decision is much more important

[27:34] than filling a position. This is about

[27:35] determining the future direction of

[27:37] schools in Williamson County. It's about

[27:39] deciding whether we continue

[27:40] building on the foundations that

[27:42] have made this district successful

[27:44] or whether we look for leadership and vision

[27:46] elsewhere. As board members,

[27:48] you have a tremendous responsibility

[27:50] tonight and we appreciate it. My

[27:52] request is simply that you listen

[27:53] carefully to the educators,

[27:55] staff, parents, and

[27:57] community members who have invested their

[27:58] lives in these schools. Don't

[28:01] just consider the qualifications on a

[28:02] resume, but also the value of

[28:04] experience, trust,

[28:06] relationships, and proven commitment to

[28:08] Williamson students. Thank you for

[28:10] your service, your careful consideration

[28:12] of this matter, and your continued commitment

[28:13] to the students and employees of

[28:15] Williamson County schools. We

[28:17] appreciate you guys.

[28:19] Thank you, Mrs. Burgess. Next up is

[28:25] Anne McGraw, followed by

[28:27] Tony Caudill and then

[28:29] Robin Baldry.

[28:30] Thank you. My name is Anne McGraw and

[28:33] first of all, I want to point out, just at random,

[28:35] how nice it is to see so many

[28:36] women sitting here. Brilliant! I am

[28:40] the mother of a former high school student

[28:41] and I'm only saying this part because it's

[28:43] incredibly relevant. I am a

[28:44] former member of the

[28:45] Williamson County School Board. It's been 8

[28:47] years since I sat here in

[28:49] Tracy's seat and I'm here to

[28:50] speak for the first time since then

[28:52] because this district is about to

[28:54] make a colossal mistake by not voting

[28:55] Dr. Webb for a permanent position.

[28:58] As someone who has been in

[28:59] Dr. Webb's professional orbit in

[29:01] one way or another since I first

[29:03] showed up at one of these

[29:04] meetings in 2014, here's what I know

[29:06] about her. He is excellent at his job. She

[29:09] is professional, fair, kind but

[29:11] firm, cares deeply about

[29:13] student outcomes, and is

[29:14] incredibly respected and loved by

[29:16] staff and parents. I also know

[29:19] that it scares me a little, in the best way

[29:21] . She always has the answers,

[29:23] is determined to find solutions, and

[29:24] , which is especially helpful for

[29:26] all new board members, will

[29:27] never make them feel remotely

[29:29] like idiots for asking a

[29:30] dumb question. But this is the most important thing

[29:32] tonight. I wouldn't even

[29:34] venture to guess about

[29:36] his political affiliation. I have no

[29:38] idea. Even better, it had never occurred to me to

[29:40] ask until now.

[29:43] It would be hard to find many

[29:44] people more in tune with the

[29:46] last decade of headwinds in politics

[29:48] than me, sad to say, and I don't even

[29:50] have any idea how I vote

[29:52] as a citizen. And that's what

[29:54] a professional looks like. Dr. Webb has been

[29:56] doing on-the-job training

[29:58] for this position for decades, which is what

[29:59] every organization dreams of when

[30:01] appointing a new leader. We don't

[30:03] need to spend a single dollar of

[30:04] taxpayer money to rewrite

[30:06] a succession plan that has been

[30:07] in the works for decades under the pretext that

[30:09] she is proving she has

[30:10] earned it. In fact, it has been crazy to

[30:13] even hear anyone mention the

[30:14] search for a superintendent who

[30:16] might lean in a

[30:18] political direction. I hope I misheard and that this isn't

[30:20] a factor in wanting to conduct an

[30:22] external search using

[30:23] taxpayer funds that are scarce at the

[30:25] moment. I don't know how many of you

[30:27] know this, but parents have to

[30:28] pay out of their own pockets for things like

[30:30] mowing the school lawn and

[30:31] buying blackboards and even

[30:33] new equipment for the teachers. I don't know how

[30:35] anyone could seriously justify

[30:37] spending money on private consultants

[30:38] when we have a very clear

[30:40] and qualified candidate, willing and able to

[30:41] dedicate even more years of her

[30:42] career to steering the ship. And to

[30:44] be clear, this is not a

[30:46] sinking ship. We are at the

[30:51] top of the rankings in every

[30:52] aspect of the state, and Dr. Webb has

[30:54] played a vital role in getting us

[30:55] here. And if there's one thing I

[30:57] know about her, it's that she's ready

[30:58] to exceed expectations as the

[31:00] leader of

[31:01] our county's crown jewel. Ask some

[31:04] teachers what needs fixing here and

[31:05] what they could dedicate all their

[31:06] attention and energy to this year. Or to the

[31:09] parents, the bus idea is a

[31:10] great idea. I agree with that. I would have

[31:12] loved

[31:13] reliable bus transport. But I can promise you

[31:16] that the one thing that doesn't need fixing

[31:17] is replacing Dr. Webb. Thank you.

[31:30] Very well, good night. My name is

[31:32] Tony Cardile. Both of my children

[31:34] graduated from Williamson County schools

[31:35] . I have followed the

[31:37] district closely for years. And two

[31:39] years ago I applied for a position on

[31:41] this board. Tonight I ask you to

[31:44] vote against spending up to

[31:45] approximately $100,000 to

[31:46] hire a company to conduct

[31:48] the search for a superintendent

[31:50] . I understand the argument in favor of the

[31:52] search. They have the important

[31:54] responsibility of ensuring that we

[31:56] have the right person in

[31:57] charge of our schools. But we already

[31:59] have a highly

[32:01] qualified leader acting as

[32:02] interim superintendent. I don't know

[32:05] Dr. Webb personally, but I've

[32:07] seen her work for years. She is a

[32:10] very well-informed person, always

[32:12] prepared, understands this district

[32:14] and this community, and has demonstrated the

[32:15] qualities we should desire in

[32:17] our superintendent. When WCS

[32:20] needed an interim superintendent,

[32:22] the previous board of directors elected her

[32:24] unanimously. Therefore, I would like to

[32:26] ask you a very simple question.

[32:29] Before spending up to $100,000 of

[32:31] taxpayer money and months of

[32:33] your time and the administration's time

[32:34] looking for someone else

[32:36] , why not first determine if

[32:38] the highly qualified person who

[32:40] is already doing the job is the

[32:42] right person to continue doing it?

[32:45] Every year, this district fights for the

[32:47] funding needed to support

[32:49] our schools. Finding $100,000

[32:52] in the budget doesn't mean

[32:53] we have to spend it. Evaluate

[32:57] Dr. Webb, decide what you expect from your

[32:59] next superintendent, and determine

[33:02] if she meets those expectations. If

[33:05] they conclude that they don't, then consider

[33:07] conducting a

[33:08] search. But please, answer

[33:10] that question first. I urge you to

[33:13] vote against hiring

[33:14] a search firm tonight.

[33:15] Thank you.

[33:18] Next is Robin

[33:21] Baldridge, and after Robin Baldridge

[33:23] is Becca Ripley.

[33:35] Thank you. My name is Robin Baldridge.

[33:37] I live on Arno Road in Franklin. I have been a

[33:40] resident of Williamson County

[33:41] for almost 26 years and all three of my children

[33:43] are proud graduates of

[33:44] Williamson County schools.

[33:46] I wish to thank each member of

[33:48] our school board for their service and

[33:50] welcome those who have

[33:51] joined us to serve our county. I

[33:54] also believe that Dr. Webb has done

[33:56] a wonderful job stepping up

[33:57] during this time of

[33:58] transition following Jason Golden's departure

[34:00] as superintendent. I

[34:02] sincerely appreciate your many years of

[34:03] service to Webster County.

[34:05] Really. That said, I support

[34:07] conducting a

[34:08] thorough search for our next

[34:10] superintendent. At the end of that

[34:12] process, Dr. Webb could very well

[34:14] be the person selected. But I think it would be

[34:17] a disservice to conduct an

[34:19] open and thoughtful search, and

[34:21] frankly, I think it would be a

[34:23] disservice to Dr. Webb herself. Because

[34:26] for many years Jason Golden

[34:28] faced criticism because

[34:30] a formal search was not conducted before

[34:32] the board appointed him to the position

[34:34] . Out of an abundance of caution and with respect for everyone

[34:38] involved, including Dr. Webb,

[34:41] I believe it is important that we follow a

[34:43] careful and transparent process

[34:45] during this time. And again,

[34:48] Dr. Webb may ultimately be chosen

[34:50] as our next superintendent,

[34:52] but conducting a search will give

[34:54] the community a chance to have confidence

[34:56] in the process. Thank you very much for your

[34:59] time.

[35:11] Hi, I'm Becca Ripley and I have a

[35:12] middle school student in Grassland and

[35:14] a high school student in

[35:16] Franklin. Hello. Well, let's

[35:19] welcome all the new members.

[35:21] Thank you so much for serving our

[35:23] community and our students. We

[35:25] all appreciate it very much.

[35:28] We currently have an outstanding interim superintendent

[35:29] , Dr. Webb. Dr. Webb's 22 years of

[35:32] advancement within the WCS educational and

[35:34] administrative system have

[35:36] provided her with

[35:40] unique and vital institutional and historical knowledge that would benefit us if she

[35:42] were to take up this position

[35:44] permanently. While it is quite possible that there is

[35:46] no more qualified candidate

[35:48] than our Dr. Webb, and we have her

[35:50] track record right in front of us,

[35:52] and we have this fortuitous opportunity to

[35:54] generate leadership from within,

[35:56] we could still have a

[35:58] competitive and hopefully

[35:59] transparent search process without spending our hard-

[36:01] earned WCS funds

[36:03] on an unnecessary external search firm

[36:05] . For example,

[36:08] Wilson County hired a new

[36:10] superintendent this year, and they received

[36:12] applications from all over the country without

[36:14] paying a recruiter. As a parent of

[36:18] Williamson County schools

[36:20] and a

[36:21] county property and sales tax payer,

[36:23] I find this superfluous expenditure

[36:24] disappointing, discouraging, and

[36:26] frankly frustrating. That

[36:29] search team money could and should be

[36:31] spent on our underfunded schools

[36:32] instead of

[36:34] redundantly lining the pockets of an

[36:36] Illinois corporation whose

[36:37] closest partner to Williamson County

[36:39] is southeast of Huntsville.

[36:41] People all over Tennessee know about this

[36:43] vacancy right here in our county,

[36:45] and there will be no shortage of applicants. Even

[36:48] without the delightful possibility

[36:50] of Dr. Webb's interest in making

[36:52] her temporary position permanent, an

[36:54] exhaustive and expensive search is

[36:56] simply unnecessary. Thank you.

[37:00] so much. Thank you all

[37:06] again for taking the time to be

[37:08] here with us this afternoon and

[37:09] share your feedback. Right now, we will

[37:12] move on to the approval of the

[37:14] agenda. Board members, we will do it

[37:16] by oral vote.

[37:21] Basically, they've reviewed the

[37:23] agenda. Everyone in favor, say yes.

[37:26] Anyone against it? Very good. With that,

[37:29] we have approved the agenda. Next,

[37:32] approve the

[37:34] consent agenda. On the

[37:37] consent agenda, we approved the minutes of the

[37:39] August 17, 2026 school board meeting

[37:41] , the

[37:43] Fairview High building modification request, the

[37:45] band shed, field trip fees,

[37:47] and board policy on second

[37:49] reading 6.415 regarding

[37:51] applied behavior analysis with

[37:53] private payment within

[37:55] school institutions. We will also hold an

[37:58] oral vote to approve the

[38:00] common agenda. Does anyone have any questions

[38:02] about the

[38:03] consent agenda? OK. Very well,

[38:07] since there is no discussion, all those who

[38:09] are in favor of approving the

[38:11] consent agenda, say yes.

[38:14] Anyone against it? Very well, we have

[38:17] approved the

[38:18] consent agenda. Now, we move on to

[38:22] communications with the board with the

[38:23] report from the superintendent, Dr.

[38:25] Webb.

[38:26] Thank you, Madam President. First,

[38:27] I want to thank those who came

[38:29] this afternoon and spoke about the

[38:30] audience's comments. In case you didn't

[38:32] know, at the top of the well,

[38:34] around the center, are

[38:36] all our

[38:37] assistant superintendents from all the

[38:39] Williamson County Schools departments.

[38:41] As public comments come in

[38:43] , they take into careful consideration the topics

[38:45] presented for discussion and the

[38:47] concerns raised.

[38:48] Therefore, in addition to contacting

[38:50] you individually after

[38:51] this meeting, we will also analyze

[38:53] the issues you have raised and

[38:54] ensure we follow up

[38:56] with the board regarding them. A

[38:58] perfect example is our

[39:00] bus and transport department. We continue

[39:02] working on our routes and on the

[39:03] recruitment and retention of our

[39:04] bus drivers. It's something we're

[39:06] constantly working on, so we'll keep

[39:09] you updated on it as well. I also want to

[39:10] thank the students who come to

[39:12] speak. It's very stressful. I can speak

[39:15] from my own seat. Sometimes it's

[39:16] stressful sitting in these

[39:17] seats. But to be a student and

[39:19] step forward and get up on the podium to

[39:21] share something you're passionate about, I just

[39:23] want to congratulate you on your leadership and

[39:24] thank you for being here tonight

[39:26] . And while we continue with

[39:30] our superintendent's report, I just want to

[39:32] share with you my vision for

[39:33] this year regarding our

[39:35] school visits. And, obviously, one

[39:38] of the things I do as

[39:39] superintendent is go in and out of

[39:40] school buildings and classrooms. And

[39:42] this academic year, I made the

[39:44] decision to visit classrooms and

[39:45] schools based on the groups. And

[39:48] for the past 6 weeks, I've

[39:49] been in the Spring Hill group at

[39:51] Thompson's Station and at the schools

[39:52] that feed into Summit High School. And

[39:55] those have been

[39:56] phenomenal conversations and a great

[39:58] learning experience about each group, from

[40:00] kindergarten through 12th grade. On

[40:02] those visits, I have the opportunity to

[40:03] talk with bus drivers,

[40:05] students, staff, teachers, and

[40:06] leaders. They've been pretty phenomenal

[40:09] . Therefore, each month we will highlight the

[40:12] group I have just visited. And this month,

[40:16] in our working session,

[40:18] we celebrated and recognized

[40:20] Thompson Station Elementary,

[40:23] Allendale, Bethesda, and Chapman's Retreat schools

[40:26] . They came to our work session

[40:27] and our students became

[40:29] teachers and taught us a few

[40:30] things. Some of the things they

[40:32] taught us on Thursday night

[40:34] were the mission statement.

[40:35] Our board members have

[40:37] a copy of

[40:38] Bethesda's mission statement. They wanted them to make sure they

[40:40] remembered what they had been

[40:41] taught. We won't have an exam, don't

[40:43] worry, but they showed us their

[40:44] mission statement. We had

[40:46] groups of students who

[40:47] showed us art projects and

[40:49] replicated the process that their teachers

[40:51] had followed to teach them about

[40:53] art and create art. We learned about the

[40:55] books the students were

[40:56] reading as they prepared for the

[40:58] Elementary School Book Battle. It was

[41:00] a wonderful evening and we want to

[41:02] thank the directors, especially

[41:04] Tiffany Dukes from Thompson Station,

[41:06] Anthony Johnson from Allendale, Karen

[41:08] Caldwell from Bethesda and Michelle

[41:10] Hummel from Chapman's Retreat. It was a

[41:11] great experience and the students

[41:13] did a fantastic job. It was

[41:16] great to celebrate them. As part of that

[41:19] group, we celebrated a great practice we

[41:21] saw there, which was the Golden

[41:23] Mentors. We would like to highlight a program that takes

[41:26] place in our

[41:28] primary schools, where grandparents and

[41:29] retirees return to our schools

[41:31] as volunteers and participate in

[41:32] our reading program and

[41:34] volunteer with our

[41:35] students. It was great to hear about

[41:38] that great program that's going on

[41:39] . And of course, tonight,

[41:41] before this meeting, we highlight

[41:43] our high schools. Spring

[41:45] Station was here and we heard a

[41:47] great broadcast from our

[41:48] student broadcasters, the

[41:50] Thompson Station Middle Orchestra, the

[41:51] Summit High School Corrale, and of

[41:53] course, they joined us tonight

[41:55] with some beautiful music. So

[41:57] we want to thank those students

[41:59] for being here and their principal Sarah

[42:00] Lamb, Paula Waits and Jason Loudon

[42:02] for their respectful support of those schools

[42:04] . One of the questions I ask when

[42:06] I'm in the building, no matter

[42:08] who I'm talking to, is, "What do you

[42:10] love about this school? What makes

[42:12] your school community unique as a

[42:14] student, as a teacher, as a

[42:15] bus driver?" Therefore,

[42:17] I want to share with you some of

[42:19] the words that were

[42:20] constantly repeated to me in this group. What

[42:23] students, teachers,

[42:25] staff, and leaders love is the sense

[42:27] of community, the people, the pride, the

[42:30] relationships, the hearts of the

[42:31] people who lead in those buildings.

[42:34] And it was a great experience to feel the

[42:37] culture alive and well in that

[42:39] kindergarten up to grade 12 within

[42:41] that group. Therefore, I want to

[42:43] especially thank our

[42:45] leaders from those schools who are in

[42:46] the room tonight. Thank you for your

[42:48] leadership. Thank you for the culture you

[42:50] build. I would like to ask you to stand

[42:52] to receive

[42:53] recognition if you are here as

[42:54] directors in that group tonight.

[43:05] Thank you for your leadership. I see that

[43:07] we have many principals and teachers

[43:08] here. If you are a teacher or leader in

[43:10] Williamson County, could you

[43:11] also stand up? Thank you for

[43:22] being here. As I continue with my

[43:25] report, I want to remind our

[43:27] community that we are beginning the

[43:29] process of adopting our

[43:30] social studies textbooks, as well as

[43:32] adopting some

[43:33] select courses for career

[43:35] and technical education. And that process begins

[43:38] tonight. We will sign and finalize the

[43:40] committee that will begin that process in

[43:43] the coming weeks. In the coming

[43:47] months, from December to February,

[43:48] we will have approximately 99 hours of

[43:50] community time where

[43:52] community members can come and review

[43:54] those materials. You can see those dates

[43:57] and the timeline for the

[43:58] full adoption of the

[44:00] social studies textbooks. You can see it in

[44:02] our board package, which is

[44:03] on our website. Next year

[44:06] , for 2027-28, we will have the

[44:08] fine arts adoption process and some

[44:10] additional CTE courses, but this

[44:11] year is for social studies and some

[44:13] additional courses there. I would like to

[44:16] give special thanks to

[44:18] our entire Careers and

[44:19] Technology Department. As Mr.

[44:21] Wagner shared in his public comment, you

[44:23] know, we prepare our

[44:24] students for Careers and Technology

[44:26] and opportunity for all

[44:28] walks of life when they cross

[44:29] our stage, whether they go

[44:31] directly into the job market, to a

[44:33] specialized trade, to a

[44:34] community college, to a 4-

[44:36] year university, it is important that we have

[44:37] pathways for every student. And

[44:40] we highlighted those pathways

[44:42] last week in the State

[44:43] of the Schools address we did in

[44:45] partnership with Williamson Inc. And

[44:47] our CTE leaders, Jeremy Qualls

[44:49] , Paula Chilton, and Chris Snyder,

[44:50] led that in our Center for

[44:52] Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and

[44:53] our students did a

[44:55] fantastic job telling the

[44:57] story of what

[44:58] that education is like inside our classrooms

[45:00] as we prepare for

[45:02] those pathways. Well, we want to give

[45:05] special thanks to those leaders.

[45:07] And since tonight we're highlighting

[45:09] Summit High School, one of the

[45:10] student presenters was Adler

[45:12] Smith, a junior at

[45:13] Summit High School, who is an

[45:15] entrepreneur in her own right and runs

[45:16] her own sportswear business, and

[45:18] has been part of our

[45:20] entrepreneurship program since she was in

[45:21] middle school at Thompson Station.

[45:23] So, we also want to say hello to her. I'd

[45:26] also like to introduce

[45:28] everyone to Sam Jackson, who is here.

[45:30] He is our new board lawyer and

[45:31] this is his first school board meeting

[45:33] . So we want to

[45:34] officially welcome Sam.

[45:36] Thank you.

[45:36] Yes, welcome. And now, I'd like to

[45:39] hand the floor to the fabulous Corey

[45:41] Mason from our

[45:43] Communications Department. Welcome, good sir

[45:45] .

[45:46] Thank you, Dr. Webb, and good night

[45:48] everyone. We have a great group of

[45:50] Spotlight Award winners

[45:52] tonight, including four

[45:54] national champions. We'll start with three of the

[45:58] students who won gold medals

[46:00] at the National Special Olympics

[46:02] last summer, including Delaney

[46:05] Heflin from Franklin High School

[46:07] . You see her here, she's on the

[46:09] right with the gold medal hanging around her

[46:11] neck and a big smile. She won the

[46:13] gold medal in the

[46:15] unified women's doubles

[46:17] pickleball competition. I am very proud of her

[46:20] . And pickleball must be a

[46:22] regular thing at Franklin High School

[46:23] because Rogan Rivers, a

[46:26] Franklin High School student, also competed there. He

[46:27] is on the right and won the

[46:29] traditional doubles

[46:31] pickleball competition, earning the

[46:33] gold medal. Congratulations to him. And then there's

[46:36] Kimley Wood, from

[46:38] Ravenwood High School, whose

[46:39] favorite sport is swimming. He won a

[46:41] gold medal in the

[46:44] 4 x 25 yard freestyle relay. Congratulations

[46:47] to them. And continuing with the topic of

[46:49] athletics, at Page High School

[46:51] , their athletic department

[46:53] is doing great things. In fact, they just

[46:56] received the

[46:58] Quality Program Evaluation Designation

[47:00] from the National Association of

[47:04] Interscholastic Sports Administrators. Guys, this is

[47:07] very important. They are one of

[47:10] only two schools in the state of

[47:12] Tennessee to have earned this

[47:14] designation, which is awarded to programs

[47:16] that have exceptionally

[47:18] high standards in the areas of operations,

[47:20] leadership, and safety. The

[47:23] athletic director at Page High School

[47:25] is Benji Gray, and he's doing a great

[47:27] job. Next, we have

[47:30] some state championships that we would

[47:32] like to acknowledge. At

[47:34] Page High School, the Future

[47:36] Farmers of America program is doing

[47:38] extremely well. The students you

[47:40] see here, Grace Snyder, Sam Hatch,

[47:42] Ben Delvin, and Scarlett Hendrickson,

[47:44] won first place in the

[47:48] high school dairy judges competition

[47:50] during the summer at the Tennessee State Fair

[47:52] . In fact, this is the

[47:54] second year in a row that they have won this

[47:55] competition. So they're right

[47:57] at Page High School,

[47:59] where their teacher is Tommy Green.

[48:02] Not to be outdone, Page High School

[48:03] also has an

[48:05] exceptional FFA program. In fact, they have just

[48:07] received the

[48:09] national designation of three-star chapter

[48:11] , which is the highest rating

[48:14] a chapter can achieve in the

[48:16] world of FFA. In fact, this is the

[48:18] third consecutive year they have received

[48:19] this designation. The teacher is

[48:22] Shanna Botella. We talked a little while ago

[48:25] about Page and the great work they are

[48:27] doing in the world of athletics.

[48:29] Well, this is proof of that.

[48:31] We would like to share with you some

[48:32] highlights of our staff. James

[48:34] Ickoff, from Page High School, has just been

[48:36] named the TSSAA Coach of the Year

[48:39] in girls' golf. Congratulations

[48:41] to him. And then Dana Fassano is the

[48:45] girls' lacrosse coach of the year at Page High School. At

[48:49] Independence High School, Luke Finley is

[48:52] seen there wearing the gray t-shirt.

[48:54] He received the

[48:56] TSSAA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year award

[48:58] . And then Indy's rival,

[49:03] Summit High School, Warren Reiker, who

[49:05] did a great job at Summit, was

[49:06] named volleyball coach of the year

[49:08] , where he worked and helped the

[49:09] team win a state championship

[49:11] last year. And then our last

[49:15] highlight of the night, guys,

[49:17] is really special. We went to the

[49:19] archives and found a new photo

[49:21] of Harriet Medlin. If they know her, they

[49:23] adore her. Harriet retired

[49:25] last year after 57 years in the world

[49:28] of education. She continues to be a

[49:30] coach, continues to change lives, and continues to

[49:32] do great work in the world of

[49:34] public speaking and debate. Well, the

[49:37] Tennessee High School Speech and Drama

[49:40] League, the THSSDL, let me

[49:42] double-check the name, presented her with

[49:44] a lifetime achievement award this

[49:46] summer for all the work she has

[49:49] done over the years. And

[49:52] not only that, they also went a step

[49:54] further. They gave him the award and,

[49:56] later, decided to name it after him

[49:58] . So, from now on

[50:00] , it will be known as the

[50:02] Harriet Medlin Lifetime Achievement Award.

[50:05] Congratulations to Harriet and congratulations

[50:07] to all our outstanding winners

[50:09] this month.

[50:12] Thank you, Mr. Mason. And Madam

[50:14] President, with this my

[50:15] report concludes.

[50:16] Thank you so much. Okay, the next item on the

[50:19] agenda is the president's report

[50:20] . There is no report from the

[50:22] chairman of the board tonight, so we will

[50:24] move on to new business. The

[50:26] first item on the new agenda is the

[50:29] textbook adoption committee's approval for the adoption of

[50:31] social studies in March. I was going to say

[50:34] Mr. Dr. Webb.

[50:36] Thank you, Madam President. Okay,

[50:38] our first memorandum for your

[50:40] approval here is a point of

[50:41] contention regarding the textbook committee

[50:43] . And again, you will see here that it is

[50:45] for social studies and in the areas

[50:47] of professional and technical education,

[50:49] human services, and administration and

[50:51] entrepreneurship. This includes our

[50:53] teachers, parents, and

[50:54] our school board members who will act

[50:56] as our representatives on this

[50:57] committee. As a reminder, all

[50:59] board members are ad

[51:01] hoc members of the committee, but are not

[51:02] voting members, including Ms.

[51:04] Tanya Hibner, who will act on the

[51:06] committee because you, as the board,

[51:07] have the final vote. Therefore, they are

[51:09] voting members in the end with

[51:11] regard to the materials and their

[51:13] adoption. This is the committee I

[51:15] recommend and I recommend its approval.

[51:18] Very good. Thank you so much. Do we have a

[51:22] motion? Yes, okay. I see a

[51:24] motion by Ms. Calcoat and one

[51:26] seconded by Donna Clements. Now, the

[51:29] floor is open for discussion on

[51:31] this point. Very good. Since there is no

[51:37] debate, we will proceed to the vote.

[51:49] 12 in favor, zero against.

[51:53] And with this, the

[51:54] textbook adoption committee for the

[51:56] adoption of social studies in March is approved

[51:58] . Moving on to the next point, the

[52:01] approval of the collaborative conference team

[52:03] , Dr. Webb.

[52:04] Thank you, Madam President. WCS is

[52:07] in the second year of a

[52:09] three-year memorandum of understanding with WCEA, and TCA

[52:11] stipulates that we must conduct an

[52:13] annual review of pay,

[52:14] grievance procedures, benefits, and

[52:17] working conditions. So, this

[52:19] is your chance to vote to approve

[52:22] this committee. We have asked Ashley

[52:24] Slaughter to chair this committee this

[52:26] year in our

[52:27] Human Resources Department. As many of

[52:29] you know, this is a committee I

[52:30] have chaired before, so

[52:31] we are grateful to Ashley for

[52:33] stepping up to lead it.

[52:34] I recommend its approval.

[52:37] Thank you, Dr. Webb. I see we have a

[52:39] motion from Ms. Wyatt and one

[52:41] seconded by Ms. Kenneine. And now

[52:43] the floor is open for

[52:45] debate. Very well, since there is no debate,

[52:51] we will proceed to the vote.

[52:59] is 12 in favor and

[53:00] zero against.

[53:02] And with that, we have approved the

[53:05] collaborative conference team's approval. The next

[53:08] item on the agenda is the

[53:10] approval of the board's parameters

[53:12] for the 2027-28 school calendar

[53:13] . Dr. Webb.

[53:15] Thank you, Madam President. This is an

[53:16] annual voting point. The

[53:18] school board has the opportunity, before

[53:20] we begin the

[53:22] calendar process for the next

[53:23] school year, to set the

[53:25] calendar parameters if they so wish. In

[53:29] recent years we have not voted on

[53:31] any parameters and have simply

[53:33] allowed our

[53:34] calendar committee to listen to our comments

[53:36] through debate and take them into

[53:38] account as they do their work

[53:40] and report on those

[53:41] feedback points rather than going

[53:43] ahead with the parameters. I noted

[53:46] in our working session that

[53:48] we had three talking points

[53:50] from the board that we requested the

[53:52] committee to consider. The first is

[53:55] the commemoration of September 11th

[53:56] so that this day is added to the

[53:58] calendar. The second was the

[54:00] consideration of early dismissal days

[54:01] for the primary to

[54:03] discuss them with respect to a

[54:04] transition to Fridays. And the third

[54:07] was a consideration of the dates on

[54:09] which we have elections and how we conduct

[54:11] school, whether we should be

[54:12] open or closed, taking

[54:14] careful consideration with regard to

[54:15] election days. Those are the

[54:18] three points of discussion that,

[54:20] beyond any parameters, they will take

[54:22] and move forward with. As you know, this

[54:25] is a committee that I have chaired for

[54:27] the past 8 years, and some of the

[54:29] things I want you to know that this

[54:30] committee does annually,

[54:32] regardless of its parameters,

[54:33] is that its number one goal is to

[54:35] ensure that we have the best

[54:36] possible educational calendar. And that's why

[54:40] they rely, of course, on all the

[54:41] policies of the state and local board,

[54:44] but that's the first objective they

[54:45] discuss. They aim for a balance of days

[54:48] in each quarter. They review the

[54:50] start and end dates,

[54:51] breaks, and attendance data as they

[54:53] pertain to them. They review

[54:55] local and national election days and holidays

[54:57] , and they review feedback

[54:59] from the board and our

[55:01] school community. I don't have a recommendation

[55:04] for them to proceed with the

[55:05] parameters, but of course, that's

[55:07] a decision and a motion they can

[55:09] make this afternoon.

[55:11] Thank you, Dr. Webb. I see a motion

[55:14] by Mrs. Hidema and one seconded

[55:16] by Mrs. Kelso. Any

[55:19] discussion? Yes, Mrs. Wyatt.

[55:24] Thank you, Madam President. I believe

[55:26] we also discussed in the

[55:27] working session, I think Dr. Padgett

[55:29] mentioned the continuation of the two

[55:31] years we would have with the

[55:33] school calendar. If we could continue with

[55:34] that, I think our families would

[55:36] really appreciate it. Thank you.

[55:42] Very well, since there are no further discussions,

[55:44] we will proceed to the vote. Well, what

[55:55] we will vote on is that there are no parameters

[55:58] for the 2027-28 calendar, just to

[56:01] make that clear.

[56:08] There are 12 votes in favor, zero against.

[56:11] Very well, we have approved that there will be no

[56:14] parameters for the 2027-28 school calendar

[56:16] . Moving on to the approval of the

[56:19] calendar committee composition

[56:21] , Dr. Webb.

[56:22] Thank you, Madam President. As

[56:23] you will see here, we have our

[56:24] calendar committee that is ready to

[56:26] begin its work without parameters. And

[56:28] I recommend its approval. Jenny Lopez

[56:30] will chair this committee.

[56:35] Very well, I see a motion from Dr.

[56:36] Driggers and one seconded by Ms.

[56:38] Wyatt. Does anyone have any points to

[56:41] discuss? Okay, since we didn't see any,

[56:46] we voted to approve the composition

[56:47] of the calendar committee.

[56:56] The vote is 12 in favor and

[56:57] zero against.

[56:59] Thank you, and we have approved the

[57:01] calendar committee. Moving on to the

[57:03] approval to renew the

[57:05] interim superintendent's contract. Oh,

[57:08] I'll lead the discussion on this.

[57:10] So, we had our

[57:12] district general counsel, Seth Wilson,

[57:14] amend the contract based on

[57:17] our conversation at the

[57:19] work session. Well, you'll see that it now

[57:22] includes, uh, specifies that

[57:24] Dr. Webb's tenure will not be

[57:27] affected if she returns to her position as

[57:29] assistant superintendent of

[57:32] high schools, and we will also pay

[57:34] her entire cell phone bill

[57:36] that will be reimbursed to her as

[57:38] regards work use. So,

[57:40] those two changes have been made.

[57:43] We have a motion in Dr. Driggers' room

[57:45] , seconded by Mr.

[57:46] Bostick. Are there any other discussions

[57:48] related to that? Well, since we didn't see

[57:53] any, we were going to vote to approve

[57:55] her interim superintendent contract

[57:58] .

[58:04] Vote: 12 in favor, zero against.

[58:08] And with that vote, we have approved the

[58:10] interim superintendent's contract.

[58:13] Now, we move on to the approval of the

[58:14] superintendent search firm

[58:16] . So, we discussed this too;

[58:19] we had an intense discussion in the

[58:21] working session. And where we left off

[58:24] is that you are all welcome to

[58:26] make a motion to discuss

[58:28] anything you wish to discuss

[58:30] related to the search process

[58:32] . Well, I see we have a motion

[58:36] from Mr. Allen and one seconded by

[58:38] Ms. Calcoat. The floor is yours, Mr.

[58:41] Allen. I

[58:42] suppose I would like to recommend that

[58:44] a motion be put forward to

[58:46] hire the search firm

[58:48] Zeal Education to search for a

[58:50] superintendent for next year. I'm

[58:54] going to repeat the motion to make it

[58:56] clear. Therefore, it proposes hiring

[58:59] Zeal Education Group as a

[59:01] search firm.

[59:03] Correct.

[59:03] For the search for the superintendent.

[59:05] Correct.

[59:06] Okay. Mrs. Kennan Kennard.

[59:12] Yes, I want to start a conversation

[59:15] about that. Obviously, I wasn't sure

[59:18] what Mr. Allen was going to propose,

[59:23] but I personally would be

[59:25] interested in proposing that the board not

[59:28] hire any of the

[59:30] private companies. However, if we are going to have

[59:35] that conversation, I suppose what

[59:38] I would like to request, before voting,

[59:41] is that each board member disclose

[59:44] for the public record whether they have

[59:46] any personal, professional,

[59:49] financial, employment, or any other

[59:52] type of relationship, current or past, with HYA

[59:54] Associates or Zeal Education Group. I would

[59:59] also ask members to

[1:00:01] disclose any such relationship

[1:00:02] with an owner, employee,

[1:00:03] consultant, associate, or any other

[1:00:05] representative acting on behalf of

[1:00:06] any of the companies. And the reason I

[1:00:10] ask that is because I know

[1:00:12] that one of these proposals,

[1:00:13] specifically Zeal's, came

[1:00:14] before this board was appointed. And I

[1:00:17] 'm not sure how it got to

[1:00:18] us. I'm not sure how

[1:00:19] any of the

[1:00:20] proposals from the private company reached us.

[1:00:22] Therefore, I would love to have a

[1:00:23] conversation about how

[1:00:25] these proposals came to the board before

[1:00:27] the board casts any vote,

[1:00:29] as well as about the disclosure of any

[1:00:31] possible relationships that may exist.

[1:00:34] OK.

[1:00:36] Well, I'll talk about how Zeal, Zeal, the

[1:00:40] Jeff Melendez guy, proactively submitted the proposal

[1:00:43] . I believe it was

[1:00:47] originally sent to Mr. Galbraith.

[1:00:50] knew he was going to leave

[1:00:52] the board. So he asked Mr.

[1:00:54] Melendez to send it to me. At that

[1:00:57] time I shared it with Mrs. Farmer

[1:01:01] and Mr. Jackson. And I asked them

[1:01:05] both if we needed a request

[1:01:07] for quotation or a request for

[1:01:10] proposals or a request for

[1:01:12] qualifications, to which they both

[1:01:14] replied no because it was

[1:01:17] professional services that the board was

[1:01:19] seeking. So that's how

[1:01:23] Zeal came about. I would like to ask the

[1:01:27] other board members present

[1:01:29] if they wish to consider

[1:01:32] disclosing any conflicts of

[1:01:34] interest; I suppose that's how

[1:01:36] I would phrase it. So I'll open a

[1:01:38] debate about that. I mean, I

[1:01:41] have no conflict of interest. I did

[1:01:42] not know Mr. Melendez. So,

[1:02:02] wait.

[1:02:03] Say it again. I

[1:02:04] just want to make sure we have

[1:02:07] a second motion from Mr. Allen. No,

[1:02:10] I saw that you seconded the motion, but it was

[1:02:12] before he made the motion

[1:02:14] . So I wanted to make sure. I've got you

[1:02:16] .

[1:02:16] You ended up being second.

[1:02:18] Ah, okay. There you have it.

[1:02:20] But, but fine. Well,

[1:02:21] there's a second one in the room.

[1:02:22] Yes, now that I know what it is, of course.

[1:02:24] Thank you. That's all I had. I'm sorry

[1:02:28] . Okay. Okay. I'm sorry, I did

[1:02:29] n't mean to...

[1:02:31] we had one.

[1:02:31] Yes. Well, what we're discussing

[1:02:34] is that Ms. Cannine has asked if

[1:02:37] any other board members

[1:02:38] wish to disclose whether they have any

[1:02:40] conflicts of interest with any of the

[1:02:42] search options that are on the table. I'll make it

[1:02:46] clear that I won't. Mrs. Anderson.

[1:02:55] Yes, first of all, I would like to

[1:02:56] thank Ms. Cannine for that

[1:02:58] excellent idea. I think it's a great

[1:03:01] idea. And if I say that I wasn't aware

[1:03:05] of this company before it was

[1:03:07] presented to the entire board. I have no

[1:03:11] connection with any of these

[1:03:13] people. Yes, but it's good to know.

[1:03:20] Who's next? Miss

[1:03:22] Lucian.

[1:03:25] Similarly, I think it's a good point

[1:03:26] to mention, but I had never heard

[1:03:28] of any of the

[1:03:30] private companies before receiving these

[1:03:31] proposals.

[1:03:32] Miss Wyatt. Or, sorry,

[1:03:34] Miss Kelcode.

[1:03:36] I'm in the same situation. I have no

[1:03:37] personal or professional relationship

[1:03:39] with them. My first introduction to

[1:03:42] Zeal Education Group was when it was

[1:03:44] presented to the board of directors.

[1:03:46] Miss Wyatt.

[1:03:47] I don't have a

[1:03:49] professional or personal relationship with them either. Can we

[1:03:51] also know how we received

[1:03:54] proposals from HYA and TSBA?

[1:03:57] Clear. The previous board of directors

[1:03:59] had discussed TSBA as an option

[1:04:01] . And we know very well that TSBA

[1:04:03] provides those services and we are

[1:04:05] members of TSBA. So I

[1:04:08] contacted TSBA as well because I

[1:04:10] realized they were going to be a

[1:04:12] lower-priced option. So, they sent us

[1:04:15] an application and then I asked Mr.

[1:04:17] Meléndez to name a

[1:04:20] major competitor of his company, and he said HYA and

[1:04:23] that he used to work for them, so he

[1:04:25] knew them. So, when I did

[1:04:29] a search, they were always one of the

[1:04:30] top companies mentioned

[1:04:32] for superintendent searches. And I

[1:04:35] also knew they would be at the

[1:04:37] top end. So, the goal

[1:04:40] was to have a lower-priced option

[1:04:41] , a mid-priced option, which

[1:04:43] was Yeager, and a higher-priced option

[1:04:45] . And as we all know, there are

[1:04:49] many different options, but I felt

[1:04:53] that three was kind of a

[1:04:56] standard number and yes, asking for more proposals

[1:04:59] could sometimes make

[1:05:02] decision-making more difficult. So.

[1:05:10] Miss Padgett or Dr. Padgett,

[1:05:12] sorry. You

[1:05:14] can call me Margie. I

[1:05:17] 'm getting used to Padgett too. Thank you

[1:05:20] for asking that question. I hadn't heard

[1:05:23] of any of the companies

[1:05:25] except TSBA, and that's because we

[1:05:26] were members before

[1:05:28] the proposals came to us.

[1:05:32] And Mrs. Clements?

[1:05:33] Thank you, Madam President. I just

[1:05:35] want to point out that I hadn't heard

[1:05:37] of Zeal or HYA until they

[1:05:40] arrived in our package, and of

[1:05:42] course I did know about TSBA.

[1:05:47] Mrs. Hima?

[1:05:50] Yes, I haven't heard of HYA or

[1:05:52] Zeal, but I also reflected a bit

[1:05:55] on why we're doing this

[1:05:57] nationwide search, so I wrote

[1:06:00] some comments that I'd like to

[1:06:02] share before making that proposal.

[1:06:07] I think it's important to ask

[1:06:08] why we are requesting this

[1:06:09] national search. I believe our

[1:06:12] interim leadership preserves the stability of

[1:06:14] our district this year,

[1:06:15] but also gives our community

[1:06:17] a real voice in setting the

[1:06:18] future direction of

[1:06:20] Williamson County schools. The election of

[1:06:23] a chief executive officer is arguably

[1:06:26] the most consequential vote that

[1:06:28] a school board casts. And it's not a place

[1:06:31] for convenience or taking shortcuts

[1:06:33] . Our job is

[1:06:36] fiduciary oversight. To demonstrate to our

[1:06:38] contributors and our families

[1:06:40] that our next superintendent

[1:06:42] survived the toughest,

[1:06:44] broadest, and most validated market possible. And this

[1:06:47] process is not just about collecting

[1:06:48] resumes. Williamson County schools

[1:06:51] are at the top

[1:06:53] of the state rankings, which means that

[1:06:55] status quo thinking is our

[1:06:58] biggest enemy. A

[1:07:01] real national search partner provides us with

[1:07:03] structured community insights to

[1:07:05] manage rapid growth and

[1:07:07] budgets. Oh I'm sorry.

[1:07:10] Structured

[1:07:12] community information to define the

[1:07:14] exact leadership profile we need right now

[1:07:16] . And Zeal offers this profile of

[1:07:19] people, and some of those examples

[1:07:20] would be someone who could manage

[1:07:23] growth and budgets or

[1:07:24] someone who connects

[1:07:27] district operations to run smoothly

[1:07:28] or who plans

[1:07:30] ahead for the future needs

[1:07:32] of the community. Those are just three of

[1:07:35] the different people who share

[1:07:39] with the community. And there are also many

[1:07:41] opinions from the community that I know

[1:07:44] our community wants. We need

[1:07:47] someone who will not only maintain a

[1:07:49] top ranking in the state,

[1:07:50] but also compare us to

[1:07:52] national excellence, while keeping

[1:07:54] daily operations stable for

[1:07:56] our students and faculty. That

[1:07:59] is the diagnostic rigor we

[1:08:00] need. And while I

[1:08:03] deeply appreciate the vital advocacy and

[1:08:06] multifaceted support that TSBA

[1:08:08] provides to our district year

[1:08:10] after year, a mandate of this magnitude

[1:08:13] requires a partner with a singular

[1:08:15] and absolute focus on executing our

[1:08:18] search. And of the three companies we

[1:08:21] interviewed in our

[1:08:23] working session on Thursday, I also recommend

[1:08:24] partnering with Zeal Education Group to

[1:08:26] help us achieve this. Thank you.

[1:08:30] Mr. Bostick. Yes, I've never heard

[1:08:33] of any of the

[1:08:33] search companies either, so I have no

[1:08:34] conflict of interest. I assume this

[1:08:39] is also covered by our official conflict of

[1:08:40] interest disclosure, correct? Well, I

[1:08:43] 'm not sure about this

[1:08:44] additional audience. Dr. Triggers.

[1:08:50] Like everyone else, I didn't know about

[1:08:51] the other two companies until a few

[1:08:53] days ago, when we received the package. HYA

[1:08:55] conducted an exhaustive search on

[1:08:57] them. HYA faces serious

[1:09:00] legal challenges over some of its

[1:09:02] hiring practices. The only

[1:09:06] superintendent they've hired in

[1:09:09] Tennessee was Shelby Memphis a few

[1:09:12] years ago, a couple of years ago. Okay.

[1:09:17] That's all for me. The other is Zeal, a

[1:09:20] small company that they can

[1:09:23] adapt to. Okay. But they have never

[1:09:27] hired a superintendent in

[1:09:29] Tennessee. So, what it leaves me with is

[1:09:34] the TSBA. The day after Jason

[1:09:38] announced his resignation, I called the

[1:09:41] TSBA and said, "What the hell do we

[1:09:43] have here? They've dumped this on us." And

[1:09:48] I spoke with Ben Torres, the deputy director,

[1:09:50] and with his legal advisor. OK

[1:09:53] ? We talked about the new statute that

[1:09:58] Tennessee has. Nobody has mentioned the

[1:10:01] hot topic here. The

[1:10:05] Tennessee legislature has given

[1:10:07] school districts a new way to specifically search for a

[1:10:09] superintendent. It's never been

[1:10:14] tried, not in Tennessee, as far as

[1:10:17] Sam is concerned, help me with this. I

[1:10:21] don't think any other state is

[1:10:23] using

[1:10:24] Tennessee's new superintendent search, although

[1:10:26] the idea might be floating around

[1:10:28] . So it's never been done before. If we

[1:10:33] do that, the TSBA has already drafted the

[1:10:36] template. They've already figured out how we would do it

[1:10:39] . We would be the first district in the

[1:10:42] state of Tennessee to use the

[1:10:45] new law to find a

[1:10:46] superintendent. I mentioned in the

[1:10:50] work session that if we are the

[1:10:52] spearhead and the first

[1:10:54] district to use the first

[1:10:57] new law that the legislature gave us, yes,

[1:11:01] there will be problems to solve because

[1:11:04] we will be the first. And no matter what we

[1:11:07] do, someone isn't going to be

[1:11:09] happy. I don't mind. Let's go

[1:11:13] back. Sam, I'm putting you in a

[1:11:16] tight spot again. You have collaborated in the

[1:11:18] searches for superintendents in the

[1:11:20] state of Tennessee.

[1:11:21] Yes sir.

[1:11:22] And you've worked with the TSBA on some

[1:11:25] of those searches.

[1:11:26] Yes sir.

[1:11:27] Okay. The TSBA would do it faster and

[1:11:32] for much less money, and it's the only

[1:11:36] firm that knows how to hire a

[1:11:40] superintendent if the board accepts

[1:11:44] Tennessee's new law. Nobody else knows

[1:11:48] how to do it. OK? And the TSBA

[1:11:53] has hired 30 superintendents in

[1:11:55] the state of Tennessee in the last

[1:11:57] 5 years. I haven't heard any

[1:12:00] problems with those 30 new registrations. So,

[1:12:04] for those reasons and maybe some others

[1:12:06] , if you asked me, I would support the

[1:12:11] TSBA for those reasons. Now, we can

[1:12:15] discard this second part. Nobody

[1:12:19] knows Williamson County better

[1:12:22] than the TSBA. Nobody knows the

[1:12:26] school district better than Dr. Webb. Spot. They do

[1:12:30] n't exist. You're not going to go anywhere

[1:12:32] in the other 49 states and find

[1:12:34] someone who's better or

[1:12:36] smarter than what we already have. And

[1:12:39] we pay our TSBA membership fee, which was

[1:12:41] established by the legislature to

[1:12:42] help school districts. And they

[1:12:46] are there to help us. So I

[1:12:49] say let's give them a chance. That

[1:12:52] 's all. I don't know where that leaves us with

[1:12:55] the motions, but

[1:12:56] hey, we're still debating.

[1:12:58] OK. OK.

[1:12:59] Mrs. Cannine. Well, I

[1:13:01] just wanted to echo

[1:13:03] Dr. Driggers' statements

[1:13:06] regarding the TSBA. As I mentioned

[1:13:09] before, I personally would be inclined

[1:13:10] not to vote for either of the two

[1:13:12] private firms. So, if that's what we

[1:13:16] 're putting to a vote, my

[1:13:18] vote would be no. I have no objection to

[1:13:21] considering the TSBA, and I have no objection

[1:13:23] to considering Dr. Webb's appointment

[1:13:24] , but I just wanted to put that on

[1:13:25] record during our discussion.

[1:13:30] Dr. Padgett.

[1:13:33] In the working session, one of

[1:13:36] our concerns with the TSBA was

[1:13:38] whether they could conduct a

[1:13:39] nationwide search. So, I contacted

[1:13:42] Ben Torres on Saturday, and they are indeed conducting

[1:13:45] a nationwide search. He

[1:13:48] shared with us that they have networks where

[1:13:50] they can post

[1:13:52] job offers. He mentioned some

[1:13:56] states: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho,

[1:13:58] Illinois, Indiana, etc. They also

[1:14:00] partner with consultants in 38 other

[1:14:03] states. And then another question I

[1:14:06] asked them was, well, in how many counties

[1:14:12] in Tennessee have you conducted searches

[1:14:14] comparable to ours or

[1:14:16] larger? Well, they did searches in

[1:14:18] Sumner County, they had 15

[1:14:20] applicants, eight of them from out

[1:14:21] of state. In Rutherford, seven

[1:14:23] applicants, one from out of state.

[1:14:25] In Clarksville-Montgomery, they had

[1:14:26] some applicants from out of

[1:14:28] state. In Knox County, they had

[1:14:29] some out-of-

[1:14:30] state applicants. And one thing that really

[1:14:33] impressed me about the TSBA was their

[1:14:34] two-year warranty. So, if the

[1:14:36] superintendent were to leave within

[1:14:39] two years, they would conduct the

[1:14:40] search again free of charge. And so far

[1:14:43] , in those four large counties I

[1:14:45] mentioned, the superintendents

[1:14:47] are there. My other concerns

[1:14:50] with search companies, you know

[1:14:52] , I have 30 years of experience in

[1:14:55] education. I have worked in three

[1:14:57] different states, and each state has

[1:14:59] a very different education law. And when we

[1:15:03] conducted a nationwide search, we still

[1:15:05] wanted someone who was well-

[1:15:08] versed in Tennessee state law.

[1:15:11] Because, as I said, every time I went to

[1:15:15] a new state, I had to figure out,

[1:15:16] "Okay, what are the laws here and

[1:15:18] how do I operate?" And the last thing I want to

[1:15:22] warn you about regarding

[1:15:24] educational consulting firms is that they have their

[1:15:27] network, but often people have to

[1:15:30] attend their events or pay their

[1:15:32] fees to be part of that network. And

[1:15:36] one of my concerns is that

[1:15:38] we'll get someone who keeps

[1:15:40] rising through the ranks in different

[1:15:43] districts and that with that process... So I'm

[1:15:46] going to vote against Zeal. Very

[1:15:51] well, Mrs. Anderson. I

[1:15:56] just wanted people to know that,

[1:15:58] at first, when I was looking for

[1:15:59] search companies, I had

[1:16:00] different doubts. They had an

[1:16:06] extraordinarily expensive company. Um, where uh, not only was its base level high, uh,

[1:16:12] but also the additional cost you

[1:16:15] could incur was also

[1:16:17] high. And that made it seem like, uh, I

[1:16:21] couldn't say for sure if it would be worth it

[1:16:24] . Now, I had some

[1:16:27] doubts about Zeal until I was

[1:16:29] advised to get in touch and

[1:16:32] talk to Mr. Malendez myself

[1:16:35] . And these are the things that

[1:16:38] stood out to me if we decided to do

[1:16:41] that. The people in charge of

[1:16:45] the search and who are in charge of

[1:16:48] our account have been

[1:16:50] superintendents. So, for every

[1:16:54] candidate they analyze and send to us,

[1:16:57] these are analyzed by four or five

[1:17:00] actual school district superintendents

[1:17:03] . So, while I'm very

[1:17:06] good in my experience, I couldn't

[1:17:08] tell you who the best person in

[1:17:10] this particular group is without a certain

[1:17:13] amount of reasonable guidance.

[1:17:16] Some other things he mentioned, and

[1:17:19] this is something I think is very

[1:17:22] important, is that part of this

[1:17:24] consultancy involves engaging

[1:17:27] the community to provide their

[1:17:30] opinions on what the

[1:17:32] priorities are for a superintendent. The

[1:17:38] previous superintendent was appointed

[1:17:40] without much input from the community

[1:17:43] . I have no complaints against the

[1:17:47] previous superintendent, but something I

[1:17:49] 've heard time and time again is that there were

[1:17:51] some people who probably would have

[1:17:53] preferred someone with an

[1:17:55] academic background. Those people

[1:17:58] should be able to make their voices heard.

[1:18:01] People in

[1:18:04] special education departments and parents who

[1:18:06] have such children should be able to make

[1:18:08] their interests and concerns heard.

[1:18:14] Bus drivers should be

[1:18:16] able to... If we don't have a system in

[1:18:18] place where we can take

[1:18:21] community opinions into account,

[1:18:23] then I personally believe we

[1:18:26] 're not serving the community in the

[1:18:28] best way. The other thing, and I appreciate

[1:18:32] all the information you sent us, I

[1:18:35] wanted to say that it is the

[1:18:38] stakeholders who make me tip

[1:18:41] the scales in favor of hiring a

[1:18:45] medium-sized search firm

[1:18:48] . In fact, I also

[1:18:51] contacted one of the references

[1:18:53] after speaking with him and said, "

[1:18:55] Well, I'm not sure about this." He said to

[1:18:58] speak with the superintendent

[1:19:00] about the search we had conducted

[1:19:02] in South Carolina. And she...Here's

[1:19:07] something interesting about that

[1:19:09] particular community: they're south of Charlotte,

[1:19:11] so even though they're in

[1:19:13] North Carolina, they have middle-class people, they

[1:19:17] actually have a lot of

[1:19:18] students from the local Indian reservations

[1:19:20] . They had many students from

[1:19:26] other communities who are more...

[1:19:28] what's the best way to put it? These were

[1:19:30] disproportionately lower-income communities

[1:19:34] , and they used to have

[1:19:37] school board meetings with 500 people in which they

[1:19:39] very clearly expressed the

[1:19:41] concerns they had about what had

[1:19:43] been a bankrupt district. In the

[1:19:47] end, they managed to unite the entire community

[1:19:49] because the community felt

[1:19:51] that they were being heard. According to what

[1:19:55] this lady said, they got the

[1:19:58] Tribal Leadership Group Council,

[1:20:01] the council, the NAACP, and Moms for Liberty to

[1:20:05] agree, and I was

[1:20:08] speechless. And the reason he

[1:20:12] said that is because of the expert who came

[1:20:14] during the entire week in which they

[1:20:16] have community meetings. I can

[1:20:19] tell you that I don't feel qualified

[1:20:21] to have these community meetings

[1:20:24] with this opinion from the community, and

[1:20:26] for me, the opinion of the community

[1:20:28] is very important. Finally, I want to

[1:20:31] thank the community for the feedback we

[1:20:33] 've received, the email support

[1:20:35] , the calls for

[1:20:37] fiscal responsibility, and I want to

[1:20:38] highlight the excellent

[1:20:40] interim superintendent and candidate, Dr. Webb.

[1:20:44] I want to ensure that this search

[1:20:45] includes a process in which Dr.

[1:20:47] Webb is considered within the pool

[1:20:49] of candidates and fairly evaluated

[1:20:51] alongside them. When

[1:20:53] the final candidate is selected, this

[1:20:55] process will validate that they are absolutely

[1:20:58] the best person for the job and

[1:21:00] will create a foundation of legitimacy. A

[1:21:02] search can fail in two ways.

[1:21:04] You can hire the

[1:21:06] wrong candidate and that becomes obvious quickly, or you

[1:21:08] can fail to clearly define the

[1:21:09] job parameters within the

[1:21:11] community, and that's also a failure, just a

[1:21:13] more subtle one. Finally,

[1:21:17] regarding cost, the minimum cost of the

[1:21:21] TSBA is $15,000. Therefore, it

[1:21:23] is not zero. They don't do the

[1:21:26] community outreach work we

[1:21:27] 're talking about here. They don't have

[1:21:31] staff whose job is to find

[1:21:33] candidates. The other company says it

[1:21:37] will conduct criminal,

[1:21:39] financial, DMV, and

[1:21:41] media checks on the candidates they

[1:21:43] screen for us. The TSBA doesn't do

[1:21:47] that. And this other company is at around

[1:21:53] 50,000 plus maybe a small

[1:21:55] amount for travel expenses. An

[1:21:58] excellent superintendent will make up for

[1:22:01] that difference in no time. Out of a

[1:22:05] budget of $500 million, this

[1:22:08] cost is 1/10,000 of one percent

[1:22:13] of the budget. So that's what I

[1:22:16] wanted to say about it, and

[1:22:18] I'll vote for Zeal.

[1:22:21] Thank you, Mrs. Padgett, Dr. Padgett.

[1:22:24] Well, I'm glad you

[1:22:25] mentioned that TSBA does engage with

[1:22:28] voters because they hold meetings with

[1:22:30] them. They also conduct surveys and

[1:22:32] said they would give us a few

[1:22:33] more days if we felt it was

[1:22:35] necessary. For me, the big difference

[1:22:40] between TSBA and Zeal is that Zeal has

[1:22:42] some advantages. They have the people

[1:22:45] and they have a control panel. TSBA

[1:22:49] has committed to holding meetings and

[1:22:55] surveys with voters and then

[1:22:57] providing us with the data. And now, with

[1:23:00] survey data or

[1:23:02] survey tools, it's not

[1:23:03] difficult to take that data and

[1:23:05] turn it into a kind of

[1:23:07] dashboard. Zeal costs $48,000,

[1:23:13] plus travel expenses. None

[1:23:15] of them live here. So if

[1:23:17] they come here for a week,

[1:23:19] how many people do they send each night, including

[1:23:24] food, flights, and hours? Yes, it's now

[1:23:29] $48,000. However, what

[1:23:32] will the final bill be? Well, and you

[1:23:35] know, I'm very conservative when it comes to taxes,

[1:23:38] so I'm always worried about money.

[1:23:42] That's all I have for now.

[1:23:43] Okay, Dr. Triggers. Once

[1:23:45] again, I'm back with Mr. Jackson.

[1:23:49] Given their personal and

[1:23:51] professional knowledge, having worked with the

[1:23:54] TSBA on so many searches, they have bought

[1:23:57] at three levels: $5,000, $10,000 and

[1:24:00] $15,000. The $15,000 fee

[1:24:03] is the platinum level, and I believe that

[1:24:06] includes community meetings and

[1:24:08] outreach. Someone said they don't do

[1:24:11] that. Yes, they do. So, uh, that's

[1:24:14] true. The

[1:24:15] understanding is that

[1:24:19] they will put on the website whatever we

[1:24:21] tell them to put on the website, which is what

[1:24:23] we are looking for. And if we choose

[1:24:27] the 15,000 program, then they

[1:24:29] will come to Williamson County and

[1:24:32] help establish it. We haven't really

[1:24:36] gotten that far. I think everyone

[1:24:38] wants the community's opinion,

[1:24:40] okay? Everyone wants the

[1:24:42] community's opinion. I don't know if Dr. Webb would

[1:24:45] apply for the position or not. Don't

[1:24:48] answer that. But if he does,

[1:24:51] he would be on equal footing with

[1:24:53] other applicants, and would then either

[1:24:55] succeed or fail based on his track

[1:24:57] record. And I think that's all we

[1:25:02] can ask for.

[1:25:06] End of my comment.

[1:25:08] Thank you. Mrs. Anderson.

[1:25:11] Just one last thing. I just wanted to

[1:25:14] point out that

[1:25:20] Zeal's primary business model is to take

[1:25:22] superintendents and find them, and their

[1:25:25] primary business model is to

[1:25:28] engage the community. And they're also

[1:25:33] doing

[1:25:35] leadership profile development training and

[1:25:37] bias training

[1:25:40] for the board, and other things like that. This

[1:25:43] is a very important decision. And

[1:25:45] I want to make sure that people

[1:25:48] whose primary job is not

[1:25:54] interpreting the law in Tennessee,

[1:25:55] which is very, very important, but who

[1:25:57] are not recruiters, who are not

[1:25:59] superintendents, and that's the only thing

[1:26:01] that makes me a little nervous about the

[1:26:02] TSBA. I'll be happy with whatever

[1:26:06] the board chooses, but since I've done these

[1:26:08] additional interviews, I wanted

[1:26:10] people to know.

[1:26:13] Mrs. Clements.

[1:26:14] Thank you, Madam President. First

[1:26:17] I had a question for Sam. Could you

[1:26:23] help and guide us with this new

[1:26:27] Tennessee state law? Because that was

[1:26:30] one of the attractive things about TSBI,

[1:26:32] that they know the law, but can they

[1:26:34] make sure we stay in

[1:26:36] our lane? I

[1:26:38] can try, but here's what I'll

[1:26:40] tell you, which I think everyone has

[1:26:42] pointed out, the new law, we'll be the

[1:26:44] first to... So let's walk

[1:26:46] together on the ice. But yes,

[1:26:49] ma'am, I'd be happy to help you

[1:26:51] overcome it and give you my best idea of

[1:26:53] how it would work.

[1:26:54] Good. Thank you. Secondly

[1:26:56] , I think that was the only thing we saw

[1:26:58] when we analyzed the TSBA model, they

[1:27:00] only had one day to communicate. I know they

[1:27:03] said they'd be back for more,

[1:27:04] but for me, what makes Zeal

[1:27:06] more appealing is that it offers a

[1:27:08] much greater amount of

[1:27:10] community interaction. I think that's very

[1:27:13] valuable in this situation. I

[1:27:17] was also doing some research today, I went into a

[1:27:20] little bit of a topic and a little bit about how we

[1:27:22] 've done

[1:27:24] superintendent searches in

[1:27:27] Wilmington County in the past, and I saw that

[1:27:29] we put a limit on a firm that we

[1:27:31] put in place years ago, like a couple of

[1:27:34] decades ago, but we did limit travel

[1:27:37] and assignment. So I think

[1:27:40] we could have some framework for that,

[1:27:42] especially with video and Zoom, to be

[1:27:44] able to have some meetings where we do

[1:27:45] n't have to incur a lot of

[1:27:47] travel expenses. It's just an idea. And

[1:27:50] finally, I just want to say that,

[1:27:53] although I know we're thinking about

[1:27:56] making it a public or

[1:27:58] search company, that doesn't disqualify, what

[1:28:01] great work, Dr. Webb. I mean,

[1:28:03] Dr. Webb is currently doing

[1:28:05] an interim job, and it's been fun

[1:28:07] having a front-row seat to watch

[1:28:09] you in this role. And I know you'll be a

[1:28:11] strong contender. So I just

[1:28:13] want to assure the community that I

[1:28:15] know you will shine in this position, and we

[1:28:17] look forward to working alongside

[1:28:18] you and seeing you perform in this

[1:28:20] new role throughout this year,

[1:28:22] sir.

[1:28:24] Mrs. Calcote. I

[1:28:27] just wanted to second

[1:28:29] Mrs. Clements' comments. One of the things I

[1:28:31] deliberately asked TSBA on

[1:28:33] Thursday afternoon was how much time they

[1:28:35] give us to receive feedback from the

[1:28:38] community. And in the plan, there's only one

[1:28:40] day, whereas with Zeal, we have

[1:28:42] a whole week of

[1:28:44] solid community feedback, including

[1:28:47] public assemblies, Zoom calls,

[1:28:49] the ability to survey our

[1:28:51] community, and, you know,

[1:28:53] community forums. It's simply a

[1:28:56] more robust approach to ensuring that all

[1:28:58] stakeholders in our community—

[1:29:01] parents, teachers,

[1:29:03] community leaders, and any

[1:29:05] contributors—can have a say. And then,

[1:29:08] the other thing that... That's why I think

[1:29:10] Zeal is the best option, because I don't

[1:29:13] think that by choosing HYA we'll get

[1:29:15] stronger

[1:29:17] community feedback or more services that

[1:29:19] justify the extra money. Another

[1:29:23] thing I know is

[1:29:24] constantly mentioned is the fact that it is

[1:29:25] a new law. This is the first

[1:29:28] time a school district has used the

[1:29:30] new law. For Zeal and HYA, and

[1:29:34] obviously my vote is for Zeal, but

[1:29:37] one could argue that Zeal has

[1:29:40] more experience than TSBA or us

[1:29:43] because they have conducted

[1:29:46] confidential and public searches. So,

[1:29:49] whether it's Tennessee law or another

[1:29:51] state law, because they travel all over the US,

[1:29:53] they have more experience than any

[1:29:55] of us in these kinds of searches.

[1:29:58] I believe their guidance will be

[1:29:59] crucial to ensuring that

[1:30:01] we comply with the law and that this process

[1:30:08] is transparent. We are receiving the

[1:30:10] most feedback from the

[1:30:12] community and are accountable to

[1:30:13] our internal candidate to

[1:30:15] ensure that everything is

[1:30:16] transparent. Therefore, I believe that

[1:30:18] in order for us to conduct our

[1:30:20] due diligence as a board, it is

[1:30:22] really important that we hire

[1:30:24] a firm that has experience in

[1:30:25] this area, especially if

[1:30:27] we decide to use this new approach

[1:30:29] under the new law.

[1:30:32] Mr. Bostick.

[1:30:35] Yes, regarding the cost

[1:30:38] , I understand that Rachel

[1:30:39] was discussing that topic

[1:30:41] last Thursday. It might put you in a

[1:30:45] difficult position, Rachel. I'm sorry. But you

[1:30:48] had given us a rough estimate of

[1:30:50] how far we were going to get there. Because I think there's

[1:30:53] a misconception that we're

[1:30:55] asking for additional funding or

[1:30:57] taking money from other

[1:30:59] resources to pay for it, or whatever. And

[1:31:02] that's not the case, right?

[1:31:07] Correct. So, there were funds for

[1:31:09] the superintendent position, funds

[1:31:11] for the assistant

[1:31:12] high school superintendent that were in the

[1:31:13] budget that you all voted for.

[1:31:16] The agreed-upon salary for the

[1:31:18] interim superintendent was less than

[1:31:20] the superintendent's budget. And

[1:31:23] then there's also money left in that

[1:31:25] assistant superintendent line.

[1:31:28] So, that's where the

[1:31:29] money to cover it will come from.

[1:31:32] Whoever they end up voting for

[1:31:34] next month, we will introduce a

[1:31:35] resolution to move the money from a

[1:31:37] payroll line to a

[1:31:39] contracted service line. But we weren't going to

[1:31:42] do that until we knew how much

[1:31:44] money, or how much estimated money,

[1:31:46] needed to be moved. So, if the

[1:31:48] money is not spent, if it is moved, every

[1:31:50] time money is not spent, and this is

[1:31:51] true for any

[1:31:52] budget line, it will be transferred to the

[1:31:54] balance of funds at the end of the year. We can't

[1:31:56] just move or spend

[1:31:58] money on anything else. It will

[1:32:00] always depend on you how

[1:32:02] the funds can be spent if

[1:32:04] a change is made.

[1:32:05] OK.

[1:32:06] Can you give us a rough estimate of

[1:32:08] what that is?

[1:32:09] It was one hundred thousand dollars, Thank you. Yes,

[1:32:15] I believe it is important to make it

[1:32:16] clear to everyone the

[1:32:18] exact origin of that money in

[1:32:20] question. Also, I'm undecided

[1:32:26] between TSBA and Zeal. I'm leaning towards Zeal.

[1:32:30] I think everyone has given very

[1:32:32] good arguments about this. But I know I'm

[1:32:34] totally in favor of

[1:32:36] doing a real search. And that's

[1:32:40] because I think it's the fairest thing for

[1:32:44] Lee. Lee is amazing. I have

[1:32:49] thoroughly enjoyed my time on the board

[1:32:51] getting to know Lee, and especially

[1:32:53] since he took on this new role, he has

[1:32:55] impressed me greatly so far. But

[1:32:59] I want you to know that if you receive this

[1:33:01] position, you have received it on your own

[1:33:04] merits and it was not given to you because it was

[1:33:06] the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

[1:33:10] I believe we also owe him that

[1:33:12] confidence in his work. It's incredible. I

[1:33:15] fully believe that. Never, but if

[1:33:17] everyone else believes it too,

[1:33:19] we should allow her to continue the

[1:33:21] process and defend herself. And that's all I have to

[1:33:23] say about it

[1:33:25] .

[1:33:26] Thank you. Mrs. Connine, you have all the

[1:33:28] recognition. I

[1:33:29] just wanted to thank Ms.

[1:33:33] Anderson for mentioning the fact that

[1:33:35] Zeal uses current

[1:33:37] or former superintendents as part of its

[1:33:39] search process. I'm not sure if

[1:33:44] anyone investigated the people

[1:33:45] appointed to our

[1:33:47] search team. I sought out the people on

[1:33:50] our search team because that's just the way I

[1:33:52] am as a person. And I think it's worth

[1:33:57] noting that none of the

[1:33:59] senior associates who would be part

[1:34:01] of our search had trouble-

[1:34:02] free superintendent careers

[1:34:04] . In fact, one was

[1:34:06] sued by his state for not

[1:34:07] implementing the curriculum

[1:34:08] correctly. That was Dr. David

[1:34:10] Myerschough, who is one of the

[1:34:11] main associates of our

[1:34:13] Zeal search team. And Dr. John

[1:34:16] Barrile or Briel, whichever is his

[1:34:18] correct name. He faced a

[1:34:22] vote of no confidence from his district

[1:34:23] during his term, two years after

[1:34:25] deciding to resign and dedicate himself to

[1:34:27] higher education and work at a

[1:34:29] university. I think that's something

[1:34:32] worth mentioning. I respect their choice to

[1:34:35] use

[1:34:36] superintendents. I recognize that it's a

[1:34:38] job that can only be understood if it's

[1:34:40] actually been done, right? But I

[1:34:42] also think it's worth

[1:34:43] asking who these

[1:34:45] superintendents are. I don't believe that the fact

[1:34:48] that they have superintendents on their

[1:34:49] teams automatically implies that they

[1:34:51] are more qualified than the TSBA. I

[1:34:54] also wanted to state that I think it's

[1:34:55] absurd to imply that the

[1:34:57] TSBA has no experience in these

[1:34:58] searches. They have literally performed

[1:35:00] 30 in the state in the last 5 years

[1:35:01] . Well, and not just the

[1:35:03] small districts, as they pointed out with the

[1:35:05] information sent today. Therefore, I

[1:35:06] just want to make sure we all

[1:35:07] keep that in mind. I believe that

[1:35:09] implying that the TSBA does not have this

[1:35:11] experience is simply a fallacy.

[1:35:14] But I would like to highlight the

[1:35:15] superintendent's concerns

[1:35:16] regarding the particular search team

[1:35:17] that was assigned to us.

[1:35:20] Dr. Driggers.

[1:35:22] Yes, I wanted to go back and be clear.

[1:35:26] The board has not yet decided which

[1:35:28] search methodology we will

[1:35:31] use. The thing is, the

[1:35:34] newest thing in Tennessee is the

[1:35:36] executive session, but there hasn't been a vote on it yet

[1:35:39] . Well, I mean, we're still

[1:35:42] trying to decide which way

[1:35:44] we're going to go.

[1:35:46] We discussed it in the working session, and

[1:35:49] I would

[1:35:49] say it's the board's opinion. We did

[1:35:51] n't vote. I do

[1:35:52] n't think it requires a vote.

[1:35:54] OK.

[1:35:55] So, we went and reached a

[1:35:57] consensus on the use of the

[1:36:00] closed session, and the next step is

[1:36:02] that we have to approve a policy

[1:36:05] related to that. And then, Seth

[1:36:08] is going to draft a policy for us to

[1:36:10] review at our

[1:36:12] October policy meeting regarding

[1:36:14] that.

[1:36:18] Therefore, the way the board

[1:36:20] chooses a new superintendent does not

[1:36:22] require a board vote. There are no

[1:36:28] yeses or nos.

[1:36:30] I think they're going to have to vote on

[1:36:31] that policy.

[1:36:32] Yes, we will vote on policy.

[1:36:34] When we return to politics, that's

[1:36:36] fine.

[1:36:38] Yes, yes, yes. I'm sorry

[1:36:40] , I didn't mean to interrupt.

[1:36:41] No, it's fine. That's how it is. Mrs. Anderson,

[1:36:45] you have the honor of speaking. I

[1:36:47] just wanted to thank everyone for the

[1:36:49] excellent contribution and I appreciate

[1:36:52] everyone reviewing it and also, if we are

[1:36:54] concerned about some of the people in the

[1:36:56] search, we could ask other

[1:36:59] people, but I really appreciate it.

[1:37:01] That's an excellent point.

[1:37:04] Mrs. Calcote.

[1:37:06] Well, I just wanted to put on record

[1:37:08] that I wasn't implying that the TSBA

[1:37:11] lacks experience, but I think

[1:37:13] even Sam mentioned that no one has

[1:37:15] conducted a search with the

[1:37:18] executive group. Therefore, taking

[1:37:22] this into account, they have no experience

[1:37:24] in conducting this type of research that

[1:37:26] we expect to be... I believe Dr. Dryger

[1:37:28] used the word guinea pig

[1:37:30] to refer to this in the

[1:37:31] working session. Therefore,

[1:37:35] we will be the first to embark on

[1:37:36] this type of search, and I believe that, for this reason

[1:37:38] , it is helpful to have someone, a

[1:37:39] search firm that has

[1:37:41] experience in this, to guide us

[1:37:42] through that process. While this is

[1:37:45] the first time Tennessee has had this

[1:37:46] law, many other states have this

[1:37:48] option as a choice for

[1:37:49] superintendent searches.

[1:37:54] Mr. Allen.

[1:37:56] Yes, thank you for tonight's discussion

[1:37:57] , my fellow board members

[1:37:59] . Well, the reason I'm not

[1:38:03] voting for TSBA is because we have some

[1:38:05] history with

[1:38:07] Williamson County and TSBA, and it didn't go well for us,

[1:38:08] so I don't want to get involved in that again

[1:38:10] while I can represent

[1:38:12] my district. So, obviously, I've

[1:38:15] made the motion, so I'll be voting

[1:38:17] for Zeal.

[1:38:19] And I don't see any more applications for...Okay,

[1:38:23] Miss Wyatt.

[1:38:25] Thank you, Madam President, for

[1:38:27] keeping her alert. I just wanted to

[1:38:29] address the teachers and

[1:38:31] community members who contacted us.

[1:38:33] Thank you so much. Thank you for being in

[1:38:35] touch. We listen to you. I support them. We

[1:38:39] have heard many of you

[1:38:40] supporting Dr. Webb and I have been very

[1:38:43] outspoken in my tremendous support and respect

[1:38:46] for her. So thank you, thank you, for being in touch with

[1:38:50] us about this. I join Miss

[1:38:53] Canine in considering

[1:38:55] offering the position to Dr. Webb and not

[1:38:58] considering a search. But I understand

[1:39:01] that if the majority of the board wants to

[1:39:03] hire a firm, I return to my

[1:39:05] comment from Thursday night

[1:39:07] that a nationwide search

[1:39:09] can confirm a strong internal candidate

[1:39:11] . And I see that in Dr. Webb, so

[1:39:14] I can move forward with faith using

[1:39:16] that information. Thank you.

[1:39:19] Mr. Bostick.

[1:39:23] I request that the question be approved.

[1:39:25] Very good. So, we will proceed to the

[1:39:28] vote, and just to be clear,

[1:39:31] what is on the floor that we

[1:39:33] are voting on is a motion to

[1:39:35] use Zeal Education Group as the

[1:39:39] superintendent search service. Please proceed to

[1:39:42] the vote.

[1:39:56] is eight yes, four no.

[1:40:00] And with that, we have approved the

[1:40:02] use of Zeal Education Group

[1:40:04] for our

[1:40:06] superintendent search. Okay, let's move on to the

[1:40:09] next point, the adoption and

[1:40:10] approval of the board's objectives

[1:40:12] and the affirmation of the

[1:40:14] strategic plan. So, this is another

[1:40:18] point we discussed in the

[1:40:20] work session, and for our

[1:40:23] board goals this year, we are simply going to

[1:40:26] support our

[1:40:28] interim superintendent in each of the goals we

[1:40:30] set for her as a board in June

[1:40:33] . Would you like to discuss the

[1:40:35] strategic plan, Dr. Webb?

[1:40:38] Of course. We are in the fourth year

[1:40:40] of the five-year strategic plan. I

[1:40:42] will update you each week in our

[1:40:44] regular communications on where

[1:40:45] we stand in those steps, just

[1:40:47] to keep you, especially

[1:40:48] the new board members, up to date on

[1:40:50] where we've been. We have worked

[1:40:52] hard in several departments and have

[1:40:54] brought that strategic plan to life. Please pay

[1:40:56] attention to that communication and I

[1:40:58] recommend that we continue to ratify

[1:40:59] the strategic plan as it is

[1:41:01] written. OK.

[1:41:03] Thank you. We have a motion from Ms.

[1:41:06] Hidma and one seconded by Ms.

[1:41:08] Cannain. Has anyone mentioned that?

[1:41:13] Since we don't see any, we will proceed to the

[1:41:15] vote.

[1:41:27] 12 in favor, zero against.

[1:41:30] We have approved the board's objectives

[1:41:32] and ratified the strategic plan

[1:41:34] . We move on to the next item, the

[1:41:37] review of policy 1.2021 on

[1:41:39] the school board's code of conduct

[1:41:41] . Everyone signed the code of

[1:41:45] conduct at the work session.

[1:41:47] We review this code of conduct every

[1:41:49] 2 years when new

[1:41:51] school board members are sworn in.

[1:41:53] So, thank you all for signing

[1:41:56] that document, and let's work to

[1:41:58] make sure we comply with it.

[1:42:01] We have a motion in Mr.

[1:42:04] Bostick's chamber, seconded by Ms. Kelcoat.

[1:42:06] Any further discussion? Since we don't see

[1:42:11] any, we will proceed to the vote.

[1:42:18] is 12 in favor and

[1:42:19] zero against.

[1:42:21] And we have approved the code of conduct

[1:42:22] for school board members.

[1:42:25] The next item, the next series

[1:42:27] of items, is related to the

[1:42:29] school board budget 26 27.

[1:42:31] So, the first item is the

[1:42:33] approval of amendment 09.26 of the

[1:42:35] general purpose school fund, the

[1:42:37] United Way grant in the amount

[1:42:39] of $52,080. Dr. Webb?

[1:42:42] Yes, thank you, Madam President. For the

[1:42:44] fifteenth year, United Way is

[1:42:46] providing funding to the district for

[1:42:48] tutoring for grades 1-5 in

[1:42:49] our elementary schools, and

[1:42:51] I recommend its approval.

[1:42:53] Thank you. We have a motion from Mr.

[1:42:55] Bostick, seconded by Mr. Allen.

[1:42:57] Any other discussion? Questions? Since we do

[1:43:01] n't see any, we will proceed to the

[1:43:03] vote.

[1:43:09] was 12 in favor and

[1:43:10] zero against.

[1:43:12] We have approved the

[1:43:14] general purpose school fund in the amount of $

[1:43:17] 52,080. The next item on the

[1:43:20] agenda is the approval of the

[1:43:22] amendment to the general purpose school fund

[1:43:24] 09.26 regarding

[1:43:27] sports donations in the amount of $45,223.50.

[1:43:29] Dr. Webb.

[1:43:30] Thank you, Madam President. Our

[1:43:32] Wilco sports event, which we organize

[1:43:34] every year to celebrate our

[1:43:36] athletes from across the district, is

[1:43:37] funded by donations like this one.

[1:43:39] Therefore, tonight's approval

[1:43:41] is made possible with donations from Play

[1:43:43] On and Teal Property Groups. They have been

[1:43:45] supporting this event and

[1:43:47] I recommend approving the acceptance of

[1:43:48] those donations. Thank you.

[1:43:50] So, we have a motion from Ms.

[1:43:52] Clements, seconded by Mr.

[1:43:54] Bostick. Any further discussion? Since we do

[1:43:57] n't see any, let's proceed to the

[1:43:58] vote.

[1:44:06] 12 in favor, zero against.

[1:44:10] Very well, we have approved those

[1:44:11] sports donations. The next

[1:44:14] item on the agenda is the

[1:44:16] approval of resolution 10.26 of the

[1:44:18] general purpose school

[1:44:20] bus fund in the amount of

[1:44:22] $3,367,130. Dr. Webb.

[1:44:25] Thank you, Madam President. It is at this

[1:44:26] time of year that we begin to

[1:44:28] project how many school buses

[1:44:29] we will need to replace for the

[1:44:31] next school year. We need to

[1:44:33] replace 15 general education buses

[1:44:35] and four

[1:44:36] special education buses. We will finance this

[1:44:39] through the balance of funds, as this will be

[1:44:40] funded, and I recommend

[1:44:41] approval so that we can order

[1:44:43] those buses and have them headed

[1:44:44] here.

[1:44:46] We have a motion from Mr. Bostick and it is

[1:44:48] seconded by Ms. Wyatt. Any

[1:44:50] questions for the discussion about

[1:44:51] buses? Since none are seen, a

[1:44:54] vote will be taken.

[1:45:00] The vote is 12 yes, zero no.

[1:45:05] With that, we have approved the

[1:45:07] funding for the buses and the

[1:45:09] last item is the approval of the

[1:45:11] schedule for preparing the

[1:45:13] 2027-2028 budget. Dr. Bob.

[1:45:15] Thank you, Madam President. It's

[1:45:16] budget time. Are you excited,

[1:45:18] good people? I think we're all

[1:45:19] excited. It's time to talk about the

[1:45:21] budget, and this is our

[1:45:23] budget timeline prepared

[1:45:24] for you in response to your

[1:45:26] feedback in the working session.

[1:45:28] On page two you will see some

[1:45:30] highlighted areas where we will ask at

[1:45:32] four strategic moments if you would

[1:45:34] like to have additional sessions

[1:45:36] outside of the scheduled meetings.

[1:45:38] We will continue to offer them, but if

[1:45:40] you have individual questions, those

[1:45:42] one-on-one sessions with Rachel Farmer will

[1:45:44] give you answers and the

[1:45:46] knowledge you need to

[1:45:49] succeed in how we move forward with the

[1:45:50] budget. Therefore, I recommend

[1:45:53] the approval of this timeline.

[1:45:54] Very good. We have a motion from Ms.

[1:45:56] Anderson, seconded by Mrs.

[1:45:58] Clements. Any discussion

[1:46:00] related to that? Just a

[1:46:02] reminder that everyone can

[1:46:04] schedule a meeting with Rachel anytime

[1:46:07] until March, I guess,

[1:46:10] right? She loves it. Yes. Very

[1:46:13] good. Since there is no discussion, we will take

[1:46:15] our final vote of the afternoon.

[1:46:23] Vote: 12 in favor, zero against.

[1:46:26] And we have approved the timetable for

[1:46:28] preparing the 2027-28 budget, and

[1:46:30] with this the session is adjourned.

Williamson County Board of Education Meeting - September 21, 2026

Transcript