Bradley County B.O.E. Discuss Completion of Construction Projects
by Tonya Brantley

Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Bradley County Board of Education held their first regular monthly meeting of the new year on January 14, 2010. The following are highlights from that meeting.

Recognition was given to Bradley Central High School senior, Abby Hinkle. Hinkle was a student representative given the honor to sit in as Chairwoman of the Bradley County School Board in place of Chairman David Kelley for the first few items on the agenda.

After unanimous approval of the consent agenda, Director of Bradley County School, Johnny McDaniel presented his good news report. McDaniel recognized Robert Brittingham for being named as the principal of Michigan Avenue Elementary School. Brittingham replaces Sheena Newman who became the Supervisor of Elementary Education.

McDaniel mentioned Walker Valley High School will fight fat and hunger in 2010. Faculty, staff and students are in a "pound for pound" challenge. For every pound of weight that he faculty loses, students will bring a pound of food. Food and gently-used clothing will be donated to local charities in Bradley County. Currently, the Walker Valley faculty has lost over 140 pounds.

Waterville Community Elementary School received the PE4Life grant awarded by the Bradley County Health Initiative. Three members will receive training in Indianapolis. The Grant was written by Director of Coordinated School Health, Andrea Lockerby.

Tennessee School Board Association District Director, Pat Chester presented an award for excellence for reading initiative. The award was based on four qualifications: uniqueness, adaptability, involvement and evidence of success.

The board received an update on the construction projects at Valley View Elementary, Park View Elementary and the Bradley Central High School fine arts building. Construction at Valley View Elementary is close to be completely finished. Once the construction site is cleaned up, the old portable trailers that have been used as extra classroom space will be torn down and the newer portables will be relocated to another school. Derek Martin with American Constructors said the budget for the renovation at Valley View included a small amount of contingency items totaling just under two percent of the project cost which included replacing the windows on the cafeteria.

Construction at Park View Elementary was delayed due to the cold weather at the beginning of January. The building pad has been poured and the walls will be topped out and roof trusses will be going up this month, weather permitting. Martin reminded the board that masonry and concrete are weather dependent.

Cason Conn with TriCon, Inc. updated the board on the fine arts building at Bradley Central. Conn does not anticipate any budgetary concerns saying, "The next set of drawings will be very telling with the details. It's a really nice building and not overly complex from a construction standpoint. Final drawings should be ready by mid-February. Once we have the final drawings, we will be able to start the permitting process. Right now we are looking at a bid date of early March." According to Conn, construction should begin early in spring and based upon his estimates, should be completed within 8 to 10 months by fall.

Board Member Christy Chritchfield made a motion to accept Section 2 - Fiscal Management, Policy 2.809 Vender Relations adding the sentence: Due to the increase of latex allergies, schools will not accept any latex balloons. With a second from board member Dr. Richard Baker, the motion passes unanimously. It is common for some students to receive balloons for special occasions and on holidays such as Valentine's Day. Mylar balloons will still be acceptable.

Board member Terry McGuire gave an update from the Ethics Committee. A final proposal has not been completed due to the holiday season, the Ethics Committee will present a finished proposal for final approval to the attorney for Bradley County Schools, Chuck Cagle then to the school board for final approval at their February meeting.

The board unanimously approved the 2010-2011 School Calendar. Students will begin school on August 9, 2010 with the last day on May 24, 2011. According to McDaniel Park View Elementary will probably not be open for the first day of school. Students start later, keeping the fall break, keeping three days off at Thanksgiving and keeping a two week break at Christmas. The fall and spring breaks coincide with Cleveland City Schools.

Board Member Mark Grissom made a proposal to honor the late Coach Robert Maupin by naming the road at the North end of the football stadium on the campus at Bradley Central High School Coach Robert Maupin Blvd. With a motion from board member Troy Weathers and a second from Baker the motion passed unanimously.

The schedule for upcoming Education Committee Meetings was announced for the following dates: Thursday March 25 at 12 noon at Valley View Elementary, Thursday, May 27 at 8am at Walker Valley High School, and Thursday, July 22 at 12 noon at Lake Forest Middle School.

The Bradley County Board of Education meets on the second Thursday of the month at 5:30pm at the Administrative office on South Lee Highway on the Bradley Central high School campus. All meetings are open to the public.