Board Adopts New Textbooks for Local Schools
by Mary Hunter

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Cleveland City Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, April 5, 2010  at the Administrative building on the E.L Ross  campus. First on the Agenda were the Spotlight recognitions.

In the first spotlight, the Board recognized 11th graders Joey Archer and Emily Reed for attending the SCOPE Conference in Nashville on March 12, 2010. SCOPE stands for Student Congress on Policy and Education.

It is a mock school board event where students participate in, and debate on, different school board topics. Sixteen groups participated, and each group was assigned a 'pro' or 'con' view to a controversial topic. The topics were then debated in front of the other students. The students got a chance to vote on the topic and that vote will get sent to all school boards, statewide.

Others recognized were 10th graders, Westin Laing and Tiffany Summers, who couldn't attend the Monday night meeting.

The second spotlight recognition went to National Merit student Erica Tipton. The National Merit program holds 1.5 million students nationwide and Tipton is in the top 5 percent. She holds a 4.0 grade point average. Tipton is also part of the Chattanooga Symphony and plans to visit France for a second time this summer. 

The next item on the agenda was  a motion to adopt new textbooks for the subjects of: English, Language Arts, Foreign Language and English as a Second Language.

The ideas of using a Kendall or Ipad were discussed, but later agreed that the cost for software for these devices would end up being around the same as a normal textbook.

The motion carried to approve the recommendation to adopt the textbooks.

Director of City Schools Dr. Rick Denning presented the Race to the Top (RTTT) information. Tennessee and Delaware were the first round winners. Fifty percent of the amount awarded to Tennessee will flow directly to school systems. However, expenditures must adhere to specific guidelines. The amount each school system  receives will be determined by the formula for distributions of Title1 funds. Cleveland City Schools are set to receive approximately $1,351,031 from (RTTT) funding.

Energy Education Specialist for the district Paul Ramsey, informed the board that Cleveland City Schools have saved more than $253,000 in the first 8 months of its energy conservation and management program. In addition, the energy conservation program has also impacted our community with savings of 1,462,000 kWh (Kilowatt-hour)  in  electricity, 13,000 CCF of  natural gas and water through changes in organizational and human behavior.

To verify the program's effectiveness and measure its success, Ramsey tracks energy consumption, including water, electricity, sewer and natural gas using third party energy accounting software. All costs of the Energy Education Program come from the district's existing utility budget, with savings guaranteed to more than pay for the program. Additional savings can be redirected to other parts of the district's budget.

Stuart School will be purchasing a new sound board due to the defectiveness and partial operation of the old one. The Stuart PTO has raised $9,826.54 for the purchase. The purchase will be made through Gravel Road entertainment.

The Cleveland High School class of 2010 end of year schedule is now available: May 14th at 7:45a.m. will be the Honors Assembly; May 15th at 5:30p.m. will be the Honors Banquet; May 16th at 3:00p.m. will be the Baccalaureate; May 20th at 7:30 p.m. will be Senior Night; and May 21st at 6:00 p.m. is Graduation at Benny Monroe Stadium. In the event of inclement weather, graduation will be held at First Baptist Church.

A date for the Retreat for the Cleveland City Board of Education members has been set. It will be held on Friday, April 23rd at 5:30 at the administration building on the E.L. Ross campus.

The next monthly meeting will be held on Monday, May 3, 2010 also at the administration building.