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Archives
11-22-2006 News Cold
snap brings early snowfall
Cold snap brings early snowfall
Mac McLeod/OCN
Christmas In The Country event to begin this Friday
photo courtesy of Merchants Association
No discrimination found against school system By DEWAIN E. PEEK, OCN staff School Board Attorney Chuck Cagle gave a report on the findings of a government investigation into civil rights violation allegations at Livingston Academy. Cagle began by saying of Livingston Academy and the school system, "They opened their doors, and answered all the questions." He went on to say, "I don't think it's any secret that there was a family, residents of Overton County, who made a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education in Atlanta regarding racial discrimination. "We supplied the initial information that's required of school districts in a very timely fashion to OCR," he said. "After they reviewed that initial information, they then asked to come and do a site visit. They sent a team leader, an attorney, and an investigator to Livingston Academy and performed an investigation that lasted about a day and a half. "At the end of their investigation, they found that there is no discriminatory activity that is actionable at Livingston Academy." Cagle cautioned the Board that the investigators didn't say the accusations were not true. "They didn't say it didn't happen," he said. Cagle reminded the School Board, "Students are going to say anything. We can't control what students say. Our response has to be that we correct that behavior." And Cagle said the school system's response was correct. "The report that the OCR has given the Overton County schools shows the school officials acted in a timely, correct fashion, and took care of the racial slurs particularly that were alleged to have been spoken." He then addressed another accusation that was investigated. "The second accusation was that a player was not being played on the basketball team, and allegedly it was because of her race," Cagle said. "Again, the OCR took a look at the statistics for several years, for several players. "They asked us for rosters of players, looked at playing time from the books of the basketball team, listened to the coach carefully, the school administration carefully, and had a finding that race played no part at all in the amount of playing time that any player received." Cagle finished with this request, "We want parents always to feel they can stop at the local school board first." Quarterly reports were approved for General Purpose, Federal Projects, Central Cafeteria, and Education Debt Service funds for the quarter ending September 30. A one-half cent per square foot increase to schools for janitorial allocations was approved as follows: A.H. Roberts -$312.75; Allons -$248.97; Hilham -$232.16; Livingston Academy -$616.11; Livingston Middle -$299.95; Rickman -$365.77; and Wilson -$218.54. The total increase is $2,294.24, which is included in the budget but had not been voted on by the School Board. The Board approved the second reading of the following policy changes: 4.600 Grading System; 5.700 Interim Employees; 6.200 Attendance; 6.204 Attendance of Non-Resident Students; 6.312 Use of Personal Communication and Electronic Devices; and 6.405 Medicines. The School Board approved the Report of School System/School Compliance based on Tennessee Statutes and State Board of Education Rules, Regulations, and Minimum Standards for approval of schools. An overnight trip was approved for the LMS Junior Beta Club to go to the state convention at Opryland Hotel on November 20 and 21, and an overnight trip was approved for the LMS Beta Club to go to Louisville, KY, May 10 and 11, 2007. In executive action, the following bids from Blue Bird were approved: 47-passenger Special Education bus with lift at $69,708; 77 or 78-passenger conventional bus at $67,302. Director of Schools Mike Gilpatrick issued the Director's Report to the School Board. Actions taken by the school director are as follows: Hired Chelsea Sevier and Sam Nelson as peer tutors for the RISE program at Rickman Elementary, as recommended by Angela Webb, effective October 14. Hired Jimmy Franklin at A.H. Roberts Elementary as maintenance assistant/custodian to fill the vacant position left by Ernie Hensley, effective October 6, as recommended by Teresa Johnson. Hired the following teachers for the Livingston Middle School After-School Program: Debie Taylor, Tabitha Winningham, Melanie Norrod, Vicky Phillips, Barbara Vaughn, Annette Vaughn, Gwen Smith, Nickey Franklin, Elaine Grimes, Kelly Montgomery, Billie Akers, Katherine Smith, and Shannon Pirtle, effective October 23. Hired Mary Beth Winningham as a peer tutor for the Livingston Middle School After-School Program, effective October 23. Increased hours for Rillie Hill and Louise Matthews to 6 hours each at Livingston Middle School's cafeteria. This is to assist with a second breakfast, which feeds an average of 89 students per day. Hired the following non-certified substitute teachers: Tammy Carr, Tammy Wells, Bobbie Burnette, Katherine Stover, Betty Crabtree, Sean Garrett, Benita Finster, and Eric Hammock. Hired Christine Norrod and Timmy Breeding as substitute janitors. Hired Eric Stephens as a substitute bus driver. Hired Linda Chilton and Bobbie Thurman as substitute cooks. Granted medical leave of absence for Tim Breeding from November 20, 2006, through January 2, 2007. Granted maternity leave of absence for Misty Strong from November 30, 2006, through January 4, 2007. Before adjourning, Chairman Tim Coffee read a letter commending the Livingston Academy band students on their behavior at Laketoberfest. "With over 1,200 students from surrounding counties, your group was by far the most well behaved. It was a pleasure to have been their guide for the day," stated the letter from Jimmy Stephens, education specialist for Lakeside Educational Complex. Director Gilpatrick gave an update on a recent drug dog visit at Livingston Academy. "As you know, there's been the perception that there's a lot of drugs at the high school and so on," Director Gilpatrick said. "And we had discussed the drug dog making unannounced visits to the school. That did take place here a while back. "And there were no findings whatsoever at the high school," he said. "Whatever you might hear on the street, there were no findings." He then announced that Julie Miller and Jean Jolley have written a LEAP (Lottery Education Afterschool Program) grant and received a grant in the amount of $64,500 for Livingston Academy - STARS. Miller said, "Our acronym stands for Student Teacher Alliance Reaching Success." She then gave the School Board an overview of the many goals the afterschool program will seek to achieve.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas on the square
Beth Underwood/OCN staff
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