School Board · Meeting · Mar 11, 2023 · 8:00 AM

13:3713 minutes, 37 secondsall right we'll start 13:5113 minutes, 51 secondsbefore we start like to make some announcements welcome to the Hitman County Board of 13:5913 minutes, 59 secondsEducation director of school interview session our request is for you in the audience to remain quiet and 14:0714 minutes, 7 secondsSilent your cell phones if they mute or turn them off process will be conducted orderly timely and professionally 14:1414 minutes, 14 secondswe'll follow the same procedure for each candidate each candidate will be asked to make an opening statement and then will be asked the protocol of questions 14:2214 minutes, 22 secondsfollowed by a closing statement in order to be fair and impartial each candidate has been allotted 30 minutes 14:3914 minutes, 39 secondsalso anybody that wants to submit Town Hall questions it's in the lobby outside the auditorium 14:4614 minutes, 46 secondsfor this afternoon session 15:0115 minutes, 1 secondCounty Board of educational meeting special call session today beginning at eight o'clock first thing is call to 15:0915 minutes, 9 secondsorder of a moment of silence 15:2515 minutes, 25 secondsnext thing will be Pledge of Allegiance please 15:3315 minutes, 33 secondsof the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and 15:4215 minutes, 42 secondsjustice for all 15:4515 minutes, 45 seconds[Music] 15:4715 minutes, 47 secondsapproval of agenda is there a motion to approve agenda is listed we have a motion to prove the journey do 15:5415 minutes, 54 secondswe have a second second I have a second all in favor say aye aye and he knows I just have it seven up 16:0316 minutes, 3 secondsdirector of school public interviews this time we will start with our interviews starting with 16:1216 minutes, 12 secondsfirst one Mr Johnny Crowe 16:4316 minutes, 43 secondsforeign 17:0717 minutes, 7 seconds[Music] 17:1417 minutes, 14 secondsforeign 17:5817 minutes, 58 secondsgood morning everyone my name is Johnny Crowe it's been about probably 25 years since I've been in this room and I've never 18:0618 minutes, 6 secondsbeen as nervous to be in this room as I am right now I'm a product of this of this institution product of the school system and I must say that I'm very 18:1418 minutes, 14 secondsproud to be that way I worked in the school system for 12 years I was a teacher at East Middle 18:2218 minutes, 22 secondsSchool and a teacher here at Hickman County high school then principal at East Hickman Middle School went on to the Tennessee Department of 18:3018 minutes, 30 secondsEducation retired in 2016. I took a job at Trevecca and then uh retired again in 18:3718 minutes, 37 seconds2019. I feel like this job is a calling to me I've dedicated my life to education people Hickman County and I 18:4518 minutes, 45 secondswant you guys to know if I'm granted the opportunity to have this job I will again dedicate rededicate myself to that in making this school system as good as 18:5418 minutes, 54 secondsit can possibly be for both the students and the parents the families of this County thank you 19:0219 minutes, 2 secondsthank you Mr Crow appreciate you being here when I ask you two questions they're 19:1019 minutes, 10 secondsrelated can you hear me okay barely I'm sorry let's see I'm getting a lot of feedback 19:1719 minutes, 17 secondsmyself can can you hear me now better I could hear you now okay I'm going to ask you two questions they're related 19:2419 minutes, 24 secondsI'll go ahead and ask both of them right now and then we'll go back to the first one okay I'm having a difficult time 19:3119 minutes, 31 secondshearing you Mr Hudgens I'm sorry are y'all getting a lot of feedback back there okay 19:4119 minutes, 41 secondsforeign I'm going to State my two questions and 19:4919 minutes, 49 secondsthen I'll let you answer them one at a time and I'll repeat the first one first question explain your interest and motivation for seeking Hickman County 19:5719 minutes, 57 secondsdirector job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position the second question is how visible will 20:0520 minutes, 5 secondsyou be in our schools in our community uh back to the first question 20:1220 minutes, 12 secondsexplain your interest and motivation for seeking the Hickman County director job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position uh I briefly 20:2120 minutes, 21 secondstouched on that in my two-minute intro um as you guys know I don't have any experience that being a school superintendent but there's a first time 20:3020 minutes, 30 secondsfor everything and you guys didn't have any experience that being a board member until you were a board member just like president of the United States doesn't have uh uh experience being president 20:3920 minutes, 39 secondsuntil it becomes president but I'm motivated by the people and by the community I grew up here I 20:4620 minutes, 46 secondshave Roots here I have a proven track record in student performance School management financial 20:5420 minutes, 54 secondsmanagement personnel management and communication as many of you on the board I know Mr 21:0121 minutes, 1 secondgammons knows for sure I was able to turn around East tickman Middle School when it was a straight out of school back in the um 21:0921 minutes, 9 secondsearly 2000s and I want to use those same skills and knowledge is to turn this system 21:1721 minutes, 17 secondsaround I looked at the report card what the public portal has for me to look at 21:2421 minutes, 24 secondsand I know we need help I know the people need help I know the students need help I know the teachers need help okay 21:3221 minutes, 32 secondshow visible will you be in our schools and our community well I want to be very visible in the schools and very visible in the community I think it's very 21:4121 minutes, 41 secondsimportant for the director to be in the schools I want to be approachable I want any employee or any Community member or any business owner that has questions 21:4921 minutes, 49 secondsfor me to feel confident approaching me without fear of retaliation and be able to speak their mind 21:5721 minutes, 57 secondsthank you you're welcome Mr Rose foreign 22:0922 minutes, 9 secondsyeah I believe so if you had an opportunity 22:1722 minutes, 17 secondsI can hear you yeah I hope the crowd can but I can hear you fine for Hitman County what are some areas 22:2722 minutes, 27 secondswhich need attention and the steps she would take to address what are some strong areas okay 22:3422 minutes, 34 secondsum all all subject areas uh Ela math science social study we're pretty strong 22:4122 minutes, 41 secondswe're pretty strong I'd say I'd say pretty strong we're at within a few percentage points of State averages 22:4922 minutes, 49 secondsuntil we get to about the sixth grade now do I want to be at State average no I want to be above that but that should 22:5722 minutes, 57 secondsbe our first goal is to get the state average um we're only five or six the lower grades are only five or six percentage 23:0523 minutes, 5 secondspoints off of State averages in the measurable categories that they use which is math and English language arts 23:1223 minutes, 12 secondsand then when those students get to about the sixth grade they start to decline and mainly in math and they drop to 23:2223 minutes, 22 secondsabout 20 percentage points below the state average now that's in my mind not 23:2823 minutes, 28 secondsacceptable that I know that that ranks in the lower quartile of the state 23:3723 minutes, 37 secondslowest scores so to address those I think we need to put our strongest teachers and actually that's my opinion 23:4623 minutes, 46 secondsto put the strongest teachers we have in those grade levels now first of all before we I would make any Personnel 23:5323 minutes, 53 secondschanges I would go and meet with the teachers and the administrators in the all-level schools and see what they need 24:0124 minutes, 1 seconddo they have needs that are not being met do they need instructional materials do they need curriculum do they need uh 24:0824 minutes, 8 secondsprofessional development on best methodologies uh our textbooks aligned with the standards there are a lot of 24:1624 minutes, 16 secondsvariables to address but those are the things that I feel are most important and those are the areas that I would uh 24:2424 minutes, 24 secondstake on first Mr campus who's number three 24:3224 minutes, 32 seconds[Music] 24:3624 minutes, 36 seconds-part question have you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 24:4424 minutes, 44 secondsis our CTE program adequate to prepare students for the workforce and what is your position on CRT and 24:5324 minutes, 53 secondsgender issue so starting with uh you need to be repeating that you're in Romans first just give me the buzz word on the first what was the uh have you 25:0125 minutes, 1 secondresearched our dual enrollment program is should it be expanded okay as far as dual enrollment uh plan I have not researched it on the books I've Heard 25:1025 minutes, 10 secondslots of people comment comment about it uh being it's an arrangement with uh Freed Hardeman University what I would 25:1825 minutes, 18 secondsdo not want to have what I would not want to happen as director is students go through that because anytime you take college coursework and you're at the 25:2725 minutes, 27 secondshigh school level it it's challenging so I want to make sure that those students that do that whether they choose to go 25:3625 minutes, 36 secondsto Freed or not get credit for that coursework if they go to a TBR Tennessee Board of Regents School or another private school we want to make sure that 25:4525 minutes, 45 secondsthey get credit for that and if we feel like they do and it's a strong long program we won't might want to enrich 25:5225 minutes, 52 secondsthat program by adding maybe other coursework or maybe partner with another institution that's uh TBR related 26:0126 minutes, 1 secondand a b is ourselves is our CTE program adequate to prepare students for the workforce well some there's really no 26:1126 minutes, 11 secondsway to measure that other than uh subjectively a lot of my best friends are carpenters plumbers they work in the 26:1926 minutes, 19 secondstrades it's amazing how many people I used to teach CTE here in this building I taught Drafting and I I met with the 26:2526 minutes, 25 secondsengineer for mlec day before yesterday and he's one of my former students he does beautiful work um 26:3326 minutes, 33 secondseveryone that I talk to in the business world says our students are prepared for entry-level positions I know that 26:4126 minutes, 41 secondsthey're capable of doing more and I would like to see us invest more money in that I remember a time when you'd be out in 26:4926 minutes, 49 secondsthe workforce and the kids at the employers would say well these kids can't even read a tape measure these days so we want to make sure they can read the tape measure operate computers 26:5726 minutes, 57 secondsuh engine Diagnostics uh electric vehicles are on the way that we need to move into that there's lots of 27:0527 minutes, 5 secondsTechnology cosmetology Everything's changed with that chemical chemicals and things they 27:1127 minutes, 11 secondsuse there we certainly enrich our CTE programs see is a totally different from 27:2027 minutes, 20 secondsthe first two yeah that moves in CRT well CRT for anybody that knows uh critical race Theory and and when you 27:2827 minutes, 28 secondshear the word critical you think that means like critical care or high need but critical in critical race Theory 27:3527 minutes, 35 secondsmeans critical as in critique as in uh critiquing uh a magazine article or critiquing someone's teaching or 27:4327 minutes, 43 secondscritiquing a director candidate um it it kind of bends the thinking of 27:5127 minutes, 51 secondspeople it's a philosophy that says our laws are unfair and Target minorities they say 27:5927 minutes, 59 secondsthat the laws are by being neutral are being biased so they say that the the 28:0728 minutes, 7 secondsacademians and the theologists that support that theory say that you're targeting minorities by having laws 28:1528 minutes, 15 secondsagainst theft or violence when actually I think that laws are designed to are 28:2328 minutes, 23 secondsdesigned against criminals not people because of their color or culture but because of um their violation of the law 28:3228 minutes, 32 secondsand it's to protect us all okay and it's gender issues oh and uh gender issues um 28:3928 minutes, 39 secondsthat's a tough one Mr Lane um I personally believe there are only two genders there's a male and female and we've had 28:4828 minutes, 48 secondsboys and girls bathrooms as long as I can remember them probably as long as my ancestors can remember but um you know 28:5628 minutes, 56 secondsyou when you come to a government-funded facility an organization uh you have to follow directives that are set forth by 29:0429 minutes, 4 secondsthe Supreme Court and as we all know many issues regarding uh gender gender equity 29:1129 minutes, 11 secondsor or at the Forefront it's touchy subject but I would say I'd have to follow whatever laws 29:1929 minutes, 19 secondsthe Congress National Congress in action state law and acts as far as handing handling those in school 29:2829 minutes, 28 secondsthank you good morning good morning okay 29:3529 minutes, 35 secondshow important are extracurricular activities to our overall education program and also how would you propose 29:4229 minutes, 42 secondsto support our athletic programs at all Hickman County Schools um when I was principal at East Tippmann 29:5129 minutes, 51 secondsMiddle School we kept tally for the life better on how many kids participated in extracurricular activities not only did 30:0030 minutesthat include Sports and Ball Sports that included drama that included uh quiz 30:0630 minutes, 6 secondsBowl Junior Beta band uh choir uh and anything else that I might have 30:1430 minutes, 14 secondsforgotten but we but about 70 percent of the kids participate in extracurricular activities kids are giving gifts in many 30:2230 minutes, 22 secondsdifferent areas they're giving gifts of their mind Gifts of their body and some have gifts of both people like to celebrate those things and the way they celebrate them is to go 30:3130 minutes, 31 secondsto gymnasiums and ball fields and stages and cheer on and support it builds 30:3930 minutes, 39 secondscommunity it builds community and when you have competitive programs it really builds community and that's one of my mantras 30:4730 minutes, 47 secondsis we want to have top level extracurricular activities if we want some past sports teams they need to be competitive and they need to have first 30:5530 minutes, 55 secondsclass venues to perform and play in whether you're in sports or drama 31:0331 minutes, 3 secondsum so I'm very uh Pro extracurricular activity 31:1031 minutes, 10 secondshow would you be proposed that was the second part of the question to support our athletic programs at all the schools right one of the best ways to do that is 31:1931 minutes, 19 secondsseek Community involvement uh advertise well make sure everybody knows when the ball games are keep the facilities Top Notch keep the concession stands 31:2831 minutes, 28 secondstop-notch serve good food at the concession stands uh keep the prices affordable for entry 31:3631 minutes, 36 secondsand make sure the kids are appreciated and make sure the parents are appreciated because they play a very vital role in taking kids to the level 31:4431 minutes, 44 secondsthat they need to be to compete and perform at the high school level but that goes all the way back to middle school and even intermediate school 31:5331 minutes, 53 secondsthank you I have a two-part question 32:0132 minutes, 1 secondnumber it went off what are your credentials and experience 32:0832 minutes, 8 secondsfor handling the school budget from preparing then presenting to the school board and County commission part two are 32:1732 minutes, 17 secondsyou familiar with the differences in the Old State BEP formula versus the new Tisa formula 32:2632 minutes, 26 secondsforeign the first part of your question would you repeat that a little bit for me Miss 32:3332 minutes, 33 secondsBaker what are your correct thank you 32:4032 minutes, 40 secondsum of course I was uh I go back to I was principal at Easton middle school and uh handle the budget there well uh we had a 32:4732 minutes, 47 secondsschool budget at that time it's only about 75 75 000 in uh discretionary funding and we kept that balanced and 32:5532 minutes, 55 secondsthen when I was went from uh the East Middle School to Tennessee Department of Education I was over No Child Left 33:0333 minutes, 3 secondsBehind Title II title two part D competitive grants it was 28 million dollar program over the course of four 33:1033 minutes, 10 secondsyears and we had competitive grants that we awarded to uh school systems across the state uh total of 33:1933 minutes, 19 seconds54 school systems in three years received about 28 million dollars and I was accountable for all that not only to 33:2833 minutes, 28 secondsour State Comptroller but also to the federal folks that regulate that and I have never had any infractions on any 33:3633 minutes, 36 secondsbudget or any mismanagement funds or missed allocation of funds uh which could simply be uh buying a computer out 33:4633 minutes, 46 secondsof the wrong account as you guys know but nothing nothing no write-ups on that um as far as 33:5333 minutes, 53 secondsum the BEP and Tisa of course we're transferring to Tisa now it's it's moving from the BEP the basic 34:0034 minuteseducational formula uh was controversial it was basically based on how many students you had and uh the 34:0834 minutes, 8 secondsnumber of students number free lunch that figured into that formula and there were always screams of inequity in that 34:1634 minutes, 16 secondswith the larger school districts I don't think Hickman ever had a problem with that um Tisa I'm not that familiar with it 34:2334 minutes, 23 secondsbecause I haven't had time or basically any reason to research that yet thank you thank you 34:3434 minutes, 34 secondshe answered both my questions number six whoever said I'm gonna I'm gonna ask number six 34:4334 minutes, 43 secondsgood morning uh Johnny uh this is a three-part question so I'm gonna kind of read it over quickly and then I'll go back and read it again because 34:5234 minutes, 52 secondsI won't even be able to remember the first one so okay uh the a part is how would you handle complaints from parents as well as staff 35:0035 minutesuh B is how would you handle bullying in in our schools by students and also by staff 35:0735 minutes, 7 secondsand then the third the C part is how would you drive a change in the current perception of nepotism and favoritism in 35:1635 minutes, 16 secondsour system so so the a part was about how would you handle complaints okay um as I mentioned uh in my intro I want 35:2435 minutes, 24 secondsto be very approachable I want to be a very approachable of our citizens it's very approachable by our students very approachable by parents very approachable by the board 35:3335 minutes, 33 secondsif there's a complaint it needs to be investigated it doesn't need to be brushed off want to be transparent with the board at all times on those things I know there have been miscommunications 35:4235 minutes, 42 secondsin the past and have been probably since the beginning of time uh but we want to make sure if if a student makes an 35:4935 minutes, 49 secondsallegation uh that's investigated if teacher makes an allegations it needs to be investigated if a parent makes an allegation there's any allegation that 35:5835 minutes, 58 secondswould could possibly be a violation of law or board policy or 36:0436 minutes, 4 secondsanything that's uh against the Norms of society and I want to make sure that those are fully investigated by the 36:1236 minutes, 12 secondsproper authorities and of course report back to the board or are legal whichever way you guys decide to take it as far as bullying 36:2036 minutes, 20 secondsum anti-bullying I know bullying exists it exists in person it exists in social media and exists 36:2936 minutes, 29 secondsum through Word of Mouth um physical bullying is one thing emotional bullying is one thing 36:3636 minutes, 36 secondsum Facebook bullying I guess that'd be social media bullying but it happens and I want to address that head on I will not tolerate it uh I wouldn't tolerate 36:4536 minutes, 45 secondsit back in the day when I worked in the schools and I certainly wouldn't tolerate it as a director of schools and sometimes employees are bullied and I 36:5336 minutes, 53 secondsdon't believe in that either there's adult bullying just as much as there is a kid uh nepotism uh 37:0237 minutes, 2 secondsI don't really have any uh immediate family other than my mom and sisters uh I've got nieces nephews none of them are 37:0937 minutes, 9 secondspreparing to become Educators or or Educators uh I would want to ex if there are any claims of nepotism I'd want to 37:1837 minutes, 18 secondstake a look at that sometimes in a small town small District we're fortunate to have husband and wives uh parents and 37:2737 minutes, 27 secondschildren who work together because we don't have a choice but we can make sure that they are not directly supervised by whoever they're 37:3537 minutes, 35 secondsuh significant other uh would be and I'm certainly anti-nepotism so the last part of that question I I 37:4337 minutes, 43 secondsjust briefly said it on the C part about nepotism and favoritism was how would you drive change in the perception with 37:5037 minutes, 50 secondsthe workforce and build a culture of trust and fairness certainly um again through communication I want to 37:5837 minutes, 58 secondshave an open door I want uh to meet with immediately meet with all the administrators meet with y'all central office Personnel School level 38:0638 minutes, 6 secondsadministrators and then meet with teaching staffs one-on-one go to the individual schools and and meet with 38:1438 minutes, 14 secondsthose and let those people know that I stand with them if they're doing what's right I'm going to be there for them 38:2238 minutes, 22 secondsthank you should you be chosen as their next 38:3238 minutes, 32 secondsdirector are you serious about accepting and what would you propose the first 90 days would look like 38:4038 minutes, 40 secondsI'm definitely serious about accepting the job or or I wouldn't be here today and and I had slept since August 21st that's when I made up my mind to pursue 38:4938 minutes, 49 secondsthis job uh I'm very serious about it very dedicated to it very dedicated to it um 38:5538 minutes, 55 secondsmy first 90 days would be a deep dive evaluation into 39:0339 minutes, 3 secondsPersonnel I would start with test scores once I have access to uh the confidential scores the value-added 39:1139 minutes, 11 secondsscores uh the Pacific specific achievement scores of every everyone across all the teachers across the 39:1939 minutes, 19 secondsdistrict then I take a then I would meet with administrators building level administrators and even central office 39:2639 minutes, 26 secondssupervisors to discuss teachers who have needs and who are not quote performing 39:3439 minutes, 34 secondsup to the level that we would like for them to be and then me eventually meet with those 39:4139 minutes, 41 secondsteachers to decide what they need because we can't wait until school starts to decide what they need that 39:4839 minutes, 48 secondsneeds to be addressed really now to make sure that they have what they need for the upcoming school year you know check 39:5639 minutes, 56 secondslike as I mentioned earlier check is the curriculum line is there textbook aligned with the state standards they're all those things um and make sure the 40:0440 minutes, 4 secondsadministrators are providing an environment in each school that is conducive to learning and and instructional time is safe and let at 40:1440 minutes, 14 secondsbuilding level administrators know that for sure all right 40:2040 minutes, 20 secondsand closing statement so thank you thank you 40:2940 minutes, 29 secondsum appreciate this opportunity and I I appreciate uh the board allowing me to come here today and talk 40:3740 minutes, 37 secondsI appreciate all the support of all the community that I've gotten for the last gosh eight months I think I've counted 40:4440 minutes, 44 secondsand um I'm willing to give my life the rest of my professional life to this job if I'm selected I want nothing more and 40:5240 minutes, 52 secondsthere's nothing I'm prouder of than being a product of Hampton County schools and there's nothing more than I want kids to walk out of here saying I'm 41:0141 minutes, 1 seconda product of Hickman County Schools I appreciate your time thank you 41:0941 minutes, 9 secondsthank you 41:3341 minutes, 33 secondsyes 42:0942 minutes, 9 secondsdoes it reduce 42:4242 minutes, 42 secondsright 44:0944 minutes, 9 secondsthank you this greedy foreign yes sir I want to thank the board and 44:1744 minutes, 17 secondsthe citizens of Hickory County for this opportunity I am very excited to be here and uh I just overwhelmingly thank you 44:2644 minutes, 26 secondsto you all as a board for everything you're doing and you'll work for the children of Hickman County 44:3444 minutes, 34 secondsthanks sir I'm going to ask you two questions I'll read them both and then we'll start 44:4344 minutes, 43 secondsfirst question is explain your interest and motivation for seeking the Hickman County director job and what experience and skills do you possess for this 44:5244 minutes, 52 secondsposition the second question is how visible will you be in our schools and community 45:0145 minutes, 1 secondagain first question explain your interest and motivation for seeking the Hickman County director job and what experience and skills do you possess for 45:0845 minutes, 8 secondsthis position my interest in Hickman County is twofold 45:1645 minutes, 16 secondsnumber one I started my teaching career here in Hickman County and at East Hickman middle school and the Hickman 45:2445 minutes, 24 secondsCounty has always been in my heart also my wife's friend from 45:3145 minutes, 31 secondshippie County so I have family that's true family for what I have in my life here so I would uh I love Hitman 45:4045 minutes, 40 secondsCounty also at being principal here at hitting County high school for three years I love those kids those young men and women that we have are there in the 45:4845 minutes, 48 secondsworld right now I'm still in contact with them I'm still in contact with a lot of people that I worked with I've gone to school with or just know from 45:5645 minutes, 56 secondsHickman County and uh that brings out joy in me um motivation I'm a motivated person no 46:0446 minutes, 4 secondsmatter what I do I'm just I put my heart and soul in everything I do whether it's more in the yard or working in schools 46:1246 minutes, 12 secondsuh what what um experience I'm I'm a person that's been at all levels I've been an 46:2046 minutes, 20 secondselementary teacher I've been an elementary administrator I've been a middle school teacher I've been a middle school administrator I've been a high 46:2746 minutes, 27 secondsschool teacher I've been a high school administrator I think those skills that I've learned in the last 27 years 46:3646 minutes, 36 secondsgive me the strength to be the superintendent of schools here in Hidden County visibility 46:4646 minutes, 46 secondsI can't stand I can't stay still so I will I'm everywhere I'm visible in my buildings that's one thing that is uh 46:5546 minutes, 55 secondsknown about me I stay I'm I'm out with kids I'm out with the teachers I'm out with the parents when they come in uh 47:0347 minutes, 3 secondsyou know I'm there uh in the community I go to everything I attend a lot of of 47:1147 minutes, 11 secondsactivities than within our community that may or may not involve uh students 47:1847 minutes, 18 secondsor families I'll try to stay up and current on the structures of the 47:2547 minutes, 25 secondscommunity and I'm well known and I'll say Pat myself on the back I have great relationships with people so my 47:3347 minutes, 33 secondsvisibility I plan to be and then where no matter what I do a very visible 47:3947 minutes, 39 secondsperson in schools and the community thank you 47:4947 minutes, 49 seconds[Music] 47:5247 minutes, 52 secondsMr daily this is a multi-part question have you had opportunity to review test results for Hickman County what are some 48:0148 minutes, 1 secondareas which need attention and the steps you would take to address and what are some strong 48:0748 minutes, 7 secondsareas yes I have 48:1548 minutes, 15 secondslooked at data from Hickman County there are areas that need attention uh reading 48:2248 minutes, 22 secondsis one that is especially in the elementary schools that needs attention now a good part you 48:3248 minutes, 32 secondshave some growth in high school uh with the EOC in some areas you have a 48:3948 minutes, 39 secondsstrength in science right now so that is how I would approach that 48:4748 minutes, 47 secondswould be we have skill gaps due to matters beyond your control Beyond students control 48:5548 minutes, 55 secondsBeyond uh citizens control that have uh impacted education not only in Hickman 49:0249 minutes, 2 secondsCounty but across the world across the country and we have to take a systematic approach 49:1149 minutes, 11 secondsto build up those skills you have middle school students who were home for two 49:1849 minutes, 18 secondsyears come back to school this is maybe their first full year in a school 49:2549 minutes, 25 secondsthey have gaps you have high school students that may or may not have completed their 49:3449 minutes, 34 secondseighth grade because of that there are gaps so it has to be systematic and it has to 49:4149 minutes, 41 secondsbe steady it can't be a one second fix it has to be steady researched 49:4949 minutes, 49 secondsstrong skill based interventions for our students to go that extra get that extra 49:5649 minutes, 56 secondspart could you repeat the second part of your question please what are what are some areas which need 50:0550 minutes, 5 secondsattention and the steps she would take to address okay uh yes they are uh areas 50:1450 minutes, 14 secondsyou have foreign gotten that full Year's growth in uh 50:2450 minutes, 24 secondsareas and that's just taking the time to look at your research practices your teaching practices the focus of the 50:3150 minutes, 31 secondsstudents are are the students getting what they need and that would take conversations with teachers 50:4050 minutes, 40 secondsadministrators to take conversations with students students know where they're they're lacking at and they want the help 50:4950 minutes, 49 secondssometimes I just do not know how to express it 51:0451 minutes, 4 secondsI have a three-part question and I'll read them and then I'll go back to a 3A 51:1251 minutes, 12 secondshave you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded is our CTE program adequate to prepare 51:2151 minutes, 21 secondsstudents for the workforce and what is your position on CRT and 51:2851 minutes, 28 secondsgender issues going back to number one have you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 51:4351 minutes, 43 secondsMr Lane and board members I thank you for this question I was principal here at Hickman County High School when the 51:5151 minutes, 51 secondsuh commitment with Fred Hardman University was started here at Hickman County high school and I believe there is also at 51:5951 minutes, 59 secondsthe East I believe in dual enrollment that is an excellent opportunity for students to not only get a quality high 52:0952 minutes, 9 secondsschool learning but also get your get their feet into the next level um 52:1652 minutes, 16 secondswith support uh they're not going to college like I did I left my home I went to college I 52:2252 minutes, 22 secondswas on my own in my first college class with the dual enrollment part we have the opportunity with teachers that are 52:3152 minutes, 31 secondson staff here supporting our students as they some struggle to get at the beginning of 52:3952 minutes, 39 secondsit and then you have that support right there to go so I believe that is great in this as much as we can it can be uh 52:4952 minutes, 49 secondsadjust it it can be expanded uh for the betterment of our students and that again goes to communication with with 52:5852 minutes, 58 secondsyou communication with the students communication with families on what their interests are so you can draw in 53:0553 minutes, 5 secondsthose classes that uh students want to take need to take for their chosen career 53:1453 minutes, 14 secondsCTE program I love the CTE programs uh that is the uh the strongest that can be 53:2253 minutes, 22 secondsthe strongest Avenue for many students our CTE programs here at Hickman County 53:2953 minutes, 29 secondsHigh School led to many students having industry certifications before they even graduated high school we had a student 53:3853 minutes, 38 secondsthat got industry certification uh certificate from Columbia State all that before he graduated walked across the 53:4653 minutes, 46 secondsstage here at Hickman County high school so our CTE programs do a great job do we need more support I know now because 53:5353 minutes, 53 secondsthere's the issues with the career awareness moving into middle schools uh the computer science moving in middle 54:0154 minutes, 1 secondschools into starting in 2024 so that brings more CTE opportunities when I was 54:1054 minutes, 10 secondsColumbia Central High School starting a they had the cosmetology program we started a barber Barbershop program 54:1854 minutes, 18 secondsthere so I do believe and have worked with CTE and built on the strength of those students 54:2854 minutes, 28 secondsctrt and gender issues I will be honest with you I have not had that 54:3654 minutes, 36 secondsuh come up yet um because I am at a middle school with 54:4354 minutes, 43 secondsCRT uh you know my answers to parents who ask questions and symbol like this 54:5054 minutes, 50 secondsis you know we have state standards our teachers are required to teach state standards and we do not 54:5854 minutes, 58 secondsput uh any extra influence emphasis except for the facts and there are some facts out there 55:0755 minutes, 7 secondsand some people don't want to hear the facts but there are facts and they're part of Standards so uh that is that has 55:1555 minutes, 15 secondsto be addressed again I have not had that issue with me being in middle school right now but I 55:2355 minutes, 23 secondsknow um seventh grade sixth grade excuse me like it gets into the religion sometimes 55:3055 minutes, 30 secondswhen you teach but we teach the facts uh we didn't we do not prescribe to anything to say this is better than this you everyone should be this 55:3955 minutes, 39 secondsuh gender issues um you know those things happen uh that 55:4655 minutes, 46 secondsthat is we talk uh that's what our counselors are for that's where communication I do believe in 55:5355 minutes, 53 secondscommunicating with with the parents about that because that is not my not my place nor a teacher's place to make that 56:0256 minutes, 2 secondsuh determination for someone in the world I do not feel that is appropriate but I do feel that if a 56:1156 minutes, 11 secondsstudent comes to and I've had students come to me with those issues but I did communicate with the family brought them in and said hey yeah we you need to have 56:2056 minutes, 20 secondsa family talk you can have it with me here or you have it with me out but you do need to talk and it has worked just being open because students have come in 56:2956 minutes, 29 secondsthey don't know what to do and they don't know what the guidance but we as Educators as a fine line on that and you 56:3756 minutes, 37 secondshave to make sure that they are accounted for and everyone communicated 56:4556 minutes, 45 secondsabout that so there are no surprises thank you you're welcome 56:5356 minutes, 53 secondsgood morning good morning how are important our extracurricular activities to the overall education 57:0157 minutes, 1 secondprogram and the second part is how would you propose to support our athletic programs 57:0757 minutes, 7 secondsat all Hitman County Schools love extracurricular I am a product of 57:1957 minutes, 19 secondsextracurricular if it was not for the extracurricular activities and the lessons life lessons I learned and by 57:2857 minutes, 28 secondsplaying sports I was in the band I was in plays that discipline that I learned there has carried on in my life 57:3757 minutes, 37 secondsextracurricular activities are great um not just everybody thinks it's just sports but it's more than Athletics 57:4557 minutes, 45 secondsthere's an arts department there are theater Productions there are many 57:5257 minutes, 52 secondsthings and I have been being a principal of a school that's called the visual Performing Arts I totally support that 57:5957 minutes, 59 secondsbecause it gives the students an outlet to shine itself they're not running on the football field or on a baseball field 58:0658 minutes, 6 secondsthey are shining in skills that they have it gives those students that are not athletically inclined or that 58:1558 minutes, 15 secondsopportunity to shine and that's builds up the confidence which also builds up the work and it goes into the classroom 58:2458 minutes, 24 secondsuh your athletes are usually a lot of your top students and that's because they learn the skills the activities the 58:3258 minutes, 32 secondsdiscipline and how to juggle many things at one time to be successful 58:3958 minutes, 39 secondsI support all athletes I go to ball games everywhere so I I look forward for that if I'm the person lucky enough to 58:4758 minutes, 47 secondsget this position you don't have to worry about I will be at ball games uh it does I would not be picking one or the other uh you know I have I'll try to 58:5758 minutes, 57 secondsfind a way to get them play same time I want to play at two o'clock One play it five o'clock so I can make both uh those 59:0459 minutes, 4 secondsthings that uh I I will enjoy and I do now in my private life anyway so that's 59:1159 minutes, 11 secondsnot a change for my lifestyle part question yes ma'am 59:2259 minutes, 22 secondswhat are your credentials and experience for handling a school budget from preparing then presenting to the 59:3159 minutes, 31 secondsschool board and the County commission part two are you familiar with the differences in the Old State BEP formula 59:4159 minutes, 41 secondsversus the new Tisa formula foreign 59:5859 minutes, 58 secondsSchool budgets is something that I have to do every year um in a smaller sense uh being at 1:00:061 hour, 6 secondsum a high school or in middle school and being that we get meeting with my 1:00:131 hour, 13 secondssupervisors and my superintendent uh I add to their their overall budget I am 1:00:211 hour, 21 secondsaware of some things um I do go by the Comptroller um on that and make sure that we're in 1:00:301 hour, 30 secondsHitman county is financially good but uh go there in presenting that I have seen it presented 1:00:381 hour, 38 secondsum that would be the training that we're required of superintendents every year is part of 1:00:471 hour, 47 secondsthat is financial I'm very well willing uh in preparation for that 1:00:541 hour, 54 secondsum I have been limited just by the uh process that this goes uh but I have 1:01:011 hour, 1 minute, 1 secondseen and been in discussions about the delivery to the board into the commission I've been to commissioner 1:01:071 hour, 1 minute, 7 secondsmeetings where I have gone and been asked questions of why we need these dollars for uh this equipment and 1:01:181 hour, 1 minute, 18 secondsand things like that I know that the the county budget system is different and it's line items I do understand there's 1:01:271 hour, 1 minute, 27 secondsa lot items those things but presenting I haven't had to really a lot of experience with that but I'm 1:01:341 hour, 1 minute, 34 secondsmore than willing to go and expect to do the trainings financially that offers for new 1:01:421 hour, 1 minute, 42 secondssuperintendents uh the BEP antisa BP formula was a 1:01:491 hour, 1 minute, 49 secondsformula based on enrollment uh when in your schools that's money that's given for teachers 1:01:571 hour, 1 minute, 57 secondsthat's user for teachers uh pay and then they get their little classroom allotment which could range different 1:02:051 hour, 2 minutes, 5 secondsvariables uh Tisa we have we've been told a little bit about Tisa um 1:02:121 hour, 2 minutes, 12 secondsit is more um on our students student needs is a part of Tesa 1:02:201 hour, 2 minutes, 20 secondsstudents can get more uh if they our needs are a little different 1:02:281 hour, 2 minutes, 28 secondsand those schools can get it kind of puts a price tag on a kid a kid is one kid can be worth 1:02:351 hour, 2 minutes, 35 secondsuh eleven hundred dollars on those students per student and other type students could be worth sixteen hundred 1:02:421 hour, 2 minutes, 42 secondsdollars for that type of student so you have to add all that together based on social economic uh 1:02:521 hour, 2 minutes, 52 secondsdiversity and things like that you're welcome 1:03:031 hour, 3 minutes, 3 secondsgood morning Kevin so my question has three parts um so I think I'm just gonna ask it in 1:03:101 hour, 3 minutes, 10 secondsthree separate parts the first part is how would you handle complaints from parents as well as staff 1:03:181 hour, 3 minutes, 18 secondsand then and then once you respond to that I'll ask the other two yes um 1:03:241 hour, 3 minutes, 24 secondsthat's easy you listen um to the words of your the person you're 1:03:321 hour, 3 minutes, 32 secondstalking to uh also I like to say have they had a conversation with the 1:03:391 hour, 3 minutes, 39 secondspersonally are under they have to complain about uh if it's just a you know have they talked to the school have 1:03:471 hour, 3 minutes, 47 secondsthey talked to the teachers if it's a parent um then uh you do that and if they have it we'll pass it along to that 1:03:551 hour, 3 minutes, 55 secondsadministrator and give them the opportunity to uh work at it discuss it come up with a solution uh all 1:04:041 hour, 4 minutes, 4 secondscomplaints um as you know may not be no uh let's make 1:04:111 hour, 4 minutes, 11 secondssomething that might have happened you may not know about which are surprises which none of us like to have your surprises but uh you have to have that 1:04:181 hour, 4 minutes, 18 secondscommunication with the the person who has the issue and the person who that has the issue about and make sure they 1:04:261 hour, 4 minutes, 26 secondscan get on a common ground and as a role and then if my role needs to step up it 1:04:341 hour, 4 minutes, 34 secondscan step up but you don't I will not I will not just jump into one without getting information and facts 1:04:431 hour, 4 minutes, 43 secondsthank you and then the second part of this three-part question is how would you handle bullying in our schools by 1:04:491 hour, 4 minutes, 49 secondsstudents and bullying by staff a bullying is is terrible um and unfortunately we're living in a 1:04:581 hour, 4 minutes, 58 secondstime where uh bullying can be very very hidden because of whether social media 1:05:051 hour, 5 minutes, 5 secondsuh things like that you dress bullying straight out you say hey this is what's going on this is bullying 1:05:131 hour, 5 minutes, 13 secondsum characteristics and you address them there you have to be uh clear you have 1:05:231 hour, 5 minutes, 23 secondsto be consistent and you have to be honest uh sometimes you know a you and I 1:05:301 hour, 5 minutes, 30 secondsMr Wells can disagree about something but that's not bullying a disagreement is not bullying but if it gets where 1:05:381 hour, 5 minutes, 38 secondspower is taken away whether I take your power or you take my power away that is considered bullying and that will be 1:05:471 hour, 5 minutes, 47 secondsaddressed and handled uh discipline we have a code of conduct we have a state code of ethics and we will we we will do 1:05:571 hour, 5 minutes, 57 secondsthat uh handle those issues correctly and quickly thank you and then 1:06:041 hour, 6 minutes, 4 secondsand then the last part of this three-part question is um our our school system has has a culture where there's a perception of 1:06:121 hour, 6 minutes, 12 secondsnepotism and favoritism that's uh that's negative how would you drive change in this perception and 1:06:191 hour, 6 minutes, 19 secondsinstall instill a culture of trust and fairness transparency you have to be transparent with everything you if you 1:06:271 hour, 6 minutes, 27 secondshave a position posted it's posted everywhere for everyone to have the same opportunities that you can have uh you 1:06:351 hour, 6 minutes, 35 secondsdo not want to do sidebar deals as you may want to call them or whatever but uh being transparent about everyone opens up your 1:06:441 hour, 6 minutes, 44 secondsculture basically they leading from the top being transparent everyone is going to be uh more comfortable and that like 1:06:521 hour, 6 minutes, 52 secondssay that morale will come up when they know that as a superintendent I'm approachable that I'm transparent and I 1:07:011 hour, 7 minutes, 1 secondtreat everyone uh with respect and professionalism thank you 1:07:131 hour, 7 minutes, 13 secondsJudge Judy chosen is our next director are you serious about accepting and what would you propose had the first 90 days 1:07:191 hour, 7 minutes, 19 secondswould look like if you if I am fortunate enough to be 1:07:271 hour, 7 minutes, 27 secondsnamed superintendent here in Hickman County uh first thing I will do except that'll be the first thing I'll do the 1:07:361 hour, 7 minutes, 36 secondssecond thing I do I start having uh getting my plans together in those plans in the first 90 days I would meet with 1:07:441 hour, 7 minutes, 44 secondseach and every one of the school board members individually to get our vision and our mission together 1:07:521 hour, 7 minutes, 52 secondsuh what we want what we need I will also come out and I'll have the community come out and I want to have the 1:08:001 hour, 8 minutescommunity to come and meet me know me uh see me uh whether there is 1:08:071 hour, 8 minutes, 7 secondsthird I want to go to the schools I want to talk to all administrators and I want to talk to all teachers I want to talk 1:08:151 hour, 8 minutes, 15 secondsto all students as many students as I possibly can and I want to go out and let everyone know that I'm here I'm here 1:08:231 hour, 8 minutes, 23 secondsfor Hickman County I'm here for our students uh also as we get into that 90 days I will be moving to Hitman County 1:08:321 hour, 8 minutes, 32 secondsso I will be as I'm doing that so the community will be seeing me a whole lot more I will not be staying in Columbia 1:08:391 hour, 8 minutes, 39 secondsum my wife and I will be coming here and my ACT during that 90 days when I am in my office I hope I'm not there a 1:08:481 hour, 8 minutes, 48 secondswhole lot but I know I have to be there so I will be having an open door policy if you want to come see me one individually I will be there 1:08:561 hour, 8 minutes, 56 secondsum I'm early to work I'm usually the first one in school I'm the last one to leave so that is not a uh that is the 1:09:051 hour, 9 minutes, 5 secondsfirst thing I do that would be a fun 90 days for me getting to know getting to meet uh I want to meet like high school I want to meet with their student 1:09:131 hour, 9 minutes, 13 secondscouncils I want to meet with uh the I want to meet with the coaches I want to meet with everyone just to get everybody 1:09:211 hour, 9 minutes, 21 secondson the same page look at the same vision same Mission uh of for Hitman counting and the improvements of a great system 1:09:311 hour, 9 minutes, 31 secondsas it is right now and making it better a follow-up question yes sir just to follow up for that Kevin you 1:09:391 hour, 9 minutes, 39 secondsmentioned being in the office what's your thoughts on how much time you should spend in your office versus out 1:09:451 hour, 9 minutes, 45 secondsin the schools and in percentage 1:09:511 hour, 9 minutes, 51 secondsthe perfect world it'll be 80 20. but it's not a perfect world and there's 20 1:10:001 hour, 10 minutes80 out out and about 20 in the office okay um if but there are days you have to 1:10:071 hour, 10 minutes, 7 secondshave meetings State calls meetings you have to be in your office for that uh you have to um 1:10:151 hour, 10 minutes, 15 secondsyou have to have some office hours and that's that's uninvitable and that is you can't it's pretty much I'm not 1:10:221 hour, 10 minutes, 22 secondsnegotiable there's going to be some uh office hours but all all superintendents we we they do have the intent to be out 1:10:311 hour, 10 minutes, 31 secondsin the schools uh Hickman County is a is not unique in that but it's very uh 1:10:391 hour, 10 minutes, 39 secondsaccessible to get to schools uh you can start your day in the East End 1:10:461 hour, 10 minutes, 46 secondsvisit all the schools visit teachers visit students sit in classrooms I love doing read Across America I just did 1:10:531 hour, 10 minutes, 53 secondsthat at the our elementary school so things like that meeting those little programs those things that are easy to do 1:11:011 hour, 11 minutes, 1 secondum but you do have it but you if you want to get it a good if you can get um 65 35 you're you're doing well 1:11:111 hour, 11 minutes, 11 secondsokay thank you you're welcome yeah I'm closing today again I won't say thank you 1:11:171 hour, 11 minutes, 17 secondsum for this opportunity I wish you the best uh in your uh search I know it's 1:11:251 hour, 11 minutes, 25 secondsnot an easy uh position that you're in right now and I do respect the job that you do respect 1:11:331 hour, 11 minutes, 33 secondsthat also for the members of the the community they're here to do today I do thank you for the opportunity I'm 1:11:421 hour, 11 minutes, 42 secondshonored just to be there uh I do want to remind you just to say that uh choosing me you're getting a person that's going 1:11:501 hour, 11 minutes, 50 secondsto be uh transparent it's going to be motivated and it's going to be out invisible for 1:11:581 hour, 11 minutes, 58 secondsyou and represent not only myself but I'll be representing Hickman County and Hitman County schools and everything I 1:12:051 hour, 12 minutes, 5 secondsdo thank you 1:12:101 hour, 12 minutes, 10 seconds[Applause] 1:12:181 hour, 12 minutes, 18 secondsokay 1:13:481 hour, 13 minutes, 48 secondsthank you 1:14:161 hour, 14 minutes, 16 secondsgood morning Bill how are you good morning 1:14:351 hour, 14 minutes, 35 seconds[Music] 1:14:371 hour, 14 minutes, 37 secondsthis time would you like to make an open statement yes sir first of all thank you all for having me here this morning uh have a beautiful beautiful County 1:14:451 hour, 14 minutes, 45 secondsuh and uh very appreciative of the time you're gonna allow me to have this morning uh first of all my name is uh Bill Hall Billy Billy M Hall should say 1:14:531 hour, 14 minutes, 53 secondsif I go by Bill uh have 34 and a half years as an educator uh I've worked in two school systems the Illinois Special School District Scott 1:15:021 hour, 15 minutes, 2 secondsCounty School District uh Scott County is my home born and raised there I'm the youngest of eight 1:15:091 hour, 15 minutes, 9 secondsum I have five children myself five grandkids two great grandkids one dog so uh 1:15:181 hour, 15 minutes, 18 secondsI'm very excited to be here this morning and thank you all for having me thank you Bill uh I've got two questions I'll read them 1:15:271 hour, 15 minutes, 27 secondsboth and then we'll start with the first one yes sir first question to explain your interest in motivation for seeking Higgin County 1:15:341 hour, 15 minutes, 34 secondsdirect your job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position first of all my interest uh is similar 1:15:431 hour, 15 minutes, 43 secondsto my home it's uh the layout the Geographics the demographics um I've always been a person who uh 1:15:521 hour, 15 minutes, 52 secondsnot big on change but I always want to better myself personally and professionally uh and I think this is a uh unique situation 1:16:001 hour, 16 minuteswith uh good people with a strong community and strong ties to the school system uh as far as my experience I have 30 40 1:16:081 hour, 16 minutes, 8 secondsand a half years of teaching uh I've been a head basketball coach a head football coach a head-grown softball coach 1:16:151 hour, 16 minutes, 15 secondsuh I've taught fourth grade I've taught physical education I've been an assistant principal I've been a principal in the past 12 years I have 1:16:231 hour, 16 minutes, 23 secondsserved as director of the Scott County School System yeah how visible will you be in our schools 1:16:301 hour, 16 minutes, 30 secondsin our community well I think visibility is the number one thing that and communication I think you have to be in and out of the schools you have to have a good rapport 1:16:391 hour, 16 minutes, 39 secondswith your administrators plus your teachers uh and also with your students I can say and I can also say this as a principal 1:16:471 hour, 16 minutes, 47 secondsas a teacher any kid that come into my building I knew him by name every kid they come to uh when I was a 1:16:551 hour, 16 minutes, 55 secondsteacher as a sister's principal and as a principal when they enter my classroom they enter my school I knew them my name and I called them my name when I saw 1:17:021 hour, 17 minutes, 2 secondsthem now it's a little different as a director because you don't get that that personal uh connection but you try to 1:17:101 hour, 17 minutes, 10 secondsmake as many as you can you need to know your teachers you need to know their strengths you need to know that they value you also need to know that they 1:17:181 hour, 17 minutes, 18 secondslove children this is the kid business and uh we do this for the betterment of students 1:17:251 hour, 17 minutes, 25 secondsthank you morning Bill this is a multi-part so 1:17:381 hour, 17 minutes, 38 secondslisten up yes sir have you had opportunity to review test results for Hickman County what are some of the areas which need attention and the steps 1:17:471 hour, 17 minutes, 47 secondsyou would take to address them and what are some strong areas 1:17:571 hour, 17 minutes, 57 secondswell I'll be honest I have looked I've not gone in depth uh kind of like your system with our system math is a big 1:18:051 hour, 18 minutes, 5 secondsneed things that we have done in order to improve our schoolers as hard a math 1:18:101 hour, 18 minutes, 10 secondscoach and grades K-5 who uh she sits uh she runs plc's she models 1:18:201 hour, 18 minutes, 20 secondsshe instructs she's in and out of classroom she works with administrators uh her strength was math as an elementary educator 1:18:281 hour, 18 minutes, 28 secondsuh we we get her to training we get her to different school systems um she brings back tremendous ideas our 1:18:361 hour, 18 minutes, 36 secondsgroup has been tremendously open to improve because they know that's where we have to improve uh for the next year we've already hired someone in our six 1:18:451 hour, 18 minutes, 45 secondsthrough 12 because we really struggle in our school system in the math and I think that's been just kind of looking around too it's been not just here but 1:18:531 hour, 18 minutes, 53 secondsit's been a trend Statewide uh in the math so again it would be developing rapport it would be good good people in 1:19:011 hour, 19 minutes, 1 secondplaces um get math coaches math who's if need be 1:19:081 hour, 19 minutes, 8 secondsand get the grade level plc's in place which I'm sure they probably already have uh and also listening I think we 1:19:161 hour, 19 minutes, 16 secondshave to listen to our teachers kind of listen to see what they're facing and take those ideas from there let them uh 1:19:231 hour, 19 minutes, 23 secondsget bring some stuff to the table uh let them uh develop with other teachers let them uh go into other classrooms you 1:19:321 hour, 19 minutes, 32 secondsknow so I think we'll do anything we can in order to improve uh once I see the layout and see the structure and see 1:19:391 hour, 19 minutes, 39 secondswhat it needs to be yeah I can develop with a good team I think we can develop efficient plans in order to improve as far as your strengths uh yeah I see some 1:19:481 hour, 19 minutes, 48 secondsgood results in your Ela I want to continue to make those progress continue to take those ideas and while they're 1:19:551 hour, 19 minutes, 55 secondsworking and continue to uh improve again listening I think the biggest thing my stream has been I'm a good listener I 1:20:031 hour, 20 minutes, 3 secondswant to listen to people I want to listen what they know what's working what's not working take the ideas of what is to enhance and what isn't 1:20:121 hour, 20 minutes, 12 secondsworking see if we can't improve so what I think as as far as one of my top skills with that just being a good listener to the people 1:20:211 hour, 20 minutes, 21 secondsthank you strong got the third question yes sir the third question there we go and it's 1:20:271 hour, 20 minutes, 27 secondsthree parts and so I'll just read them then I'll come back to the first one okay 1:20:341 hour, 20 minutes, 34 secondsif you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 1:20:401 hour, 20 minutes, 40 secondsB is our CTE program adequate to prepare students for the workforce and see is 1:20:471 hour, 20 minutes, 47 secondswhat is your position on CRT and gender issues well the first question is how have you 1:20:541 hour, 20 minutes, 54 secondsresearched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded I haven't you can always expand I mean I I can relate to stuff that we do uh as far as what 1:21:041 hour, 21 minutes, 4 secondsyou do you know we have a great connection with our community college which I'm sure kind of looking what you all do here um which is wrong State Community 1:21:121 hour, 21 minutes, 12 secondsCollege for us um I can speak from my own experience with my own children uh the three that graduated from our high school each one 1:21:201 hour, 21 minutes, 20 secondshad 21 college credit hours when they left um I'm not for sure for the how many credit hours your students are getting 1:21:281 hour, 21 minutes, 28 secondsright now be something that would hit the ground running to see uh Jewel enrollment is great I think as far as 1:21:351 hour, 21 minutes, 35 secondsallowing those kids to get a jump and head start anything that we can do to improve to reach out to a community 1:21:431 hour, 21 minutes, 43 secondscolleges probably reach out to also some of the universities I'm not I'm not for sure exactly what as far as if you have the universities anything 1:21:511 hour, 21 minutes, 51 secondsthat's that's hereby like I said that's probably the one that I didn't get to delve into as much but I can relate our 1:21:581 hour, 21 minutes, 58 secondsown experiences from our own system we have a tremendous working relationship uh with our community college it'll be 1:22:061 hour, 22 minutes, 6 secondssomething I would develop want to develop if it's developed here continue to develop how to strengthen and add to that because that is a terrific opportunity for your students here with 1:22:151 hour, 22 minutes, 15 secondsthe dual enrollment as your CTE is adequate yes I feel that your CTE is adequate to uh 1:22:221 hour, 22 minutes, 22 secondsum prepare kids for the work skills for the uh things that be facing them uh as far as what is 1:22:301 hour, 22 minutes, 30 secondsoffered uh look into your website look like you have a tremendous uh opportunities for your students in order to enhance their skill levels and to 1:22:391 hour, 22 minutes, 39 secondsprepare them for the workforce um you know not everyone is meant for college I think it's a great strong CTE program 1:22:471 hour, 22 minutes, 47 secondsuh allows that kid to give back to your community provided you still have the work that's 1:22:541 hour, 22 minutes, 54 secondsavailable with core lines with your CTE courses so I'll feel that yes it's very adequate and we'll do what we can to 1:23:031 hour, 23 minutes, 3 secondsalso enhance and strengthen that too NC was totally different question yes what is 1:23:101 hour, 23 minutes, 10 secondsyour position on CRTs CRT gender issues gender issues wow yeah that's that's a good one uh of course uh I stand in line 1:23:191 hour, 23 minutes, 19 secondswith the governor to keeping her CRT out of her classrooms I believe that a 1:23:271 hour, 23 minutes, 27 secondswe stay in our lanes when it comes to the gender issues of Athletics 1:23:341 hour, 23 minutes, 34 secondsas far as uh transgender stay in if it's a transgender playing the sport if they're a male as you play it 1:23:421 hour, 23 minutes, 42 secondsparticipate in male they should not be in a a male transgender should not be a female locker room I'll just say that I 1:23:501 hour, 23 minutes, 50 secondsmean that's my personal beliefs that's my philosophical beliefs that's my religious beliefs 1:23:571 hour, 23 minutes, 57 secondsthank you yes sir thank you it's a great question good morning good morning 1:24:061 hour, 24 minutes, 6 secondshow important are extracurricular activities to the overall education program and secondly how would you 1:24:131 hour, 24 minutes, 13 secondspropose to support our athletic programs at all Hampton County Schools well I'm a former coach uh no I I dealt 1:24:221 hour, 24 minutes, 22 secondsmy life into Athletics I've had three children that have played Collegiate uh athletically 1:24:301 hour, 24 minutes, 30 secondsso uh my start in education uh was Athletics and I also believe that 1:24:401 hour, 24 minutes, 40 secondsa great coach is great in the classroom first I think we are Educators number one as you're a strong educator and 1:24:481 hour, 24 minutes, 48 secondsyou're prepared then you'll be a great coach um you'll see me at the ball games um I know I'd have to choose which one 1:24:571 hour, 24 minutes, 57 secondsto go to as far as learning the layout and those type of things I think developing a great rapport with 1:25:041 hour, 25 minutes, 4 secondsour coaches your athletic directors uh seeing what they need seeing the staff uh always checking to pay make sure they're paid adequately 1:25:131 hour, 25 minutes, 13 secondsum because I know the time and the effort that a coach puts in all the time they give away from their families to prepare young men I always thought as a 1:25:221 hour, 25 minutes, 22 secondscoach my job was to prepare that student uh academically athletically but not just 1:25:301 hour, 25 minutes, 30 secondsfor that I want them to be a good citizen I want to teach them to be good fathers he's going to be good husbands that I think that was a role that was 1:25:381 hour, 25 minutes, 38 secondstaken as a coach I'm not no because I don't know your athletic budgets or those type of things 1:25:461 hour, 25 minutes, 46 secondsI know that uh I think you have looks like tremendous rallies that is here plus with your districts and those those 1:25:531 hour, 25 minutes, 53 secondsthings have a great uh history of Athletics uh I don't think as far as my coaching 1:26:011 hour, 26 minutes, 1 secondcareer I didn't get to compete against anyone in the area here but uh just kind of looking as far as that I think you 1:26:081 hour, 26 minutes, 8 secondshave good coaches in place I think you have uh tremendous support and uh I I'm I'm an athletic guy uh 1:26:171 hour, 26 minutes, 17 secondsthat's that's been what I've done that's been uh my passion but I understand also the role that 1:26:261 hour, 26 minutes, 26 secondsthe word student athlete and the academic process always comes first 1:26:341 hour, 26 minutes, 34 secondsthank you thank you 1:26:381 hour, 26 minutes, 38 seconds[Music] 1:26:421 hour, 26 minutes, 42 secondsI have a two-part question what are your credentials and experience for handling a school budget from 1:26:521 hour, 26 minutes, 52 secondspreparing then presenting to the school board and County Commission part two are you familiar with the 1:26:591 hour, 26 minutes, 59 secondsdifferences in the Old State BEP formula versus the new T cell formula 1:27:071 hour, 27 minutes, 7 secondsuh with number one I want to make sure that I understand you correctly uh and can you repeat part of it too please 1:27:151 hour, 27 minutes, 15 secondsbecause I was I didn't understand the first one yes and so what are your credentials and experience for handling 1:27:221 hour, 27 minutes, 22 secondsthe school budget okay uh credentials I've been a School director for 12 years uh I oversee our 1:27:301 hour, 27 minutes, 30 secondsbudget I sat down with uh my budget director which my budget director she operates our general purpose she does 1:27:391 hour, 27 minutes, 39 secondsour federal she also does her answer so I have one person doing all three um so it's pretty much me and her 1:27:481 hour, 27 minutes, 48 secondsshe'll bring things to me we'll always look we'll look at line items see if there's a need more need here to cut here to put more here so I understand 1:27:571 hour, 27 minutes, 57 secondsall the aspects with it I understand the uh you know putting the teacher pay again I understand your reserves I understand uh 1:28:071 hour, 28 minutes, 7 secondsyou know you want to stay within your budget you want to stay within what you've uh earmarked for your uh maintenance or 1:28:151 hour, 28 minutes, 15 secondswhat you have as far as your teacher line items and what you have in your your extra curricular line items those type of things I understand all the line 1:28:221 hour, 28 minutes, 22 secondsnumbers uh so I'm prepared you know when it comes to managing and operating a budget 1:28:291 hour, 28 minutes, 29 secondsof course all you always want to have a strong strong person to oversees your budget because you know when as you 1:28:391 hour, 28 minutes, 39 secondsDelta thanks to the year of course you know I understand the requisition the purchase orders everything's got to have uh paper trail uh everything has to be 1:28:481 hour, 28 minutes, 48 secondsapproved another thing has to be signed by with our system or under the 81 act 1:28:571 hour, 28 minutes, 57 secondsmyself our board chair and the local Finance director so we have three people that sign off on every purchase and 1:29:051 hour, 29 minutes, 5 secondsevery requisition um but you know I have a really vast knowledge when it comes to overseeing and helping with the management of the 1:29:141 hour, 29 minutes, 14 secondsbudget um if you repeat the second part too please are you familiar with the differences in 1:29:211 hour, 29 minutes, 21 secondsthe Old State BEP formula and the new Tista formula uh well yeah pretty much but uh I don't know if anyone had really 1:29:291 hour, 29 minutes, 29 secondsfully ever understood the BEP funding uh as far as other than Marianne dursky to the state 1:29:361 hour, 29 minutes, 36 secondsbut uh yes we're familiar as a matter of fact we've started uh with that right now as far as with the new TSA funding 1:29:431 hour, 29 minutes, 43 secondsformula uh you know it's going to bring some stuff that's been outside of the budget for cellular coordinating school health your uh 1:29:531 hour, 29 minutes, 53 secondsFamily Resource your uh I don't know if with your school resource officers if you all fund or if the county your 1:30:011 hour, 30 minutes, 1 secondCounty Commission funds those for you guys but we know that that Grant is also going to have to be put inside there so 1:30:091 hour, 30 minutes, 9 secondsuh those and it's going to be a little bit more open where you can kind of you know kind of sit down and put the money in some different areas what needs to be 1:30:181 hour, 30 minutes, 18 secondsuh with the new teaser funding formula um but yeah as far as from Mr Community familiarities with it but I feel like 1:30:261 hour, 30 minutes, 26 secondsonce we get kind of a hold of it and get used to everything I think the T cell formula will be very much more beneficial especially from a pay scale 1:30:351 hour, 30 minutes, 35 secondsuh side with the governor really making a strong effort to raise the teacher's salary but it'll also give us the flexibility 1:30:431 hour, 30 minutes, 43 secondsif we need if possible it could be you know with working with you guys and of course I know it's your budget and you 1:30:501 hour, 30 minutes, 50 secondsyou oversee it and you manage it uh and any anything that would be done as far as to to helping with the non-certified pay or 1:30:591 hour, 30 minutes, 59 secondseven trying to increase the certified pay the one I always have to come to you guys would always bring those things to you 1:31:071 hour, 31 minutes, 7 secondsand I think there's some flexibility in there which can help with with some of those things with the new adhesive formula so it's kind of exciting uh but 1:31:161 hour, 31 minutes, 16 secondsalso it's gonna it's gonna be challenging especially at first but I think it will be better I really I truly do 1:31:221 hour, 31 minutes, 22 secondsthank you thank you 1:31:281 hour, 31 minutes, 28 seconds[Music] 1:31:331 hour, 31 minutes, 33 secondsuh good morning Bill I've got a three-part question sorry so rather than read all three parts I'm just going to read one at a time and let you respond 1:31:411 hour, 31 minutes, 41 secondsso uh the first part is how would you handle complaints from parents as well as staff well uh I've always worked with an open 1:31:501 hour, 31 minutes, 50 secondsdoor policy I've always uh pride myself into returning a phone call uh but I always pride myself and once I 1:31:591 hour, 31 minutes, 59 secondsget a complaint I want to hear every side you know not just one side but I'll try to hear all sides formulating based 1:32:061 hour, 32 minutes, 6 secondsmy opinion from that I've always kind of worked in things don't leave a rock any stone unturned I don't want to formulate 1:32:131 hour, 32 minutes, 13 secondsan opinion or base an opinion on just one side I hear I want to get a complaint I want to hear from the person 1:32:201 hour, 32 minutes, 20 secondsthat the complaint is on and then even reach out to some other people may have some eyes or ears on some things too but 1:32:281 hour, 32 minutes, 28 secondsuh I always work very diligently to give someone an answer now it may not always be the answer that they want or like but 1:32:351 hour, 32 minutes, 35 secondsI will work very diligently to uh to get an answer on a complaint okay thank you the second piece of this 1:32:441 hour, 32 minutes, 44 secondsthree-part question is about bullying how would you handle bullying in our schools by students and by staff well 1:32:521 hour, 32 minutes, 52 secondsfirst of all you know with the administration make sure the one that they've done their job but when they're playing with bullying I get several 1:32:591 hour, 32 minutes, 59 secondscalls you know two or three per week about a child that's being bullied because my first question is have you 1:33:061 hour, 33 minutes, 6 secondsgone through the steps have you gotten a teacher have you spoke to administrator have you spoke a counselor and then if 1:33:131 hour, 33 minutes, 13 secondsif they all have and then if there's some basis on what they're saying then wall sit down with the principal and 1:33:211 hour, 33 minutes, 21 secondsI'll see why I'll meet my parents I'll meet your students uh number one we have to get the bullying stopped if if it is 1:33:281 hour, 33 minutes, 28 secondsbullion we have probably of the bullying complaints we get at home 1:33:341 hour, 33 minutes, 34 secondsprobably about 90 95 or not but there's always those ones that are and when that is the case we have to 1:33:431 hour, 33 minutes, 43 secondshandle it efficiently handle it effectively do our reports to the state you know all bullying incidents have to be reported uh it also has to be 1:33:511 hour, 33 minutes, 51 secondsreported to you guys uh so we'll work diligently to make sure that uh that is if it is it then stop 1:33:591 hour, 33 minutes, 59 secondsso the question uh also said in addition to bullying with my students what about by staff by staff uh yes yes sir again 1:34:081 hour, 34 minutes, 8 secondswe're looking at the situation listening uh talking administrators talking to that person talking to the person who 1:34:151 hour, 34 minutes, 15 secondshas been bullied here on all sides formulated based my opinion from there uh if you have to use video evidence if you have to use whatever means you've 1:34:231 hour, 34 minutes, 23 secondsgot to solve the problem you solve it uh if it is bullying my staff it won't be tolerated uh there's no place for staff person to 1:34:311 hour, 34 minutes, 31 secondsto bully a child uh that's we're professional we're educators um and I was always raising the 1:34:401 hour, 34 minutes, 40 secondspermissions that uh in order to uh get respect you have to give respect you respect all people uh so as Educators we 1:34:491 hour, 34 minutes, 49 secondsset an example uh so I've been in no place for a staff person to bully or and Bully other staff members 1:34:571 hour, 34 minutes, 57 secondsokay thank you and then the third part of this question and the last part is uh our system has developed a culture where 1:35:061 hour, 35 minutes, 6 secondsthere is a perception of uh nepotism and favoritism uh how would you drive change in this perception and instill a culture 1:35:151 hour, 35 minutes, 15 secondsof trust and fairness well uh you know I'm I'm a a person who allow people to work uh I'm not a Michael manager uh I 1:35:251 hour, 35 minutes, 25 secondswould form and base my opinion if that person has been hired if there's nepotism there is that person doing their job uh if they're doing the job doing 1:35:321 hour, 35 minutes, 32 secondseffectively doing efficiently I think that to me that states more than just nepotism within itself I almost speaking 1:35:391 hour, 35 minutes, 39 secondsfrom a personal experience just for me uh when I was named director of schools the outgoing director named my daughter 1:35:471 hour, 35 minutes, 47 secondsas principal now it created issues created problems but she can manage to school I always told everybody she was the smartest 1:35:541 hour, 35 minutes, 54 secondsperson in my family for sure and most times she's the smartest person in the building but that nepotism did create issues just because it was there and 1:36:031 hour, 36 minutes, 3 secondsI'll I'll always want to be open and honest uh when it comes to those type of things uh and now she is she's left the 1:36:101 hour, 36 minutes, 10 secondsschool system she's now uh working for a bank and much happier don't have to deal with complaints daily uh but you know I 1:36:171 hour, 36 minutes, 17 secondswant to look at the person uh as far as they're doing their job and doing effective and do it efficiently with no issues if they're not they are 1:36:251 hour, 36 minutes, 25 secondsuh you know I would be in a situation to where I know no one uh just for just a few people uh I'd have to get to know 1:36:351 hour, 36 minutes, 35 secondspeople I'd have to to learn uh their values Learn to Earn I gotta earn their respect because like they have to earn 1:36:431 hour, 36 minutes, 43 secondsmine also too uh and that's a two-way street uh but I think we can do that and I think if if 1:36:501 hour, 36 minutes, 50 secondspeople do their job and do it effectively do it each day that they're doing it for children whether you're doing your budget 1:36:591 hour, 36 minutes, 59 secondswhatever you do this is the kid business uh we've been uh 1:37:061 hour, 37 minutes, 6 secondslike I said over 34 years and and every decision I make is always trying to be for the betterment of the child and the 1:37:131 hour, 37 minutes, 13 secondsperson that's in that position now I hope that's what's going to be theirs now if it's not then we'll deal with it what we need to do 1:37:201 hour, 37 minutes, 20 secondsuh you know um I'm not about changing uh I'm not like I said I'm not a big change 1:37:271 hour, 37 minutes, 27 secondsagent but when things need to be changed I will change uh I've done some things that wasn't popular at home to make some changes to 1:37:351 hour, 37 minutes, 35 secondsin some things but it needed to be and uh you know I'm not afraid to do those things I understand where the buck 1:37:431 hour, 37 minutes, 43 secondsstops I understand that who I'm accountable to I feel like I've done this job with the service hands I have 1:37:521 hour, 37 minutes, 52 seconds468 employees plus seven bosses I work for but I feel like I'll work for everyone every day you know and if I 1:37:591 hour, 37 minutes, 59 secondscan't do a job and servants hands then I'm not doing my diligence and I expect the people working for me do the job with the service hands 1:38:081 hour, 38 minutes, 8 secondsthank you thank you I have one last question yes sir did you be chosen as our next director are you 1:38:171 hour, 38 minutes, 17 secondsserious about accepting and what would you propose how the first 90 days would look like wow that's that's a great question uh 1:38:251 hour, 38 minutes, 25 secondsand like I said I've always wanted to be honest as I've spoken to you guys when I applied for the position I was in contract negotiations since then I have 1:38:331 hour, 38 minutes, 33 secondsreceived a new contract um so I haven't I have a job there for at least another three possibly four years 1:38:411 hour, 38 minutes, 41 secondsuh but as I said I I want to always better myself always looking for something that's better for 1:38:481 hour, 38 minutes, 48 secondsme professionally personally um you know as far as accepting the job uh you know the Lord leads me he tells 1:38:571 hour, 38 minutes, 57 secondsme if I'm your choice then I would if he tells me it's not the right fit then I couldn't 1:39:031 hour, 39 minutes, 3 secondsum I will say this much uh I wasn't looking for a job when this came open this job intrigued me 1:39:121 hour, 39 minutes, 12 secondsbecause I saw a lot of similarities uh to to my home I saw a lot of similarities to this everything that uh 1:39:201 hour, 39 minutes, 20 secondsthat goes into a situation that goes into a community uh I have uh 1:39:281 hour, 39 minutes, 28 secondsstrong ties at home I won't lie there it's coming here I hope develop some strong ties and and great friendships 1:39:361 hour, 39 minutes, 36 secondsalong the way um I my job was to sell myself to you uh 1:39:441 hour, 39 minutes, 44 secondsand that if you chose me as your next director but also I've been here too uh 1:39:521 hour, 39 minutes, 52 secondsit's kind of been your job to sell to sell me on your community because uh like I said I'm in a good 1:40:001 hour, 40 minutessituation I'm going live on I am uh but I always want to better myself 1:40:081 hour, 40 minutes, 8 secondsand you know I want to see and feel and know that you guys care 1:40:161 hour, 40 minutes, 16 secondsabout this place it's pretty obvious you do or you and me sitting here this morning uh so that that says a lot to me uh so 1:40:251 hour, 40 minutes, 25 secondsuh it'd be a lot of prayer going forth you know sitting out with my family uh sitting down in uh those things 1:40:321 hour, 40 minutes, 32 secondsuh so uh we'll see that if it's if I'm your choice and then I would let you know all right thank you this time if you 1:40:411 hour, 40 minutes, 41 secondslike to have a closing statement uh just want to thank you guys for allowing me the opportunity to be before you uh you 1:40:491 hour, 40 minutes, 49 secondshave a beautiful Community you have beautiful facilities beautiful schools 1:40:521 hour, 40 minutes, 52 seconds[Music] 1:40:541 hour, 40 minutes, 54 secondsI'm a hard worker that's all I know I will uh if Chosen and if I'm if I'm 1:41:021 hour, 41 minutes, 2 secondsyour person and I come here we'll hit the ground running as far as you know you asked about the first 90 days probably gonna answer that I see it as a 1:41:111 hour, 41 minutes, 11 secondsperiod of uh me getting to know the people I mean you understand in the community of understanding the Dynamics uh I don't 1:41:201 hour, 41 minutes, 20 secondsconsider this job is a political job because it's about kids uh so I won't ever do 1:41:281 hour, 41 minutes, 28 secondsanything for political gains or political means have my political beliefs and their mind uh 1:41:351 hour, 41 minutes, 35 secondsbut I don't do anything from political perspective uh when it when it comes to the betterment of kids 1:41:411 hour, 41 minutes, 41 secondsI'll hit the ground running uh I will uh I'll I'll do you a good job and again 1:41:501 hour, 41 minutes, 50 secondsthank you for your time I appreciate you allowing me the opportunity to come before you today thank you guys thank you 1:41:581 hour, 41 minutes, 58 secondsany other questions foreign 1:42:091 hour, 42 minutes, 9 seconds[Applause] 1:42:261 hour, 42 minutes, 26 seconds[Music] 1:42:441 hour, 42 minutes, 44 secondsbox in the hallway oh town hall question please fill out a card put in that box 1:42:541 hour, 42 minutes, 54 seconds[Music] 1:43:251 hour, 43 minutes, 25 secondsyes 1:44:101 hour, 44 minutes, 10 secondsforeign 1:55:231 hour, 55 minutes, 23 secondsthank you good morning everyone 1:55:301 hour, 55 minutes, 30 secondsyou have a opening statement uh my name's John Mullins 1:55:381 hour, 55 minutes, 38 secondsfor the last four years I have been having a lot of fun uh I'm my two favorite hobbies are crappie 1:55:461 hour, 55 minutes, 46 secondsfishing and gardening and I've done a lot of that but I have missed school I worked in 1:55:541 hour, 55 minutes, 54 secondsschool for 36 years I worked in schools in Mississippi and I worked in schools in Alabama I'm from Parksville 1:56:011 hour, 56 minutes, 1 secondMississippi which is about 70 minutes south of Memphis I've been a teacher I've been a coach 1:56:091 hour, 56 minutes, 9 secondsI've been a bus driver assistant principal principal and the last 21 years in which I worked I was blessed to be a superintendent I 1:56:181 hour, 56 minutes, 18 secondswas superintendent in Tishomingo County Mississippi four years and then I was superintendent in Arab City schools for 17 years 1:56:291 hour, 56 minutes, 29 secondsI wasn't forced to retire to retire my board didn't want me to retire but 1:56:371 hour, 56 minutes, 37 secondsI wanted to retire I thought and I've struggled with that even though I've had fun in the last four years 1:56:431 hour, 56 minutes, 43 secondsI've had three questions that have just nagged me and I've tried to move past them 1:56:501 hour, 56 minutes, 50 secondsI tried to uh forget them I even tried to pray them away you can't 1:56:571 hour, 56 minutes, 57 secondsbreak things away but I try and those questions are did I retire too soon and the answer is yes 1:57:061 hour, 57 minutes, 6 secondsand have I done everything I'm supposed to do professionally and I don't think I have so I have decided to return to work 1:57:151 hour, 57 minutes, 15 secondsand the last question is have I helped everyone that I'm supposed to help I'm I am a giver 1:57:231 hour, 57 minutes, 23 secondsand I am a helper during the last four years my fishing and my gardening they have allowed me to give people food 1:57:311 hour, 57 minutes, 31 secondsand it was very satisfying because we were in a difficult time of the pandemic and I have I have older 1:57:391 hour, 57 minutes, 39 secondsfriends on fixed incomes so we've given food my wife helps me garden my wife does not go fishing with me uh but she 1:57:471 hour, 57 minutes, 47 secondsdoes help me garden and we we enjoy that uh and we've given a lot of food away and and I have had a very pleasurable life 1:57:571 hour, 57 minutes, 57 secondsbut I'd have just prayerfully reached the decision that I need I'm supposed to return to work 1:58:041 hour, 58 minutes, 4 secondsand I'm determined to return to work and and I feel convinced that I will return to work this fall 1:58:121 hour, 58 minutes, 12 secondsI'm blessed I'm 63 years old but I'm blessed I'm blessed with hell I'm blessed with a 1:58:191 hour, 58 minutes, 19 secondsloving family I'm blessed with energy and I'm a very humble person so when I say things that seem less than less 1:58:271 hour, 58 minutes, 27 secondshumble than they should be it bothers me it bothers me to say what I'm about to say but today's my day to tell you who I am 1:58:351 hour, 58 minutes, 35 secondswhen it comes to schools I'm blessed with the gift of leadership 1:58:441 hour, 58 minutes, 44 secondsI'm not looking for an opportunity to come here and reinvent the wheel 1:58:521 hour, 58 minutes, 52 secondsI'm not looking for that I'm not looking for an opportunity to come here and redesign everything that's in place I'm 1:58:591 hour, 58 minutes, 59 secondslooking for an opportunity to come here to help people I've worked in a county similar to this 1:59:061 hour, 59 minutes, 6 secondsTishomingo County Mississippi is a very rural County the most Northeastern County in Mississippi 1:59:141 hour, 59 minutes, 14 secondshas has about 20 000 people has one red light 60 percent of the kids were free and 1:59:211 hour, 59 minutes, 21 secondsreduced launch I know what poverty does to children I know what living I know how challenging 1:59:301 hour, 59 minutes, 30 secondsit is for grandparents to raise children I know what it's like when children's parents are in prison 1:59:381 hour, 59 minutes, 38 secondsI'm here to help children but the best thing I can do to help children is to support teachers 1:59:461 hour, 59 minutes, 46 secondsteachers are the lifeblood of this system my father taught math for 40 years 1:59:541 hour, 59 minutes, 54 secondsmy wife was an elementary teacher for 31 years I'm a teacher I'm basically a teacher 2:00:012 hours, 1 secondI'm basically a teacher who uh became an administrator I am a teacher at heart a few years ago in my 2:00:092 hours, 9 secondsdistrict uh our ninth grade history teacher started experiencing some personal problems 2:00:182 hours, 18 secondsand uh he had to be absent for a prolonged period as superintendent I went and taught his five classes for six 2:00:262 hours, 26 secondsweeks it's very hard I was doing two jobs at once but I was not going to let those kids go without 2:00:352 hours, 35 secondsa teacher so I'm I'm a hard worker I'm I'm a fair person I value teachers I 2:00:442 hours, 44 secondsvalue support people my mother started out as a school secretary and ended up doing the payroll at the central office and being an 2:00:522 hours, 52 secondsadministrative assistant to the superintendent I've been around schools my whole life I miss school I love school I love kids 2:01:002 hours, 1 minuteI love teachers I think for some reason that uh I don't know what I don't know 2:01:082 hours, 1 minute, 8 secondswhat the reason is but but I think I'm I'm a very honest person I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna professionally and kindly tell you what 2:01:162 hours, 1 minute, 16 secondsI think I think I'm think I even prejudged a little bit if I get this job 2:01:242 hours, 1 minute, 24 secondsI'm gonna get to know everyone here everyone every bus driver every teacher I'm gonna get to know 2:01:322 hours, 1 minute, 32 secondsevery parent I can get to know and I'm going to fairly hold everyone 2:01:392 hours, 1 minute, 39 secondsaccountable you have to be accountable I'm not talking about to unreasonable expectations I'm not talking I have 2:01:482 hours, 1 minute, 48 secondscommon sense I'm blessed with common sense but you have to be accountable 2:01:542 hours, 1 minute, 54 secondsparents have to be accountable kids have to be accountable kids have to behave kids have to behave to learn 2:02:032 hours, 2 minutes, 3 secondsI'm kind of a little bit old school but I'm coming here with the right heart and 2:02:102 hours, 2 minutes, 10 secondsthe right intentions uh I really I really I'm speaking from the heart I didn't prepare a message I'm speaking from my heart and I will continue to 2:02:192 hours, 2 minutes, 19 secondsspeak from my heart and and I get this job I want to join you so we can grow 2:02:262 hours, 2 minutes, 26 secondschildren and grow Hickman County and grow Hickman County Schools to be a better place thank you 2:02:362 hours, 2 minutes, 36 secondsJohn I've got two questions I'll read both of them and then we'll start with the first one first one explain your interest and motivation for seeking Hickman County 2:02:452 hours, 2 minutes, 45 secondsdirector job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position number two how visible will you be in 2:02:532 hours, 2 minutes, 53 secondsour schools and our community uh go number one first explain your interest in motivation for 2:03:002 hours, 3 minutesseeking this job what you bring to us I've already alluded a prayer has me to hear today through 2:03:082 hours, 3 minutes, 8 secondsprayerful consideration I feel called to return to work I also alluded to this I have worked in a similar County 2:03:162 hours, 3 minutes, 16 secondssuccessfully worked in a similar County uh family has he has me here today 2:03:232 hours, 3 minutes, 23 secondsmy wife and I have two children our daughter I have a 32 year old daughter who lives in Nashville I have two grandchildren in Nashville a 2:03:312 hours, 3 minutes, 31 secondsfive-year-old grandson and a two-year-old granddaughter my son-in-law is a Grammy award-winning 2:03:382 hours, 3 minutes, 38 secondsmusician who has to travel um my interest from my family perspective is bifold I want to be 2:03:472 hours, 3 minutes, 47 secondscloser to my grandchildren so I can be a part of their lives but it is it is beneficial if my wife can be close 2:03:552 hours, 3 minutes, 55 secondsto our daughter so my wife can help our daughter whenever my son-in-law has to be out of town with his job that that is 2:04:042 hours, 4 minutes, 4 secondsmy first interest uh in in the job but I I'm just 2:04:122 hours, 4 minutes, 12 secondsI have a bad habit of repeating myself so y'all forgive me I just want to return to work I want to help people I 2:04:192 hours, 4 minutes, 19 secondsfeel guilty that uh I'm not working I I I'm go ahead and start confessing 2:04:262 hours, 4 minutes, 26 secondstoo I'm a workaholic uh my job consumed me but I enjoyed being consumed by my job and but and I 2:04:352 hours, 4 minutes, 35 secondsmissed my job I would be very visible in schools I think that will be one of the culture shocks because uh I'm in my 21 2:04:442 hours, 4 minutes, 44 secondsyears of being superintendent I've known a lot of other superintendents that I've known superintendents who feel like they're in schools a lot but I will be 2:04:512 hours, 4 minutes, 51 secondsvery very visible uh my principals and my last job they secretly nicknamed me I 2:04:582 hours, 4 minutes, 58 secondseventually learned this they nicknamed me Kudzu because they said I was all over the place so uh yeah I'm going to 2:05:062 hours, 5 minutes, 6 secondsbe in schools because what drives this whole process is relationships that's what drives it what what drives a 2:05:152 hours, 5 minutes, 15 secondsrelationship in the class what drives the success of the classroom is the relationship the teacher is able to build with us children what what will 2:05:232 hours, 5 minutes, 23 secondshelp us more than anything is when parents and teachers have relationships where we can start working together the relationship between the principal and 2:05:312 hours, 5 minutes, 31 secondsthe teacher is vital the relationship between teachers I am for collegiality sometimes teachers are not always nice 2:05:392 hours, 5 minutes, 39 secondsto other teachers and that will an expectation will be that you be nice to your peers I will I will promote High collegiality 2:05:472 hours, 5 minutes, 47 secondsrelationships Drive schools the a positive relationships are very important so I will work to build 2:05:552 hours, 5 minutes, 55 secondspositive relationships throughout the district and throughout the county but I will be in schools very frequently I deer hunt a little and when you go deer 2:06:042 hours, 6 minutes, 4 secondshunting you can like see the woods wake up in the morning well I'll get to school early and that same Awakening happens each morning at a 2:06:132 hours, 6 minutes, 13 secondsschool and I enjoy that Awakening it'll start out with just a little noise and before long it will be a chatter and hopefully we can get to the point where 2:06:222 hours, 6 minutes, 22 secondsit's a chatter of Joy school should be fun for students school should be fun for teachers school should be a place of 2:06:292 hours, 6 minutes, 29 secondsJoy I I believe in working on getting climates where everyone feels joyful okay thanks 2:06:412 hours, 6 minutes, 41 secondsJohn this is a multi-part question so you might want to listen up have you had an opportunity to review test results 2:06:492 hours, 6 minutes, 49 secondsfor Hickman County and what are some of the areas which need attention and the steps you would take to address it and 2:06:562 hours, 6 minutes, 56 secondswhat are some strong areas he my My Philosophy when it comes to 2:07:092 hours, 7 minutes, 9 secondsstudent achievement is to seek growth you got to seek growth but my philosophy is also you celebrate growth so first of 2:07:172 hours, 7 minutes, 17 secondsall I would like to congratulate the teachers and students and the administrators of Hickman County because last year nine of the 11 areas of the 2:07:262 hours, 7 minutes, 26 secondsTCAP experience growth I mean you you got to seek growth but you got to celebrate growth uh and and 2:07:342 hours, 7 minutes, 34 secondsin the way I conduct my myself is I don't use the word weakness I don't use that word because teachers 2:07:432 hours, 7 minutes, 43 secondswork too hard for me to call something a weakness I use an opportunity for growth my terminology I use is we have 2:07:522 hours, 7 minutes, 52 secondsstrengths and then we have opportunities for growth math is definitely an opportunity for growth uh especially 2:07:592 hours, 7 minutes, 59 secondswith the end of course tests um in an area of strength is that the end 2:08:082 hours, 8 minutes, 8 secondsof course test in language arts are considerably strong did I answer your question Mr gammons 2:08:172 hours, 8 minutes, 17 secondsyes sir thank you very much 2:08:282 hours, 8 minutes, 28 secondsMr Williams I have a three-part question and I'll read all three then I'll go back to a and read that and again and 2:08:352 hours, 8 minutes, 35 secondswe'll start like that okay um have you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 2:08:442 hours, 8 minutes, 44 secondsis our CTE program adequate to prepare students for the workforce and then see what is your position on 2:08:522 hours, 8 minutes, 52 secondsCRT and gender issues so first we have have you researched our dual enrollment 2:08:592 hours, 8 minutes, 59 secondsprogram and should it be expanded I'm very 2:09:082 hours, 9 minutes, 8 secondsI fully understand record is that the curriculum in which a child 2:09:152 hours, 9 minutes, 15 secondsis pursuing has to challenge the child appropriately and the value of dual 2:09:222 hours, 9 minutes, 22 secondscredit is not only about gaining college credit but it is also about providing rigor for students in high school I am I 2:09:322 hours, 9 minutes, 32 secondswould look for opportunities and welcome opportunities for extending expanding dual enrollment but I also 2:09:422 hours, 9 minutes, 42 secondsam always cognizant of any economic barrier I hope that your dual enrollment program has a mechanism in which 2:09:512 hours, 9 minutes, 51 secondschildren uh who have less means can can enroll in those classes so as as the 2:09:592 hours, 9 minutes, 59 secondssuperintendent director I would promote rigor and I would promote dual enrollment and I would hope to find ways where capable students who 2:10:082 hours, 10 minutes, 8 secondsmay not have the economic resources to take dual enrollment could find a way to take dual enrollment 2:10:152 hours, 10 minutes, 15 secondsI'm very impressed with the Career Technical education programs in Hickman County to prepare for this interview I 2:10:242 hours, 10 minutes, 24 secondsread a document called the 2023 state of education in Tennessee it is uh 2:10:312 hours, 10 minutes, 31 secondspublished by score which is the state collaborative on reforming education and 2021 uh 47 of the graduates high school 2:10:412 hours, 10 minutes, 41 secondsgraduates all across Tennessee Went to went to they pursued post-secondary education that's Technical College 2:10:482 hours, 10 minutes, 48 secondsCommunity College and four and four-year college that means 53 of the students in 2:10:552 hours, 10 minutes, 55 secondsin Tennessee in 2021 did not pursue post-secondary education that right there screams to you how important 2:11:032 hours, 11 minutes, 3 secondsCareer Technical education is I like I like the earning of credentials and 2:11:102 hours, 11 minutes, 10 secondsCareer Technical education earning credentials will earn you additional funding in the new for I say 2:11:182 hours, 11 minutes, 18 secondsTisa I'll say Tisa is that the right way to pronounce it I've already bought tomato but I say Tisa uh 2:11:272 hours, 11 minutes, 27 secondsearning credentials will gain you additional funding so I will be I will be very supportive here's here's what I 2:11:352 hours, 11 minutes, 35 secondstell kids I used to tell kids about the three E's when you leave here which e are you 2:11:422 hours, 11 minutes, 42 secondsgoing to jump on and those three E's are enrollment in post-secondary enlistment 2:11:492 hours, 11 minutes, 49 secondsin the military or employment and then one day Akia called me out and he's I'm gonna start my own business so I added a 2:11:562 hours, 11 minutes, 56 secondsfourth e but it's really not as applicable entrepreneurship my goal is that when kids leave my goal 2:12:042 hours, 12 minutes, 4 secondswill be when kids leave Hickman County Schools they will jump on a plan that involves one of those four e's because 2:12:112 hours, 12 minutes, 11 secondseveryone in this room knows that idleness is not a good situation for an 18 or 19 year old child that's just 2:12:202 hours, 12 minutes, 20 secondsthat's just the reality of it the other part is critical race theory in in 2021 uh the 2:12:282 hours, 12 minutes, 28 secondsstate of Tennessee passed the law the critical race theory is not acceptable it's divisive critical race theory is a 2:12:372 hours, 12 minutes, 37 secondsvery divisive concept um all school districts All Counties have needs one of the needs I see here 2:12:462 hours, 12 minutes, 46 secondsis unity this County this school district needs to get unified behind a vision and a 2:12:542 hours, 12 minutes, 54 secondsplan and get people working in One Direction and I will not support career uh 2:13:012 hours, 13 minutes, 1 secondcritical race Theory because it's not legal and it also is uh divisive the 2:13:082 hours, 13 minutes, 8 secondsTennessee passed a law that established 14 prohibited Concepts I read those I know what they are I agree with them first for instance no uh gender is uh 2:13:182 hours, 13 minutes, 18 secondsSuperior to another gender no race is superior to another race gender doesn't determine your character ethnicity 2:13:252 hours, 13 minutes, 25 secondsdoesn't determine your character I've read all that in preparation of this I support that and we will not be teaching critical race Theory and when it comes 2:13:342 hours, 13 minutes, 34 secondsto uh gender issues and sexuality we will not be teaching any 2:13:412 hours, 13 minutes, 41 secondswe will teach the curricula prescribed by the state of Tennessee it makes sense to do that because the assessments are 2:13:492 hours, 13 minutes, 49 secondsare based on those same standards it's only common sense and in no place in the school district pre-k through 12 will 2:13:582 hours, 13 minutes, 58 secondswill be will we be teaching any gender issues or lgbtq issues is it's not legal and it 2:14:082 hours, 14 minutes, 8 secondsdoesn't fit the standards of belief that the community has thank you 2:14:162 hours, 14 minutes, 16 secondsgood morning good morning how important are extracurricular activities to the overall education 2:14:232 hours, 14 minutes, 23 secondsprogram and secondly how would you propose to support our athletic programs at all Hickman County Schools 2:14:382 hours, 14 minutes, 38 secondswhen when I can when I think about extracurricular activities I also include 2:14:452 hours, 14 minutes, 45 secondsmusic band arts and also include the clubs 2:14:502 hours, 14 minutes, 50 secondslike FFA FBLA those those clubs that support Career Technical education 2:14:582 hours, 14 minutes, 58 secondsthey're very important they're very important um it is 2:15:052 hours, 15 minutes, 5 secondswhat the public sees the most it is where the public interacts with the school district the most 2:15:112 hours, 15 minutes, 11 secondsextracurricular activities give students a way to use their god-given gifts that 2:15:202 hours, 15 minutes, 20 secondshelp them with their self-esteem that help them gain positive recognition kids are going to get kids are going to get attention 2:15:272 hours, 15 minutes, 27 secondsI mean every kid is going to find a way to get attention and we want them to find a positive way extracurricular 2:15:342 hours, 15 minutes, 34 secondsactivity activities allow life lessons character lessons like commitment 2:15:422 hours, 15 minutes, 42 secondsperseverance like how to be a good teammate they're very valuable now here's the reality 2:15:492 hours, 15 minutes, 49 secondsnot me there are not many Mike smithsons in the world they're just there's just not a lot of 2:15:562 hours, 15 minutes, 56 secondspeople that are gonna I mean just to be real about it there's not a lot of people that are going to leave Hickman County and 2:16:042 hours, 16 minutes, 4 secondsbe in the NFL Major League Baseball but we should never squash a child's dream to do that but here's the reality 2:16:132 hours, 16 minutes, 13 secondsAthletics have helped so many people Athletics are wise some kids like School athletics lead to post-secondary uh 2:16:222 hours, 16 minutes, 22 secondsactivities band leads to post-secondary activities uh and and again 2:16:292 hours, 16 minutes, 29 secondseconomic barriers what I've learned is the superintendent there are children that want to be in band that can't afford to buy or rent an instrument and 2:16:362 hours, 16 minutes, 36 secondsas the Director I would want to earmark some money so the program could have instruments so children of less economic 2:16:442 hours, 16 minutes, 44 secondsmeans could join band when a child is in extracurricular activity it also puts caring adults in their life 2:16:532 hours, 16 minutes, 53 secondsI went to on my first visit no on my last visit here I went to the east Hickman girls uh basketball playoff game 2:17:022 hours, 17 minutes, 2 secondsand I guarantee you coach Taylor from just what I saw and the next day I had a chance to talk to him Coach Taylor is 2:17:102 hours, 17 minutes, 10 secondspositively impacting the lives of those children and that's what that's what ex Festival that's another value of extracurricular the more caring adults 2:17:182 hours, 17 minutes, 18 secondsthat we can insert into the life of a child the better off children are um I I would I would try to support 2:17:262 hours, 17 minutes, 26 secondsAthletics with some uh funding I would imagine that there is a plethora 2:17:342 hours, 17 minutes, 34 secondsof fundraising that has that occurs by Athletics and I would imagine that people who own businesses uh are 2:17:422 hours, 17 minutes, 42 secondsbombarded so I I would try to support Athletics with funding uh at some level 2:17:502 hours, 17 minutes, 50 secondsthank you I I didn't say this 2:17:582 hours, 17 minutes, 58 secondsah I was superintendent for 21 years uh which is probably approximately 225 2:18:072 hours, 18 minutes, 7 secondsfootball games and I missed two uh one of them I had a this I can be I can be this guy too that says a little 2:18:152 hours, 18 minutes, 15 secondsbit more than I had a stomach virus one night and then the other night I had a death in my family so I will be I'm gonna be at the games and uh 2:18:242 hours, 18 minutes, 24 secondsand and I also understand this when I was in Tishomingo County working there were two ends of the county the county 2:18:312 hours, 18 minutes, 31 secondsseat was in the northern end and it had a high school and the other high school was in the southern end of the county in the southern end of the county didn't 2:18:392 hours, 18 minutes, 39 secondsfeel like they were being treated fairly by the Northern end of the County so I would alternate weekends uh to go and when they played each other I was 2:18:482 hours, 18 minutes, 48 secondsstanding in the end zone so I wouldn't be on either side so I fully understand uh I fully understand the precariousness 2:18:572 hours, 18 minutes, 57 secondsof having two different school zones and two different I understand that I've lived that and I balanced it well I 2:19:042 hours, 19 minutes, 4 secondsunderstand that if East Hickman Elementary gets a new playground then Centerville Elementary is going to get a new playground I I understand fairness 2:19:132 hours, 19 minutes, 13 secondsunder I understand Equity but I will be at athletic events I like Athletics I was a highly unsuccessful ninth grade 2:19:212 hours, 19 minutes, 21 secondsbasketball coach early in my life I said unsuccessful people and I coach football earlier in my career before I became an 2:19:292 hours, 19 minutes, 29 secondsadministrator my father was a father was a football coach until he became a serious diabetic and had to give up coaching so I am the son of a coach I 2:19:382 hours, 19 minutes, 38 secondslike Athletics very much okay give me time yes um this is a two-part question 2:19:472 hours, 19 minutes, 47 secondswhat are your credentials and experience for handling the school budget from preparing then presenting to the school 2:19:552 hours, 19 minutes, 55 secondsboard in County Commission number two are you familiar with the difference in the Old State BEP formula 2:20:042 hours, 20 minutes, 4 secondsversus the new Tisa formula thank you uh for 21 years I have managed School 2:20:122 hours, 20 minutes, 12 secondsbudgets uh and never in those 21 years have I had a audit irregularity I have 2:20:192 hours, 20 minutes, 19 secondstwo personal attributes that help me manage budgets well I have the self-discipline to hold myself 2:20:252 hours, 20 minutes, 25 secondsaccountable and I also have the ability to live beneath my means as a personal 2:20:322 hours, 20 minutes, 32 secondsas personal so yes I've managed budgets the thing I would say about the budget is this and I don't know this is I'm 2:20:402 hours, 20 minutes, 40 secondsgonna say it this county is blessed to have Mr Elkins in his job my review of the budget process here and the budget 2:20:472 hours, 20 minutes, 47 secondshistory here the management management of the month money makes me feel very confident in Mr Elkins I look forward to 2:20:542 hours, 20 minutes, 54 secondsbuilding a relationship with him I look forward to learning from him so I have managed budgets I've also 2:21:012 hours, 21 minutes, 1 secondstudied Tisa Tisa is uh very very different uh Tisa is going to give students a uh 2:21:102 hours, 21 minutes, 10 secondsEast the district will receive a base amount of money of 60 68 66 860 dollars 2:21:162 hours, 21 minutes, 16 secondsper student but then uh there are ways you can earn extra money we to Hickman County will get extra money for being a 2:21:242 hours, 21 minutes, 24 secondssparsely populated county Hickman County will earn money for the free and reduced lunch students special education students as they should will provide 2:21:332 hours, 21 minutes, 33 secondsadditional funding and then there are ways that you can earn more fun funding through performance they will look at third grade uh third grade literacy 2:21:412 hours, 21 minutes, 41 secondsfourth grade literacy eighth grade literacy and math but students earning credentials will earn you extra money 2:21:482 hours, 21 minutes, 48 secondsstudents making above 21 on the ACT uh I have couple of things about Tisa that um 2:21:572 hours, 21 minutes, 57 secondsbother me it didn't address it did not address teacher pay there's a teacher shortage in America there's a teacher shortage in Tennessee 2:22:052 hours, 22 minutes, 5 secondsThere's a teacher shortage in uh Hickman County Teachers should be paid more than than what they are and it also it 2:22:152 hours, 22 minutes, 15 secondsuh Tisa puts a lot of money in charter schools and I am a public school proponent and I 2:22:222 hours, 22 minutes, 22 secondsI don't I don't like putting money in charter schools I'm just kind of old school I I've never I've always worked 2:22:282 hours, 22 minutes, 28 secondsin public schools I am pro-public School 2:22:392 hours, 22 minutes, 39 secondsTim thank you uh good morning John uh this is a three-part question so I'm just gonna I'm gonna ask him one at a 2:22:472 hours, 22 minutes, 47 secondstime and I'll let you respond to each part and I'll ask the next one so the first part is uh how would you handle 2:22:532 hours, 22 minutes, 53 secondscomplaints from parents and staff oh 2:23:042 hours, 23 minutes, 4 secondsI'm probably more involved than most superintendent I would handle complaints quickly 2:23:132 hours, 23 minutes, 13 secondsand fairly if um if somebody called and said there was a complaint in school 2:23:212 hours, 23 minutes, 21 secondsfirst of all if you get a if you get a complaint I want you to call me 2:23:282 hours, 23 minutes, 28 secondsI want you to call me but I would work in tandem with the principal I would try to get to the truth of the matter 2:23:362 hours, 23 minutes, 36 secondsand I would listen I mean this whole job is about listening it's about relationship you can't it's 2:23:442 hours, 23 minutes, 44 secondsabout building relationships but you can't build relationships with somebody if you don't listen to them you got to listen to people 2:23:522 hours, 23 minutes, 52 secondsbut uh I have been successful with conflict resolution I mean you don't serve as a superintendent for 21 years 2:24:012 hours, 24 minutes, 1 secondand you don't serve 17 years in one place without being able to solve problems but I also will be 2:24:092 hours, 24 minutes, 9 secondstrying our best to prevent problems it's easier to prevent a problem than it 2:24:162 hours, 24 minutes, 16 secondsis to solve a problem I see things when I went to the e-sick and girls basketball game there was a guy standing 2:24:242 hours, 24 minutes, 24 secondsat the end of the goal with the camera and a tripod and I I didn't even know who the lady was she was sitting in 2:24:312 hours, 24 minutes, 31 secondsfront of me and I said to her is he from is he from East Hickman school and she said no he's from the other school well 2:24:392 hours, 24 minutes, 39 secondshe didn't need to be there that pad's there to protect players and if I would have been there I would have either he personally said would you please move 2:24:472 hours, 24 minutes, 47 secondsthis is a safety hazard or I would have gotten Miss Williams to ask him to move so I'm very good at foreseeing problems 2:24:552 hours, 24 minutes, 55 secondsbut I I can I can solve problems I can settle conflict 2:25:022 hours, 25 minutes, 2 secondsI'm I'm gonna be fair and when you're Fair people know if you're Fair all the time I mean 2:25:092 hours, 25 minutes, 9 secondsevery teacher knows if they're being treated fairly every student knows if they're being treated fairly and when you treat people fairly you gain the 2:25:182 hours, 25 minutes, 18 secondsreputation of fairness and that lets you resolve conflict so I would get involved I want to be 2:25:262 hours, 25 minutes, 26 secondsinvolved thank you so there's like I said it's a three-part question the second part is how would you handle bullying in our 2:25:332 hours, 25 minutes, 33 secondsschools by students and bullying by staff let's talk about the student part first 2:25:432 hours, 25 minutes, 43 secondsuh bullying is universal but here's what bullying is bullying is when a person who is in a position of 2:25:522 hours, 25 minutes, 52 secondsmore power whether that is social ranking seniority whatever physical is interacting with another person in less 2:26:012 hours, 26 minutes, 1 secondpower it I mean the first thing I had a principle before he was a good 2:26:092 hours, 26 minutes, 9 secondsprincipal and I and I was concerned about bullying and his mentality was it's just kids being kids and and there 2:26:172 hours, 26 minutes, 17 secondsthere are situations like that is an hour of the same age we'd have been in the same grade if we'd have been 2:26:262 hours, 26 minutes, 26 secondsthe same size and I'm wrestling with him and he's wrestling with me it's kids being kids but if I'm bigger than him 2:26:332 hours, 26 minutes, 33 secondsand and I'm making him uncomfortable I'm hurting him it's not kids being kids it's bullying 2:26:402 hours, 26 minutes, 40 secondsuh and if you leave bullying unattended to it leads to detrimental results it 2:26:472 hours, 26 minutes, 47 secondsleads to poor attendance at least to poor grades at least to depression and if it's left unattended for a long 2:26:542 hours, 26 minutes, 54 secondsperiod of time it can lead to violence and self-harm it's very important first thing we have to do is all understand 2:27:022 hours, 27 minutes, 2 secondswhat bullying is then we have to Be watchful for it we have to get parents to understand that we're not going to put up with it and we have to create 2:27:102 hours, 27 minutes, 10 secondsenvironments where the kid who is the victim feels comfortable telling us what the situation is and then we have to 2:27:192 hours, 27 minutes, 19 secondsresolve it it's not good for the bully for the situation to go unresolved 2:27:262 hours, 27 minutes, 26 secondsbecause it is setting him up for employment difficulties and difficulties in life beyond School 2:27:332 hours, 27 minutes, 33 secondsand I understand this it's an issue here it's an issue everywhere but it is an issue in Hickman County I've been reading the Hickman County times since 2:27:412 hours, 27 minutes, 41 secondsDecember the first meeting in which the board allowed public comment one of the first comments was bullying there have 2:27:492 hours, 27 minutes, 49 secondsbeen a couple of comments supervision helps stop bullying bullying their hot spots for bullying the 2:27:572 hours, 27 minutes, 57 secondsplayground is a hot spot for bullying the buses are hot spots for bullying you got to know where those hot spots are 2:28:052 hours, 28 minutes, 5 secondsyou got to provide supervision and you got to be determined to fix it here's here's the I tell principals this do 2:28:132 hours, 28 minutes, 13 secondsy'all know people who like having clean cars yeah and they and they drive clean cars do y'all know people that like pretty 2:28:212 hours, 28 minutes, 21 secondsflowers in their yard yeah and they have pretty flowers in their yard and and then there are other people who like to be in Tip-Top physical shape I am not 2:28:292 hours, 28 minutes, 29 secondsone of those but they are in Tip Top they make that commitment and they get there we're gonna make a commitment that 2:28:362 hours, 28 minutes, 36 secondsevery child will be respected we're also going to make a commitment that every teacher is going to be respected and if 2:28:432 hours, 28 minutes, 43 secondssome teacher is acting inappropriately and bullying another teacher I I'll deal with it fairly and 2:28:522 hours, 28 minutes, 52 secondsprofessionally you cannot you cannot avoid problems and you cannot operate a school 2:29:002 hours, 29 minutessystem effectively without having difficult conversations that's just how it is so thank you the third part in the last 2:29:092 hours, 29 minutes, 9 secondspart of my question is uh there is uh so many believe there's a culture where there's a there's a perception here of 2:29:162 hours, 29 minutes, 16 secondsnepotism and favoritism how would you drive change in this perception and instill a culture of 2:29:242 hours, 29 minutes, 24 secondstrust and fairness I'm gonna be fair to everyone I'm gonna do my best to build relationships with everyone and when a 2:29:312 hours, 29 minutes, 31 secondsjob comes open I'm going to hot first of all uh I do not interview uh I do I do 2:29:402 hours, 29 minutes, 40 secondsnot interview by myself this is not grammatically correct if if there are English teachers here I apologize before 2:29:472 hours, 29 minutes, 47 secondsI say what I'm about to say if they're kindergarten teachers here you will like you can thank me later it Rhymes we are 2:29:552 hours, 29 minutes, 55 secondssmarter than me we are smarter than me when we have job vacancies I'm going to be in the interview if there is a English job open 2:30:052 hours, 30 minutes, 5 secondsat East at Hickman at Hickman County high school the principal the assistant principal the instructional leader from 2:30:132 hours, 30 minutes, 13 secondsthe central office and a veteran English teacher from this school and I will do the interviewing I interview by 2:30:202 hours, 30 minutes, 20 secondscommittee and we will hire the person that we feel like is the best person to help kids everything I do and everything 2:30:272 hours, 30 minutes, 27 secondswe will do will center around this what is best for children 2:30:372 hours, 30 minutes, 37 secondsnot to be bullied it's bet it's it's best for best for children is to hire the best person you can hire and then 2:30:452 hours, 30 minutes, 45 secondssupport them as strongly as you can support them I mean having school is simple 2:30:532 hours, 30 minutes, 53 secondsbut it's very very hard and there will be no favoritism I don't have any family here I don't have any friends here that 2:31:012 hours, 31 minutes, 1 secondputs me in a great position to be your leader no offense to anyone I'll be honest about this in my last job 2:31:092 hours, 31 minutes, 9 secondsI didn't have a lot of friends in the community because when you have friends they want favors when I was superintendent Tishomingo County Board 2:31:172 hours, 31 minutes, 17 secondsmember I had elected board members and super in Tishomingo County I had appointed board members and they were a board member called me 2:31:242 hours, 31 minutes, 24 secondsand not making it up the guy's name was junior he said you know Junior hurt his back junior cut pup wood for a living I 2:31:322 hours, 31 minutes, 32 secondssaid yeah I heard that so you think we can give him a bus route I said I don't know he'd probably be a pretty good bus driver who worked for those five DUIs he 2:31:392 hours, 31 minutes, 39 secondshad I mean I'm I'm gonna hire the best person I can hire and I'm gonna hire people that will keep Kids Safe I mean that's 2:31:472 hours, 31 minutes, 47 secondsI'm about I am about doing right and I'm and I'll tell you this there's not anybody in this District that I will 2:31:542 hours, 31 minutes, 54 secondsexpect more from than me there's not anybody in this District that will care more than me there's not anybody in this district will work harder than me and 2:32:032 hours, 32 minutes, 3 secondsthe high expectations and the uh accountability I understand the board holds me accountable but I want the 2:32:112 hours, 32 minutes, 11 secondsboard to understand I'll hold myself accountable I hold myself more accountable uh than you hold me and I 2:32:192 hours, 32 minutes, 19 secondswant you to hold me accountable I'm just hard on myself I was raised that way thank you time's up 2:32:272 hours, 32 minutes, 27 secondsI'm sorry y'all should have gave me y'all should have given me true false questions last question should you be chosen as our next 2:32:352 hours, 32 minutes, 35 secondsdirector are you serious about accepting and what would you propose how the first 90 days would look like 2:32:432 hours, 32 minutes, 43 secondsoh I am serious uh I I'm committed to going back to work and I and I don't mean to be braggadocious I I can get a 2:32:522 hours, 32 minutes, 52 secondsjob I can get a job in Alabama I can get a job in Mississippi uh I'm interested in this job for the reasons I told you part of his family but the main 2:33:002 hours, 33 minutesmotivation is going back to work first the first thing I'm going to do is acquaintance and acclimation I'm going to become acquainted with everybody that 2:33:092 hours, 33 minutes, 9 secondsworks here I'm gonna meet everybody works here I want to know what you think how you feel and what you think the direction of the 2:33:172 hours, 33 minutes, 17 secondsschool district should be and I'm gonna become acclimated with the whole school district I want to know where everything is I want to see all the programs uh 2:33:252 hours, 33 minutes, 25 secondsunderstand their purpose I want to become acclimated with the county I've spent a lot of time a significant a significant amount of time in the county 2:33:332 hours, 33 minutes, 33 secondsI spent enough time in the county to know it's a long ways from Primm Springs to Pleasantville let's put it that way uh but I will I will become acquainted I 2:33:422 hours, 33 minutes, 42 secondswill become acclimated and then what I would want to do first let's figure out how we all can work together to start 2:33:502 hours, 33 minutes, 50 secondsthe 23-24 school year with the most momentum possible and to make sure every position is fully staffed and all 2:33:592 hours, 33 minutes, 59 secondsequipment and textbooks are on site ready to go and I know that's a big issue with math because math is in a new Adoption year 2:34:082 hours, 34 minutes, 8 secondsI'm studying this I mean and this is the only job I've applied for uh so yes I'm very interested and and I 2:34:152 hours, 34 minutes, 15 secondsthink there's an episode of Andy Griffith where this guy comes to town and he's and he was in reading the paper and he knows too much about people he makes them uncomfortable if I've done 2:34:242 hours, 34 minutes, 24 secondsthat please don't begrudge me for uh for doing that I know I know a lot about Hickman County because I've been 2:34:312 hours, 34 minutes, 31 secondsstudying I want this job but I want Hickman County to be successful I want to make a positive impact on the lives 2:34:382 hours, 34 minutes, 38 secondsof kids I want to support teachers uh I I apologize if I rambled I'm very human 2:34:462 hours, 34 minutes, 46 secondsI'm very real and uh probably not as succinct as I should be thank you 2:35:032 hours, 35 minutes, 3 secondsI just feel led to uh return to work it's been a struggle my wife at first 2:35:102 hours, 35 minutes, 10 secondsdidn't understand it because I've had a great life of leisure but I feel led I'm going to return to work I feel like I 2:35:172 hours, 35 minutes, 17 secondshaven't done everything that God wants me to do that's how I feel and it's a little bit of motion and I'm sorry about 2:35:242 hours, 35 minutes, 24 secondsbeing emotional emotional and vulnerable up here and I also know that there's division 2:35:312 hours, 35 minutes, 31 secondshere and and and and I uh and I listened to the recording of the board meeting uh the other night and I and I felt a 2:35:392 hours, 35 minutes, 39 secondslittle bit victimized because what was said wasn't true and I got mad I got hurt but uh I 2:35:472 hours, 35 minutes, 47 secondsknow how to lead and I know how to treat people right and and if you and if you don't want somebody that's gonna hold 2:35:542 hours, 35 minutes, 54 secondspeople accountable it's just not fair if you got 90 98 of the teachers coming to school 2:36:022 hours, 36 minutes, 2 secondsand if you and if you'll forgive my language 98 of the teachers come to school every day every day busting their behind and two percent coming to school 2:36:102 hours, 36 minutes, 10 secondsevery day is sitting on their behind I'm gonna deal with the two percent and here's what I'm gonna do if it's a lack of inability I'm going to help them get 2:36:192 hours, 36 minutes, 19 secondsthe ability and if it's a if it's a pattern of unwillingness I'm gonna try to motivate them to be willing 2:36:282 hours, 36 minutes, 28 secondsbecause until we're all working hard and we're all working together in unity in the same direction Hickman County when we all work hard and we all work in 2:36:372 hours, 36 minutes, 37 secondsunity in the same direction Hickman County can grow and I I'm here to try to help it grow thank you thank you 2:36:452 hours, 36 minutes, 45 secondsthank you 2:37:172 hours, 37 minutes, 17 secondswow they've got a break between the candidates I'd like to uh thank Michelle Gilbert from family and some other 2:37:252 hours, 37 minutes, 25 secondspeople there was a play here tonight or last night and they came here after the play and they set all this up and moved everything so I'd like to give them a 2:37:342 hours, 37 minutes, 34 secondsbig thank you for spending that extra time and out of their family for coming out here and doing that for us 2:37:462 hours, 37 minutes, 46 secondsokay 2:38:172 hours, 38 minutes, 17 secondsthank you 2:38:532 hours, 38 minutes, 53 secondsoh wait I do basically nice to see you again 2:39:102 hours, 39 minutes, 10 secondsis yeah make an opening statement you would 2:39:202 hours, 39 minutes, 20 secondsokay uh first of all um I am 2:39:302 hours, 39 minutes, 30 secondsI've been married for 33 years I need to make sure I got that right with my wife sitting out there I think so uh uh happily happily married for 33 years got 2:39:392 hours, 39 minutes, 39 secondsfour kids uh my youngest is soon to be a uh hopefully a college graduate from 2:39:472 hours, 39 minutes, 47 secondsAuburn and uh for the most part we're empty nesters and I'm 2:39:542 hours, 39 minutes, 54 secondsat 34 years in public education nine of those serving as superintendent 2:40:002 hours, 40 minuteshave two master's degrees one in instructional leadership and the other one in uh instructional technology 2:40:092 hours, 40 minutes, 9 secondsand so my background in the school system has typically been uh in social studies at the secondary 2:40:152 hours, 40 minutes, 15 secondslevel or Administration or technology one of those three areas and so that's kind of my background in a 2:40:242 hours, 40 minutes, 24 secondsin a nutshell so so I'm ready for your questions at this time 2:40:322 hours, 40 minutes, 32 secondsI've got two questions I'll read them both and then we'll start with the first one please explain your interest and motivation for seeking hickney County 2:40:412 hours, 40 minutes, 41 secondsdirector job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position the second question is how visible will 2:40:492 hours, 40 minutes, 49 secondsyou be in our schools and our community first question I'll explain your interest in motivation and your skills 2:41:042 hours, 41 minutes, 4 secondswell um I've had some experience with uh with uh Mr Qualls in a previous search and 2:41:132 hours, 41 minutes, 13 secondsone of my comments with him was that if he ever saw a position that he thought I might be interested in since he had met 2:41:202 hours, 41 minutes, 20 secondsme in my background I knew that I'd had superintendent experience that I'd be interested in uh and so he did contact 2:41:282 hours, 41 minutes, 28 secondsme and I looked into the this position and I've had a some of my experiences been with the county system in Alabama 2:41:352 hours, 41 minutes, 35 secondswhere we've dealt with multiple schools in three distinct communities in Alabama and and I think that translates pretty 2:41:452 hours, 41 minutes, 45 secondswell into Hickman County and so as I look more at the job it looked like my background might be a good fit and 2:41:532 hours, 41 minutes, 53 secondsthat's one of the things that I'm sure you're looking for is someone who's going to fit this this area in your 2:42:002 hours, 42 minutesCounty uh and and be able to serve you in that that capacity uh so that's my motivation the other part of my motivation is you know that I've been 2:42:092 hours, 42 minutes, 9 secondsretired and uh you know my wife and I have talked about this you know retirement isn't always for everybody 2:42:152 hours, 42 minutes, 15 secondsand uh I I uh I was in a position where uh I was looking forward to retirement I've been in retirement was able to do a 2:42:242 hours, 42 minutes, 24 secondsfew things but uh feel like I have more to give and education and what I would like to uh to be back in as a school 2:42:332 hours, 42 minutes, 33 secondsleader again so that's part of my motivation as far as how visible I am uh you know I can just tell you what 2:42:402 hours, 42 minutes, 40 secondsI've done um you know in the community where I am I've been uh I've been our Lions Club president so 2:42:492 hours, 42 minutes, 49 secondsI've I've taken part in in our Civic Community Civic clubs in our community I've been part of the chamber 2:42:572 hours, 42 minutes, 57 secondsCommerce uh so I I've done everything I've been extremely active in my church so if I'm hired here I'll be part of 2:43:062 hours, 43 minutes, 6 secondsyour community I'll find those same areas to be part of that in this area now as far as schools uh you know 2:43:152 hours, 43 minutes, 15 secondsthere's always a good chance you know with all the work that goes on in the superintendent's office that you know to sit and say uh you're going to be in the 2:43:242 hours, 43 minutes, 24 secondsschool uh x amount of time it's very difficult but I will say this if you don't schedule it you're probably not 2:43:312 hours, 43 minutes, 31 secondsgoing to get there because your day will get covered up and you you will not so one of the things that I used to do is I would schedule time in try to get at 2:43:392 hours, 43 minutes, 39 secondsleast once uh to get to every school once a week and and do some rounds occasionally do 2:43:482 hours, 43 minutes, 48 secondssome instructional rounds with some of the uh the educational uh leadership in in the schools but but I would try to be 2:43:552 hours, 43 minutes, 55 secondsin schools as much as possible but again that you know things happen and that doesn't you know you can't always stay 2:44:032 hours, 44 minutes, 3 secondswith that schedule but uh the best way to do that is put it on schedule and follow your schedule thank you you bet 2:44:202 hours, 44 minutes, 20 secondshey Wade I've got a multi-part question here have you had opportunity to review test results from Hickman County and what are 2:44:292 hours, 44 minutes, 29 secondssome areas which need attention and the steps you would take to address it what are some strong areas 2:44:442 hours, 44 minutes, 44 secondsuh yes I have been able to look at some test scores of course in I'm sure there's more detailed data that I could 2:44:522 hours, 44 minutes, 52 secondslook at you know once I become superintendent but I I've been able to look at what's been provided online and uh and there are some 2:45:002 hours, 45 minutesareas that look like challenges it looks like uh the elementary schools and intermediate schools are closer to where 2:45:082 hours, 45 minutes, 8 secondsyou want and when I when I say closer to where you want uh I'm going to preface that with the idea that no matter where 2:45:162 hours, 45 minutes, 16 secondsyou are the goal is always to improve you know hopefully we're always better today than we were 2:45:232 hours, 45 minutes, 23 secondsyesterday that's that's the goal and uh it looks like there are some challenges when we get to the middle schools and to the high schools and and there are 2:45:322 hours, 45 minutes, 32 secondsunique challenges to that so the real question what do you do with that well I will say that 2:45:402 hours, 45 minutes, 40 secondsit would be easy for me to say we're going to do x y and z all right I can tell you some things that we've done in the previous stops 2:45:492 hours, 45 minutes, 49 secondsone thing is to make sure that uh the curriculum is actually being taught 2:45:562 hours, 45 minutes, 56 secondsin the classrooms that sounds like a very simple thing but you know when curriculum changes sometimes uh sometimes it doesn't always get 2:46:042 hours, 46 minutes, 4 secondstranslated to the classroom so it starts with the curriculum it starts with observations uh 2:46:122 hours, 46 minutes, 12 secondssome of these things and I think when I was here before I made some comments to the uh 2:46:192 hours, 46 minutes, 19 secondsthat went something like this and I basically compared education to turning a ship and basically what I meant was 2:46:272 hours, 46 minutes, 27 secondsthat was when you turn the ship it's not like turning a bow if you're out fishing you can turn a boat very quickly but if you're turning the ship sometimes it 2:46:352 hours, 46 minutes, 35 secondstakes longer and it takes a little bit more to do that and what I'm saying with education some of the changes you look 2:46:432 hours, 46 minutes, 43 secondsfor it it takes longer sometimes to actually see the results for example if you put 2:46:502 hours, 46 minutes, 50 secondsin some professional development uh for your teachers you may not see the the results of the test scores for a year or 2:46:582 hours, 46 minutes, 58 secondstwo or three years down the road until that uh that training is really really permeates through your education uh 2:47:072 hours, 47 minutes, 7 secondsCommunity with your teachers so uh I would say you know starts with making sure I always call that intentional make sure 2:47:152 hours, 47 minutes, 15 secondsthat we're doing what we're supposed to be doing intentional so make sure we're teaching the curriculum the way it's supposed to be taught one of the other 2:47:232 hours, 47 minutes, 23 secondsthings we did is we put together um basically a teacher training program uh to make sure that our teachers were 2:47:312 hours, 47 minutes, 31 secondsdoing the things that we're wanting them to do we wanted our teachers to be active in the classroom and not just sitting behind desks and so we wanted 2:47:392 hours, 47 minutes, 39 secondsmore engaged learning going on in the classroom and so we wanted to make sure that the training that we provided was 2:47:462 hours, 47 minutes, 46 secondsbasically encouraging those things so uh training's part of it and then certainly hiring you need to hire the best people 2:47:522 hours, 47 minutes, 52 secondsyou can anytime you start looking at uh how to improve something and you're dealing with Personnel well you want the 2:48:002 hours, 48 minutesbest personnel and so that's that's a challenge because sometimes sometimes we can't always get who we want because 2:48:092 hours, 48 minutes, 9 secondsthey take a job somewhere else of the line so so that that's an ongoing challenge that you we may have to face in some with uh with a different 2:48:182 hours, 48 minutes, 18 secondsum tactic I'll put it that way um but those are just some of the things that I think you need to do to make sure 2:48:262 hours, 48 minutes, 26 secondsthat uh uh we're seeing some improvement in the classroom you're welcome 2:48:372 hours, 48 minutes, 37 secondsI have a three-part question and uh hey I'll just ask you the first one and 2:48:462 hours, 48 minutes, 46 secondslet you answer have you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 2:48:552 hours, 48 minutes, 55 secondsI have not researched it but I've had a conversation or two about it I'll go 2:49:012 hours, 49 minutes, 1 secondback to again some of my background uh part of my background is in technology 2:49:082 hours, 49 minutes, 8 secondswe actually created a we call it a career center in Tallassee we actually bought I think again I shared this with some of you before we bought a 2:49:162 hours, 49 minutes, 16 secondsum a auto parts store that was going out of business and we bought it and we remodeled it into a career center in our 2:49:252 hours, 49 minutes, 25 secondsoriginal original thought was to offer more technology related classes for our 2:49:312 hours, 49 minutes, 31 secondsstudents but as it turned out uh it really turned into a dual enrollment center we actually formed agreements 2:49:382 hours, 49 minutes, 38 secondswith the local community college and so they came in and they provided classes for us to do enrollment uh 2:49:462 hours, 49 minutes, 46 secondsI would certainly support the expansion of dual enrollment as much as possible but again sometimes it starts with an arrangement 2:49:552 hours, 49 minutes, 55 secondswith a a community college or another higher education Institution 2:50:032 hours, 50 minutes, 3 secondsbut but those would be opportunities for your kids and again I've shared this before that you know the goal in my 2:50:102 hours, 50 minutes, 10 secondsopinion would be to have some of those students maybe have a year under their belt when they finish high school before they start their college experience for 2:50:192 hours, 50 minutes, 19 secondsthose that are headed in that direction um and I don't know if this response goes along with dual enrollment but I 2:50:262 hours, 50 minutes, 26 secondswill say it anyway and that is you know not every student you know we're what we should be doing is looking at the career path for our students not every student 2:50:342 hours, 50 minutes, 34 secondsis going to go to a four-year College matter of fact a lot of uh the trend here recently is is is to encourage 2:50:422 hours, 50 minutes, 42 secondsstudents no matter what direction it is and so there's a strong uh component or strong support behind those students 2:50:502 hours, 50 minutes, 50 secondsgoing to get those Tech degrees at two-year colleges uh my son one of my sons I've as I said before I have four children one of my sons went through a 2:50:592 hours, 50 minutes, 59 secondswelding program at a community college so the path is different for every student in the and part of our goal is to make 2:51:052 hours, 51 minutes, 5 secondssure that that we help our students uh basically create the path that they want 2:51:142 hours, 51 minutes, 14 secondsall right second question is is our gonna lead you right into what you're telling is our CTE program adequate 2:51:222 hours, 51 minutes, 22 secondsto prepare students for the workforce foreign 2:51:292 hours, 51 minutes, 29 secondsI can only tell you some of the brief conversations I've had I I my my background is not 2:51:372 hours, 51 minutes, 37 secondsum has not been that I've researched it so I I know all the fine details of that uh but I do have some of a careertech 2:51:452 hours, 51 minutes, 45 secondsbackground myself uh for a few years as a careertech director County Wide in 2:51:532 hours, 51 minutes, 53 secondsFayette County and uh and so you know we again we try to expand that as much I don't know where we are 2:52:012 hours, 52 minutes, 1 secondstarting point with that but if you're if we're trying to create those Pathways which is what I call them 2:52:082 hours, 52 minutes, 8 secondsum then again we're we're trying to seek relationships with higher education uh schools so that we can uh we can have 2:52:182 hours, 52 minutes, 18 secondsthose people come into our school system and help teach those classes and then create that pathway uh that covers their 2:52:252 hours, 52 minutes, 25 secondshigh school credits along with some of their uh their junior college or four-year degree program but the the 2:52:312 hours, 52 minutes, 31 secondsCareer Tech uh again that's that's an area that's being supported Statewide and uh again I don't have specific 2:52:402 hours, 52 minutes, 40 secondsdetails but I would I would certainly support expanding it okay uh third question totally different 2:52:492 hours, 52 minutes, 49 secondswhat is your position on CRT and gender issues 2:53:022 hours, 53 minutes, 2 secondsis that a trick question now uh listen um it's a challenge those are that's a 2:53:102 hours, 53 minutes, 10 secondschallenging question right there and so uh you know it's kind of like teaching the curriculum well you know the 2:53:172 hours, 53 minutes, 17 secondscurriculum comes from the state level down and what we're wanting to do and I'll answer it this way what we really 2:53:242 hours, 53 minutes, 24 secondsdon't want to be done well we don't want to be forced into is forced into a situation or maybe the federal government is 2:53:322 hours, 53 minutes, 32 secondstelling us something different than the state government if that makes sense and so uh there's there are times 2:53:392 hours, 53 minutes, 39 secondsuh when uh some of these issues are challenging and we may not 2:53:462 hours, 53 minutes, 46 secondswant to support those uh and I'm I'm trying to dance a fine line with this because I'm not sure I had my 2:53:552 hours, 53 minutes, 55 secondsdaughter who was in graduate school not long ago call me up and asked me about the critical race Theory and uh and I told her what I thought it 2:54:032 hours, 54 minutes, 3 secondswas and she told me what she thought it was and uh and I guess the question that I would or 2:54:102 hours, 54 minutes, 10 secondsthe response I would have for that is um I I would have a difficult time 2:54:182 hours, 54 minutes, 18 secondssupporting some of those things uh but I would have to work very closely 2:54:252 hours, 54 minutes, 25 secondswith what the state is is headed sending down our way if that makes sense because I have some some hard questions about 2:54:352 hours, 54 minutes, 35 secondsum how some of those things really play out to be honest thank you 2:54:512 hours, 54 minutes, 51 secondsgood morning 2:54:522 hours, 54 minutes, 52 seconds[Music] 2:54:542 hours, 54 minutes, 54 secondshow important are extracurricular activities to the overall education program and secondly how would you 2:55:022 hours, 55 minutes, 2 secondspropose to support our Athletic program at all Hickman County Schools 2:55:122 hours, 55 minutes, 12 secondsforeign first of all my my background is 2:55:212 hours, 55 minutes, 21 secondsum certainly i i as my career progressed I moved into technology but as I started out 2:55:282 hours, 55 minutes, 28 secondsI was primarily a young social studies teacher in a basketball coach and a track coach coaching football and so I 2:55:362 hours, 55 minutes, 36 secondshave some background with that uh my my children I've been an athletic director before my children have all been in the band 2:55:442 hours, 55 minutes, 44 secondssome have been in the choir um my youngest daughter was a 2:55:532 hours, 55 minutes, 53 secondswas on a dance team my oldest daughter was a majorette and so when you start talking about extracurricular activities you start looking at the secondary level 2:56:012 hours, 56 minutes, 1 secondespecially in the school system that's a that's just an integral part of the school system so uh how do you support 2:56:102 hours, 56 minutes, 10 secondsthat well you know I'd have to look at what was supported in the past but I I certainly would support those activities 2:56:162 hours, 56 minutes, 16 secondsI think they're crucial uh to some kids even coming to school on certain days and so 2:56:242 hours, 56 minutes, 24 secondsthe success of those is really important and and being able to provide uh support financially to to those areas it would 2:56:342 hours, 56 minutes, 34 secondsbe important to me as well I know that um listen I'm going to go back my experience in Fayette County when I was a superintendent in that system because 2:56:422 hours, 56 minutes, 42 secondsit's also a county system usually when you're providing funds you're probably not providing funds for 2:56:492 hours, 56 minutes, 49 secondsone school you're probably providing funding for multiple schools for their activities across the board 2:56:572 hours, 56 minutes, 57 secondsyou know you're not having a select a select few that you're going to hand out your money and support to so that's 2:57:042 hours, 57 minutes, 4 secondsanother concept that I think is important that that we're not we're not going to basically just support one school we're going to support all 2:57:122 hours, 57 minutes, 12 secondsschools thank you you're welcome 2:57:262 hours, 57 minutes, 26 secondsgood morning good morning I have a two-part question okay what are your credentials and experience 2:57:342 hours, 57 minutes, 34 secondsfor handling the school budget from preparing then presenting to the school board and County Commission 2:57:422 hours, 57 minutes, 42 secondsnumber two are you familiar with the difference in the Old State BEP formula 2:57:502 hours, 57 minutes, 50 secondsversus the new Tista formula another couple of good questions all 2:57:582 hours, 57 minutes, 58 secondsright the first one credentials I of course and I've been uh been a superintendent for nine years in two separate systems where uh I've managed 2:58:082 hours, 58 minutes, 8 secondsbudgets for over um 20 million dollars on one system and nearly 20 on the other I know that's not 2:58:152 hours, 58 minutes, 15 secondsquite as big as here however uh that process is a little bit different than it is in Alabama than it is here and so 2:58:252 hours, 58 minutes, 25 secondsum we were we were totally 2:58:292 hours, 58 minutes, 29 seconds[Music] 2:58:292 hours, 58 minutes, 29 secondsum we totally approved our own budget within our Board of Education okay we got an x amount of money from the state or local funds we created our 2:58:382 hours, 58 minutes, 38 secondsbudget and then we approved it through our local Board of Education so that uh that Arrangement here where you have 2:58:472 hours, 58 minutes, 47 secondsto take that budget another step and and get it approved through either city council or in this case the county uh uh 2:58:562 hours, 58 minutes, 56 secondsCouncil then then I think that that is something that I don't have the experience with I have 2:59:032 hours, 59 minutes, 3 secondshad the experience in in going before a city council and asking for support uh 2:59:102 hours, 59 minutes, 10 secondsBond money support to build a new school and so even though it's not the same as as uh basically getting a budget approved 2:59:192 hours, 59 minutes, 19 secondsit is similar in that I've had to go and present our needs in front of uh our City's uh governmental body I guess so 2:59:282 hours, 59 minutes, 28 secondsuh that would be certainly a challenge and I think I have spoken with a couple of superintendents in Tennessee that I 2:59:372 hours, 59 minutes, 37 secondsknow and they've explained the process to me and I think I understand it and and so I think that if I were to be the 2:59:472 hours, 59 minutes, 47 secondschoice of this group that I think that uh maybe being able to come and go through that process with the current uh 2:59:562 hours, 59 minutes, 56 secondsUh current superintendent as I've I believe that process is getting ready to to move forward here right now so that 3:00:043 hours, 4 secondswould help me personally so I think that would be good as far as the Obe I'm not familiar with that Harley at all I'm as 3:00:133 hours, 13 secondsbad as familiar with the Tissa as is probably most people in Tennessee are because it's new and so they're still 3:00:203 hours, 20 secondsworking out and people are are trying to understand all the details of it uh but uh to me it seems that we matter of fact 3:00:283 hours, 28 secondswe were having this conversation amongst several of us in the room before we came up here and and uh talking about some of 3:00:353 hours, 35 secondsthe the pros and cons of it and I and I think it has a lot of promise now whether uh you know when when 3:00:453 hours, 45 secondsI've been a superintendent one of the areas in particular that was always a concern was the special needs population 3:00:533 hours, 53 secondswithin our school districts because we were we were usually uh underfunded from the federal government because a lot of that funding comes from the federal 3:01:013 hours, 1 minute, 1 secondgovernment and so the local school would typically have to pick up that excess and the Tissa this is one of the areas 3:01:093 hours, 1 minute, 9 secondsthat the the Tissa is going to uh hopefully do a better job with that it looks like it is but again I think uh 3:01:173 hours, 1 minute, 17 secondsyou know that's one of the things that's so new that it's probably going to be a year or two before you really see what's working and what's not working within that uh 3:01:263 hours, 1 minute, 26 secondswithin that program that funding formula so thank you you're welcome 3:01:443 hours, 1 minute, 44 secondsgood morning Wade I've got a three-part question and I'm just going to read them as three separate questions the first of 3:01:523 hours, 1 minute, 52 secondswhich is how would you handle complaints from parents as well as from staff 3:02:063 hours, 2 minutes, 6 secondsum well the first thing is is to listen you hear what the hear what the complaint is from either one um I do believe in a chain of command 3:02:153 hours, 2 minutes, 15 secondsand I I think if if that complaint needs to go back to the school I would re I 3:02:223 hours, 2 minutes, 22 secondswould redirect that complaint to that point uh but if it's meant to come to me to 3:02:303 hours, 2 minutes, 30 secondsdeal with an issue with possibly a a a teacher or a principal uh that that will 3:02:383 hours, 2 minutes, 38 secondspossibly kick in the chain of command in terms of how I would handle that uh if it's a teacher 3:02:453 hours, 2 minutes, 45 secondsI certainly would have that conversation with the principal but I and again I've said this before that you know 3:02:533 hours, 2 minutes, 53 secondsyou're not hiring me to be the principal at eight schools you're hiring me to to basically provide the leadership for your District so the 3:03:023 hours, 3 minutes, 2 secondsway I would handle that if it was an issue within the school I'd go to the principal and give that principal the first opportunity to fix 3:03:103 hours, 3 minutes, 10 secondsthat problem and and then I would come back and see the results okay if it's if the issue is 3:03:213 hours, 3 minutes, 21 secondswith the principal uh again I am that Direct supervisor of that principle that's 3:03:283 hours, 3 minutes, 28 secondsgoing to be a conversation I I don't believe in chastising someone in front of the group but I do believe in confronting people and having honest 3:03:373 hours, 3 minutes, 37 secondsconversations with people so one thing that I shared when I was here before is that as a board and as a school system 3:03:463 hours, 3 minutes, 46 secondswe run off of board policy and sometimes people don't like the results I'm just going to say it that 3:03:543 hours, 3 minutes, 54 secondsway so there's a couple different ways that these issues could go and one issue is if a board policy was 3:04:023 hours, 4 minutes, 2 secondsbroken then I I have an issue of wherever it was broken in the line because that's what we're here for we're we're to run our school on these policies and we 3:04:113 hours, 4 minutes, 11 secondsshould follow those policies okay uh if a principal or a teacher was doing what they're supposed to 3:04:193 hours, 4 minutes, 19 secondsand even though I have a complaint I'm going to investigate it that's my job but sometimes when you investigate it 3:04:273 hours, 4 minutes, 27 secondsyou find out they follow the board policy and they've done what they're supposed to so that may still require a conversation 3:04:363 hours, 4 minutes, 36 secondswith one of those two groups but then in my what my job ought to be is to reach back out to those people who have made 3:04:433 hours, 4 minutes, 43 secondsthat complaint and share the results of whatever I found they don't get to sit in on any kind of Retribution or any kind of conversation 3:04:523 hours, 4 minutes, 52 secondsthat we're going to have but I do believe in chain of command we're going to follow it and we're going 3:04:593 hours, 4 minutes, 59 secondsto follow our board policies thank you the second part of this question of this three-part question is how would you handle bullying in our 3:05:083 hours, 5 minutes, 8 secondsschools by students and bullying by staff foreign 3:05:193 hours, 5 minutes, 19 secondswell first of all bullying is a serious issue that's that's the first part of it and it needs to be 3:05:273 hours, 5 minutes, 27 secondstreated as such not every incident is is a bullying incident for example I in without naming names I I remember an incident one time 3:05:363 hours, 5 minutes, 36 secondsat a middle school where a parent was complaining about their child being bullied well what had happened was it was a 3:05:453 hours, 5 minutes, 45 secondssingle incident where two kids had had an issue and it was kind of like a fight a verbal altercation and not everything 3:05:533 hours, 5 minutes, 53 secondsis bullying but that's part of the investigation it's just like the previous question you have to investigate if there's bullying it need 3:06:013 hours, 6 minutes, 1 secondto be it needs to be treated as such needs to be documented and in treating assess they're they're again board policies we have board 3:06:113 hours, 6 minutes, 11 secondspolicies against harassment we need to follow through on what our board policy says depending on the 3:06:183 hours, 6 minutes, 18 secondssituation so you know documentation is a huge thing and if we think one of our students is is really uh 3:06:263 hours, 6 minutes, 26 secondsum having a hard time with some of this bullying well then we also need uh to reach out to some mental health support 3:06:333 hours, 6 minutes, 33 secondsfor that student and help them through this situation as well as as possibly a victim but 3:06:413 hours, 6 minutes, 41 secondson the other side of this we should always document what's going on I I've I remember a situation with 3:06:493 hours, 6 minutes, 49 secondssome elementary school kids and you know a lot of times it's easy to give a warning to a student 3:06:563 hours, 6 minutes, 56 secondswell you know a warning doesn't really uh they don't add up if you're not documenting those warnings so if it's 3:07:043 hours, 7 minutes, 4 secondsjust a verbal warning I have always encouraged uh The Faculty that I've worked with to to document everything 3:07:123 hours, 7 minutes, 12 secondsthat goes on because if you don't you don't have a trail of what there really was bullying okay so it starts with 3:07:213 hours, 7 minutes, 21 secondsdocumentation follow the policy investigate and then and then see what 3:07:273 hours, 7 minutes, 27 secondsthe results of that investigation are thank you and then the third and final part of this question is um our county 3:07:353 hours, 7 minutes, 35 secondshas a culture where there's a perception of nepotism and favoritism how would you drive change in this 3:07:433 hours, 7 minutes, 43 secondsperception and instill a culture of trust and fairness again a very good question and I don't 3:07:523 hours, 7 minutes, 52 secondsthink um I don't think that's unique to be honest you know I think every system probably struggles with that to 3:08:013 hours, 8 minutes, 1 secondsome degree if that makes sense you know because here's the deal if you're if you're from Hickman County and you grow up here 3:08:093 hours, 8 minutes, 9 secondsuh some not all but some want to come back here they want to live here they might want a job in the school system 3:08:173 hours, 8 minutes, 17 secondsand so you know it kind of goes back to when I was talking about how do you improve instruction and my comment was 3:08:263 hours, 8 minutes, 26 secondshire good people make good hire we should always do our best to hire the best person 3:08:333 hours, 8 minutes, 33 secondsbut that doesn't mean that we're never going to hire people from Hickman County that's that's that just wouldn't make 3:08:393 hours, 8 minutes, 39 secondssense either so there has to be a blend of hiring good people uh and do our best 3:08:483 hours, 8 minutes, 48 secondsto bring good people into our County and uh and also uh keep keep good people in our 3:08:563 hours, 8 minutes, 56 secondsaccounting if that makes sense so you know how do you combat that well you know what if I was superintendent and the first time I hired someone and they 3:09:043 hours, 9 minutes, 4 secondswere from Hickman County you know what people are going to say oh it's not changed at all you know so sometimes that's going to be people's 3:09:123 hours, 9 minutes, 12 secondsperceptions you know I've shared this before you know I'm not from here you know so if I come here and you you have 3:09:203 hours, 9 minutes, 20 secondsfaith in me to come here I've got one purpose to be better today for our school system 3:09:273 hours, 9 minutes, 27 secondsto be better today than it was yesterday and you know I don't my goal isn't to hire make every hire a Hickman County 3:09:363 hours, 9 minutes, 36 secondshire now I would anticipate many would be but not all and my goal would be to find the best 3:09:453 hours, 9 minutes, 45 secondspeople we can to bring in to our County system so I don't know if that answers that question but I think uh you know 3:09:543 hours, 9 minutes, 54 secondswhen you make hiring decisions the the goal is is again every time I've made uh 3:10:033 hours, 10 minutes, 3 secondsthat I think I've consciously hired the very best person I can find it's usually worked out pretty well not 3:10:113 hours, 10 minutes, 11 secondsalways but usually but that doesn't mean people don't complain about it because I I hired one person for a maintenance spot one time 3:10:183 hours, 10 minutes, 18 secondsand I think it was the best hire I may have ever made does a great job they reported a water problem on a Friday after school it was 3:10:273 hours, 10 minutes, 27 secondsfixed before school started on Monday great hire but you know what there's about six people six other people in the 3:10:343 hours, 10 minutes, 34 secondscommunity that wanted that job and so we're going to get some complaints that's just going to happen but my job 3:10:433 hours, 10 minutes, 43 secondsis to hire the best people and if you don't if you don't have confidence that I can do that then I'm definitely not 3:10:503 hours, 10 minutes, 50 secondsyour person so uh but that's my job my job is to hire the best person thank you Wade 3:10:593 hours, 10 minutes, 59 secondslast question should you be chosen as our director are you serious about accepting and what 3:11:053 hours, 11 minutes, 5 secondswould you propose how your first 90 days would look like um of course and it's a family decision 3:11:133 hours, 11 minutes, 13 secondsbut my wife says she's on board and so we're on board for this and uh in terms of accepting it 3:11:213 hours, 11 minutes, 21 secondsfirst 90 days there's gonna be a lot of observation you know that early on there was that question about how often you're going to be in the school I'm going to 3:11:283 hours, 11 minutes, 28 secondsbe in school a lot during that first time and and um you know for those that aren't as familiar with 3:11:363 hours, 11 minutes, 36 secondsthe education process a lot of planning goes into the next school year but a lot of that planning happens right now it's before I'm even going to be 3:11:453 hours, 11 minutes, 45 secondsthere so I'm going to have some catching up to do in terms of just going through procedures going through board policy 3:11:523 hours, 11 minutes, 52 secondsmaking sure I understand uh critical decisions that might have to be made in terms of uh what if we have to 3:12:003 hours, 12 minutescancel school you know what what kind of weather uh alert do we need to get and those types of things so my first 90 3:12:093 hours, 12 minutes, 9 secondsdays are going to be collecting and really observing and meeting with faculties uh one thing 3:12:163 hours, 12 minutes, 16 secondsI shared with uh with some of you I'm not sure if I shared with with all of you but I had the opportunity uh become a nationally 3:12:243 hours, 12 minutes, 24 secondsuh certified superintendent where I attended uh some some classes uh and and 3:12:323 hours, 12 minutes, 32 secondsone of the takeaways from that uh from that training was the creation of what I call advisory groups I had a 3:12:413 hours, 12 minutes, 41 secondssuperintendent that gave me this idea and so I created four advisor groups I would think that would be somewhere in that 90 days where I created an Advisory 3:12:493 hours, 12 minutes, 49 secondsGroup where I can start meeting with students with teachers uh with uh community members and I my 3:12:583 hours, 12 minutes, 58 secondsfourth area was a ministerial Advisory Group so I had four at uh advisory groups I tried to set that up I'd start 3:13:063 hours, 13 minutes, 6 secondsmaking plans for a new strategic plan I know there's one in place uh but to me that's how you create a 3:13:143 hours, 13 minutes, 14 secondscommon vision for all your schools and I think that would be really helpful for Hickman County to have a vision that you 3:13:213 hours, 13 minutes, 21 secondsall share you know we we know that there's two distinct school systems for the most part all right but we should 3:13:293 hours, 13 minutes, 29 secondsshare a common vision and and I think a good strategic plan will do that and what I would do with a 3:13:363 hours, 13 minutes, 36 secondsstrategic plan would be to have board members Teachers Community people part of that process and we put things in that plan that we would want to 3:13:453 hours, 13 minutes, 45 secondsaccomplish uh as a school system to buy or to get buy-in and support in doing so so those 3:13:523 hours, 13 minutes, 52 secondsare some of the things and I hope that uh kind of gives you an idea all right you can uh have a closing 3:14:003 hours, 14 minutesstatement if you would okay really I don't really have a lot to say I just I really want to thank you for having me and my wife up here again got 3:14:083 hours, 14 minutes, 8 secondsa chance to see the area and enjoy that uh I think you have uh you have a good school system a very good school system 3:14:163 hours, 14 minutes, 16 secondshere and I I certainly wish you the best as you continue your search uh and continue your your decision on this and 3:14:243 hours, 14 minutes, 24 secondsuh the last thing I'll say to you is if you choose is I'm going to say what I said before the only purpose I have for coming here is is to do my best to make 3:14:333 hours, 14 minutes, 33 secondsyour school system better and if that's if that if I'm the fit uh for you then uh then we'll do that 3:14:413 hours, 14 minutes, 41 secondstogether all right thank you 3:14:473 hours, 14 minutes, 47 seconds[Applause] 3:15:173 hours, 15 minutes, 17 secondsforeign 3:16:313 hours, 16 minutes, 31 secondsforeign 3:16:333 hours, 16 minutes, 33 seconds[Music] 3:17:043 hours, 17 minutes, 4 secondsit's great to see everybody today my name is Jim Stone I know you've been here for a while I'll give you a quick introduction 3:17:133 hours, 17 minutes, 13 secondsand I'd love to field questions from the board um I started my teaching career in Chattanooga Tennessee I was a marketing 3:17:213 hours, 17 minutes, 21 secondsteacher for 11 years and a keyboarding teacher for three years all at the high school level and also coached boys soccer and girls soccer for 14 of those 3:17:303 hours, 17 minutes, 30 secondsyears as well when I was in Chattanooga one of the things we did at the high school I was at we started a business Academy and I 3:17:383 hours, 17 minutes, 38 secondshelped lead our business Academy and then also our career in tech ed department for a while uh after those 16 3:17:463 hours, 17 minutes, 46 secondsyears I transitioned here to Hickman County I was our assistant principal at East Hickman Elementary for four years and then transitioned to Westwood Middle 3:17:553 hours, 17 minutes, 55 secondsSchool where I've been the Principal there for the last two years loved my time here in Hickman County I didn't really have any intention of 3:18:033 hours, 18 minutes, 3 secondsleaving had an opportunity to um to become a principal took that opportunity and now I would 3:18:113 hours, 18 minutes, 11 secondslove to find myself back again in Hickman County thank you I have two questions I'll read them both 3:18:193 hours, 18 minutes, 19 secondsand then we'll start with the first one explain your interest and your motivation for seeking the Hickman 3:18:263 hours, 18 minutes, 26 secondsCounty director of job and what experience and skills do you possess for this position and how visible will you 3:18:343 hours, 18 minutes, 34 secondsbe in our schools and community first question explain your interest in your skills okay so my interest comes 3:18:433 hours, 18 minutes, 43 secondsfrom really having being in Hickman County um you know working with the the parents the teachers the students 3:18:523 hours, 18 minutes, 52 secondsum you know I mentioned it the hardest working staff that I've ever had the the privilege and the opportunity to work with 3:18:593 hours, 18 minutes, 59 secondsum you know it's just an amazing group that I was a part of and then you know just the community support for the schools is really 3:19:083 hours, 19 minutes, 8 secondsimpressive I know I've been to some basketball games at the high school level here in some football games and just one thing that stood out to me we had a 3:19:173 hours, 19 minutes, 17 secondstrunk or treat one year at the elementary school and and we were kind of thinking you know this will be uh kind of an elementary school event a lot of 3:19:253 hours, 19 minutes, 25 secondselementary school students and it turned out where we we had thousands and thousands of people showing up we had probably 2 000 plus people that showed 3:19:333 hours, 19 minutes, 33 secondsup at the drunk Retreat and just the community support for the schools the parental support and again just the 3:19:403 hours, 19 minutes, 40 secondsamazing staff and the amazing students that we have here in Hickman County um really is my motivation uh in my and 3:19:473 hours, 19 minutes, 47 secondswhy I'm interested in the position as a superintendent uh as far as my my experience and skills 3:19:553 hours, 19 minutes, 55 secondsI've not been a superintendent before um and my experience in administration I've worked in um three different 3:20:053 hours, 20 minutes, 5 secondssystems now and I think that's it's important I've seen things that work really well I've seen a lot of things that don't work really well 3:20:133 hours, 20 minutes, 13 secondsand so I think those are experiences that I take with me that are really helpful I've worked in school system and in Hamilton County where the it was an 3:20:223 hours, 20 minutes, 22 secondsextremely diverse system um you know in the schools that were that were probably um 3:20:293 hours, 20 minutes, 29 seconds50 40 Caucasian 40 20 African-American 10 15 uh Hispanic and 3:20:383 hours, 20 minutes, 38 secondsthose students at all levels bring a diversity with their backgrounds their interests um 3:20:463 hours, 20 minutes, 46 secondsand um you know so I think that's uh some of the skills that I bring are working with students from very very diverse 3:20:533 hours, 20 minutes, 53 secondsbackgrounds whether it's uh socio-economic backgrounds whether it's just life experiences and the backgrounds that students have had whether they've I know one of my first 3:21:023 hours, 21 minutes, 2 secondsyears teaching in Chattanooga I asked my students if they had ever left Chattanooga and I didn't have a single student that had ever left the 3:21:103 hours, 21 minutes, 10 secondsChattanooga area and so and I think working with students who do or don't have life experiences in thinking about 3:21:183 hours, 21 minutes, 18 secondsthat as you move forward and wanting to introduce students to those things to get them you know to go and experience 3:21:273 hours, 21 minutes, 27 secondsthings outside of the community and see some of those things and as well as things inside the community Hickman County's got a lot of great things going 3:21:353 hours, 21 minutes, 35 secondson but when you know I think those are experiences that I bring with me skills um 3:21:423 hours, 21 minutes, 42 secondsI think I'm just relatable uh I'm pretty upfront and forward with people I don't um I don't feel the need to sugarcoat 3:21:503 hours, 21 minutes, 50 secondsthings I'm I don't I'm always thinking um long-term as well and and what I'm 3:21:583 hours, 21 minutes, 58 secondsalways student centered like what's going to be best for our students and those aren't always easy decisions sometimes uh what's best for our 3:22:063 hours, 22 minutes, 6 secondsstudents may or may not you know uh be in line with what a parent thinks with what a Community member thinks but 3:22:143 hours, 22 minutes, 14 secondsone of the things that I always focus on is at the end of the day what did we make decisions that was in the best interest of our students in our community and I think 3:22:233 hours, 22 minutes, 23 secondsthose are some skills that I bring with me um and again just I think General ability to relate with teachers and students well I think that's something I 3:22:323 hours, 22 minutes, 32 secondsprided up myself on especially with the students that I've been able to work with is I still keep in touch with a lot of my students as they've grown older 3:22:403 hours, 22 minutes, 40 secondswhether it's going to weddings whether it's going to college graduations um you know I think there's been a good rapport with our students and our staff 3:22:503 hours, 22 minutes, 50 secondsthat I've been able to work with the visibility the last party question and I know limited times uh 3:22:583 hours, 22 minutes, 58 secondsI like to be in classrooms and schools as much as possible you know I know there's things that draw attention to the day whether there's um budget 3:23:053 hours, 23 minutes, 5 secondsmeetings whether there's meetings with um the board whether there's meetings with the County Board things like that but I 3:23:143 hours, 23 minutes, 14 secondslike to schedule out times where I'm in the buildings frequently so that not just parents can see me but also that students and teachers can see me and I'm 3:23:223 hours, 23 minutes, 22 secondsin classrooms and seeing what we have going on I like to to get information firsthand and kind of see all the great things that we've gone going on in our 3:23:303 hours, 23 minutes, 30 secondsschools and I'm just a face-to-face person I'm I'm not a huge text person I'm not a 3:23:373 hours, 23 minutes, 37 secondsa call person I do those things but I prefer to see people face to face and in person and so that's more of my comfort 3:23:443 hours, 23 minutes, 44 secondslevel and that's where I'd prefer to spend most of my time or in schools face to face with people thank you 3:23:573 hours, 23 minutes, 57 secondshey Jim yes sir this is a multi-part question so have you had opportunity to review test 3:24:063 hours, 24 minutes, 6 secondsresults for Hickman County what are some areas which need attention and the steps you would take to address 3:24:123 hours, 24 minutes, 12 secondsthem and what are some strong areas we have 3:24:213 hours, 24 minutes, 21 secondsokay I have had the opportunity to view the the data that's available on the state report card um 3:24:283 hours, 24 minutes, 28 secondsand so that's you know a lot of your the TCAP data um and then so that involves math English science social studies 3:24:363 hours, 24 minutes, 36 secondsdiscipline uh suspension rates ISS OSS things like that um there are a few areas that kind of stick 3:24:463 hours, 24 minutes, 46 secondsout um with that information uh one of the first things that there's a school for 3:24:523 hours, 24 minutes, 52 secondsexample where uh the turnover ratio basically 68 teacher retention and other schools are generally around 90 percent 3:25:003 hours, 25 minutesuh so to me that's a wanting to kind of understand are the teachers that are leaving that school effective teachers 3:25:083 hours, 25 minutes, 8 secondsor are those teachers that may be retired or the you know what exactly is going on where the the retention at that school 3:25:173 hours, 25 minutes, 17 secondsum may be an issue not that it is but to decide look at that information see it if it is uh because if if effective in 3:25:243 hours, 25 minutes, 24 secondshighly qualified teachers are leaving the school to me that's something right away that needs to be addressed 3:25:323 hours, 25 minutes, 32 secondsyou know steps there's some other information that stood out um you know there's a middle school in particular the information kind of 3:25:403 hours, 25 minutes, 40 secondsstands out where there are some deficiencies uh things that don't seem to be going well again the information is kind of what I call Iceberg data you 3:25:483 hours, 25 minutes, 48 secondsdon't you see the information but it doesn't tell you the cause and so taking steps to figure out all right what's causing uh some of this uh where were 3:25:573 hours, 25 minutes, 57 secondsthere's some significant differences between where the school is at and then where the state average is at or where other successful schools are at uh and 3:26:063 hours, 26 minutes, 6 secondsso you know I see the information but digging down and figuring out meeting with people um whether it's the administrators the 3:26:153 hours, 26 minutes, 15 secondsadministrative team whether it's teachers parents uh and looking at you know what is going on where you know 3:26:223 hours, 26 minutes, 22 secondsmaybe this class in this school or this program in this school is not as successful as it should be um so those are the immediate steps for me 3:26:313 hours, 26 minutes, 31 secondsis meeting with the administrative team um and then after meeting with the administrative team you know if there's a sense of needing to meet with teachers 3:26:393 hours, 26 minutes, 39 secondsas well and parents as well and trying to get their viewpoints on why they think things are are not going as well as they should be going on 3:26:473 hours, 26 minutes, 47 secondsuh but those are the probably the first two areas that I see right away um as from the data that I see is one of 3:26:563 hours, 26 minutes, 56 secondsthe middle schools and then uh teacher attention at one of the schools and then the overall math math in the district is 3:27:053 hours, 27 minutes, 5 secondsum definitely not where I would like to see it uh there's quite a few areas where the district is well below the state 3:27:123 hours, 27 minutes, 12 secondsaverage and not that that's the the ultimate goal where we want to be obviously we want to be way above the state average but when you look at the 3:27:203 hours, 27 minutes, 20 secondsstate average and we're significantly below that that's definitely an indicator that something's off something's wrong I know there's there's 3:27:283 hours, 27 minutes, 28 secondsa you know new curriculums that we're looking at so for me one of the steps is making sure that that curriculum uh is in place 3:27:363 hours, 27 minutes, 36 secondswell before the school year starts and that there's a lot of training provided for that so teachers have the support that they need before the school year starts and then making sure the 3:27:453 hours, 27 minutes, 45 secondsimplementation of that curriculum gets off to a good start um you know that's you're going to invest six seven eight years into a 3:27:523 hours, 27 minutes, 52 secondscurriculum you want to make sure that the the implementation of that curriculum goes very successful that way you're gaining support from 3:28:013 hours, 28 minutes, 1 secondteachers you're getting support from parents and students are having good outcomes are as of strength the high schools uh I 3:28:093 hours, 28 minutes, 9 secondsknow both High School administrators are fairly new but the both high schools seem to have data that's uh strong graduation rates are strong uh the CTE 3:28:183 hours, 28 minutes, 18 secondsprograms that are there are strong uh the discipline overall again it kind of depends on what subgroup you're looking at but overall 3:28:273 hours, 28 minutes, 27 secondsum this one there seems to be going okay and again it kind of depends on what civil group you want to look at but 3:28:353 hours, 28 minutes, 35 secondsthere are some areas where subgroups might need a little bit of assistance when you're looking at how to how to work with those students 3:28:433 hours, 28 minutes, 43 secondsthank you Jim thank you 3:28:463 hours, 28 minutes, 46 seconds[Music] 3:28:483 hours, 28 minutes, 48 secondsquestion number question number three and it's three parts yes sir so I'm just gonna ask one at a time okay 3:28:563 hours, 28 minutes, 56 secondsif you researched our dual enrollment program and should it be expanded 3:29:073 hours, 29 minutes, 7 secondsokay I have not researched Hickman counties in particular no I'm familiar with the dual enrollment program just from uh 3:29:163 hours, 29 minutes, 16 secondsbeing in high school and how those programs work uh I think to me if so you're looking at 3:29:243 hours, 29 minutes, 24 secondsum you know student opportunities and for me as many opportunities as we can provide our students 3:29:323 hours, 29 minutes, 32 secondsto get Advanced as much as they want uh to me that's a fantastic opportunity uh dual enrollment AP opportunities those 3:29:403 hours, 29 minutes, 40 secondsare when we look at again education I don't look at it just as a the next four years the next five years this is something 3:29:483 hours, 29 minutes, 48 secondsthat impacts students for the rest of their life and so when you're able to offer dual enrollment opportunities uh you're offering them opportunities that 3:29:563 hours, 29 minutes, 56 secondsare going to impact not just the next year or two but their career their future their potential future earnings 3:30:043 hours, 30 minutes, 4 secondswhat colleges they can get into um so to me anytime we can expand those opportunities I think that's fantastic 3:30:113 hours, 30 minutes, 11 secondsokay uh question two here um excuse me is our CTE program adequate to prepare 3:30:203 hours, 30 minutes, 20 secondsstudents for the workforce uh so I think when you're looking at 3:30:283 hours, 30 minutes, 28 secondsyou know the local employment or the state the area around Middle Tennessee and the employers that are there there are opportunities with the CTE 3:30:363 hours, 30 minutes, 36 secondsprograms that currently exist where I think they address some of those um you know I know there's an HVAC program there's a 3:30:443 hours, 30 minutes, 44 secondsmechatronics I think is one that I uh had heard or seen but I think there's also some areas where there could be 3:30:523 hours, 30 minutes, 52 secondssome more opportunities taken advantage of you know the Auto industry in this area is huge whether it's Ford whether it's 3:31:003 hours, 31 minutesGeneral Motors whether there's Nissan and some of the other suppliers that are in the area and so for me those those are opportunities to expand those 3:31:093 hours, 31 minutes, 9 secondsprograms again to offer students an opportunity when they graduate to be able to get straight into industry and 3:31:163 hours, 31 minutes, 16 secondsnot only to get into those Industries but start off in it at a level um where they want you know if they want to start off in an entry level or if 3:31:253 hours, 31 minutes, 25 secondsthey're able to you know to interview and start off at a higher level where they want kind of similar with engineering I think there's 3:31:333 hours, 31 minutes, 33 secondsopportunities for that as well I know there's some challenges with CTE at the moment um and I think a couple of the programs 3:31:403 hours, 31 minutes, 40 secondsare Grant funded with the new uh tissue funding from what I understand grants those grants will kind of go away and so 3:31:473 hours, 31 minutes, 47 secondsyou're looking at how are we going to fund those positions in the future um so I know that will be a challenge is finding funding for some of the current 3:31:553 hours, 31 minutes, 55 secondsprograms so that they can continue to run okay we've got one more question 3:32:023 hours, 32 minutes, 2 secondswhat is your position on CRT and gender issues 3:32:113 hours, 32 minutes, 11 seconds[Music] 3:32:153 hours, 32 minutes, 15 secondsokay so uh the gender issues I'll talk about first a lot of that is handled 3:32:233 hours, 32 minutes, 23 secondsuh by really state and federal law and so you know there's times where you agree 3:32:303 hours, 32 minutes, 30 secondsor disagree with something but um you know ultimately we follow the law so if you're talking about athletes in sports whether 3:32:393 hours, 32 minutes, 39 secondsstudents who identify as female but are biologically male can participate in those events a lot of that really is 3:32:473 hours, 32 minutes, 47 secondsdetermined Now by state and federal law and so you know we've got to follow those guidelines whether we agree or 3:32:553 hours, 32 minutes, 55 secondsdisagree with them with CRT to me those are 3:33:023 hours, 33 minutes, 2 secondsas a parent if I want my student um exposed to those 3:33:083 hours, 33 minutes, 8 secondsthen I can do that at home I I can do that in the privacy of my home to me that's not uh 3:33:163 hours, 33 minutes, 16 secondsI don't I don't the the fewer divisive issues that are in schools that's a pretty divisive issue to me that's 3:33:243 hours, 33 minutes, 24 secondssomething that parents can address while they're in the home for schools um that issue I think is just better left 3:33:323 hours, 33 minutes, 32 secondsoutside the school thank you 3:33:363 hours, 33 minutes, 36 seconds[Music] 3:33:393 hours, 33 minutes, 39 secondsgood morning how how important are extracurricular activities to the overall education program 3:33:463 hours, 33 minutes, 46 secondsand how would you propose to support our athletic programs at all Hickman County Schools 3:33:593 hours, 33 minutes, 59 secondsuh so extracurricular activities to me are extremely important I was a an athlete in high school and I participated in a couple of clubs as 3:34:073 hours, 34 minutes, 7 secondswell and for me and I think for a lot of students uh they're an outlet um you know sometimes our our home lives 3:34:153 hours, 34 minutes, 15 secondsare not the best and so those are opportunities to develop friendships uh and mentors with coaches as well that 3:34:233 hours, 34 minutes, 23 secondsum you know that really help guide students through high school and through college through career if they choose to go into an industry right after 3:34:303 hours, 34 minutes, 30 secondsgraduation and really through the rest of their lives I know you know a lot of my teammates um were very supportive through high 3:34:393 hours, 34 minutes, 39 secondsschool and again I it's an opportunity where we keep our students out of trouble there's a lot of students who tend to either get in 3:34:483 hours, 34 minutes, 48 secondstrouble in school or outside of school having those expectations as a athletic program and having those Mentor coaches 3:34:573 hours, 34 minutes, 57 secondsreally I think helps support a lot of our students and keep them on a good track and help provide advice and 3:35:043 hours, 35 minutes, 4 secondsguidance for those students as far as so to me any creature and that's any extra curricular activity I'm bands theater I think all those are opportunities to 3:35:133 hours, 35 minutes, 13 secondshelp guide our students to help give them some direction and really for a lot of our students that's why they come to 3:35:203 hours, 35 minutes, 20 secondsschool I mean that's you know sometimes our that's that is the best part of their day for them and so for and again if 3:35:293 hours, 35 minutes, 29 secondswe're able to expand those opportunities students enjoy School more they learn better um their attendance goes up 3:35:373 hours, 35 minutes, 37 secondsand so that has a big impact on their life supporting that I think a lot of that comes from parents in the community uh you know getting uh 3:35:463 hours, 35 minutes, 46 secondsand oftentimes you know especially in middle school you're asking for parents uh to volunteer their time and effort High 3:35:533 hours, 35 minutes, 53 secondsSchool we're doing that a lot as well but a lot of that's parental support setting expectations that parents understand and can help support us with 3:36:013 hours, 36 minutes, 1 secondagain especially Behavior but also academics and just in general uh the image of the program one of the things 3:36:093 hours, 36 minutes, 9 secondswe do is we always meet with our teams before the season and kind of go over with the parents the expectations and how they can support 3:36:163 hours, 36 minutes, 16 secondsour program one of the big things we we focus on for example is social media you know if you're going to get on social 3:36:233 hours, 36 minutes, 23 secondsmedia make sure it's supportive you know if you don't agree with a coach per se or you don't agree with something that's going on bring that to our attention 3:36:303 hours, 36 minutes, 30 secondslet's talk it out let's you know discuss things but as a parent as a community member one of the best ways you can 3:36:373 hours, 36 minutes, 37 secondssupport a school or a sports program is to talk about all the great things that are going on 3:36:443 hours, 36 minutes, 44 secondsum and to highlight those so I think the support comes from the the parents the community and sometimes that's asking community members to donate time 3:36:523 hours, 36 minutes, 52 secondssometimes it's asking them to to help find resources or to possibly donate resources if possible a lot of times it's just a matter of time you know can 3:37:013 hours, 37 minutes, 1 secondyou can you help us at an event whether we need some staffing uh whether we need someone to help run something at an event really a lot of times I think it's 3:37:103 hours, 37 minutes, 10 secondsjust asking people for a little bit of time uh even if it's just showing up an event and just showing your support for an event I think that makes a great 3:37:173 hours, 37 minutes, 17 secondslasting impression thank you hi 3:37:283 hours, 37 minutes, 28 secondsum I have a two-part question the first question is what are your credentials and experience for handling 3:37:353 hours, 37 minutes, 35 secondsa school budget from preparing then presenting to the school board in our County Commission part two are you familiar with the 3:37:443 hours, 37 minutes, 44 secondsdifferences in the Old State BEP formula versus the new Tista formula 3:37:563 hours, 37 minutes, 56 secondsokay so I've not had experience preparing a District budget I've had a little bit of 3:38:033 hours, 38 minutes, 3 secondsexperience preparing a school budget or a um a CTE budget as our 3:38:103 hours, 38 minutes, 10 secondsCTE lead at the high school level um I know a lot of that has started now when you're looking at the budget for 3:38:173 hours, 38 minutes, 17 secondsnext year I think from what I understand that gets presented to the board and and all will work on that 3:38:263 hours, 38 minutes, 26 secondsbudget now and then through almost the beginning of June and then that will be presented to the county then the county 3:38:343 hours, 38 minutes, 34 secondswill either approve or not approve that and then it'll get submitted to the state where they either approve it or not approve it I think they've got until October to do that as well so I 3:38:423 hours, 38 minutes, 42 secondsunderstand some of the inner Frameworks of budgeting but as far as sitting down and going through the budget I've not had that opportunity or that experience 3:38:513 hours, 38 minutes, 51 secondsI you know I do know from looking at the budget that a great deal of that money I don't want to say is 3:38:583 hours, 38 minutes, 58 secondsfixed but it's uh a lot of it are the expenditures that have to happen yeah we have to have Math teachers you have to have English 3:39:063 hours, 39 minutes, 6 secondsteachers science teachers um you know when you sit down and look at then what's left then you're looking at 3:39:133 hours, 39 minutes, 13 secondsyou know where do we want to emphasize our spending whether that's on CTE whether that's on additional Personnel 3:39:203 hours, 39 minutes, 20 secondswhether that's on support materials for teachers supplemental materials 3:39:283 hours, 39 minutes, 28 secondsso again I don't have a lot of experience with that but I kind of understand the framework and how that works the the difference between Tissa 3:39:363 hours, 39 minutes, 36 secondsand BP is uh drastic and so I can give you an example of so under BEP for example 3:39:443 hours, 39 minutes, 44 secondsthey would look at the high school here and say all right you've got x amount of square footage here at the high school 3:39:523 hours, 39 minutes, 52 secondsbased on the square footage you might get allocated one custodian you might get allocated two or three custodians 3:40:003 hours, 40 minuteswith the Tissa funding basically all of that a student gets a base amount which is going to be roughly around sixty 3:40:073 hours, 40 minutes, 7 secondseight hundred dollars and then based on um different attributes that that student 3:40:133 hours, 40 minutes, 13 secondshas whether there's possibly a student who's designated as a special ed student whether they're a student who takes CTE 3:40:213 hours, 40 minutes, 21 secondsclasses uh there's 10 different attributes and based on the different attributes that a student may or may not have that funding goes up and so now 3:40:303 hours, 40 minutes, 30 secondsinstead of under BEP where you might get allocated money for a custodian that money will have to now come out of the fun the funding that 3:40:383 hours, 40 minutes, 38 secondsyou're getting for your students based on that base rate plus their attributes that they may have and so you're looking 3:40:453 hours, 40 minutes, 45 secondsat a drastically different way to fund um schools another example would be like Grant programs a lot of Grant programs 3:40:533 hours, 40 minutes, 53 secondsand I kind of mentioned this a little earlier they're they're disappearing so if you had a teacher who may have been funded through a grant program to the 3:41:013 hours, 41 minutes, 1 secondstate well that grant program goes away now that teacher again that funding comes from uh your total tissue funding 3:41:103 hours, 41 minutes, 10 secondsthat you're going to get and so you know there I think there's some districts in there who may think oh we're going to be getting a lot of extra money well if you 3:41:173 hours, 41 minutes, 17 secondsif you subtract some of those expenses that used to be covered through grants or used to be covered through other programs that are no longer going to exist 3:41:253 hours, 41 minutes, 25 secondsthat funding may or may not look a lot better than what you think so the way that you sit down and you budget and you look at the funding that you're going to 3:41:343 hours, 41 minutes, 34 secondsget I think it's a lot more variable than it used to be you know the first day of of school when the students show up in in 3:41:433 hours, 41 minutes, 43 secondsyou know you've seen okay here's how many actually showed up versus how many we thought were going to show up here's some of the tributes we thought they had and here's some of the 3:41:513 hours, 41 minutes, 51 secondsattributes they actually have you might see your uh your allocation from the state very drastically 3:41:593 hours, 41 minutes, 59 secondsum so there's got to be a lot of diligence a lot of planning that goes into that 3:42:083 hours, 42 minutes, 8 secondsgood morning Jim um the question I'm going to ask you has three parts and I'm just going to ask each one of them separately and let you 3:42:153 hours, 42 minutes, 15 secondsrespond to each one so the first part of the three is how would you handle complaints from parents as well as staff 3:42:313 hours, 42 minutes, 31 secondsokay so one thing I think I'm notorious for in a good way is I always keep an open 3:42:393 hours, 42 minutes, 39 secondsdoor um where I'm currently at and again I invite people to come in I want to have 3:42:453 hours, 42 minutes, 45 secondsa an image where I'm I'm open I'm available and so depending on the level 3:42:533 hours, 42 minutes, 53 secondsof the parent complaint I'd rather whether it's a phone call a text message again when time allows I really like to meet with people face to face I think 3:43:023 hours, 43 minutes, 2 secondsthat it shows that we have a a true interest it shows that we truly care about their concern I know that's not 3:43:113 hours, 43 minutes, 11 secondsalways the case because there's only so much time in the day but for parent complaints I always keep an open mind and try to keep an open door 3:43:183 hours, 43 minutes, 18 secondsum and sometimes that that means me going and doing some home visits uh when possible but you know and I document all 3:43:263 hours, 43 minutes, 26 secondsthese I always document parent uh interactions just so that you know I know is this something we've talked about the first time is this something that's repetitive and continues uh to be 3:43:363 hours, 43 minutes, 36 secondsa possible issue uh but for me it's it's about creating relationships with parents 3:43:443 hours, 43 minutes, 44 secondsum and so that they know that when they do have a concern it's we we're taking a genuine interest in their concern and if 3:43:513 hours, 43 minutes, 51 secondsit's possible to uh to solve their concern then great if it's not then trying to explain to the 3:43:583 hours, 43 minutes, 58 secondsthe parent in a way that um they understand where we're coming from and hopefully respect the decision that we've made even if it may not be 3:44:063 hours, 44 minutes, 6 secondssomething that they we're hoping for it's a decision that they can appreciate and respect thank you the second part of this 3:44:143 hours, 44 minutes, 14 secondsquestion is how would you handle bullying in our schools by students and by staff okay 3:44:213 hours, 44 minutes, 21 secondsuh so I don't really have much of a a tolerance or patience for bullying um so you know that's one thing is 3:44:293 hours, 44 minutes, 29 secondsasking administrators to take a hard stance on that and and two to also make sure that anytime there's a 3:44:373 hours, 44 minutes, 37 secondsan issue or a where it's been brought up that that may be occurring that we're taking it seriously um not that this has been the case where 3:44:453 hours, 44 minutes, 45 secondsI've been at but I think there's times where um teachers or staff or sometimes even administrators are told about potential 3:44:533 hours, 44 minutes, 53 secondsbullying and it's not taken as seriously as it should be taken it impacts so many things if students don't 3:45:013 hours, 45 minutes, 1 secondfeel safe in school they're not going to be able to focus they're not going to learn they're not going to enjoy coming to school and that just leads to a 3:45:083 hours, 45 minutes, 8 secondssnowball of issues um so for me it's it's setting the expectations with our staff with our 3:45:163 hours, 45 minutes, 16 secondsadministrators that Boeing is always taken seriously uh you've always got to look into it research it meet with students and get to the bottom of those 3:45:253 hours, 45 minutes, 25 secondsissues but when you do find an issue where bullying may be occurring uh just don't there's not a 3:45:323 hours, 45 minutes, 32 secondsthere's not an acceptance of it you know I'm a pretty firm person that uh we deal with those things 3:45:403 hours, 45 minutes, 40 secondspretty black and white where I'm at currently um you know that's just the expectation when students come in is we're going to 3:45:483 hours, 45 minutes, 48 secondstreat each other well uh students and staff there's there's going to be a lot of respect that students have for each other that students have with teachers 3:45:553 hours, 45 minutes, 55 secondsand teachers have with students in those lines um you know we just don't cross those lines and when they are across stiff they do 3:46:043 hours, 46 minutes, 4 secondsget crossed there's some pretty severe consequences for that uh but again that's just because there are so many potential bad things that could happen 3:46:123 hours, 46 minutes, 12 secondswith that we take that very seriously uh thank you and then the the third and final part of this question is 3:46:203 hours, 46 minutes, 20 secondsum uh many would say the Hickman County has a culture where there's a at least a perception of nepotism and favoritism 3:46:273 hours, 46 minutes, 27 secondshow would you drive change in this perception and instill a culture of trust and fairness 3:46:373 hours, 46 minutes, 37 secondsokay so I think the nepotism I imagine it 3:46:443 hours, 46 minutes, 44 secondsprobably means with hiring and promoting um so I think one of those is increasing your potential pool of applicants 3:46:523 hours, 46 minutes, 52 secondsum you know whether that's through uh visiting the the colleges and trying to work with those programs so that when 3:46:593 hours, 46 minutes, 59 secondsthey have uh future graduates that they're looking at Hickman County sometimes that's working with other agencies to that you know when students 3:47:083 hours, 47 minutes, 8 secondsget close to graduating that they're considering Hickman County so that's just making people more aware uh when we have positions open and I always think 3:47:163 hours, 47 minutes, 16 secondsfrom the community um word of mouth I think is fantastic I mean most parents know other Educators 3:47:243 hours, 47 minutes, 24 secondsin other systems most teachers know Educators and other systems so I think anytime you get the opportunity to increase your pool of applicants that 3:47:323 hours, 47 minutes, 32 secondshelps reduce the opportunity for there to be nepotism um you know if you've got three applicants for example two or from 3:47:403 hours, 47 minutes, 40 secondsHickman County and one is not and you're interviewing those candidates the likelihood that one of the 3:47:483 hours, 47 minutes, 48 secondscandidates is going to be really good is probably because they're from Hickman County because there's two of them from Hickman County and one not from Hickman 3:47:573 hours, 47 minutes, 57 secondsCounty it's just a matter of numbers but if you can increase those numbers of applicants hopefully you increase the number of qualified candidates I also 3:48:063 hours, 48 minutes, 6 secondswant to say this too if we have if you have a candidate from Hickman County you don't want to Discount you know I I 3:48:143 hours, 48 minutes, 14 secondsdon't want to look at a parent and say well we're not going to hire someone from Hickman County even though they're more qualified just because they're from Hickman County I'm not going to do your 3:48:223 hours, 48 minutes, 22 secondsstudent a disservice to me that would be a huge disservice to try to avoid any um perception of nepotism and not hire the 3:48:313 hours, 48 minutes, 31 secondsbest candidate if they happen to be from Hickman County fantastic that's awesome but if the the best most qualified candidate is not from Macon County then 3:48:403 hours, 48 minutes, 40 secondswe also don't want to hesitate with that other you know to me it's you're always trying to position yourself to hire the best candidates no matter where they're 3:48:483 hours, 48 minutes, 48 secondsfrom sometimes that is a little dicey because you know there is that perception of nepotism I say anybody who's worked with 3:48:573 hours, 48 minutes, 57 secondsme um also knows this uh the expectation is that we work hard there's not a you're going to get hired on and just 3:49:063 hours, 49 minutes, 6 secondskind of sit in the back seat and not do much so I think that kind of helps with the nepotism as well there's there's not anybody who would be on staff that's 3:49:143 hours, 49 minutes, 14 secondsjust kind of sitting back enjoying sitting in a chair not doing anything the expectation is that we come to work and we're professional and we're working 3:49:223 hours, 49 minutes, 22 secondshard for our students and our families uh the trust uh the trust issue again I think it's 3:49:303 hours, 49 minutes, 30 secondsjust been about visible it's being at uh games it's it being it um events it's it being it trunk Retreats it's being at uh band concerts 3:49:383 hours, 49 minutes, 38 secondsand it's just being out in the community uh and meeting with parents and parents seeing you and the more relationships you can develop with parents in the 3:49:473 hours, 49 minutes, 47 secondscommunity I think that helps build that trust so to me a lot of that is visitability and um being available 3:49:543 hours, 49 minutes, 54 secondsthank you John or Jim I'm sorry last question should you choose as our next director 3:50:033 hours, 50 minutes, 3 secondsArthur Jones is our next director are you serious about accepting and what would you propose how your first day 90 days would 3:50:113 hours, 50 minutes, 11 secondslook like okay uh one yes very very serious about 3:50:183 hours, 50 minutes, 18 secondsaccepting the position that's something my fiance and I have talked about we've already I've already started looking at 3:50:263 hours, 50 minutes, 26 secondsopportunities to move to Hickman County and properties and houses and we've had that discussion um for sure I mean that's a that's a 100 3:50:353 hours, 50 minutes, 35 secondswithout even having to think about it uh the first 90 days to me a lot of that is meeting with the board 3:50:413 hours, 50 minutes, 41 secondsum and looking at the direction that we want the system to go in uh you know I know there's there's some directions 3:50:483 hours, 50 minutes, 48 secondsthat the system is going in that uh we probably like and we want to continue there's probably some uh directions that 3:50:553 hours, 50 minutes, 55 secondswe're going in that the uh the board would probably uh have us go in another Direction so it's kind of sitting down 3:51:013 hours, 51 minutes, 1 secondand planning out the directions that we want to go in and then how do we support moving in that direction another thing would be meeting again with the 3:51:103 hours, 51 minutes, 10 secondsadministrative staffs at all the schools individually not together and kind of looking at their data where they're at 3:51:183 hours, 51 minutes, 18 secondssetting out goals for those administrators and kind of reviewing where they're at where they've been um 3:51:253 hours, 51 minutes, 25 secondsand again how do we move forward to in some of these areas like math and some of these areas that were not proficient or where we're not at the level we'd 3:51:333 hours, 51 minutes, 33 secondslike to be and how do we start moving the district in that direction and again um 3:51:423 hours, 51 minutes, 42 secondsgetting out there and being visible between now and when the school year starts as much as possible uh I'd love to have a couple Open House events where 3:51:513 hours, 51 minutes, 51 secondspeople can just come and meet me um and talk about any of their concerns uh and things that they'd like to see that maybe they don't see currently in 3:51:583 hours, 51 minutes, 58 secondsthe system or things they wish were changed in the system but to me the first 90 days is really about meeting 3:52:063 hours, 52 minutes, 6 secondswith people and seeing where we're at why are we in discussing why we're not where we should be at in some areas and then setting plans on how we get there 3:52:153 hours, 52 minutes, 15 secondsyou're like a closing statement uh I kind of mentioned earlier I you know I'm super excited I'm super 3:52:233 hours, 52 minutes, 23 secondsnervous at the moment but I'm super excited about this opportunity um I'm kind of a straightforward person you know you probably wouldn't ever see 3:52:313 hours, 52 minutes, 31 secondsme super ex like visibly super excited you wouldn't see me visibly or super upset I'm a pretty even killed person 3:52:393 hours, 52 minutes, 39 secondsum I like to think that one of my strengths is setting structures I'm not superintendents are in classrooms 3:52:463 hours, 52 minutes, 46 secondsteaching every day um but one of the things I think superintendents do is they set structures for the people around them to 3:52:543 hours, 52 minutes, 54 secondsbe successful and I think one of my strengths has been able to work with people to set up structures so that they can be successful 3:53:033 hours, 53 minutes, 3 secondsum so as the board moves forward I hope that's one of those things that they keep in consideration is a a thing that I would say one of the things I'm best 3:53:103 hours, 53 minutes, 10 secondsat is helping the people around me being successful with what they need to be thank you very much thank you 3:53:243 hours, 53 minutes, 24 secondsat this time we're going to take a break and it's from 12 to 1 o'clock we'll be at lunch 3:53:313 hours, 53 minutes, 31 secondswe'll have a public forum at one o'clock to 2 30 so be sure to be back for that and remember if you have any questions 3:53:393 hours, 53 minutes, 39 secondsfor the town hall meeting there's a box up in the lobby that you can put those questions in thank you for being here 3:53:493 hours, 53 minutes, 49 secondsincreases 5:09:415 hours, 9 minutes, 41 secondsI'm interested 5:17:455 hours, 17 minutes, 45 secondsgood luck yeah all right 5:17:535 hours, 17 minutes, 53 secondsthis is the final process and what we'd like you to do for the audience is remain quiet and Silent if 5:18:005 hours, 18 minutesyou have a phone please put it on off or turn the volume down Mr Boss is going to be admired for this we're gonna I'm gonna go back over and 5:18:085 hours, 18 minutes, 8 secondswe're gonna open up the meeting from recess and we'll get started 5:18:175 hours, 18 minutes, 17 secondsthank you 5:18:395 hours, 18 minutes, 39 secondsthank you 5:18:485 hours, 18 minutes, 48 seconds[Music] 5:18:505 hours, 18 minutes, 50 secondsMr operator can I take this off 5:18:555 hours, 18 minutes, 55 seconds[Music] 5:19:015 hours, 19 minutes, 1 secondthe board asked me to be the moderator this afternoon for the public forum and I want to thank the board that's a 5:19:105 hours, 19 minutes, 10 secondstongue-in-cheek by the way that I'm thanking the board for me being the moderator but nonetheless uh that was 5:19:165 hours, 19 minutes, 16 secondsthat is my job they tasked me with and I would have say this to you all I 5:19:235 hours, 19 minutes, 23 secondsappreciate on their behalf of you coming out this afternoon to an event like this 5:19:305 hours, 19 minutes, 30 secondsif you were here this morning I think you saw that it went in an orderly manner orderly process and our 5:19:395 hours, 19 minutes, 39 secondsplans this afternoon will be for it to be the same it is scheduled to start at one o'clock and conclude at 2 30. I will 5:19:495 hours, 19 minutes, 49 secondsdo the best I can to keep it on course and make it work within the time parameters that that has been 5:19:585 hours, 19 minutes, 58 secondsestablished there is a whole stack of cards up here with questions on them I started out trying to sort through 5:20:075 hours, 20 minutes, 7 secondsthem and sort them out so I could keep up I just quit and stacked them all back together and said well we'll just take it as it comes the best we can and and 5:20:165 hours, 20 minutes, 16 secondsask the question if it's a question that's specific to a candidate I will ask that candidate to answer the 5:20:255 hours, 20 minutes, 25 secondsquestion and then I'm going to ask these others then if they have anything they'd like to comment on on that 5:20:335 hours, 20 minutes, 33 secondsspecific issue if it's not addressed anybody specifically we'll just Let each 5:20:395 hours, 20 minutes, 39 secondsof the candidates have 60 to 90 seconds maximum to give a response to the 5:20:475 hours, 20 minutes, 47 secondsquestion that's been asked all you guys all understand the what we're going to do and how we're going to 5:20:545 hours, 20 minutes, 54 secondstry to do this I have the first question today to ask them it's not written on a 5:21:025 hours, 21 minutes, 2 secondscard but I want it to be on record and I'm going to ask each one of these 5:21:095 hours, 21 minutes, 9 secondsgentlemen we had two who if you kept up with the news there were eight in the beginning but we had two 5:21:175 hours, 21 minutes, 17 secondswho withdrew one withdrew on Wednesday afternoon and one withdrew last night for various reasons 5:21:245 hours, 21 minutes, 24 secondsso that left the six that we have here today so I'm going to put on a record each one of these gentlemen by asking each one of 5:21:335 hours, 21 minutes, 33 secondsthem a question and you'll understand why I'm asking the question Mr Mullins 5:21:415 hours, 21 minutes, 41 secondsdid you at any point in this process did you know what the questions were that 5:21:485 hours, 21 minutes, 48 secondswere going to be asked today Mr Hall did you ever have the opportunity to know what these questions 5:21:565 hours, 21 minutes, 56 secondswere today did you Kevin no sir 5:22:045 hours, 22 minutes, 4 secondsJim Johnny I wanted that to be on record because they did not know what the 5:22:135 hours, 22 minutes, 13 secondsquestions were neither did the board know what the questions were until they sat down at 5:22:205 hours, 22 minutes, 20 secondstheir seat today so that everybody understands that nobody had a head start so to speak so thank you all for your 5:22:295 hours, 22 minutes, 29 secondsresponse and with that I'll just pick up a card 5:22:395 hours, 22 minutes, 39 secondsthat's got too much writing on it right yet try to find one with a short one to get 5:22:485 hours, 22 minutes, 48 secondsstarted on okay gentlemen 5:22:555 hours, 22 minutes, 55 secondsMr Shipman you have the phone there in the middle and I can hand off too as well the question that is posed 5:23:045 hours, 23 minutes, 4 secondscould we hope for an increase in CTE classes or even bringing some programs 5:23:125 hours, 23 minutes, 12 secondsback such as drafting computer Graphics design radio and TV and journalism now some of these questions on some of 5:23:195 hours, 23 minutes, 19 secondsthe cards have sort of kind of been addressed during the interview process so 5:23:275 hours, 23 minutes, 27 secondswe don't need a uh sermon on it okay Mr Mullins I'll start here with you to 5:23:355 hours, 23 minutes, 35 secondsanswer that question I would be a proponent of adding any program that would benefit a student that can be 5:23:435 hours, 23 minutes, 43 secondsafforded by the school budget absolutely as I would as well I'd also 5:23:515 hours, 23 minutes, 51 secondswould like to look at uh what's offered in our community as far as industry those type of things that can enhance our CTE programs I make sure 5:24:005 hours, 24 minuteswe're in correlation with what is offered here also yeah I I wouldn't have to agree with both responses you know uh 5:24:085 hours, 24 minutes, 8 secondsone of the things that you want to do is see where we are with our budget and as long as the as long as we can afford it the more we can offer our students and 5:24:175 hours, 24 minutes, 17 secondsour children will it would be best for us yeah I agree we want to as long as our budget 5:24:265 hours, 24 minutes, 26 secondsallows we want to give all the programs that we possibly can I also would like to add the community 5:24:355 hours, 24 minutes, 35 secondsum resources and the needs of the community so we will be wise about our programs to make sure they enhance our 5:24:435 hours, 24 minutes, 43 secondscommunity 5:24:445 hours, 24 minutes, 44 seconds[Music] 5:24:465 hours, 24 minutes, 46 secondsI would agree as well uh I know Governor Lee has invested a lot of money in CTE our legislature has as well and they've 5:24:555 hours, 24 minutes, 55 secondseven given us again an incentive through Tessa funding to increase those programs so for me that's a win-win for everyone 5:25:045 hours, 25 minutes, 4 secondsI would certainly be open to adding any CTE course that we can afford and as long as they're student interest in it 5:25:125 hours, 25 minutes, 12 secondsand World interest interest in it and the jobs are out there sure offer it 5:25:195 hours, 25 minutes, 19 secondswe've got a couple here that are similar questions and I'm sure we'll have some others that will be similar as well but 5:25:265 hours, 25 minutes, 26 secondsjust taking them as they come these two both are related to the two out of state folks 5:25:355 hours, 25 minutes, 35 secondsso that's the question directly but it might impact some of the rest of you as well question is specifically for the 5:25:445 hours, 25 minutes, 44 secondstwo State out of two out of state retirees what is your motivation to come out of retirement and become Hickman 5:25:515 hours, 25 minutes, 51 secondsCounty director of schools and I question very similar to that why did you leave the education profession so 5:25:595 hours, 25 minutes, 59 secondsI'm going to start here with Mr Shipman first and then back to Mr Mullins 5:26:075 hours, 26 minutes, 7 secondsgo ahead yeah thank you yeah I think this question has come around a couple times and uh you know I 5:26:155 hours, 26 minutes, 15 secondsreached retirement age and like many people you look forward to your retirement time and and I retired in Alabama and and was able to do some 5:26:235 hours, 26 minutes, 23 secondstraveling see some family but uh I would just say I probably haven't planned my retirement well enough because uh I 5:26:315 hours, 26 minutes, 31 secondsdon't have enough Hobbies uh but I really miss uh being part of an educational system uh where I can help 5:26:405 hours, 26 minutes, 40 secondsstudents and help make improvements uh and and basically make life better but at the end of it it's a question about 5:26:495 hours, 26 minutes, 49 secondshaving more to offer and I feel like I still have more to offer uh the education community 5:26:595 hours, 26 minutes, 59 secondsI have plenty hobbies and I've enjoyed my last four years of my hobbies I have a 5:27:075 hours, 27 minutes, 7 secondssincere spiritual calling to return to work it's I I came here 5:27:135 hours, 27 minutes, 13 secondstoday by prayer and I spoke to this earlier this morning in the interview 5:27:215 hours, 27 minutes, 21 secondsI'm blessed I'm blessed with health I'm blessed with family I'm blessed with energy and I struggle when I say things 5:27:305 hours, 27 minutes, 30 secondsthat sound less than humble I'm blessed with the gift of leadership so I want to help people when I say that I want to help students 5:27:395 hours, 27 minutes, 39 secondsI want to have teachers and when you have teachers you help students so and I became interested in Hickman County because I've only spent a little time 5:27:485 hours, 27 minutes, 48 secondsaround Miss Gilbert Miss Gilbert is a very caring thoughtful person Ms Gilbert gave this board tremendous amount of 5:27:565 hours, 27 minutes, 56 secondsnotice what her intent was about not seeking a contract so in the there's a cycle for superintendent vacancies and 5:28:045 hours, 28 minutes, 4 secondsthis one came up early in the process I studied the county I've worked in a very similar County a county that had a 5:28:115 hours, 28 minutes, 11 secondsdivide between one end and the other a county that had 60 percent poverty accounting that the Natchez Trace flowed through in Tishomingo County Mississippi 5:28:205 hours, 28 minutes, 20 secondsso I'm determined I am determined to return to work this is the only job I have applied for 5:28:285 hours, 28 minutes, 28 secondsand uh I'm I'm here for some deeply personal reasons but I'm here to help and serve 5:28:365 hours, 28 minutes, 36 secondsuh anybody else Mr Hall you have anything to add Kevin you want John any of you guys all 5:28:445 hours, 28 minutes, 44 secondsright our next question uh centers around um 5:28:525 hours, 28 minutes, 52 secondsa topic that we discussed during the interviews this morning but it 5:29:005 hours, 29 minutesit's a little different tact on this question how would you address intimidation 5:29:065 hours, 29 minutes, 6 secondsand or bullying from board members okay Bill we're going to start here with you first you're you've got the 5:29:145 hours, 29 minutes, 14 secondsmicrophone that's a direct one-on-one conversation with myself and the board member uh to see what can be changed in the relationship see why 5:29:235 hours, 29 minutes, 23 secondsand to uh get anything that's on the table on the open between myself 5:29:315 hours, 29 minutes, 31 secondsand and the board member I've always prided myself and having a great work relationship with the board with our community with our faculty with our 5:29:395 hours, 29 minutes, 39 secondsAdministration and I cannot see why that we would have an issue but if there was would tell it you know person to 5:29:475 hours, 29 minutes, 47 secondsperson man-to-man man to woman however needs to be settled 5:29:505 hours, 29 minutes, 50 seconds[Music] 5:29:555 hours, 29 minutes, 55 secondsyeah yeah I would have to agree with that you know education is about relationships you know whether you're talking about board members to the 5:30:025 hours, 30 minutes, 2 secondssuperintendent or you're talking about teachers and students it's all about relationships and uh you know uh I would 5:30:105 hours, 30 minutes, 10 secondsagree that you know keeping those relationships with board members uh as positive as possible is really important 5:30:195 hours, 30 minutes, 19 secondsand uh you know in my past I I've strived to have good communication with my board members and so if things like 5:30:275 hours, 30 minutes, 27 secondsthis do happen uh we can have those conversations sometimes they're difficult conversations but you got to have them and uh the other side of this 5:30:365 hours, 30 minutes, 36 secondsone other thing is that you know as a as a board you know the board works as an entity they're a group they work as a 5:30:445 hours, 30 minutes, 44 secondsboard not individually so if it's an individual issue then you handle it individually uh but certainly uh you 5:30:525 hours, 30 minutes, 52 secondsneed to to work to improve all relationships with your port 5:31:015 hours, 31 minutes, 1 secondI agree the relationships of being superintendent and working with a board 5:31:085 hours, 31 minutes, 8 secondsyou must have that open communication that open uh knowing that everyone's having the same 5:31:175 hours, 31 minutes, 17 secondsmission same vision and when an issue Rises uh you you address it you 5:31:245 hours, 31 minutes, 24 secondsyou come directly you come transparently uh if it's between two individuals you you talk to them get all the facts 5:31:335 hours, 31 minutes, 33 secondswork it out and work for the positive of the school system our teachers and 5:31:405 hours, 31 minutes, 40 secondsstudents and that's the main thing but if you have communication you have a relationship where you can speak to each 5:31:495 hours, 31 minutes, 49 secondsother you can work out any issues that do uh develop because of a difference of opinion 5:31:575 hours, 31 minutes, 57 secondsI agree it's a lot of it is uh the relationship building that you have with the board uh getting to know the board members when there is a disagreement 5:32:055 hours, 32 minutes, 5 secondslike some of the other candidates mentioned having those conversations face to face and at the end of the day it really kind of boils down to trust uh 5:32:135 hours, 32 minutes, 13 secondsyou're asking the board member to trust that the direction we're going in and the decisions that we're making um you know are good for our students 5:32:215 hours, 32 minutes, 21 secondsare good for our teachers are good for our community so a lot of that is is again at the end of the day they they may not necessarily agree with the 5:32:285 hours, 32 minutes, 28 secondsdecision that you've made but they respect the decision and they understand why you're making that decision 5:32:365 hours, 32 minutes, 36 secondsall of those are good points and I certainly believe in open and transparent communication with the board members and also the open and transparent communication with school 5:32:455 hours, 32 minutes, 45 secondsadministrators to hopefully head off these problems and have them investigated uh and come to some conclusion before we have to have a 5:32:545 hours, 32 minutes, 54 secondsconfrontation between the director and board member uh any com communication needs to be open and down to heart and look at it from a problem problem 5:33:015 hours, 33 minutes, 1 secondsolving standpoint thank you in um Stephen covey's Seven Habits of Highly 5:33:105 hours, 33 minutes, 10 secondsEffective People he says that everybody has an emotional bank account and you have to make deposits in people's bank account before you can make withdrawals 5:33:185 hours, 33 minutes, 18 secondsso I'm going to make deposit in the bank accounts emotional bank accounts or board members by doing my job and doing 5:33:255 hours, 33 minutes, 25 secondsit well and building a relationship with them and getting to getting to know what they feel like the direction the 5:33:335 hours, 33 minutes, 33 secondsdistrict needs to go getting to know what their concerns are but the question was what would you do with bullying and 5:33:405 hours, 33 minutes, 40 secondsintimidation and I would investigate it and if a board member was bullying and intimidating someone I would tell them 5:33:485 hours, 33 minutes, 48 secondsyou can't do that and I know that they hire me but the truth is no one in this District 5:33:565 hours, 33 minutes, 56 secondsBoard member teacher student should be bullying and intimidating anyone so hopefully if that does not ever occur 5:34:055 hours, 34 minutes, 5 secondsbut if it does I hope I've had enough time to earn their trust and to build some relationship so I can just simply 5:34:125 hours, 34 minutes, 12 secondstell them you can't do that and then I want to ask how else could we have handled this situation in a better manner 5:34:215 hours, 34 minutes, 21 secondsnext question um this person writes a statement and then asks the question the statement was is 5:34:315 hours, 34 minutes, 31 secondsthat Hickman County is predominantly Evangelical conservative community 5:34:395 hours, 34 minutes, 39 secondsthe question then would be how would you or what would you do to help Preserve the culture 5:34:475 hours, 34 minutes, 47 secondsKevin we're going to start with you you've got the microphone that's the way we'll do it 5:34:565 hours, 34 minutes, 56 secondsfirstly anyone can give in in a position like this is not going to sit here and try to change everything about every 5:35:035 hours, 35 minutes, 3 secondseveryday life of the citizens of hidden County so you go and learn 5:35:115 hours, 35 minutes, 11 secondsum learn learn the demographics learn the emotions of the community of your 5:35:195 hours, 35 minutes, 19 secondsschools of your administrators every teachers of your students work with that preserve what is important to them 5:35:275 hours, 35 minutes, 27 secondsimportant to the families and live off in doing the things that you're supposed to do that's right I work in a way that 5:35:365 hours, 35 minutes, 36 secondsI everything I do I'm coming from a good place in my heart based on the values that I was uh raised on and 5:35:455 hours, 35 minutes, 45 secondsI would incorporate that into the value system of the community and work together 5:35:545 hours, 35 minutes, 54 secondsto improve everything not within only in schools but our community in the future 5:36:005 hours, 36 minutesbecause everything we're doing uh we're we're looking in the future because our young people are our future and we want 5:36:095 hours, 36 minutes, 9 secondsto have a great uh group of young ladies and gentlemen that will lead us into 5:36:155 hours, 36 minutes, 15 secondsgreat things as in years to go I look like um Kevin mentioned we're not 5:36:235 hours, 36 minutes, 23 secondsuh anyone in this position is not necessarily trying to change the overall culture of a community and I 5:36:315 hours, 36 minutes, 31 secondsthink too A lot of the things that we teach in our schools transcend any background whether that's treating people with respect whether 5:36:405 hours, 36 minutes, 40 secondsthat's discipline all those are you know what most of us would consider uh Universal values that everyone should 5:36:485 hours, 36 minutes, 48 secondshave and so a lot of the things that we instill on a daily basis in our schools aren't we're not looking to change a 5:36:555 hours, 36 minutes, 55 secondsculture we're just trying to instill uh Universal values in our students and our staff I think that's kind of how I would 5:37:025 hours, 37 minutes, 2 secondsaddress that well as as I said earlier I'd want to have Community meetings at all the small 5:37:125 hours, 37 minutes, 12 secondscommunities around the county and see what people really want and of course they're always going to be the 5:37:195 hours, 37 minutes, 19 secondsmasses as Miss Qualls alluded to of Evangelical Evangelical Christians there are also other people out there that 5:37:265 hours, 37 minutes, 26 secondsneed respect too will we be able to change am I going to try to change culture no I just want everyone to get along be at peace with each other and 5:37:355 hours, 37 minutes, 35 secondsteach them to be better citizens and live Better Lives here you go we'll start right here I 5:37:445 hours, 37 minutes, 44 secondsthink we like two or three okay go ahead go ahead in my previous job we had strong 5:37:525 hours, 37 minutes, 52 secondsPartnerships with churches uh we had two churches that provided children we called it um 5:37:595 hours, 37 minutes, 59 secondsblessings and a backpack we sent food home to needy children every uh Friday we had uh churches that came in and and 5:38:085 hours, 38 minutes, 8 secondsorganize a closed closet we loaned our gymnasiums to a Baptist Church for Upward Basketball churches 5:38:165 hours, 38 minutes, 16 secondsare in the same business that schools are in and that's helping people so I think it's a natural uh partnership to 5:38:235 hours, 38 minutes, 23 secondswork with churches but personally I'm going to live my life in a manner 5:38:315 hours, 38 minutes, 31 secondsthat people hopefully can see that I am aligned with my savior that's how I say I'm going to live my life 5:38:405 hours, 38 minutes, 40 secondsthat's how I'm going to conduct myself I'm going to do unto others as I would want them to do unto me um I have a history with this 5:38:495 hours, 38 minutes, 49 secondsI have a I have a difficult history with this I don't know if I I can do I have the moment 5:38:565 hours, 38 minutes, 56 secondsyou know everybody had a moment to eat yeah so what does that mean yes or go or stop 5:39:035 hours, 39 minutes, 3 secondsI'll go fast 2 000 Supreme Court said you couldn't pray at football games I was superintendent in Mississippi we 5:39:095 hours, 39 minutes, 9 secondskept praying 2002 I moved Arab Alabama Arab Alabama has stopped praying and has started using a moment of silence I had 5:39:185 hours, 39 minutes, 18 secondsstudents approach me saying we want to pray I said let's pray we prayed for nine years we got a letter from the freedom 5:39:255 hours, 39 minutes, 25 secondsfrom religion Foundation telling us to cease and desist our attorney told us we couldn't win that decision so we had to 5:39:335 hours, 39 minutes, 33 secondsreturn to a moment of silence and it was one of the most painful decisions that I've ever had to make as a superintendent and it was a decision 5:39:415 hours, 39 minutes, 41 secondsthat people uh thought that I personally agree with sometimes when 5:39:495 hours, 39 minutes, 49 secondsyou're in this role you have to make decisions that did you possibly don't personally agree with there are rare occasions like that so uh I have had a 5:39:575 hours, 39 minutes, 57 secondshistory with this but I will find every opportunity for people to exercise their faith and I will find every opportunity to partner with churches in every 5:40:065 hours, 40 minutes, 6 secondsopportunity for the schools to uh bring faith-based programs into them 5:40:135 hours, 40 minutes, 13 secondssorry for taking so long I come from a county with demographics 5:40:205 hours, 40 minutes, 20 secondsare almost identical as far as what the percentages with the Evangelical Christian and conservative values 5:40:285 hours, 40 minutes, 28 secondsum like everyone else I'm not here to change a culture I'm here to try to help and improve the culture to improve the culture for our students to improve the 5:40:375 hours, 40 minutes, 37 secondsculture for our community to improve the culture that when our students graduate they can give back to this community and 5:40:465 hours, 40 minutes, 46 secondsgive back in the ways that you've taught them and their values and what you see is fitting for them as parents how you want your child raised I don't bring 5:40:555 hours, 40 minutes, 55 secondspolitics into a school setting or to a decision making but I know what my values what my 5:41:035 hours, 41 minutes, 3 secondsbeliefs are and I'll stand with those and that helps me along with my personal decision making uh I always follow 5:41:105 hours, 41 minutes, 10 secondswhat's the tendency called annotations we're not not agree with those things but we still try to install some ways we 5:41:185 hours, 41 minutes, 18 secondscan still bring those values into our system and I'm very thankful for how I was raised and and for that part 5:41:265 hours, 41 minutes, 26 secondsoops I would uh of course and I would agree with most of what was set up here uh the first thing for me is just the fact that 5:41:355 hours, 41 minutes, 35 secondsI identify it directly with with that and that uh you know as uh as a Christian you know and you you live your life and 5:41:445 hours, 41 minutes, 44 secondsand you provide leadership every every decision you make uh is is uh is framed around that you know in the interviews 5:41:535 hours, 41 minutes, 53 secondspreviously I I compared being a super superintendent being a little bit like King Solomon many times you got to sit 5:42:005 hours, 42 minuteshere and make decisions over two people come and they share information about an incident they're having and you're trying to make a judgment between these 5:42:095 hours, 42 minutes, 9 secondstwo people's lives and it's not as easy of a task as you might think matter of fact it's quite difficult sometimes but 5:42:175 hours, 42 minutes, 17 secondsby leaning on that relationship uh I think it helps the other thing that I've done in the past is I've I've formed a 5:42:275 hours, 42 minutes, 27 secondsministerial Advisory Group within my school systems where I reach out to preachers within the district and we 5:42:355 hours, 42 minutes, 35 secondswill meet every month or two to go over issues in the system and to share information just so that we're all on the same page and that seems to have 5:42:435 hours, 42 minutes, 43 secondsworked really well imagine it 5:42:555 hours, 42 minutes, 55 secondswell I'm sitting over here with a pile of cards so it's I'm trying to shuffle make sure everybody has answered so all 5:43:025 hours, 43 minutes, 2 secondsright this is a good question I'm gonna be real fascinated in how each of you answered this question 5:43:115 hours, 43 minutes, 11 secondsso Kevin if you'll hand that microphone to Jim he's he's first up and the rest of you guys are in the on Deck Circle 5:43:195 hours, 43 minutes, 19 secondshere's a question what are your thoughts on equality 5:43:255 hours, 43 minutes, 25 secondsversus equity in the school system 5:43:355 hours, 43 minutes, 35 secondswhen you get your breath go that's hard yeah that's that's one you tend to think about for quite a long time you know I think 5:43:445 hours, 43 minutes, 44 secondsyou're trying to you're trying to to reach both of those in some instances it kind of it's very situational sometimes you're trying to 5:43:525 hours, 43 minutes, 52 secondsto reach a solution it's Equitable and sometimes you're trying to reach a solution where there's some equality between students so it's kind of 5:44:005 hours, 44 minutesit's tough to answer when you're not looking at a case-by-case basis but you know there's a lot of times we're trying to achieve both 5:44:075 hours, 44 minutes, 7 secondsyou know you want there to be equity for students so they have an equal chance to be successful with other students and then there's times where you know you're 5:44:155 hours, 44 minutes, 15 secondswanting people to have equality as well that's very you know you look at resources that students have it'd be fantastic if all our students could have 5:44:235 hours, 44 minutes, 23 secondsthe same resources um you know especially when when they go home but the realities of that aren't always possible so you know you're 5:44:305 hours, 44 minutes, 30 secondstrying to strive for both there's some instances where you're able to do that and there's some way or not I think at the end of the day you're trying to get both of those accomplished 5:44:395 hours, 44 minutes, 39 secondsJohnny I certainly agree with you on that we won't have a Equitable experience for everyone we want to have an equal 5:44:475 hours, 44 minutes, 47 secondsexperience for everyone and but doing that we've got to provide great opportunity and it's up to the student to seize that 5:44:555 hours, 44 minutes, 55 secondsopportunity the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can't make a drink I think we have great facilities here we have great teachers but we have 5:45:045 hours, 45 minutes, 4 secondsto try to motivate those students who are unmotivated or on the margins of being motivated seize the opportunity 5:45:115 hours, 45 minutes, 11 secondsbut again equity and equality are very important and we want to make sure that all students all grade levels all 5:45:195 hours, 45 minutes, 19 secondsschools all facilities have those same opportunities okay 5:45:315 hours, 45 minutes, 31 secondsthere's a lot to offer I've looked at the curriculum there's a lot to offer in CTE uh 5:45:415 hours, 45 minutes, 41 secondsI just I would just encourage children to try to be the best and try to be the most they can be and try to support them 5:45:475 hours, 45 minutes, 47 secondsin that I think both both Concepts I mean I'm struggling with this question just to be honest because I I see equity 5:45:575 hours, 45 minutes, 57 secondsand equality I see them very similar I don't maybe I'm missing a point and then I'll be honest I'm not always the 5:46:045 hours, 46 minutes, 4 secondssmartest person in the room uh and I would have to probably get some help with this question but I see them being the same 5:46:125 hours, 46 minutes, 12 secondsI don't know I'm struggling with this but I just see fairness and motivating students to be 5:46:215 hours, 46 minutes, 21 secondsthe best they can be and they need both equity and um fairness takes care of the equality part 5:46:305 hours, 46 minutes, 30 secondsI don't think I answered that question well but that's that's how I feel and it is a a really good question and a 5:46:405 hours, 46 minutes, 40 secondstough one uh but uh kind of from my point I think Dr Crowell makes a tremendous uh points for me uh when he 5:46:475 hours, 46 minutes, 47 secondsstarted with with this uh discussion but provide the opportunities give that student a chance 5:46:555 hours, 46 minutes, 55 secondsto take advantage of those opportunities that are permitted for them uh and we got to motivate them as you said in order to get them to take that 5:47:025 hours, 47 minutes, 2 secondsopportunity but they have to earn it uh and I think that through hard work through chance through uh 5:47:095 hours, 47 minutes, 9 secondsthat comes to success and I think they can both be achieved as they are provided but I think they have to take 5:47:165 hours, 47 minutes, 16 secondsthe opportunity that's there not to kick it to the side but to be given to take advantage of the opportunity that's 5:47:235 hours, 47 minutes, 23 secondsgiven it and then succeed from there yeah a lot of good good comments I think 5:47:315 hours, 47 minutes, 31 secondsum you know one of the things that we would want to do is always strive to to do our best and that to uh to make 5:47:395 hours, 47 minutes, 39 secondsImprovement and to to achieve as highly as possible and through that through that then we want to be able to provide 5:47:485 hours, 47 minutes, 48 secondsthe the equity and the equality in terms of resources especially resources for for students that that may need more 5:47:575 hours, 47 minutes, 57 secondsassistance than others but uh but I I personally think that it starts with the standard that you want in your system and then and then you help make sure 5:48:065 hours, 48 minutes, 6 secondsthat your students have the resources to achieve I will agree that this is a very good question 5:48:145 hours, 48 minutes, 14 secondsum it's very difficult I'm still sitting here thinking um but the opportunities um 5:48:225 hours, 48 minutes, 22 secondscurricular uh in in life of the opportunities for everyone should be 5:48:305 hours, 48 minutes, 30 secondsequal and they have the equal amount of opportunity to be in a program being uh 5:48:365 hours, 48 minutes, 36 secondsable to take a class those type things uh motivation pulls in I also see equal 5:48:445 hours, 48 minutes, 44 secondsequality these two things being the same um but 5:48:515 hours, 48 minutes, 51 secondswe all as human beings want equality for everything they that you're able to do 5:48:585 hours, 48 minutes, 58 secondsand you want the equity and the opportunity in the resources to get where you are and that's the that's the 5:49:065 hours, 49 minutes, 6 secondsgoal of of I know that's a goal of you the teachers and students in Hickman County and we just have to provide that 5:49:165 hours, 49 minutes, 16 secondsuh assurance that uh we're going to be as Equitable as possible for all 5:49:245 hours, 49 minutes, 24 secondsstudents of all ages thank you um the reason I think that's an important question 5:49:325 hours, 49 minutes, 32 secondsis that Hickman County along with 85 other school systems in Tennessee sue the 5:49:395 hours, 49 minutes, 39 secondsstate of Tennessee for inequitable funding and the reason I think that's such a 5:49:465 hours, 49 minutes, 46 secondsgood question because all of you had the kind of the same vein I was hoping you could answer that because the Supreme Court hadn't been 5:49:545 hours, 49 minutes, 54 secondsable to answer that question yet so um next question should be a pretty pretty 5:50:035 hours, 50 minutes, 3 secondsstraightforward quick answer for every one of you uh Jim hand that down to Johnny we'll start with Johnny there on 5:50:115 hours, 50 minutes, 11 secondsthis one yes um Johnny here's the question do you believe the board should only be 5:50:195 hours, 50 minutes, 19 secondsadvised on school system update when something happens you have to think about now I'll read it 5:50:285 hours, 50 minutes, 28 secondsagain read it again please because there's no verbiage in that had me a little confused do you believe 5:50:365 hours, 50 minutes, 36 secondsthat the board should only be advised only being the key word the only be advised on school updates 5:50:455 hours, 50 minutes, 45 secondswhen something happens no sir I think that the board should be aware of and I assume when you mean by a 5:50:535 hours, 50 minutes, 53 secondsquote when something happens something bad so I know I like to keep the board I would prefer to keep the board informed 5:51:005 hours, 51 minuteson good things and of course if we have a instance come up that's uh going to require some probably May draw negative 5:51:095 hours, 51 minutes, 9 secondsmedia attention or negative social media attention uh I want to make sure the board has a heads up on those things and I also want to keep them advised of the 5:51:175 hours, 51 minutes, 17 secondsgood things going on in our schools too Jim no I try to be as proactive as possible and not not just bad things you know 5:51:265 hours, 51 minutes, 26 secondsobviously you want to keep the board aware of anything that may uh pop up but also again I try to keep it a I'd like 5:51:345 hours, 51 minutes, 34 secondsthe board to see me as much as I want to I try to keep an open door policy in an open uh communication policy whether it's good things that are coming up 5:51:425 hours, 51 minutes, 42 secondswhether it's uh you know you always think about if we do this what may happen so just letting the board know here's some decisions we're thinking 5:51:505 hours, 51 minutes, 50 secondsabout making here's the good and the bad that could possibly happen with that decision just so they know and they're aware of here's some steps we're taking 5:51:585 hours, 51 minutes, 58 secondsor you know we obviously think they're going to be great outcomes but here's some potential outcomes that may occur as well when I try to be as proactive in 5:52:065 hours, 52 minutes, 6 secondsplanning as possible just so they're aware of what's going on I believe the Board needs to be informed 5:52:135 hours, 52 minutes, 13 secondsof everything not just um event that happens at a at a school or our schools 5:52:205 hours, 52 minutes, 20 secondsum my thing and then my plan as uh as we move on I give weekly updates uh what 5:52:295 hours, 52 minutes, 29 secondshappened this week in schools not all all schools then also this is what's coming up 5:52:385 hours, 52 minutes, 38 secondsof course if there's something that we feel is my might be information that they need to know I'll be passing that 5:52:475 hours, 52 minutes, 47 secondsinformation alone but um The Board needs to be to hear all things about our school and it does not 5:52:545 hours, 52 minutes, 54 secondstake a long time with the technology we have in the world today this is a matter of minutes that you can put something 5:53:015 hours, 53 minutes, 1 seconddown get it out to everyone and everybody be on the same page because no 5:53:085 hours, 53 minutes, 8 secondsone likes to be surprised about things and this is an opportunity that we can use when everybody knows the same thing on 5:53:185 hours, 53 minutes, 18 secondsthe same page and it cultivates your culture any cultivation relationships 5:53:255 hours, 53 minutes, 25 secondsyeah my my answer to that would be no you know the uh the information that I would share with 5:53:335 hours, 53 minutes, 33 secondsthe board would be what what many of of these other candidates have said you know as much as possible certainly if there's a major event or or an important 5:53:415 hours, 53 minutes, 41 secondsevent uh Not only would I share it I would share it with them as as soon as possible uh that the other thing is uh 5:53:505 hours, 53 minutes, 50 secondsbeing new to the community the board of educations one of my connections to the community not only do I want to keep 5:53:595 hours, 53 minutes, 59 secondsthat communication link open but I I count on it because I need to know through them 5:54:075 hours, 54 minutes, 7 secondssome of what the community thinks that they are the link and are part of that link uh to really know what's what needs 5:54:155 hours, 54 minutes, 15 secondsto be done so so I think it's obviously an important uh piece of the communication uh puzzle and and 5:54:225 hours, 54 minutes, 22 secondscertainly uh it needs to continue to be developed my answer to that would also be no also 5:54:295 hours, 54 minutes, 29 secondsI believe that I will inform the board is a strong cohesive working board the more information I can share good or bad 5:54:385 hours, 54 minutes, 38 secondsuh the quicker I can get the information to them the more involvement they have in our schools the more involved they are able to share with the community 5:54:465 hours, 54 minutes, 46 secondsbecause they're going to be asked questions too they're going to get that phone call just like we would what's going on so I it helps with the working 5:54:545 hours, 54 minutes, 54 secondsrelationship between the board and the director and it also helps with between the board director and the community so absolutely a well-informed board is a 5:55:035 hours, 55 minutes, 3 secondsstrong cohesive working board I had a wonderful opportunity between 5:55:095 hours, 55 minutes, 9 seconds1998 and 2002 to serve as a board member I was a board member for Northeast Mississippi Community College in 5:55:175 hours, 55 minutes, 17 secondsBooneville Mississippi my position of superintendent is what earned me the right to serve on that board so by being 5:55:245 hours, 55 minutes, 24 secondsa board member and sitting on that side of the table it has helped me grow as the Director candidate because when I 5:55:315 hours, 55 minutes, 31 secondswas on that board uh I go back a little bit here it wasn't Equitable there were people on the board that would get 5:55:385 hours, 55 minutes, 38 secondsinformation that I wouldn't uh and that's not right I would I would contact and communicate board members proactively about good things and bad 5:55:475 hours, 55 minutes, 47 secondsthings I don't want the board member to run into somebody in the public and they say did you hear what happened at whatever school and likewise if there's 5:55:555 hours, 55 minutes, 55 secondsa problem at the school I would want the board member to notify me that there there may be a situation that needs my 5:56:035 hours, 56 minutes, 3 secondsattention but the communication has to it has to expand beyond the board members all stakeholders need 5:56:125 hours, 56 minutes, 12 secondscommunication proactively and consistently I mean parents business I would try to cultivate relationships 5:56:205 hours, 56 minutes, 20 secondswith the uh the media wknx and the Hickman County Times we want to be as transparent as we can be with our 5:56:285 hours, 56 minutes, 28 secondsCommunications and that definitely includes the school board okay John just keep that right there I'll start here where you can go this 5:56:365 hours, 56 minutes, 36 secondsway because this is a yes or no great I was hoping I was hoping they were going to get easier everybody be 5:56:445 hours, 56 minutes, 44 secondsprepared for yes or no would you continue to have an SRO at every school as we currently have yes and a school 5:56:535 hours, 56 minutes, 53 secondsnurse absolutely on both of what he just said too yes on both 5:57:005 hours, 57 minutesabsolutely yes on both absolutely yes on both yes on both 5:57:075 hours, 57 minutes, 7 secondsnow here comes all of you said yes 5:57:185 hours, 57 minutes, 18 secondsdown here near the second part of that question yes or no will you be prepared 5:57:265 hours, 57 minutes, 26 secondsto offer a safety plan within two years of your first to your 5:57:355 hours, 57 minutes, 35 secondsdigit did you say offer safety plan within two would you be willing to 5:57:445 hours, 57 minutes, 44 secondsoffer uh an updated safety plan let's put it like that updated safety plan in 5:57:515 hours, 57 minutes, 51 secondsthe first two years of your tenure uh yes sir I would certainly be offered to uh welcome to offer a safety plan because 5:57:595 hours, 57 minutes, 59 secondsas technology changes and time changes and needs change we probably need to update that safety plan even more than 5:58:075 hours, 58 minutes, 7 secondsevery two years probably yearly and review it probably semi-annually Jim yes sir I was going to say I think 5:58:165 hours, 58 minutes, 16 secondswe'd have that done a whole lot faster than two years I think the the parents of Hickman County want to feel like their kids are safe going to school 5:58:235 hours, 58 minutes, 23 secondstomorrow not uh two years from now so that would be a prior to get that done extremely fast 5:58:315 hours, 58 minutes, 31 secondswhere I come from safety plans or reviewed each year so uh that will be an absolute yes we'll be working on safety 5:58:395 hours, 58 minutes, 39 secondssafety of students and teachers and our workers and staff members is a prime 5:58:465 hours, 58 minutes, 46 secondsimportance at all times I think that's that's an easy question and certainly probably everyone up here 5:58:555 hours, 58 minutes, 55 secondsis going to say that it needs to be done sooner than later uh I would say that if if someone asks asked me what the 5:59:035 hours, 59 minutes, 3 secondspriorities of our district would be the very first thing is going to be school safety because if we if we fail on school safety everything else will pale 5:59:115 hours, 59 minutes, 11 secondsin comparison so yes yes yes also um and get with the Safety Committee getting with the group go 5:59:205 hours, 59 minutes, 20 secondsyearly make any changes that needs to be made and I just said that has to be the 5:59:275 hours, 59 minutes, 27 secondstop priority again safety is the top priority uh my experiences 5:59:345 hours, 59 minutes, 34 secondsis this not only do you have to have a comprehensive safety plan but you have to make sure that the procedures that 5:59:435 hours, 59 minutes, 43 secondsthere are no gaps between the plan and the procedures sometimes plans are wonderful but they're not followed with Fidelity so not only will we have a plan 5:59:525 hours, 59 minutes, 52 secondsbut we will make sure that it was honored and there were not gaps between the safety plan and the procedures at the school 6:00:016 hours, 1 secondum there's excuse me best I can see there's probably three or four at least you see the pile 6:00:106 hours, 10 secondsover here I'm just I've been in and out of them but there's at least three or four questions about this so we're going to dispel 6:00:196 hours, 19 secondswe're going to use this to dispense with those three or four because it relates to the question that you just had there 6:00:276 hours, 27 secondsseems to be several questions regarding transportation safety uh with the school buses 6:00:376 hours, 37 secondsmanagement of behavior on school buses but an overarching problem that I've 6:00:446 hours, 44 secondsseen in two or three at least maybe four of those cards is we have a school bus driver 6:00:536 hours, 53 secondsshortage how do you address that you got 60 6:01:006 hours, 1 minuteseconds folks each to address that question okay uh start with Bill well uh Kenny I'm currently the director over we 6:01:096 hours, 1 minute, 9 secondshave a school bus shortage we have reached out to Media we have reached out to uh any outlet that we can we have a 6:01:186 hours, 1 minute, 18 secondscurrently right now we have a big Sciences bus drivers wanted on a school bus in front of our bus garage so uh we have used every aspect in every way 6:01:266 hours, 1 minute, 26 secondswe've raced eight uh we've done everything we know to attract bus drivers uh it has gotten better I will say that much we are starting to get 6:01:346 hours, 1 minute, 34 secondssome people and I've trained principals I have a principal as a bus I have two mechanics that drive a bus I have three 6:01:426 hours, 1 minute, 42 secondsor four teachers that drive a bus but we're reaching out to every when every Avenue we can to make sure we have enough drivers that are properly trained 6:01:516 hours, 1 minute, 51 secondsand are uh getting the job done daily and also maintaining safety on their bus so but it's a problem Nationwide it's 6:01:596 hours, 1 minute, 59 secondsnot just a Hickman County problem it's a stock any problem it's a Tennessee problem and it's a nationwide problem hand it to John and we'll go down to 6:02:086 hours, 2 minutes, 8 secondsJohn and come back down wait I have had success uh splitting routes what what what people don't like about bus driving 6:02:166 hours, 2 minutes, 16 secondsper se sometimes they have to work in the morning and then then they have to come back and work and I have and had success in the past where two people had 6:02:246 hours, 2 minutes, 24 secondsone route one took it in the morning and one took it in the afternoon that's been successful I've also been able to convince CNP workers CNP workers get off 6:02:336 hours, 2 minutes, 33 secondswork about the time they can be a bus they can just drive routes um I I hope we can get if I'm fortunate 6:02:426 hours, 2 minutes, 42 secondsenough to come here I hope we can avoid double routes that's not what that's not what is best for students that's not what is best for parents 6:02:506 hours, 2 minutes, 50 secondslet me get Johnny we'll go to Johnny end up with Wade um thank you for the question Mr Qualls because this is an issue that I've 6:02:586 hours, 2 minutes, 58 secondstalked about um with our transportation director here in the county um I think we can fill some of those 6:03:076 hours, 3 minutes, 7 secondsgaps and Mr George thinks we can too but we're going to have to offer incentives to the drivers to recruit drivers maybe 6:03:156 hours, 3 minutes, 15 secondsgive them some benefits of some kind let them pick up some kind of medical insurance of course we want to pay them as well as we can we want to hire not 6:03:246 hours, 3 minutes, 24 secondsjust drivers we want to hire highly qualified drivers because they are initially uh every morning afternoon they've got their kids our kids lives in 6:03:336 hours, 3 minutes, 33 secondstheir hands um and as Mr Hall stated it is a nationwide problem so we're going to have to do something in layman's terms 6:03:426 hours, 3 minutes, 42 secondsto sweeten the pot here to be able to draw qualified drivers I agree with Mr Crow A lot of it is just 6:03:506 hours, 3 minutes, 50 secondsrethinking uh how we encourage drivers to apply people who are interested in driving to apply and then how we train them and then how we pay them and 6:03:586 hours, 3 minutes, 58 secondsincentivize them uh like everyone has mentioned this is something that's going on across the community here in Hickman 6:04:046 hours, 4 minutes, 4 secondsCounty it's a middle Tennessee area it's everywhere and so we're not just trying to you know how do you recruit people to 6:04:136 hours, 4 minutes, 13 secondsbecome drivers at the same time where everybody is recruiting people to try to become drivers I think a lot of that starts here in our County and here in 6:04:216 hours, 4 minutes, 21 secondsour district and then you know working your way out but you've got to find a way to incentivize for drivers and encourage them and encourage people to become 6:04:296 hours, 4 minutes, 29 secondsdrivers a lot of that may be Word of Mouth within the community I think all of us probably know people who may have thought about wanting to drive or have considered it 6:04:376 hours, 4 minutes, 37 secondsencouraging people to apply encouraging people to take those steps and reach out and let us know that you're interested in becoming drivers 6:04:456 hours, 4 minutes, 45 secondsmy school I'm at right now we are in the middle of the the shortage we feel it every day as I do Buzz afternoon bus 6:04:546 hours, 4 minutes, 54 secondsroom till about 3 40. uh so I totally understand that I agree we 6:05:016 hours, 5 minutes, 1 secondhave to incentivize uh the offer for school bus drivers as well as get them highly trained that takes some thinking 6:05:106 hours, 5 minutes, 10 secondsoutside the box at times uh it's going to be a commitment it has to be a commitment by the school system 6:05:166 hours, 5 minutes, 16 secondsum with uh pay incentives and things like that uh we might have to 6:05:256 hours, 5 minutes, 25 secondsum just work in ways we haven't worked before to uh in synthesize and get our students 6:05:336 hours, 5 minutes, 33 secondsbecause we want our students to get to and from school each day safely and uh 6:05:406 hours, 5 minutes, 40 secondsenjoy that process a lot of them that begins on that school bus ride in the morning and ends in the afternoon 6:05:496 hours, 5 minutes, 49 secondsthank you yeah I would agree with several comments up here especially uh one of the things that we've done is 6:05:566 hours, 5 minutes, 56 secondssplitting routes and and looking at hiring other people within our within our district to take some of those part-time routes that's helped uh but I 6:06:056 hours, 6 minutes, 5 secondsthink it's a little bit like uh feeling positions for high need areas like uh special ed and math and science where 6:06:126 hours, 6 minutes, 12 secondsthose are really hard areas to fill it's really a continual process we're looking we're looking to fill those spots 24 7 6:06:206 hours, 6 minutes, 20 secondsall the time it's it's a it's a challenge but it's a challenge that needs to be really faced every day that 6:06:276 hours, 6 minutes, 27 secondsyou you're you just continue to look all right our next question and Quick Glance there's looks like four or 6:06:366 hours, 6 minutes, 36 secondsfive questions that are in this realm so I think uh we'll try to deal with this so that 6:06:436 hours, 6 minutes, 43 secondsmaybe it will answer the issues that other questions have but it's regarding social media 6:06:526 hours, 6 minutes, 52 secondsso the question here and it's somewhat on these others too is as a director of schools 6:07:006 hours, 7 minuteshow would you deal with and handle the support of the 6:07:076 hours, 7 minutes, 7 secondsdefamation of teachers through social media does everybody understand the question 6:07:146 hours, 7 minutes, 14 secondsif social media is used for the purpose of defaming teachers 6:07:226 hours, 7 minutes, 22 secondshow you deal with things like that so let's see who did we start Bill did you go first last time 6:07:296 hours, 7 minutes, 29 secondsKevin have you gone first yet Jim if you've gone first yet Johnny have you gone first yet 6:07:366 hours, 7 minutes, 36 secondsJohn has gone first yet Wade you got the microphone take off I guess I'm first yeah sure well listen uh 6:07:456 hours, 7 minutes, 45 secondsyou know there's two sides to social media and the first thing we're going to start with is exactly what was said and it kind of reminds me of the bullying 6:07:536 hours, 7 minutes, 53 secondsquestion yeah bullying can can occur in any any uh uh environment and especially in social media it seems as if uh in the 6:08:036 hours, 8 minutes, 3 secondssocial media climate that we're in today it's so much easier to get on a keyboard and and type in negative things about 6:08:106 hours, 8 minutes, 10 secondssomething about a person about something about the school and certainly one of the things I've said is that the the 6:08:186 hours, 8 minutes, 18 secondsschool system the board we work off of board policies and I'm sure there's a board policy on harassment and bullying 6:08:266 hours, 8 minutes, 26 secondswe're going to take a look at that policy and identify identify the people investigate it identify the people 6:08:336 hours, 8 minutes, 33 secondsinvolved uh and and then deal with it accordingly uh but the other side of this is that social media can also be 6:08:416 hours, 8 minutes, 41 secondsused for the good one one of the things that we did shortly after I became Superintendent at my last stop was we we were facing some of this and we just 6:08:506 hours, 8 minutes, 50 secondsdecided we wanted a social media page that put out the positive and we it was not going to be to respond to anything 6:08:586 hours, 8 minutes, 58 secondsnegative that was was sent to us it was only the positive news that we could send out we we thought that if anyone is 6:09:066 hours, 9 minutes, 6 secondsgoing to tell our story we needed to tell it so social media there's good and bad with it and certainly deal with deal 6:09:146 hours, 9 minutes, 14 secondswith the bad but don't forget the good uses that it that it can be can be used for 6:09:216 hours, 9 minutes, 21 secondsI agree with that well the biggest thing first thing you have to do is look at your policy um 6:09:276 hours, 9 minutes, 27 secondspolicy review make any adjustments you have to make this is an ongoing because it's so easy for somebody to 6:09:376 hours, 9 minutes, 37 secondstype something about someone else because they're not looking at them also I present myself 6:09:466 hours, 9 minutes, 46 secondssocial media literacy sodium how mannerisms I guess that's the best way I can say it uh learning social 6:09:546 hours, 9 minutes, 54 secondscitizenship um which indicates how they can use social media properly but uh we would 6:10:036 hours, 10 minutes, 3 secondslook at that policy uh anyone that is in violation of that policy we will handle 6:10:116 hours, 10 minutes, 11 secondsuh with the the consistency or everyone understands you do this it's just what's 6:10:186 hours, 10 minutes, 18 secondsgoing to happen and we're not going to let our teachers um 6:10:246 hours, 10 minutes, 24 secondsbe disrespected in that type of way for me it's it's reaching out to the 6:10:326 hours, 10 minutes, 32 secondsthe people who are posting uh you know I'm I'm a kind of a face-to-face person but also whether it's a telephone call or an email 6:10:406 hours, 10 minutes, 40 secondsand reaching out and trying to find find out what you know what's their concern what's their the reason they're upset is it something that we can fix and if so 6:10:496 hours, 10 minutes, 49 secondsgreat if it's something we can't fix is it something we can help make better uh and then if not I always encourage parents and I try to remind them when 6:10:586 hours, 10 minutes, 58 secondswhen you're posting these things um it doesn't just make a teacher look bad it makes the school look bad it 6:11:076 hours, 11 minutes, 7 secondsmakes the district look bad in in a roundabout way it's affecting your child it's affecting your student too because 6:11:146 hours, 11 minutes, 14 secondsnow they're at a school with a teacher in a district that you're kind of knocking down and so I always encourage parents to again keep it positive as 6:11:226 hours, 11 minutes, 22 secondsmuch as you can if there's something you're disgruntled with um talk to me you know let me know let's see what we can do to alleviate that if 6:11:326 hours, 11 minutes, 32 secondsthere's just not a common ground again it's trying to come to a resolution of understand how you're feeling I respect how you're feeling I'm sorry there's not 6:11:396 hours, 11 minutes, 39 secondssomething we can do um that you think would make it better but again at the end of the day we're making decisions that we feel are best for our students in our community we're 6:11:486 hours, 11 minutes, 48 secondsgoing to stick with that I always encourage parents you know think about the outcome that you're trying to achieve in his social media really 6:11:566 hours, 11 minutes, 56 secondsgetting you to that outcome a lot of times it's very detrimental instead of helpful and oftentimes when you bring 6:12:046 hours, 12 minutes, 4 secondsthat up to a parent and I think they come to realize that and kind of change their their tune and then I think the last thing is just encouraging the 6:12:116 hours, 12 minutes, 11 secondscommunity when you see stuff like that you have an opportunity to drown it out I mean social media is all stacked you know the more parents and the more 6:12:206 hours, 12 minutes, 20 secondscommunity members that get on there with positive things it kind of drowns out the negative and that kind of takes care of itself a lot of the time so I think 6:12:276 hours, 12 minutes, 27 secondssome of that too is just building the communication with the community hey let's keep it positive uh let's help our students not hurt them 6:12:376 hours, 12 minutes, 37 secondsum when Mr Qualls posed the question he mentioned defamation of teachers and I see that from two standpoints uh there's 6:12:466 hours, 12 minutes, 46 secondsand I've seen it on social media of course on Facebook only actually um where parents or adults defame 6:12:546 hours, 12 minutes, 54 secondsteachers and I've seen it we're students or defamation are committing defamation of teachers so you have to deal with 6:13:016 hours, 13 minutes, 1 secondthat uh as some of the other uh candidates appear said based on policy is are the parents aware that their 6:13:096 hours, 13 minutes, 9 secondsstudent is speaking badly of a teacher or a school or an administrator and if it's the other way around then the 6:13:186 hours, 13 minutes, 18 secondsadministrator School administration administrator needs to get involved and if it escalates then the director needs 6:13:246 hours, 13 minutes, 24 secondsto be involved and make sure that are there policies is there any truth to it of course first and as Jim said many 6:13:336 hours, 13 minutes, 33 secondstimes people go to social media to rally the troops and again store for something and against a lot more painful as I've 6:13:426 hours, 13 minutes, 42 secondslearned than it is to be for something so it's it's a really tough thing to handle but you need to get the parents involved If the parents are the one 6:13:506 hours, 13 minutes, 50 secondsdoing it then you need to meet with them face to face and find a resolution if there can be a resolution to the issue 6:14:006 hours, 14 minutesJohn I'll let you go next and bill will be late I'm going to support teachers and if 6:14:076 hours, 14 minutes, 7 secondssomeone if someone's criticizing a teacher on social media in collaboration with the principal I'd go the teacher and I would say I'm sorry 6:14:156 hours, 14 minutes, 15 secondsbecause teachers work too hard and don't deserve that but if they're defaming the teacher I mean I have and I will I call 6:14:246 hours, 14 minutes, 24 secondsthe parent in and I will ask this question are you looking for a resolution or are you looking for an audience 6:14:326 hours, 14 minutes, 32 secondsand much of that stuff on social media is searching for an audience it's not searching for a resolution because the 6:14:406 hours, 14 minutes, 40 secondsresolution lies with the teacher and the parent and the principal and the director if necessary that's where the resolutions lies right there 6:14:496 hours, 14 minutes, 49 secondsum I I would just I try to face problems head on and if somebody's defaming a teacher I would have to have a 6:14:576 hours, 14 minutes, 57 secondsface-to-face meeting with the parent but first I would want if it's criticism I I would get the principal go the teacher 6:15:046 hours, 15 minutes, 4 secondsgo the teacher what's going on do you think do you want her to ask her to tone it down and the two something I've gone 6:15:126 hours, 15 minutes, 12 secondson a teacher and say well she does that she gets mad late at night she does it sometimes I do it late at night and their punctuation 6:15:196 hours, 15 minutes, 19 secondsisn't as good as it is earlier in the day and they post things on social media so I would get the teacher involved and support the teacher and have the 6:15:276 hours, 15 minutes, 27 secondsteachers back and if it's defamation get the person in and and get them to understand the necessity and the 6:15:356 hours, 15 minutes, 35 secondsimportance of stopping because I I kind of dealt with a situation uh pretty recently uh regarding this and like most people have 6:15:456 hours, 15 minutes, 45 secondshere first of all God with the principal sit down with the teacher see what the the problem was then I called the parent 6:15:526 hours, 15 minutes, 52 secondsgot the parent in if need be I sat down with parent and teacher face to face this situation I didn't because the parent realized she acted in the moment 6:16:016 hours, 16 minutes, 1 secondand she was upset and then came back and retributed everything took everything off and even made a public apology 6:16:086 hours, 16 minutes, 8 secondsso I think if you can get to the root of the problem see what it is talk with people like you I know it's already been mentioned yourself several times with the communication 6:16:176 hours, 16 minutes, 17 secondsuh is positive and it is foregoing then I think we can shut down all the problems that we're seeing a direct 6:16:256 hours, 16 minutes, 25 secondsdefamation comes out a teacher and if it's a threat then uh if I have to I'd call the district attorney we will get 6:16:336 hours, 16 minutes, 33 secondsthose problems taken care of and they are several as best I can 6:16:436 hours, 16 minutes, 43 secondsquickly sift questions about social media uh if we have time we'll try to take others 6:16:506 hours, 16 minutes, 50 secondsbut they're all in that same vein related um we're under 30 minutes and we've still 6:16:586 hours, 16 minutes, 58 secondsgot a lot of questions so let's try to get through the ones that would be Central to the information that needs to be provided 6:17:076 hours, 17 minutes, 7 secondsand many people may have turned their question in uh and we're not here this morning I've 6:17:146 hours, 17 minutes, 14 secondsnoticed a number of questions from uh people who have submitted them that would very conducive to the answers that 6:17:236 hours, 17 minutes, 23 secondswould have happened this morning so all right let's try to deal with this issue and 6:17:316 hours, 17 minutes, 31 secondsKevin says I've got the handle here so I'll start Okay Kevin 6:17:426 hours, 17 minutes, 42 secondsthere's about three or four that's similar to this I'm going to try to phrase this in such a way so y'all try to try to keep up with me here and so it 6:17:516 hours, 17 minutes, 51 secondswill encapsulate Sarah it's the question is in regard to testing 6:17:576 hours, 17 minutes, 57 secondsand it sort of comes in two veins one area would be what is your opinion 6:18:066 hours, 18 minutes, 6 secondson the schedule at the high school level will that impact testing of course that goes into the old debate 6:18:146 hours, 18 minutes, 14 secondsyou know a block schedule versus other schedules and excuse me 6:18:226 hours, 18 minutes, 22 secondsum and would it make a difference if you 6:18:296 hours, 18 minutes, 29 secondscome from another district and by the way this is an opportune time to make this statement so that everybody 6:18:366 hours, 18 minutes, 36 secondsunderstands this to my knowledge this is the first time because you keep hearing these discussions but 6:18:446 hours, 18 minutes, 44 secondsthis is the first time that Hickman County is going to have a superintendent that is not a current 6:18:516 hours, 18 minutes, 51 secondsemployee I can say that because I was a superintendent and I know who followed 6:18:596 hours, 18 minutes, 59 secondsme so at least for the last half century the superintendent came from current employees none of these people are 6:19:076 hours, 19 minutes, 7 secondscurrent employees some live out of state none of them are current employees so that's what makes 6:19:146 hours, 19 minutes, 14 secondsparity in the whole field here so standardized testing and why I was 6:19:216 hours, 19 minutes, 21 secondsgoing there was because the question was regarding um if you come from another system where 6:19:296 hours, 19 minutes, 29 secondsthere were different schedules in your high school how to can you relate that to the scheduling that's happening here 6:19:376 hours, 19 minutes, 37 secondsin Hickman County now I know that's a lot of talk but that's the question so Kevin 6:19:466 hours, 19 minutes, 46 secondsyour high school man so you get you get to come out of the box on that one address the scheduling issue and the 6:19:556 hours, 19 minutes, 55 secondsdifference Maybe um in Murray County we were on block schedule so we still had the testing uh 6:20:046 hours, 20 minutes, 4 secondsbeginning uh right after Thanksgiving in the fall for semester classes and then 6:20:116 hours, 20 minutes, 11 secondsin April um my opinion it's too long 6:20:186 hours, 20 minutes, 18 secondsit's too long way too long to have to take two and a half weeks to to test students 6:20:266 hours, 20 minutes, 26 secondsum it's but it's what we have to do and 6:20:326 hours, 20 minutes, 32 secondsI know I'm on the state principal um committee and we have had many talks 6:20:406 hours, 20 minutes, 40 secondsabout that and I've along with other principals have stated our opinion that this is too long this is too 6:20:476 hours, 20 minutes, 47 secondsum too much uh scheduling wise um 6:20:546 hours, 20 minutes, 54 secondsyou are basically you're testing a group of students having a class and you're trying to make sure you have placement 6:21:016 hours, 21 minutes, 1 secondfor other students and that can cause a lot of headaches for those building testing testing people so um I have seen 6:21:116 hours, 21 minutes, 11 secondsthat um we are fighting to that and I and I would continue that fight to go back to 6:21:196 hours, 21 minutes, 19 secondsa more sound rational way of of testing where 6:21:276 hours, 21 minutes, 27 secondsunfortunately school systems are not um permitted just to do it how they want to do it how they feel the state 6:21:356 hours, 21 minutes, 35 secondsdictates to us how testing is done but we are making ways and making ways with 6:21:456 hours, 21 minutes, 45 secondsthe with the state department to remedy that um because everyone has the same issue 6:21:536 hours, 21 minutes, 53 secondsespecially in the high school I'm in the middle school now it's still an issue it's taking that it's going to take us more than uh more than more than 6:22:026 hours, 22 minutes, 2 secondstwo more than two a little more in two weeks to get our testing done in a couple weeks in a month so um that is too long that is taken away 6:22:106 hours, 22 minutes, 10 secondsfrom instruction that is taken away from uh our daily experience and um that's my Kevin needy opinion but we 6:22:206 hours, 22 minutes, 20 secondswill work with that I am used to uh the Box schedule uh we will as long as the 6:22:276 hours, 22 minutes, 27 secondsblock schedules are live here in Hickman County we will do our best for our students to get them and find and again 6:22:366 hours, 22 minutes, 36 secondsthis is sometimes we got to think outside the box again um creative ways of testing and not using 6:22:466 hours, 22 minutes, 46 secondsuh the two to three weeks that it does take the test for your EOC classes in high school 6:22:556 hours, 22 minutes, 55 secondsuh a mystery you mentioned a lot of this is not this it's some of it's out of our hands it's dictated by the state and so 6:23:046 hours, 23 minutes, 4 secondsyou do have certain structures that you have to work within so they give you for example uh they give you a three week time span where you've got to get all 6:23:126 hours, 23 minutes, 12 secondsyour testing in uh at the middle school level and so some of this is working with the state legislature and 6:23:196 hours, 23 minutes, 19 secondsencouraging parents encouraging the board again to to reduce some of the times that are on tests the state has done 6:23:276 hours, 23 minutes, 27 secondsthat they've reduced some of the testing times which has been really helpful we're not testing students nearly as many minutes as we used to that's been a 6:23:356 hours, 23 minutes, 35 secondsrelief that's made scheduling a little bit easier but still students are tested an extreme amount of time uh you know 6:23:436 hours, 23 minutes, 43 secondsEnglish for example at the middle school level you've got four different tests that students take there's got to be uh consensus from 6:23:526 hours, 23 minutes, 52 secondsadministrators not just here in Hickman County but working across the state that that is way too much testing uh math I believe it's three tests uh so you know 6:24:016 hours, 24 minutes, 1 secondstudents are taking hours upon hours upon hours of tests the mystery you mentioned it takes away from instruction 6:24:076 hours, 24 minutes, 7 secondsuh it really dictates that time of year what you're doing and what you're able to do so I think a lot of that really 6:24:146 hours, 24 minutes, 14 secondsstarts with working with and encouraging legislatures to to change some of what they've got going on and like I mentioned some of that has happened 6:24:226 hours, 24 minutes, 22 secondsthere are some um creative things you can do to to reduce the number of testing days sometimes 6:24:306 hours, 24 minutes, 30 secondsthat doesn't sit well with teachers so you've got to sit down at the end of the day and say you know like for example you can double up tests you can take math on the same day you take uh science 6:24:396 hours, 24 minutes, 39 secondsyou can take English and social studies on the same day or is that going to impact students results probably so at the day you sit 6:24:476 hours, 24 minutes, 47 secondsdown and you say you know is is that worth it is that something that benefits our students can we try some of these strategies we can try them they may not 6:24:566 hours, 24 minutes, 56 secondswork out the way we want them to and so it does kind of take a rethinking of how you're scheduling your tests and how you 6:25:056 hours, 25 minutes, 5 secondsknow how to get those all in in the time that you've got but it is really restrictive with what we have from the state 6:25:126 hours, 25 minutes, 12 secondsuh to build on what GM said um it does take a lot of time to test and to test properly uh what I found as 6:25:216 hours, 25 minutes, 21 secondsa middle school principle it's always best to have students take the test in front of the teacher that teaches that 6:25:296 hours, 25 minutes, 29 secondssubject matter regardless of how long it takes and how much time and pressure it puts on principle that I was to figure 6:25:366 hours, 25 minutes, 36 secondsout how to test with that type of schedule it proved it proved uh great results for the school at the time so 6:25:456 hours, 25 minutes, 45 secondsalways we want to make sure the kids are comfortable you want to make sure they don't feel the pressure I'm varying a little bit from your question Mr Claus 6:25:536 hours, 25 minutes, 53 secondsbut again it is so important to have the teacher in front of those kids when they take the test in that subject area that 6:26:026 hours, 26 minutes, 2 secondstaught them that subject now I don't know if that could be done and I'm sure it could be with some creative scheduling at the high school level for 6:26:106 hours, 26 minutes, 10 secondsthat to make it work on a block schedule or a modified block schedule and and all the other teachers that 6:26:176 hours, 26 minutes, 17 secondsdo not teach quote the tested areas they need to realize they're there to support the teachers that do teach in the tested areas 6:26:266 hours, 26 minutes, 26 secondsJohn 6:26:266 hours, 26 minutes, 26 seconds[Music] 6:26:316 hours, 26 minutes, 31 secondsI believe in two circles this is the circle in which we control and this is the circle a bigger circle of things 6:26:396 hours, 26 minutes, 39 secondsthat influence you but you don't control we don't control when the state assigns us to tests well my strategy would would 6:26:476 hours, 26 minutes, 47 secondsbe to make a collaborative decision involving the teachers who are the experts involving the principles and try 6:26:546 hours, 26 minutes, 54 secondsto come up with the most effective and most efficient way to get testing done that gives our students the best chance 6:27:016 hours, 27 minutes, 1 secondto be successful well uh Scott County we're on the Block scheduled at our high school and as we've kind of effectually 6:27:106 hours, 27 minutes, 10 secondscalled it we have football season basketball season spring Sports season and testing season uh testing season of 6:27:166 hours, 27 minutes, 16 secondscourse is three weeks each semester um as Mr Edie and everyone else imagine it it's just become too long my hat's 6:27:256 hours, 27 minutes, 25 secondsoff to the principals you have to go through the scheduling process and to make sure that everything runs smoothly and that um 6:27:336 hours, 27 minutes, 33 secondsthe kids are you know that they're just not drained by the time that everything is done um we have to get some relief from the state do we need have to have 6:27:426 hours, 27 minutes, 42 secondsaccountability absolutely absolutely no one's against accountability but I think that that it's just become too much and uh we've got to find the happy 6:27:506 hours, 27 minutes, 50 secondsmedian in there to where um it will work for all and it can um but again hats off to especially the 6:27:576 hours, 27 minutes, 57 secondsprinciples of the middle school high school and Elementary that have to plan for these uh I'll watch them daily and I watched the time in the mountain there 6:28:056 hours, 28 minutes, 5 secondsthat they put through it and I watched the kids as they're preparing and uh made a great point about those kids need to be in front of that teacher 6:28:136 hours, 28 minutes, 13 secondsabsolutely that is such a comfort zone for them when they see that teacher that being with every day not someone who 6:28:196 hours, 28 minutes, 19 secondsjust proctoring the test that's in there for 90 minutes if they don't have daily so we have to get like to get some relief drugs from the statement so you 6:28:286 hours, 28 minutes, 28 secondskeep working and get and get that done for us please and um we'll we'll find that uh that Grace and the happy medium for all 6:28:376 hours, 28 minutes, 37 secondsyeah again I agree with most of not all these comments uh you know when the state comes out with a testing window 6:28:446 hours, 28 minutes, 44 secondsyou know we're we're we're basically Bound by that at this point um really you know sometimes I look at 6:28:536 hours, 28 minutes, 53 secondstesting as a necessary evil we it takes a lot of time that's the evil part but it's necessary you know it's like going on a trip without a map you know if you 6:29:016 hours, 29 minutes, 1 seconddon't know where you started and where you're ending it's hard it's really hard to get there and so uh we need to do our 6:29:096 hours, 29 minutes, 9 secondsbest you know the goal is to do our best to make sure our kids are ready to to take that test when it happens and having a teacher in front of them I 6:29:156 hours, 29 minutes, 15 secondsthink is certainly outstanding and really important if we can make that happen uh the system where I was at we 6:29:246 hours, 29 minutes, 24 secondsdid do a block schedule we did a modified we tried to keep our math class classes in the modified portion of it so 6:29:306 hours, 29 minutes, 30 secondsthat most of our math courses would have uh there wouldn't be gaps from year to 6:29:376 hours, 29 minutes, 37 secondsyear in terms of of kids uh being off uh in their schedule of taking math because taking it right after each other 6:29:466 hours, 29 minutes, 46 secondssequentially really helps so uh you know I have a mixed feel things on the Block it does help you get more teachers in 6:29:556 hours, 29 minutes, 55 secondsfront of kids and it gives you and a lot of times you'll let you offer more classes uh but I'm in favor of a 6:30:026 hours, 30 minutes, 2 secondsmodified block especially for uh areas like math 6:30:096 hours, 30 minutes, 9 secondsokay we're going to shift gears obviously there is a direct reason for 6:30:196 hours, 30 minutes, 19 secondsthis question but I think it's an important question for you all to consider and that is this 6:30:276 hours, 30 minutes, 27 secondssurveys are taken from all directions and teachers are given a survey for 6:30:366 hours, 30 minutes, 36 secondsadministrators and the comment goes on that often those are 6:30:456 hours, 30 minutes, 45 secondsnot no there's no attention paid to those so the question to each of you as 6:30:526 hours, 30 minutes, 52 secondsdirector of schools if you decided to provide a survey to teachers which would evaluate you as 6:31:016 hours, 31 minutes, 1 secondwell as the staff of Administrators 30 seconds each tell this crowd and this 6:31:116 hours, 31 minutes, 11 secondsboard how you would look at that survey evaluation instrument 6:31:196 hours, 31 minutes, 19 secondsI'll pick the wrong chair didn't I share it it's transparent and uh and the same 6:31:276 hours, 31 minutes, 27 secondsthing from uh my evaluation also teacher evaluations are different those are those are private and confidential but 6:31:356 hours, 31 minutes, 35 secondsthe principal's role is a very important role principals have the second most impact on the effectiveness of school teach yourself the greatest impact I 6:31:446 hours, 31 minutes, 44 secondswould share the information uh but I would also do this I would do everything that I could to help the 6:31:516 hours, 31 minutes, 51 secondsprincipal earn a quality evaluation on the front end 6:31:596 hours, 31 minutes, 59 secondsand I would welcome a survey of my job performance I know that the board does that yearly but welcome a survey from 6:32:056 hours, 32 minutes, 5 secondsteachers and again uh we'll share it uh and would be honored to do that and be humbled uh to stand before and ask 6:32:126 hours, 32 minutes, 12 secondsquestions concerning that also too yeah I agree sharing it's the the logical thing to do being transparent 6:32:206 hours, 32 minutes, 20 secondsyou know my experience has been some of the comments that have been shared and those surveys that I've received in the past have been some of the most 6:32:276 hours, 32 minutes, 27 secondsmeaningful and again it's like my comment I made before about testing testings like I'm you know like a map you know those surveys are the way that 6:32:366 hours, 32 minutes, 36 secondswe get from point A to point B2 in terms of making some changes if we need to make some changes so absolutely charity 6:32:466 hours, 32 minutes, 46 secondsI was shared uh myself and I welcome surveys especially for me because I want 6:32:536 hours, 32 minutes, 53 secondsto know what I'm doing well I need to know what I need Improvement on and I'm going to be as transparent about myself 6:33:016 hours, 33 minutes, 1 secondI won't be transparent with uh my administrators and also my teachers uh open and honest uh criticism or open and 6:33:116 hours, 33 minutes, 11 secondshonest praise they're both beneficial to my job I also hope that 6:33:196 hours, 33 minutes, 19 secondson the front end I'm helping my administrators be successful in their schools but also use that information if there's 6:33:276 hours, 33 minutes, 27 secondssomething that that administrator or that teacher has to needs to improve we can come up with a plan where that teacher that administrator 6:33:366 hours, 33 minutes, 36 secondscan get that uh build up that area where um there might be 6:33:446 hours, 33 minutes, 44 secondsneeded Improvement and and that's not a punishable thing it's just a Cooperative 6:33:516 hours, 33 minutes, 51 secondscollaboration between the teachers of a school the administrator and the superintendent and uh I welcome all 6:33:596 hours, 33 minutes, 59 secondssurveys yeah agree is you know that's the information I definitely want to share out with the community is a as a 6:34:076 hours, 34 minutes, 7 secondssuperintendent really I mean you're accountable to obviously the board and to the people of Hickman County um whether they have children or not and 6:34:166 hours, 34 minutes, 16 secondsso I think everybody in the community deserves to know you know where you where you stand and what people think about your performance and another thing 6:34:246 hours, 34 minutes, 24 secondsis I just I don't believe in sugar coating things if you're good at something people need to know that if you're not good at something people need 6:34:316 hours, 34 minutes, 31 secondsto know that as well and personally um you know always trying to become better and better if you don't know what you're not good at it's hard to get 6:34:396 hours, 34 minutes, 39 secondsbetter and so being able to see those surveys uh put those out um you know for me that's a step in trying to become better at the job and 6:34:486 hours, 34 minutes, 48 secondsdo better for the people of Hickman County as director of schools I'd want to have a positive impact on all employees 6:34:586 hours, 34 minutes, 58 secondsand if I'm not having a positive impact on all employees I'd like to know which ones or which groups feel like I'm 6:35:056 hours, 35 minutes, 5 secondsnot having a positive impact on so I'd certainly welcome surveys and be glad to share those and I would focus on any 6:35:136 hours, 35 minutes, 13 secondsdeficiencies indicated by those surveys Johnny just hold on to the microphone you get the gold neck first so 6:35:206 hours, 35 minutes, 20 secondswe'll come back down the line I've just noticed shuffling again there's about four or five in this vein 6:35:296 hours, 35 minutes, 29 secondsso I'm going to try to combine these two that will cover I think most of those four are five but all these questions 6:35:376 hours, 35 minutes, 37 secondsthat are generic to one another have a central focus and that is 6:35:436 hours, 35 minutes, 43 secondspeople want to know as superintendent how we talk about growth in kids 6:35:526 hours, 35 minutes, 52 secondshow are you going to focus on growing the high achievers and in addition to that 6:36:016 hours, 36 minutes, 1 secondum if teachers are forced to differentiate instructional components 6:36:086 hours, 36 minutes, 8 secondssuch as a wide range of abilities within their classes how are you going to reach all those classes but it's particularly 6:36:166 hours, 36 minutes, 16 secondsJohnny start with you with the high achievers the high Achievers in a school system 6:36:236 hours, 36 minutes, 23 secondsdeserve just as much attention as the lower Achievers and there's really a difference 6:36:306 hours, 36 minutes, 30 secondsI want to say the word would be performers and the performance a student decides to exhibit through testing and 6:36:386 hours, 36 minutes, 38 secondsthe effort that they want to put into it many of the higher Achievers they are also achieve and they perform and they 6:36:456 hours, 36 minutes, 45 secondswant to move forward so we need to give those High performers just as much opportunity and just as many resources 6:36:526 hours, 36 minutes, 52 secondsto go to the next level because they are more than likely the students that are going to leave and come back and give 6:37:006 hours, 37 minutessomething to the system later on they may come to teach they may came here come here to offer uh open businesses 6:37:066 hours, 37 minutes, 6 secondsbut again the high Achievers are very important if we need to start classes specifically for our high Achievers and 6:37:146 hours, 37 minutes, 14 secondswe can afford to do that I would be in favor of that uh Mr Crow kind of mention there then 6:37:226 hours, 37 minutes, 22 secondsone of the things is increasing the opportunities uh for high Achievers whether that's dual enrollment courses whether that's AP and honors courses uh 6:37:316 hours, 37 minutes, 31 secondsyou know those are some of the easy steps that you can take but in colleges now some of that is getting high Achievers involved outside of the 6:37:406 hours, 37 minutes, 40 secondsclassroom a lot of colleges not only are now are looking at your GPA and your ACT scores what do you do outside of class you know what what clubs are you 6:37:496 hours, 37 minutes, 49 secondsinvolved in what sports are you involved in how are you involved in the community and so I think encouraging those High Achievers to get involved not just in 6:37:586 hours, 37 minutes, 58 secondsclass and take those AP classes and take those dual enrollment classes but also to get involved outside of school get involved with your school get involved 6:38:066 hours, 38 minutes, 6 secondswith the clubs the community and those are things you can put on a college application those are things when you go in and you interview with a a college 6:38:156 hours, 38 minutes, 15 secondsboard that you can tell them here's how I'm involved when you're writing a letter to college all those things stand out to colleges beyond the academics 6:38:246 hours, 38 minutes, 24 secondsincreasing the class opportunities obviously would be a first step but then also letting students know here's ways you can get involved here's ways that 6:38:326 hours, 38 minutes, 32 secondsmatter here's what colleges are looking for and let us help you get involved in those ways 6:38:426 hours, 38 minutes, 42 secondsthis has been uh issue that's uh in my years as an administrator we always want 6:38:496 hours, 38 minutes, 49 secondsto continue to push our higher uh performing students and I agree with uh that more class opportunity especially 6:38:576 hours, 38 minutes, 57 secondsdual enrollment uh I love dual enrollment um in the AP classes those opportunities 6:39:046 hours, 39 minutes, 4 secondsfor students in the high school level again uh offering that time to work in community and working and this is 6:39:126 hours, 39 minutes, 12 secondsanother place where CTE is very invaluable uh getting to Industry certifications when you go to the middle school and 6:39:216 hours, 39 minutes, 21 secondsElementary level you you go to a different uh comes a little differently uh enrichment classes 6:39:296 hours, 39 minutes, 29 secondssteam classes science technology engineering arts and math you know 6:39:366 hours, 39 minutes, 36 secondsgetting them in that I have a robotics team in my school right now they have two teams they're going this one to the 6:39:446 hours, 39 minutes, 44 secondsstate championship and I'm dancing to the world how achieving students producing uh just takes more than just doing and 6:39:536 hours, 39 minutes, 53 secondssitting in a class they're producing uh those enrichment opportunities for students uh is 6:40:006 hours, 40 minutesoutstanding and it will make them better and get them where they want to continue to go when they go to the high school and getting those dual enrollment 6:40:096 hours, 40 minutes, 9 secondsclasses do those robotics things industry take certification ideas 6:40:176 hours, 40 minutes, 17 secondsas they go on but it starts when they're in elementary school in middle school as they are getting that enrichment 6:40:246 hours, 40 minutes, 24 secondsteaching them things we're doing career uh awareness classes for all of Middle School we're going to test them at 12 6:40:326 hours, 40 minutes, 32 secondsyears old what do you want to do we're going to teach them those things and that's going to be for all students not just our our 6:40:406 hours, 40 minutes, 40 secondshigh performing students but we're going to do that to give them their goals give them that opportunity to do to grow and 6:40:486 hours, 40 minutes, 48 secondsmove each day and perform small group instructions and having smallest group instruction 6:40:566 hours, 40 minutes, 56 secondsspecifically for enrichment and pushing they know this standard okay we're going to push this standard not only to the next grade but 6:41:066 hours, 41 minutes, 6 secondsin an application type of way so that's the way you get your high performing students to carry on grow and when 6:41:146 hours, 41 minutes, 14 secondsthey're getting a testing you get that growth for that demographic which is very hard to get but it was it makes it 6:41:216 hours, 41 minutes, 21 secondsvery possible and you'll be successful all the way around and in my experience it's when been successful for all 6:41:296 hours, 41 minutes, 29 secondsstudents when they are actively involved in their learning yeah again a lot of great responses uh 6:41:386 hours, 41 minutes, 38 secondsyou know offering opportunities for advanced students really it's a little bit different look depending on what 6:41:466 hours, 41 minutes, 46 secondsgrade level you're looking at at the high school level as they've mentioned up here you're talking about dual enrollment and AP classes just a few and 6:41:556 hours, 41 minutes, 55 secondsand other Advanced courses uh throughout the schedule uh and a lot of times kids they start kind of developing a 6:42:036 hours, 42 minutes, 3 secondsdifferent track at the high school level to do different things but uh the question I think also throughout the word differentiated instruction and we 6:42:116 hours, 42 minutes, 11 secondssee that a lot of Elementary School level and the Middle School level is what we should be seeing it and and really if you're not familiar with that 6:42:206 hours, 42 minutes, 20 secondsterm what it means is the teacher needs to have a lesson that that differentiates the lesson to different levels depending on the abilities of the 6:42:296 hours, 42 minutes, 29 secondschild and where those where the child is and student is in the class and so uh you know we try to do that and we did 6:42:376 hours, 42 minutes, 37 secondssome of that in uh in Tennessee excuse me in in Tallahassee where I was and I think uh what what we've done is 6:42:466 hours, 42 minutes, 46 secondsas again the differentiated part we tend to do a lot of that through intervention strategies sometimes we pull them out sometimes we have in class intervention 6:42:546 hours, 42 minutes, 54 secondsfor for some of our our struggling learners but that also creates opportunities for our more advanced Learners to to go on and learn other 6:43:036 hours, 43 minutes, 3 secondsthings uh the other thing we did was we put a stem lab in our elementary school in a stem lab in our Middle School we 6:43:106 hours, 43 minutes, 10 secondsactually put two at the middle school level one on one of the labs was kind of a maker space and it creates opportunities uh certainly for for 6:43:196 hours, 43 minutes, 19 secondshigh-end students but it also creates opportunities for Austin because we scheduled all of our students in those labs for at least a little bit of time 6:43:266 hours, 43 minutes, 26 secondsyou know sometimes we lose track of the thought that even a struggling learner needs some of those opportunities too and so uh you know you just try and 6:43:366 hours, 43 minutes, 36 secondscover a variety of strategies to make sure that there are opportunities for students to have 6:43:436 hours, 43 minutes, 43 secondsyes it's kind of hard to add anything what these guys already touched based on you guys did an absolute wonderful job and I have nothing to say but uh look at 6:43:526 hours, 43 minutes, 52 secondsthe high school we offer our the uh all the advanced courses honors courses the AP courses dual enrollment um 6:43:596 hours, 43 minutes, 59 secondswith the middle school like you we have a new stem lab all sort of Elementary we also have our teachers collaborate weekly where they can develop their 6:44:076 hours, 44 minutes, 7 secondslesson plans in order to reach those High uh high achievement students like you differentiated instructions that's where it's got to start it's got starting that classroom with that 6:44:166 hours, 44 minutes, 16 secondsteacher especially in the early grades and and that's why we we take a time once a week and they collaborate and that's part of their job that they have 6:44:236 hours, 44 minutes, 23 secondsto do during that time to difference in the instructions for those High Achievements not just for the for all learners but especially with high achievement Learners which a lot of 6:44:316 hours, 44 minutes, 31 secondstimes get left out uh so we we've really tried to uh stress that in our system and it's been so far it seemed like it's especially at the lower levels it seems 6:44:406 hours, 44 minutes, 40 secondsto be really taking taking hold differentiating instruction is very difficult very difficult but it needs to 6:44:496 hours, 44 minutes, 49 secondsbe done for all levels of learner Learners when it comes to high school what I have experienced is a lot of 6:44:576 hours, 44 minutes, 57 secondstimes there are Advanced opportunities there are opportunities for rigor and students choose the path of least 6:45:056 hours, 45 minutes, 5 secondsresistance because because they're thinking about the present and they're not thinking about the future uh I would want to get parents involved in 6:45:146 hours, 45 minutes, 14 secondsestablishing a four-year plan coming out of eighth grade and I would encourage students to not take the path of least 6:45:216 hours, 45 minutes, 21 secondsresistance to take the most challenging curriculum that they can master and I would hope that we could grow the 6:45:286 hours, 45 minutes, 28 secondspercentage of students the data I saw said 23 percent of the students in this County earn the Tennessee Hope Scholarship which is about worth twenty 6:45:366 hours, 45 minutes, 36 secondsfive thousand dollars and I would hope to use rigor and uh and create a program where high-end students would embrace 6:45:456 hours, 45 minutes, 45 secondsthe rigor and increase the percentage of students getting the Hope Scholarship just kidding 6:45:526 hours, 45 minutes, 52 secondswe're about five minutes overtime already we're not going to be able to go through 6:45:596 hours, 45 minutes, 59 secondsevery one of these cards I have done the best I could to try to find those cards that we're close to others 6:46:086 hours, 46 minutes, 8 secondsand did the best I could do so I apologize to you folks if I didn't get to everything but I'm also working 6:46:176 hours, 46 minutes, 17 secondsunder the constraints of what was established we're going to have this is the last question best I could quickly count there were 6:46:266 hours, 46 minutes, 26 secondseight cards that had something very similar to this on it so we will end with this question and 6:46:336 hours, 46 minutes, 33 secondsthen I'll ask if you would one more time I'm going to ask you and I will 6:46:416 hours, 46 minutes, 41 secondsbump your ankle if you don't stay close take one minute to close out this day 6:46:496 hours, 46 minutes, 49 secondsand your participation if you would so here's the last question try to be brief with this and then we'll 6:46:586 hours, 46 minutes, 58 secondsresort to our the last opportunity for you to address the audience 6:47:056 hours, 47 minutes, 5 secondsthere were about seven or eight cards that apparently had on their mind about the stresses involved when you talk 6:47:136 hours, 47 minutes, 13 secondsabout the stresses with students stresses with teachers we all it's it's unsaid that we've all known what we've 6:47:226 hours, 47 minutes, 22 secondsgone through the last most recent years and it has caused stress on everyone 6:47:296 hours, 47 minutes, 29 secondsso if you looked at at least six or seven of these cards and the two that I'm holding here 6:47:386 hours, 47 minutes, 38 secondsthe issue is this are you as superintendent willing to develop 6:47:466 hours, 47 minutes, 46 secondsand work with a holistic program for everybody are you with me that means 6:47:546 hours, 47 minutes, 54 secondsthe students yes but are you willing also to look holistically at all the 6:48:016 hours, 48 minutes, 1 secondthe anxiety the stress the mental issues that teachers face and staff people face so are you willing to develop a holistic 6:48:106 hours, 48 minutes, 10 secondsapproach to education in Hickman County so wait I'm going to start with you 6:48:176 hours, 48 minutes, 17 secondsI'll come back this way and then we'll go to John and come Kevin last yeah I think 6:48:266 hours, 48 minutes, 26 secondsuh I would think most leadership people in leadership positions will want to do exactly that uh you know education isn't 6:48:356 hours, 48 minutes, 35 secondsjust coming and sitting in a classroom it's not uh it's not just having teachers or computer programs giving uh 6:48:436 hours, 48 minutes, 43 secondsgiving you uh remote lessons or or wrote lessons uh it's it's uh it's about 6:48:516 hours, 48 minutes, 51 secondscommunication it's about engagement uh and uh and I think it's very difficult 6:48:586 hours, 48 minutes, 58 secondsto do that if you're not considering all factors and you know you mentioned one thing there and that's mental health you know you you hear so much about Mental 6:49:076 hours, 49 minutes, 7 secondsHealth and the challenges uh of Faculty of students administrators everyone you 6:49:156 hours, 49 minutes, 15 secondsknow mental health is very real in in providing uh resources towards helping 6:49:226 hours, 49 minutes, 22 secondsuh those that need it is is uh is extremely important but uh I think a holistic approach uh would be welcomed 6:49:306 hours, 49 minutes, 30 secondsby anybody yes and I would definitely welcome a holistic approach uh I know in Scott County and I I think you have it here 6:49:386 hours, 49 minutes, 38 secondsalso too with your aware ground um which allows us to focus on the mental health side we have a it's allowed us to put an extra 6:49:476 hours, 49 minutes, 47 secondscounselor in every school to work along with our guidance counsel we already have but they're just focusing strictly on the mental health side for our 6:49:556 hours, 49 minutes, 55 secondsstudents now another thing is if our teachers need that also too they know they can reach out to those resources for those people we've also tried to 6:50:036 hours, 50 minutes, 3 secondsmake that available so we have to develop the body we have to develop everything but we also have to develop the mind and take care of the mind 6:50:106 hours, 50 minutes, 10 secondsthat's the most fragile thing as we're working with our students is their mind and mental health is real is real concern as you can look across not just 6:50:186 hours, 50 minutes, 18 secondshere but our state but across our nation and we get to provide every resource we can in order to make sure that we are 6:50:266 hours, 50 minutes, 26 secondsdoing the best for our children and for our teachers as well and by developing a holistic approach I think it can only 6:50:326 hours, 50 minutes, 32 secondsenhance and make us stronger live in a trouble check is working we live in a troubled 6:50:416 hours, 50 minutes, 41 secondsworld and schools are microcosms of the world in which we live in 6:50:476 hours, 50 minutes, 47 secondsand you have to take care of children come to school hungry children come come 6:50:546 hours, 50 minutes, 54 secondsto come to school traumatized I mean you if you work in schools you know that children come to schools 6:51:036 hours, 51 minutes, 3 secondswearing clothes that are less than uh desirable you got to take care of the 6:51:106 hours, 51 minutes, 10 secondsphysiological needs you got to get children to feel loved you got to get to get them to feel like they belong before 6:51:176 hours, 51 minutes, 17 secondsyou can cognitively develop them but teachers also need to come to schools where they feel respected and 6:51:266 hours, 51 minutes, 26 secondsvalued I mean yes the whole approach for everyone um and 6:51:356 hours, 51 minutes, 35 secondsworking together in unity is the way to master that whole approach Johnny 6:51:436 hours, 51 minutes, 43 secondsI certainly believe in a holistic approach to education and as director I think the greatest thing 6:51:516 hours, 51 minutes, 51 secondsum the next director of schools can do is create holistic working environments that is a comfortable safe and welcoming 6:51:596 hours, 51 minutes, 59 secondsplace every school central office the bus garage the cafeterias everything needs to cater to the needs of the 6:52:076 hours, 52 minutes, 7 secondsstudents and also the needs of the teachers if you have a comfortable stable organized working environment 6:52:146 hours, 52 minutes, 14 secondsthat is welcoming then I think everyone will find yourself a lot happier and that's all part of a holistic approach 6:52:226 hours, 52 minutes, 22 secondsyeah I I agree completely one of our focuses has been on how do we make uh our school a great place to work uh you 6:52:306 hours, 52 minutes, 30 secondsknow whether that's taking some things off of teachers plates whether that's recognizing teachers throughout the year for uh their accomplishments or their 6:52:386 hours, 52 minutes, 38 secondsstudents accomplishments sometimes it's just taking days and doing some fun things because people need a break um you know we talk about Mental Health 6:52:466 hours, 52 minutes, 46 secondsoftentimes we don't we don't think about well how how has school not become fun anymore um you know the last couple of years 6:52:546 hours, 52 minutes, 54 secondsthere's been so much emphasis on catching catching back up catching back up catching back up there's not been a lot of emphasis on 6:53:026 hours, 53 minutes, 2 secondsum making sure people enjoy working in the schools and people love waking up every day and coming and 6:53:106 hours, 53 minutes, 10 secondsworking with students so for us one of our big things again has been making School a great place to work I think that has a trickle-down effect to the 6:53:186 hours, 53 minutes, 18 secondsclassroom when teachers aren't stressed out when they enjoy showing up to work students pick up on that and they enjoy being in the classroom and they enjoy 6:53:276 hours, 53 minutes, 27 secondsbeing around their teachers when teachers come to work and they're stressed out and they don't enjoy teaching anymore students pick up on that too and they don't want to come to 6:53:356 hours, 53 minutes, 35 secondsschool and they don't enjoy being in the classroom they don't learn as well so for us you know taking care of our mental health 6:53:426 hours, 53 minutes, 42 secondsencouraging our teachers and finding ways for our teachers to be mentally healthy has been a huge emphasis 6:53:516 hours, 53 minutes, 51 secondsyes I do agree with everyone here that uh holistic is the uh most positive way 6:53:586 hours, 53 minutes, 58 secondsto go for all uh students uh unfortunately a lot of times we get caught up worrying about what the students uh I make a point to make sure 6:54:076 hours, 54 minutes, 7 secondsI acknowledge my teachers and my staff members I those they have they go home to 6:54:156 hours, 54 minutes, 15 secondsI have some teachers go home some difficult situations themselves and they come every day with a smile on their face to greet 6:54:246 hours, 54 minutes, 24 seconds414 uh fifth sixth and seventh graders eighth graders and um 6:54:326 hours, 54 minutes, 32 secondshold in what's going on with them it's very important that teachers have that outlet and we also have the aware program 6:54:406 hours, 54 minutes, 40 secondsand things like that where teachers can go and have a person to talk to and I think it comes from as a superintendent 6:54:486 hours, 54 minutes, 48 secondsit comes from the top um if you enjoy working and you show how much you enjoy working and you go out 6:54:556 hours, 54 minutes, 55 secondsand you meet and talk and and show your love as Steve Harvey says to 6:55:026 hours, 55 minutes, 2 secondsshow you love to uh your staff members your your cafeteria workers your bus 6:55:096 hours, 55 minutes, 9 secondsdrivers just making them that brings a smile to their face they don't want to work they'll they'll do anything for you 6:55:176 hours, 55 minutes, 17 secondsuh I pray I pray for my my teachers every day uh bless them they work so 6:55:236 hours, 55 minutes, 23 secondshard and uh but also worry about them because I know it's a toll so I will uh 6:55:316 hours, 55 minutes, 31 secondssupport and do everything I can holistically for not just students but uh all staff members and come up with 6:55:396 hours, 55 minutes, 39 secondsways to uh assist them in whatever they need thank you Kevin 6:55:466 hours, 55 minutes, 46 secondsagain I know that we may not have gotten the question that some of you left and some may have left the question and left 6:55:556 hours, 55 minutes, 55 secondsbut with under the duress of trying to get everything in and all of these folks 6:56:036 hours, 56 minutes, 3 secondshave a fair and equal opportunity and the long morning we had with all the interviews we hope 6:56:106 hours, 56 minutes, 10 secondsthat it gives you a at least an idea of who these folks are and what they 6:56:176 hours, 56 minutes, 17 secondsrepresent and I apologize to three of you who signed the card I tried to weave what you were asking on your card 6:56:266 hours, 56 minutes, 26 secondsinto all these questions and that would be Ronnie George and Debbie Hutchins and 6:56:346 hours, 56 minutes, 34 secondsLonnie Mayberry sitting right down here and that's yours yours was the first card I saw Lonnie and I I was not surprised that you signed your name 6:56:436 hours, 56 minutes, 43 secondsyou hadn't changed in 45 years so all right we're at the conclusion of this section 6:56:516 hours, 56 minutes, 51 secondsaccording to the parameters that the board established and asked me to do so what we're going to do Kevin has the 6:57:006 hours, 57 minutesmicrophone I'm sorry Kevin uh we're we're going to go this way we're going to go Kevin Jam Johnny 6:57:096 hours, 57 minutes, 9 secondsJohn and then back to Bell and Wade will complete please 6:57:166 hours, 57 minutes, 16 secondsno more than one minute stand up and address this audience 6:57:246 hours, 57 minutes, 24 secondsand tell them why you want to be director of schools in Hickman County 6:57:316 hours, 57 minutes, 31 secondsgood afternoon everyone and I want to say thank you for your input your care uh about the selection process but uh I 6:57:416 hours, 57 minutes, 41 secondswill since I have a minute I'm going to go ahead and get started uh I want to be your director of schools Hickman County is a special place it is 6:57:516 hours, 57 minutes, 51 secondsvery special to me for many reasons educationally and personally I've I've worked 27 years I started 27 6:58:006 hours, 58 minutesyears ago at East Middle School I've been here at Hickman County High School 6:58:076 hours, 58 minutes, 7 secondsI know you I know you're a community I know what you want I give a plus I've been at the 6:58:146 hours, 58 minutes, 14 secondselementary middle and high school levels all skills I've learned and over these 6:58:216 hours, 58 minutes, 21 secondsyears as 17 as a principal and an assistant principal gives me the strength and the skills and the 6:58:296 hours, 58 minutes, 29 secondsknowledge to lead foreign County to be the best 6:58:376 hours, 58 minutes, 37 secondsand that's my saying says I'm gonna beat my best every day and that's what I promised to you if I'm 6:58:436 hours, 58 minutes, 43 secondschosen for this position thank you I want to sit down if that's all right 6:58:546 hours, 58 minutes, 54 secondsbecause my we've been sitting a while and my legs feel like jello to be honest with you um uh but Hickman County like Mr edia I was 6:59:036 hours, 59 minutes, 3 secondsuh uh an assistant principal here in Hickman County for four years uh very blessed to have that opportunity and I 6:59:106 hours, 59 minutes, 10 secondswant to be your superintendent Hickman County is it is it's a special place um you know I had an opportunity uh to 6:59:196 hours, 59 minutes, 19 secondswork with students and staff and parents in the community and just the community involvement in our schools is amazing 6:59:266 hours, 59 minutes, 26 secondsour staffs work incredibly hard our students work incredibly hard and I think it's just it's a great place to be 6:59:356 hours, 59 minutes, 35 secondsum you know professionally and personally I love it here um you know from a skill standpoint every 6:59:436 hours, 59 minutes, 43 secondsplace that I've been I can say honestly we've been able to turn around uh what was going on whether it was in a 6:59:506 hours, 59 minutes, 50 secondsclassroom and growing a program whether it was in a school and increasing our results uh creating better experiences 6:59:596 hours, 59 minutes, 59 secondsfor our students so that they enjoyed School more they were more successful in school and I think I bring a solid set of skills that's going to reflect on 7:00:087 hours, 8 secondsyour students your students are going to come to school they're going to feel safe you're going to know that they're safe and they're going to enjoy being in school and they're going to get really 7:00:167 hours, 16 secondsgood results because of that I may have to stagger a little bit to 7:00:257 hours, 25 secondsget woken up here but uh my name is Johnny Crow and of course I was born here I grew up here 7:00:337 hours, 33 secondsI've worked in East Hickman Middle School I've worked in Hickman County High School I've substituted it every grade level 7:00:417 hours, 41 secondsprior to becoming a certified teacher and there's nothing I want more in my career 7:00:487 hours, 48 secondsthan to see Hickman County and their schools here succeed and for our schools to succeed not only do the students have to succeed we also 7:00:577 hours, 57 secondshave to have a work environment that is organized and well put together and welcoming for everyone I have a proven track record in student 7:01:057 hours, 1 minute, 5 secondsperformance a lot of people you will hear talk about school turnaround well I've done it and it takes hard work and it's not easy and I'm going to 7:01:137 hours, 1 minute, 13 secondsrededicate myself to education if I'm selected for this job I'm going to ask everyone an employee a school system and board members too let's all rededicate 7:01:227 hours, 1 minute, 22 secondsourselves get this thing on the right track thank you I'm John Mullins and I had never been 7:01:327 hours, 1 minute, 32 secondshere in my life until I applied for this job didn't know a soul I don't know any of those board members didn't know Mr 7:01:387 hours, 1 minute, 38 secondsQualls uh I've enjoyed visiting with these gentlemen today Mr squalls brought you a very qual very qualified group of 7:01:467 hours, 1 minute, 46 secondsapplicants this is not my home but it can be my home I have the capacity to 7:01:557 hours, 1 minute, 55 secondscare for you I want to care for you I have the capacity to care for your children I'd never been to Arab Alabama when I took that job 7:02:047 hours, 2 minutes, 4 secondsso and and this is this is a deep process for me I've retired before I should have 7:02:117 hours, 2 minutes, 11 secondsand I want to go back to work and this is this has been a sole searching process for me I'm determined 7:02:187 hours, 2 minutes, 18 secondsto go back to work and again this is the only job I applied for Matthew 12 48 says to whom much is 7:02:257 hours, 2 minutes, 25 secondsentrust as much is required I know what this job is required and I will give every I will give every ounce of energy in my 7:02:337 hours, 2 minutes, 33 secondsbody to make sure that this school district is well LED make sure if this school district takes care of teachers and children and make sure the school 7:02:417 hours, 2 minutes, 41 secondsdistrict grows in a way that we all can be comfortable with and that we all can be proud of thank you 7:02:487 hours, 2 minutes, 48 secondsthank you uh I'm Bill Hall I'm from Scott County Tennessee 7:02:547 hours, 2 minutes, 54 secondsit's about four hours Northeast from here uh counties similar to Hickman County 7:03:027 hours, 3 minutes, 2 secondswhen it comes to demographics Geographics and the people I spent 34 and a half years almost 35 7:03:097 hours, 3 minutes, 9 secondsyears now as an educator and I've spent the entire well time in Scott County six years is the onada Special School 7:03:177 hours, 3 minutes, 17 secondsDistrict in the last 28 and a half Scott County Schools I've been a fourth grade teacher I've been a physical education teacher 7:03:267 hours, 3 minutes, 26 secondsthe basketball coach football coach the girl softball coach I've been assistant principal principal in the past 12 Years a director of 7:03:347 hours, 3 minutes, 34 secondsschools I have a new contract in place just got it while I after I'd applied here 7:03:417 hours, 3 minutes, 41 secondswithin a renegotiation process and you ask why did I apply only saying 34 and a half years I've never even looked 7:03:507 hours, 3 minutes, 50 secondsanywhere else at another position another place to go because that's been my home it's been it's been me it's my family that's 7:03:587 hours, 3 minutes, 58 secondswhere we were embedded I've applied at one position one time and it had to be a place that I felt like was special and could become home 7:04:077 hours, 4 minutes, 7 secondsit's here Hickman County um I've enjoyed my time spending with the board I'm like I think I knew coach 7:04:157 hours, 4 minutes, 15 secondsGreg matney coach for years back that's been it um and I've enjoyed the time and I can tell 7:04:237 hours, 4 minutes, 23 secondsyou this it's a special place you can the feel you get when you come in you meet the people it's a home home is where you can be and 7:04:327 hours, 4 minutes, 32 secondswhat you make and I can make this home um and like everyone else you guys are tremendous you guys have a short period 7:04:397 hours, 4 minutes, 39 secondsof time you've already been a big influence with me just to learn from you uh and I think education is learning daily we can't learn daily we're in the 7:04:477 hours, 4 minutes, 47 secondswrong business we do it with children we do it with servants hands and I want to thank you guys for the opportunity to be before you and especially thank Mr Wayne 7:04:557 hours, 4 minutes, 55 secondsQualls I've had the pleasure to get to know Mr Wayne Claus through the years and as a final gentleman as you will come across you guys know that I'm not telling you anything you don't know but 7:05:047 hours, 5 minutes, 4 secondsagain thank you for the opportunity to be in front of your day boy I can feel that my leg's still 7:05:137 hours, 5 minutes, 13 secondsstanding up here um listen I I think uh I'm gonna start with talking about fellow applicants here I think uh I agree with several 7:05:227 hours, 5 minutes, 22 secondspeople here it's it's been a good group and I've really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know their Journeys and it is a journey that we all 7:05:307 hours, 5 minutes, 30 secondstake and uh I want to thank the board of education for giving us the opportunity to come here and just get to know you 7:05:377 hours, 5 minutes, 37 secondsand you get to know us and thank you Mr Qualls for uh for this opportunity as well uh 7:05:447 hours, 5 minutes, 44 secondsyou know you have a great opportunity for you uh I'm not I'm not going to stand here and tell you I'm the best applicant what I'm going to tell you is 7:05:537 hours, 5 minutes, 53 secondsI hope that your board chooses the best fit for your system I feel like I can be that fit 7:06:017 hours, 6 minutes, 1 seconduh but I think there's other choices that could be just as well and I'm not going to diminish anyone else by saying that but I uh I've had 7:06:107 hours, 6 minutes, 10 secondsexperiences leading school systems that I think we've done some really good things and that's what I'd like to try 7:06:167 hours, 6 minutes, 16 secondsto bring here to Hickman County my wife's sitting out there you know we would become part of the community 7:06:257 hours, 6 minutes, 25 secondsuh my kids are grown so I don't think we'd be dragging them along at this point but uh but we could be part of this community and make uh make it make 7:06:337 hours, 6 minutes, 33 secondsour family part of your family but again just thank you for this opportunity and 7:06:407 hours, 6 minutes, 40 secondsI wish you the best in terms of moving forward with your school district 7:06:497 hours, 6 minutes, 49 secondswell we've gone almost two hours and before we close this segment and I'll relinquish it back to the chairman I 7:06:587 hours, 6 minutes, 58 secondswanted to say to is Michelle in here I didn't see her oh Michelle thank you for um 7:07:087 hours, 7 minutes, 8 secondsuh you and I think maybe Debbie and Amanda got all these things together to 7:07:157 hours, 7 minutes, 15 secondshelp have snacks and drinks during this day so we thank you for that we yes 7:07:237 hours, 7 minutes, 23 secondswe thank you for you're arranging the sound today and I think this was live stream as well so 7:07:337 hours, 7 minutes, 33 secondsthank you for that so we appreciate all the efforts that's been put in to make this event flow well 7:07:407 hours, 7 minutes, 40 secondsso we are finished but before we all leave I want us all to show our 7:07:487 hours, 7 minutes, 48 secondsappreciation again for these folks and their involvement please 7:07:517 hours, 7 minutes, 51 seconds[Applause] 7:07:597 hours, 7 minutes, 59 secondsokay I would presume Mr chairman I have finished the course so I presumed that it's all in the board's 7:08:077 hours, 8 minutes, 7 secondsresponsibility and you guys are free to go don't run faster you'll run over me 7:08:147 hours, 8 minutes, 14 secondsgoing to the door thank you thank you we're going to take 7:08:217 hours, 8 minutes, 21 secondsa short break we'll be right back five minutes you know three o'clock all right and we'll be right back and 7:08:307 hours, 8 minutes, 30 secondsthey need me let's give it up here again we got some more businesses to do thank you foreign 7:19:297 hours, 19 minutes, 29 secondsokay that might get them to to make a decision so this 7:19:397 hours, 19 minutes, 39 secondsis all right everybody 7:19:527 hours, 19 minutes, 52 secondshave a seat we'll get continued on we have a little bit more stuff to do on our agenda one is to 7:20:007 hours, 20 minuteslook at a bid for our HVAC system um it's Michelle will go over that course 7:20:077 hours, 20 minutes, 7 secondsMr Elkins is coming to the stage um this is the bid that previously was rejected 7:20:157 hours, 20 minutes, 15 secondsuh when it had the HVAC units and the insulation all in one bin and the board 7:20:227 hours, 20 minutes, 22 secondsapproved for us to purchase those units separately and then bid the labor separately and this is the opening of 7:20:307 hours, 20 minutes, 30 secondsthat bid that we have submitted to you for your consideration that was only one 7:20:397 hours, 20 minutes, 39 secondscompanies 7:21:087 hours, 21 minutes, 8 secondsthe numbers awesome 7:21:187 hours, 21 minutes, 18 secondsCommunity software 7:21:307 hours, 21 minutes, 30 secondswe're not looking at discounts 7:21:457 hours, 21 minutes, 45 secondsforeign two hundred thousand dollars 7:22:127 hours, 22 minutes, 12 secondsso we're asking for this approval times 7:22:237 hours, 22 minutes, 23 secondsCollege 7:22:427 hours, 22 minutes, 42 secondsI mean what do they do by that cost it seems pretty expensive what's the advantage so what what it does is 7:22:547 hours, 22 minutes, 54 secondstemperature controls 7:23:067 hours, 23 minutes, 6 secondsassistant we had that kind of citizen of course 7:23:327 hours, 23 minutes, 32 secondsif we don't do this if if we don't do this will there just 7:23:417 hours, 23 minutes, 41 secondsbe individual thermostats 7:23:437 hours, 23 minutes, 43 seconds[Music] 7:23:457 hours, 23 minutes, 45 secondswon't change anything that would currently happen but what this does include is that fresh air damper 7:23:527 hours, 23 minutes, 52 secondswill be set to be to come on and you can set it come on at seven o'clock in the morning and cut off at three o'clock in 7:24:007 hours, 24 minutesthe afternoon some fresh air is going into the system into the building it just won't be doing it because when we 7:24:087 hours, 24 minutes, 8 secondsput fresh air into the system it actually cost more than we get on course so I would not be happening so if the teacher feels like it's too cold can 7:24:177 hours, 24 minutes, 17 secondsthey still cut it down they will still be able to if it's too hot they can turn it up now I think those thermostats are still 7:24:267 hours, 24 minutes, 26 secondsset to where there's a certain level now at one time we were talking about buying the units and then individually 7:24:357 hours, 24 minutes, 35 secondswe have bought the units already this is just installation this is the installation and I'm trying to look over here and say how many installations are 7:24:437 hours, 24 minutes, 43 secondsthese offline so what will the number I can't shut somewhere around 82 but don't hold 7:24:507 hours, 24 minutes, 50 secondsme to that because shouldn't that be in here so we know how much you pay it for each one or 7:24:587 hours, 24 minutes, 58 secondssomething uh as far as an installation 7:25:057 hours, 25 minutes, 5 secondsyou said what is foreign 7:25:257 hours, 25 minutes, 25 secondsbut this was this was just Marshall this is the whole thing yeah 7:25:397 hours, 25 minutes, 39 secondsthe original bit that you all were asking to reject before those two schools including the purchase 7:25:487 hours, 25 minutes, 48 secondswas 1.941 Million 7:26:037 hours, 26 minutes, 3 secondsone construction 7:26:107 hours, 26 minutes, 10 secondswe knew we were going to probably have to do this 7:26:207 hours, 26 minutes, 20 secondssee what we were going to do that now but okay they could be added later yes 7:26:397 hours, 26 minutes, 39 secondsdon't hold me dude 7:26:537 hours, 26 minutes, 53 secondsMiss Bakery yes Mr Gannon yes Mr Hedges yes 7:27:017 hours, 27 minutes, 1 secondMr Hobbs yes Mr Lang yes it's nice yes 7:27:097 hours, 27 minutes, 9 secondsMr Willis yes yes thank you 7:27:247 hours, 27 minutes, 24 secondsand then one school's in session they will do it after School 7:27:337 hours, 27 minutes, 33 secondsthank you next is our direction of school selection process 7:27:417 hours, 27 minutes, 41 secondsat this time we've got several options that we can do I'll make a motion 7:27:507 hours, 27 minutes, 50 secondsthat we make the extended offer of employment to John Mullins for the next director of school 7:27:597 hours, 27 minutes, 59 secondshave a motion a second any discussion I was going to broke off 7:28:077 hours, 28 minutes, 7 secondsI'd like myself yes we say we could have some discussion 7:28:177 hours, 28 minutes, 17 secondswell yes any discussions that's a one if you would please remember to kind of lean in 7:28:257 hours, 28 minutes, 25 secondsand speak to the mic during discussion just so they they can hear you on the stream and in the audience like now I'm a question on this because 7:28:347 hours, 28 minutes, 34 secondsuh he made a motion this was first of all this will be with negotiations Mr Mullins so we have to put that in them 7:28:437 hours, 28 minutes, 43 secondsright okay extend an offer or make or enter to negotiations 7:28:497 hours, 28 minutes, 49 secondsokay contract negotiation yes anyone else uh 7:28:577 hours, 28 minutes, 57 secondsI've heard a lot from constituents the last couple of weeks I think we've got enough time built in 7:29:057 hours, 29 minutes, 5 secondsour schedule to give us a few days to listen to some more 7:29:127 hours, 29 minutes, 12 secondsI would like to listen to some more before I extend the contract I'm I want to make sure that 7:29:207 hours, 29 minutes, 20 secondsI want to make sure that I talk to people and people are free to talk to me I don't want our public to think we're 7:29:297 hours, 29 minutes, 29 secondsnot listening to them okay and understand I was elected to do what I think is best 7:29:387 hours, 29 minutes, 38 secondsnot to do what most of the public wants me to do so that is not my goal here 7:29:457 hours, 29 minutes, 45 secondswhat I would like after we all these people have come here and I don't know how many more people 7:29:537 hours, 29 minutes, 53 secondsare watching this streaming I would like for them to be able to give me their opinion before I make that decision 7:30:017 hours, 30 minutes, 1 secondso that's that's just what I want to say 7:30:057 hours, 30 minutes, 5 seconds[Applause] 7:30:127 hours, 30 minutes, 12 secondsneed more discussion with motion on the floor in a second would you like me to repeat the motion 7:30:197 hours, 30 minutes, 19 secondsplease so the motion was for Mr Lane for John Mullins to be offered for the next 7:30:287 hours, 30 minutes, 28 secondsdirector of schools is that correct negotiations 7:30:367 hours, 30 minutes, 36 secondsokay so the motion is to for John Mullins to be offered the position director of schools pending negotiations 7:30:447 hours, 30 minutes, 44 secondsI'd like I'll make a comment too um just to kind of respond to Jim's comment 7:30:527 hours, 30 minutes, 52 secondsI understand completely uh where you're coming from Jim um from my point of view uh I mean we we've had these resumes for 7:31:017 hours, 31 minutes, 1 secondmonths we've talked to these folks multiple times I've talked to tons and tons of community members 7:31:097 hours, 31 minutes, 9 secondsWe are following what making a decision right now is not going against our plan 7:31:177 hours, 31 minutes, 17 secondsweeks when we laid out our plan we said we had a decision point at each time this is this is not in any way 7:31:237 hours, 31 minutes, 23 secondscircumventing our plan at all um I have I have put a ton of work 7:31:317 hours, 31 minutes, 31 secondsuh time talking to candidates both in interviews and and outside interviews and talking to community members and 7:31:387 hours, 31 minutes, 38 secondsthinking this over and you know reading about these candidates and studying them and um 7:31:467 hours, 31 minutes, 46 secondsand I am ready for a decision uh and I really I honestly I don't want to push it out any further um I'm ready to go for a decision now 7:31:547 hours, 31 minutes, 54 secondsbut I I respect your opinion but that's that's where I stand I too will ditto what uh 7:32:057 hours, 32 minutes, 5 secondsI will ditto also what uh Vance has said since the resumes have been out I have tirelessly I've been uh uh going over 7:32:137 hours, 32 minutes, 13 secondsthose I've been uh searching information about the the candidates and going through the process 7:32:207 hours, 32 minutes, 20 secondsfrom putting them in order to uh calling people that not necessarily are their 7:32:277 hours, 32 minutes, 27 secondsfriends that are on the uh the list uh to talking to people in public uh 7:32:357 hours, 32 minutes, 35 secondsphone has never been turned off uh email has never been turned off and I'm ready to make a decision because uh 7:32:437 hours, 32 minutes, 43 secondsregardless of some people's opinion out there that we haven't done anything so far very much except these little meetings uh that is wrong so I'm ready 7:32:517 hours, 32 minutes, 51 secondsto make a decision any more discussion so uh just a reminder I'd like to 7:33:007 hours, 33 minutesreverse order please yes Mr Willis yes Miss May yes 7:33:097 hours, 33 minutes, 9 secondsMr Lang yes Mr Hudgens no Mr Hobbs yes 7:33:197 hours, 33 minutes, 19 secondsMr gammons yes Miss Baker yes yes six one zero path zero FC 7:33:287 hours, 33 minutes, 28 secondsmaybe about this time I'd like to change your emotional or vote if not as a six to one 7:33:367 hours, 33 minutes, 36 secondswe will get a negotiation we'll have a committee myself and one other and we'll start on that 7:33:447 hours, 33 minutes, 44 secondsso I'd like to do we need to make a motion that we uh create a committee for the negotiation I can pick one okay you can do that yes 7:33:527 hours, 33 minutes, 52 secondsso we're as far as this goes we have one other thingy 7:34:007 hours, 34 minuteswith one announcement no announcements because that's hard 7:34:087 hours, 34 minutes, 8 secondsall right nothing else make a motion to adjourn I make a motion to adjourn second 7:34:167 hours, 34 minutes, 16 secondsall in favor say aye aye aye any opposed 7-0 have a good evening