More bad news for Harpeth High regarding the dual enrollment class offerings was revealed during the discussion on the class rank policy. Not all of the anticipated dual enrollment classes will be available.  Previously when Dr Webb was asked about the lack of qualified dual enrollment teachers at HHS, he proposed online video learning from the college supplemented by a local teacher. Apparently, online learning for the DE classes is not recommended by the people at the college level. At this time, the district has not been able to find a qualified DE Calculus teacher so  might not be a DE Calculus class at HHS. Are students at HHS missing out on any other DE classes?

Melanie Hamilton brought a request to increase the fees for extended care daycare by $5/week. During the conversation, Tammie Lavender brought up a concern about earnings from the south cluster daycare to bring the other sites into the black. While looking at the income and expenditure numbers, the board realized that the daycare account has over $600,000. William Johnson asked the question about whether the intent of running the daycare sites was to make money or to provide a service for the teachers. Discussion then turned toward how to use some of the surplus funds for other items.

No progress was made on Policy 6.312 Use of Personal Communication Devices in School. Board members were provided with samples from districts across the state. It was noted that Knox County Schools are progressive compared to Cheatham county. Stan Curtis wants feedback from the school principals, who will be enforcing the policy when it is put into place. It was sent back for another draft.

The board had questions about an invoice for July 21st 2010. The bill was for district wide cleanup work from the 2010 flood. They are still researching what money was spent, how much was covered by insurance vs TEMA, and whether there are still open events that need to be addressed.

Also, there is a known safety issue with the fans in the new HHS greenhouse. There are no protective coverings over the fans. It’s possible that someone could put their hand or an object directly into the spinning blades.

Stan Curtis also hired three new principals without current guidance on how to determine their salaries. He wants to set a standard for principals based on the current teacher scale. There was not time to get the new scale in place before the school year, but he wants to get the scale in place before it’s needed again. He also wants to create similar pay scales for all positions to eliminate large pay discrepancies between people in the same job.