MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

The Coffee County School Board addressed several items at the Jan. 14 meeting of the Coffee County School Board including finalizing a timeline on the director search and rejecting a district-wide request for new furniture. 

The first item brought up for a vote was to approve the timeline for the Tennessee School Boards Association search for a new Director of Schools for Coffee County.

All dates specified on the timeline are:

• Jan. 27- Community meetings
• Feb. 12- Special call Board meeting to discuss results of community meetings and adopt criteria for search.
• March 14- Application deadline
• March 31- Candidates are selected
• April 21, 22, 24- Candidates are interviewed
• April 28- Second phase of consideration begins
• May 5- Contract offered
• May 12- New Director announced
• June 1- New Director starts

Board member Jennifer Peacock Hodge addressed Chairman Thomas Ballard about the flexibility of the schedule and whether the Board could accept a candidate’s application after the scheduled deadline.

“We hope that everybody would get in before the 14th because it makes the process a little easier, but ultimately it’s our decision,” responded Ballard. “The TSBA does not choose for us. It’s our decision, so if we want to modify the process as we go along then that is our decision as a Board.”

The Board voted unanimously 8-0 to approve the timeline with Board member Robert Gilley absent.

A furniture bid that had originally appeared on the November meeting agenda was also brought up for discussion.

The bid would replace furniture in the CTE room and classrooms at Coffee County Central High School as well as some office furniture, some furniture for a counselor at the Coffee County Koss Center, some office and meeting room furniture at the Central Office and a chair at Raider Academy that was broken and not under warranty.

Assistant Director of Coffee County Schools Kelvin Shores explained that the money would come from the Capital Projects budget so that there is consistency in the furniture throughout the schools and Central Office.

Board Member Scott Hansert raised some concerns that the money could be transferred instead to a different line item so that it could be used to help fund new bleachers at the schools.

“I just think that we’re trying to get bleachers here and that’s $130,000 that we could put towards the bleachers whenever we find out what our bid is and how we can bid that,” said Hansert. “On my part, I think we are to put… $130,000 toward getting our bleachers put in whenever we decide whenever we can bid on it and whenever we can bid on that. That’s my opinion.”

The Board must receive competitive bids before the bleachers can be added back to the agenda to be approved before the project can begin.

Peacock Hodge questioned the cost of some of the furniture and whether there were other options.

“We can get cheaper furniture, and it’s going to be breaking a whole lot sooner,” responded Shores. “There is a couple of other things that go along with this. If it’s purchased through Ernie Morris, they deliver the furniture, they install it, they put it together, they do the whole nine yards on it. If there is a piece that is broken or damaged, then they repair it or they bring in a new piece and take care of it.”

 The motion failed 5-3 with Board Members Hansert, Jones, Peacock Hodge, Matthews and Koon voting “no” and Board Chairman Ballard and Members Yentsch and Cordell voting “yes.”

Phase 2 of installing bullet resistant security laminate that shatters on impact instead of breaking completely on school windows was passed unanimously 8-0 by the Board.

The project would cover the remaining ground level windows at the school buildings. The cost of Phase 2 of the project will be $284,503 and will come from the Board’s Fund Balance.

“This is for the safety of our kids and our staffs,” remarked Kelvin.

A budget amendment related to funding the project also passed unanimously 8-0.