Rutherford County Board approves calendar, grants and transportation drawing change in packed October meeting

The Rutherford County Board of Education approved a slate of routine and substantive items at its October meeting, including a new school calendar for the 2026 year, a consolidated budget amendment recognizing multiple state grants, and a policy change to hold two drawings per year for so-called "power hour" bus contracts.

The board voted to approve the 2026 school calendar, which starts Monday, Aug. 3 and ends Friday, May 28. The calendar requires teachers to complete 12 hours of in-service on their own during the school year, up from six hours under the previous calendar.

On finance, the board approved a single budget amendment that recognizes carryover and new allocations from three state grants. The largest is carryover funding from an Innovative Model Schools grant with a carryover amount of $8,889,685 to support career and technical education (CTE) personnel costs, stipends, equipment and renovation work across multiple schools. The Public School Security grant was recognized with…