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Principals report winter events, district upgrades; superintendent flags FEMA paperwork delays
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Summary
Principals reported end-of-semester events and a school being designated a reward school; the district’s technology supervisor described Windows 11 upgrades and Skyward contract negotiations, while the superintendent said FEMA has missed required deadlines on a recovery grant.
School principals and administrators used the December board meeting to summarize winter events and operational updates, and the superintendent flagged continuing concerns about a FEMA grant process.
Principal report: Miss Baker (speaker 4) listed upcoming student events and recognitions. She said the district will run behavior field trips Dec. 15–16 and that kindergarten students will perform a Christmas program on Dec. 18 at 8:15 a.m. She also announced that "Ralph Askins has been identified as a reward school for the 2425 school year," thanked staff and families for student success and growth, and highlighted middle‑school and high‑school activities including a Dec. 17 trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, a Dec. 19 chili supper and theater performances on Dec. 19–20. She reported that five students were placed in the Tennessee youth employment program and recognized 51 seniors for academic growth.
Technology and operations: Mister Gibbs (speaker 6), the district supervisor, said the district completed upgrades to Windows 11, added new monitors in SRO officers’ offices, adjusted campus camera coverage, and is increasing Wi‑Fi capacity across campuses. Gibbs also noted the student information vendor Skyward is negotiating contracts with the state and that the district is monitoring those negotiations.
FEMA grant status: The superintendent (speaker 3) gave an update on a long‑running FEMA grant, saying FEMA staff had not provided clear submission dates for required paperwork and had repeatedly missed their deadlines. He said a draft contract contained commitments FEMA had not met and that he would not sign it as written: "They're continually missing deadlines, put us behind our deadlines... I'm not gonna sign anything that's going against us..." He said he planned follow-up meetings with FEMA leadership to seek specific dates and resolve outstanding issues.
The meeting included no public comments, and board members praised staff and student achievements before adjourning. The board scheduled its next meeting for Monday, Jan. 5.
The transcript contains a likely transcription error when reporting the school year as "2425;" that is recorded here as spoken and should be verified with district records.
