The Sumner County Education Committee on Jan. 5 approved a budget amendment reallocating CTE/CTA grant funds and received a progress update from Director of Schools Dr. Langford on construction at several high school campuses and on the new Innovation Center, which Dr. Langford said will begin hosting students the next day.

Dr. Langford told the committee that district athletic projects are nearly complete. "Athletic facilities [are] just about 97% complete," he said, and gave campus-specific updates: Hendersonville projects are roughly 85% finished, Merrill High's tennis courts are about 47% complete and Gallatin is about 59% complete with press-box foundations in place. He cautioned that some work remains weather-dependent and that track-surface installation requires sustained warm conditions, noting the surface needs to cure "above 85 degrees for most days."

The Innovation Center was a major focus. "We are kicking off, tomorrow having students in the building for the first time," Dr. Langford said, describing program offerings that include criminal-justice dual-enrollment courses (with a partnership with the sheriff's office), leadership classes, an aviation academy with Middle Tennessee State University and other specialty academies open to students across the county. He described partnerships with Hands On Nashville to link students to local nonprofits for community-service opportunities tied to Tennessee Promise requirements and said a venture-capital partner is planning a "$50,000,000 run of seed capital" with a week-long boot camp for a small number of students.

On budget business, the committee considered "budget amendment number 2," described by Dr. Langford as "innovative school model grant money." He explained that the CTA relocation fund consists of CTE grant dollars that were budgeted at individual schools and are now being reallocated into a single line so schools may move budgeted items (for example, where technology classifications changed) and spend the funds on CTE programs. The motion to approve budget amendment No. 2 was made, seconded and recorded as carried in the meeting.

The meeting also recorded routine approvals: the agenda and the Nov. 17 minutes, and an item described as a canonical copy release from Gene Brown (item 10c) was moved and carried. Committee members asked procedural questions about having the director sit at the table for reports going forward; Dr. Langford said that would be acceptable and the committee agreed to extend an invitation.

The committee did not record numeric vote tallies in the transcript provided; votes were recorded orally as "Aye" with no opposition noted. The committee discussed remaining construction dependencies—primarily steel delivery backlogs and seasonal weather for paving and track surfacing—and the director said next-year capital budgeting will depend in part on sales-tax receipts and state funding developments.

The committee closed the session after confirming motions and next steps.