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Commission weighs school opioid-settlement grant as county dissolves abatement committee for now
Summary
The commission considered a Hamblen County Board of Education opioid-settlement grant application and debated whether references to an "Opioid Abatement Committee" in an existing memorandum of understanding should be amended after the county dissolved the committee; the county mayor said the city of Morristown has not sent opioid funds to the county, while officials said the county has available opioid abatement funds.
The commission reviewed an application by the Hamblen County Board of Education to use opioid-settlement funds for programs that serve students affected by opioid-related trauma. A public commenter and several commissioners asked whether references to an "Opioid Abatement Committee" in a memorandum of understanding with the city of Morristown should be removed now that the county says the committee has been dissolved.
A resident who spoke during the meeting pointed to the memorandum of understanding and noted the document references the Opioid Abatement Committee multiple times. "Mayor Cutshall said the opioid abatement committee had been abolished," the resident said; commissioners discussed whether to pause the application to amend the MOU and secure the city’s agreement to any changes.
Mayor Merrick Cutshall told the board the city of Morristown has not forwarded any opioid funds to the county and that the county has received its own opioid-abatement receipts. "We have not collected that. We have not received any that the city of Morristown receives," the mayor said, but he added that Hamblen County has a fund balance of opioid-abatement money.
Superintendent Bunch said the Board of Education’s request would fund supports for students, including counseling and physical changes at the Miller Boyd site used to consolidate students from a transition academy. "This is for Miller Boyd," the superintendent said, and described moving students with high behavioral needs to that facility and adding supports to keep them engaged and safer in classrooms. Several commissioners urged against delaying funds for the students, saying a 30- or 60-day delay could harm services.
After discussion about procedure and coordination with Morristown officials, the commission moved forward on the item rather than delay, though commissioners indicated the MOU language and intergovernmental coordination should be reviewed as appropriate.
