Across the Board - April 17, 2023

Published April 18, 2023

At its April 17 meeting, the Williamson County School Board voted to delay decisions regarding several library books and the Reconsideration Committee's recommendation until June.

In his report to the Board, Superintendent Jason Golden thanked the public commenters, especially the WCS students, for sharing their thoughts. He also encouraged viewers to go back and watch the April 13 Work Session to see a discussion on the Strategic Plan and the planning process.

In Student Spotlights, the district celebrated its record-breaking 78 National Merit Finalists. From Brentwood High, Audrey Aulino, Lukas Bowman, Logan Brownfield, Jesse Cai, Colin Carpenter, Rhys Clark, Owen Coulam, Brent Driver, Dhuhaa Fazili, Raymond Gardocki, William Hong, Angela Huo, Morgan Koerlin, Nathan Lee, Grace Lu, Molly McMullan, Reagan Nelson, Landon Parker, Corinne Porada, Nihar Sanku, Luca Santilli, Zachary Villaruz, Amy Xu and Elaine Zhang.

Centennial High students Presley Anderson, Sean Baker, Keira Yocum and Emma Burrell were also recognized, as were Franklin High's Aidan Culp, Leah Gallers, David Haskins, Joshua Murray, Jack Parker, Vann Schaefer and Townsend Schultz.

Independence High's Ava Gordon, Kyler King, Rylee Lent, Nathaniel Martinez, Dalton Shults and Lillian Valk were honored. From Nolensville High, William Flanigan and Darsh Khandelwal were celebrated. 

Page High's Bryson Boone, Josef Dosch, Abigail Koczaja, Broderick Labott, Cynthia Liang, Pharris Livingston, Elijah Ray, Eugene Smalley and Paxton Whitehead were recognized.

The district also celebrated Ravenwood High's Gauri Adarsh, Tyler Allison, Emily Barnes, Thomas Bork, Varun Bussa, Lana Cartailler, Sullivan Dickerson, Sharad Ghantasala, Grace Gstell, Megan Hopfensperger, Andrew Kim, Joshua Liu, Shiv Mehta, Ayush Mishra, Ella Montgomery, Matthew Mueller, Aishni Nath, William Parodi, Truman Porter, Katelyn Rowan, Andrew Salmon, Adwit Satyawadi, Kaitlyn Wojtak, Cynthia Xu, Linda Xu and Debra Zhang.

In addition to the National Merit Finalists, the Board also celebrated students for their success at the Tennessee High School Press Association. Brentwood High's Isabella Supinkski, Kyle Jordan and Sydney Loyd won Best News Package, and the WBHS 9 Level IV news team tied for Best Newscast/News Magazine. Their teacher is Sloan Ashworth.

From Franklin High, Anna Raye Jones won Best Videographer, and Blais Cameron and Emmaline Warden tied for Best Public Service Announcement. Their teacher is Keri Thompson.

Independence High's IHS News Staff also tied for Best Newscast/News Magazine. Their teacher is Matt Balzer.

Page High's Lincoln Campbell won Best Sports Video, and his classmate Hayley Zehnder won Best Commercial. Their teacher is David Holt.

Ravenwood High's Jack Foster tied for Best Public Service Announcement. His teachers are Megan Sanchez and Chelsea Kite.

Liam Douthit, from Crockett Elementary, was celebrated for winning first place in the Pre-K through second grade decision of the Tennessee Civics Essay Contest. His teacher is Stephanie Higgs. 

In Other Business, the Board:

• Approved the Agenda
• Approved the Consent Agenda, which includes:
  • March 27, 2023 School Board Meeting Minutes
  • Facilities Use Fee Schedule (Annual Agenda Item)
  • Recommendation for Field Trip Fee Requests

In Unfinished Business, the Board:

• Voted to delay the Approval of the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation for the following Library Books: Speak, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Field Guide to the North American Teenager and Where the Crawdads Sing until June 2023
• Voted to delay the Approval of the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation for the following Library Book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close until June 2023

In New Business, the Board:

• Approved the following 2022-2023 School Board Budget items:
  • General Purpose School Fund Donation for Fine Arts - $47,300
  • General Purpose School Fund Carryforward Donation for Flag Football - $32,775.09
  • Capital Projects Fund Asphalt, Roof and WWTP ITF - $11,169,000
  • Capital Projects Fund Information Technology ITF -$12,202,560
• Approved the following Board Policies on First Reading
  • Board Member Conflict of Interest (New)
  • Code of Ethics
  • Library Materials
  • Dress Code
  • Medicines
• Approved the Tenure Recommendations of Superintendent to Board (Annual Agenda Item)

The School Board meeting in its entirety is available on the WC-TV YouTube channel.

The Board's next regular meeting will be Monday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m.