March 11, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Kingsport City Schools Board of Education Regular Meeting

Description:  D-B EXCEL 9th grader Brayden Austin will lead the Board of Education and the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Description:  Mrs. Melissa Woods, Board President, will ask for a motion to accept the agenda, which includes the consent agenda. Once the agenda is accepted, the Board mutually agrees not to discuss any item of business or take any action that has not been accepted for the agenda.

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Dr. Phillip Marshall will recognize two Dobyns-Bennett High School seniors for advancing to Finalist standing in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program, a program designed to identify and honor the top high school students in the United States. The students named as National Merit Scholarship Finalists are Liam Klug and Claire Li. Their remarkable achievements in the classroom, commitment to co-curricular activities, and meaningful contributions to our community truly set them apart. They will serve in this prestigious competition as extraordinary representatives for their school and district.

These students will compete with the top high school students in the nation for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $26 million that will be offered. High school juniors entered the 2025 competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screening of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and his/her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which information is provided regarding the Semifinalist's academic record, participation in school/community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors/awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Over 16,000 students qualified as Semifinalists, with about 95 percent of the Semifinalists expected to advance to the Finalist standing. More than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. National Merit Scholarship winners for 2025 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July.

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PUBLIC COMMENT GUIDELINES:

This is the time when members of the audience are invited to comment on agenda items. If pre-approved by the Board Executive Committee, members of the community may also address the Board regarding non-agenda items. In order to speak on a topic not included on the agenda, per Board Policy 1.404, you must submit a written request to the Superintendent of Schools at least three (3) business days before the regular meeting.  

This is not the time to speak about personnel issues, as there are more appropriate ways in which these can be addressed. If you are not sure how to do this, please ask a Board member after the meeting. In your remarks, you may not refer to students by name without permission from a parent or guardian.

Speakers are requested to first state your name and limit your remarks to a maximum of three (3) minutes.

Thank you. 

Description:  Mr. Andy Arnold, Chief Technology Officer, and Mr. David Frye, Chief Finance Officer, will present a recommendation to purchase 1,300 Dell Chromebooks and Google Chrome licenses from Dell Marketing L.P. (Contract C000000381302), utilizing the Wilson County Schools Cooperative Purchasing Agreement. The Dell Chromebook 312s are $275.62 each and the Google Chrome licenses are $32.07 each, for a total cost of $399,997.00. The Chromebooks will be used by 7th - 9th grade students. Funding will be from School General Purpose Funds.

Description:  Mr. Frye will present Budget Amendment #4 for Board consideration.

Description:  The Board will consider approval of a resolution affirming the intention to participate in the Education Freedom Act of 2025 relative to providing one-time bonuses of no less than $2,000 to public school teachers in the state.  Section four (4) of the "Education Freedom Act of 2025" requires that a local board of education for a Local Education Agency (LEA) seeking to participate in section four (4) of the proposed act must affirm its intention to participate via a resolution in order to receive state funds to issue these bonuses.

However, the Kingsport Board of Education continues to express unanimous opposition to the "Education Freedom Act of 2025" and, through a previous resolution, strongly urged the Tennessee General Assembly to reject such legislation and/or any other similar voucher or Education Savings Account legislation.