What happened at the School Board meeting on 2/12/2013 with video notation and commentary

This meeting is two hours and 21 minutes long.

Charter Schools
The board takes up the issue of House Bill 702 which would create an independent state authorizer that could approve a charter school if a local school board does not approve the charter application. The change would only apply to Davidson ans Shelby County.  This bill is a result of the Davidson County School Board's failure to approve Great Hearts Academy after being told by the State to do so. As a result of the School Board's refusal to approve Great Hearts, the state penalized the Board by witholding $3.4 million. Jessie Register speaks about HB 0702  and appears not pleased with developments. Board member Frogge, says she was "very disturbed" by the way the bill was rolled out, meaning the lack of notice and quick action on the bill. She reports on her appearance before the Senate subcommittee that considered the bill earlier that day. Michael W. Hayes says he supports a state authorizer but things HB 702 is a poor board. Will Pinkston also questions the bill and says since it only applies to two counties that that may make it constitutionally suspect that if the bill passes, that the Board should consider fighting it in court. (see video at 4:05- 21:23)


The Board votes for approval of Charges of Dismissal for Freda Crump, a tenured teacher. She is charged with insubordination, violating some policies and essentially being a terrible teacher and has been given opportunity to improve. This shows how difficult it is to fire a bad teacher. (page 59-63 here)

The Board Recommended Approval of 2012 Director’s Evaluation. I do not know what is in the report, but it appears to be a positive evaluation of the job the Director is doing.

The Board approves the Managing Diversity Plan. (see video at 46:00-59:51) (To read the plan see pages 63-71 here.)

There is a presentation of a report on Performance of English Learners. (see video at 1:00:00- 1:38:17 and agenda attachments page 72-88 here)

There is a presentation on testing, teacher assessment measures and common core assessments. (see video at 1:38:40-2:01:10 and the agenda attachments for more information.) One thing is clear, there is a lot of testing going on. This cuts into other instructional time and other school activity.


I am seeking an education reporter for this blog. I want someone to summarize the Board meetings as I have done in this post and cover other education issue. If interested contact me at Rodwilliams47@yahoo.com and we will talk about it.

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