Graduation Rates for Giles County

These are the Graduation Rates for Giles County according to the State Department of Education. The state goal is 90%.

2005 – 82.0 % 2006 – 84.8 % 2007 – 76.5 %

While Giles County has shown some improvement in the TCAP scores there is not one single category where Giles County has reached the state projected goal.

How long are we willing to pay more each year while getting less? Allen Barrett

Too Many School Supervisors Or Not Enough?

At the School Board Meeting held on 12 June 2008 I stated to the Board that the number of administrators in the school system was outrageous, then compared our school system with the Murfreesboro City School system, they have far more students with fewer administrators than we have. Mr. Jackson told me he did not believe those numbers were accurate.

Here are the numbers for the Murfreesboro City School System which only instructs students from Pre-K thru 6^th grade.

Twelve (12) Schools; 7,200 Students; Fifteen (15) Supervisors including the Director.
One (1) Supervisor for each 413.3 Students.

Giles County School System: Eight (8) Schools; 4,325 Students; Twenty-one (21) Supervisors including the Director, but not counting the Leaps & Bounds and Pre-K directors. One (1) Supervisor for each 205.9 Students.

One of the closest counties to Giles in terms of students is Coffee which has 8 schools, 303 Teachers, 4,433 Students and 18 Administrators.
Giles has 8 Schools, 303 Teachers, 4,325 Students and 21 Administrators.

This information came from the Tennessee Department of education and can easily be verified at their website. You can decide if there are too many supervisors or not. Allen Barrett

County Gives Back $18,000.00 to Lynnville

At the Commission Meeting yesterday Commissioner Jackson made the motion that the county give back to Lynnville $18,000.00 they had paid the county for land a number of years ago. This was done in response to the city of Minor Hill requesting land partly owned by the city and county be given to them at no charge. They desire to make a part with walking trails. It is reported the land has more than enough marketable timber on it to pay the $18,000.00 price the county budget committee originally voted to ask for the land.
In a time of severe budgetary problems how can the county justify a $36,000.00 blow to the budget? Allen Barrett

Approved or Not Approved

At yesterdays County Commission meeting this question was asked by Commissioner Holt of School Director Jackson; Mr. Holt, "this budget amendment was passed by the School Board, right?" Mr. Jackson, "Yes, the school Board passed it last week".
At tonight's called School Board meeting on the agenda was item #6 Approval of Revised 2007 - 2008 School Budget Amendment. During the discussion Mr. Jackson stated that the Commission had rejected the amendment yesterday". Clearly what was spoken of tonight was the same subject spoken of in the Commission Meeting yesterday and was the same subject discussed last Thursday by the School Board which postponed the vote until tonight's meeting.
The question is if the amendment wasn't approved until tonight what does that make Mr. Jackson's statement yesterday that the amendment had been approved by the School Board????????
By the way the amendment passed tonight had the $75,000.00 taken out ( or more deeply hidden depending on your point of view). Also removed were recurring expenses attached to the reserve funds. Allen Barrett

Admiration for Commissioners

At yesterday's County Commission Meeting thirteen commissioners finally stood tall and said no to Mr. Tee Jackson and a budget amendment that was so full of holes it could have passed as a fishing net. After Commissioner Campbell read the state law that prohibits using reserve funds for recurring expenses, he then Commissioner Pollard couldn't get a straight answer from Mr. Jackson Commissioner Howell asked a direct question, "Mr. Jackson can you guarantee there are no recurring expenditures coming out of these reserve funds you want to spend". After heeing and hawing Mr. Jackson finally said "No I can't go that far". He then turned his attention to the old stand by "roofs need to be fixed", when that song wasn't accepted he turned to Mrs Garner who also after much defensive maneuvering finally admitted she didn't think there was any recurring expenditures but couldn't say for certain.
For the thirteen that stood tall spoke against the deceptions and voted against the amendments I salute you. To those who still refuse to see reality or found it necessary to protect their jobs I can only offer a bowl of raspberries. Allen Barrett

Leaps and Bounds

A request was made to start a thread on the Leaps and Bounds program in the local school system.
I would also like to add the topic of Pre Kindergarten in this thread. So if anyone would like to discuss, explain, or ask questions about these two very expensive programs please have at it.