ERC tackles issues
A variety of questions were raised in Town Hall boardroom Tuesday afternoon, June 6, during the Town-sponsored Education Relations Committee meeting.
For instance, How long has it been since the Farragut High School parking lot was paved? Should Farragut have a writing and speaking contest about local history for middle school students? And, does Farragut receive its fair share of school funding?
Town of Farragut has given each of the five public schools that educate Town of Farragut students — the four Farragut public schools plus Hardin Valley Academy — a grant of $22,000 a year, ERC chair Kristen Pennycuff-Trent said, supplementing the day-to-day operating expenses that come from Knox County.
“Generally, they use all the money for tech purposes,” she added. “We don’t have any Title 1 funding. That’s based on socio-economic status. Even though we do have a variance of SES. I think it’s a misperception that we don’t, although it may not be as much as other schools. Our schools don’t receive any of this discretionary Title 1 money.”
In May, the committee recommended to Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen a $500 award for each of the 17 Teacher of the Year awardees in the five public schools the Town supports, including Hardin Valley Academy — for a budget increase of $8,500-$10,000.
“We approached the board with this suggestion. There were a lot of questions, which is reasonable,” Pennycuff-Trent said.
“For the past couple of years, we’ve really wanted to do something to recognize teachers in the Town,” Trent said Wednesday, June 7. “Unfortunately we’re losing teachers in the Town. I spoke to a teacher today who’s moving to Oak Ridge because they will make $10,000 more there.”
A variety of interesting questions were raised in the Town Hall boardroom Tuesday afternoon during the Education Relations Committee meeting.
For instance, would Farragut High School or Hardin Valley Academy accept free computers if they were offered? How long has it been since the FHS parking lot was paved? Should Farragut have a writing and speaking contest about local history for middle school students? And, does Farragut receive its fair share of school funding?
The Education Relations Committee is composed of volunteers and two town employees: Gary Palmer, assistant town administrator, and Jennifer Hatmaker, executive assistant to the town administrator. The mission is to serve as a liaison between five schools that the Town supports — FHS, HVA, Farragut Middle, Farragut Intermediate and Farragut Primary — and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
The committee only meets every other month and sometimes doesn’t meet at all for lack of agenda items, said Kristen Pennycuff-Trent, chairperson.
The Town of Farragut gives each of the schools a grant of $22,000 a year, she said, supplementing the day-to-day operating expenses that come from Knox County.
“Generally, they use all the money for tech purposes,” Trent said. “We don’t have any Title 1 funding. That’s based on socio-economic status. Even though we do have a variance of SES. I think it’s a misperception that we don’t, although it may not be as much as other schools. Our schools don’t receive any of this discretionary Title 1 money.”
In May, the committee proposed a new idea to BOMA. They asked the Town for $500 for each of the 17 Teacher of the Year recipients in the five schools — for a budget increase of $8,500-$10,000.
“We approached the board [BOMA] with this suggestion. There were a lot of questions, which is reasonable,” she said. “Alderman Povlin brought up the point that teachers spend a lot of their personal money. She suggested a process for getting funds to teachers to spend on classroom supplies. The way that proposal was left was that Alderman Povlin would contact [School Board Representative] Susan Horn to talk about the total number of teachers and the process for awarding Teacher of the Year [money]. BOMA was going to make suggestions to the committee for how the committee might better serve as a liaison.”
“For the past couple of years, we’ve really wanted to do something to recognize teachers in the town,” Trent said on Wednesday. “Unfortunately,” she said, “we’re losing teachers in the town. I spoke to a teacher today who’s moving to Oak Ridge because they will make $10,000 more there.”
Two parents, Pamela Milliken, who has children in Farragut schools and Naoko Blue, whose children graduated from Hardin Valley Academy, were at the committee meeting.
“The perception and reality of Farragut schools is totally different,” Milliken said. “They don’t want to come out and say our computer technology is bad or we need help on other projects because they don’t want to break that perception. Farragut schools don’t get the same amount of money as schools in South Knoxville or North Knoxville.”
“What I heard is that Farragut is near the bottom in the amount of technology they have,” Milliken said.
Blue brought up the possibility of getting free surplus computers from ORNL and the group agreed that might be a good option for both Hardin Valley Academy and Farragut High School.
“There may be an opportunity to get them for the elementary and middle as well,” Trent said.
“At the intermediate school this year, an emergency door wouldn’t open,” Milliken said giving another example of Farragut’s need for school funding.
“With all the drought, the door wouldn’t open,” she said. “The frame had shifted or something and the door hadn’t opened or closed for two weeks. Susan Horn had a meeting at the school within a day or two after I found that out, and it was fixed pretty soon after that.
“I’ve been told the parking lot at the high school hasn’t been paved since the 70s,” she added. “It’s been patched, but not paved. The high school just needs some general maintenance.”
Moving on to the next item on the agenda, LeAnn? Trotter proposed a contest for local kids.
“I think it would be interesting if we have some sort of writing and speaking contest for possibly fifth- through eighth-graders that deals with history, government or another town-related subject. It’s just a proposal. I didn’t know if we had to work it through the principals? I don’t want to add anything to the teachers’ plates — that’s not our purpose at all. All I’m asking is do you want me to pursue something like this? My thought was to offer a little cash prize. The PTA offers this Reflections contest in January. It’s wonderful. This would be in the fall.
Milliken said that her suggestion would be to do the contest in the summer when kids had more free time. The group agreed to pursue the idea.
In a phone conversation on Wednesday, June 7, Milliken said that she’s not sure getting free computers is really the best option.
“ORNL I know wipes all their computers. You still have to buy all the licensing,” she said. “If you’re doing everything a la carte, is it price effective. Is it better to buy a new computer with a warranty. It would take looking into to be sure it’s worth it, plus it takes staff installing the programs and doing the updates.
“A lot of people think Farragut has a lot of money. But if you look at the demographics of Farragut, it’s mostly middle class families. That’s who sends their kids to public schools. The people with millions send their kids to private schools. The amount of kids on reduced lunches in Farragut is between 15 and 20 percent. The perception is the parents can pour money into these schools and we can’t. We’re no different than the parents in Karns or anywhere else.”
