It was a evening of accolades at tonight’s (10.2.17) LSB (Lakeland School Board) meeting at City Hall.
Dr. Ted Horrell, Lakeland School System (LSS) superintendent, acknowledged the “first ever inaugural volleyball team” at LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School).
“We are so proud of the ladies on the team who represented the Lakeland Lions,” Dr. Horrell said. He also recognized Athletic Director Chris Godwin and Volleyball Coach Sloan Scott. He added that the Board will continue to recognize student groups who reflect well on the school system.
LMPS opened this August as the second facility in the LSS and serves students in grades 5-8.
Kevin Floyd, LSB chair, commented he knew nothing about volleyball as the season began. “The atmosphere was unbelievable. Y’all get credit for all of it. The product was amazing. I saw y’all get better. It was an honor and privilege to watch y’all play.”
Dr. Horrell presented a certificate to Coach Scott.
School Board members were complimented by the construction team for LMPS: Renaissance Group, A2H and Chris Woods Construction.
Representatives from the groups presented a framed photo of the new middle school to Dr. Horrell and Matt Adler, principal of LMPS.
Doug Burris, senior vice president and partner at Renaissance, said the team wanted to do something special for the Board. “You entrusted us to build this school for you. We are honored to be here to give you this special token to remember the project.”
Stewart Smith, senior architect at A2H, noted the team included two architect firms from the great city of Lakeland.
Chris Woods, president of his namesake company Chris Woods Construction, thanked the Board and the citizens of Lakeland. “It was a great project,” he noted. “There were no cross words, it was a seamless project. We are not in the City of Lakeland, but are close by.”
Six items up for discussion were approved unanimously by the Board including an evaluation of the superintendent.
Eric Plumley, Board attorney, presented the outcome of the 2017 evaluation which rated Dr. Horrell in six categories on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest. He said the overall score was 4.71 which is between commendable and exceeds expectations. Board member Teresa Henry said the score last year was 4.69. “We have a great superintendent and we’ve grown our superintendent,” said Mrs. Henry.
Member Kelley Hale said,” I feel we are very blessed and he is doing a good job.” Vice Chair Laura Harrison said of Dr. Horrell: “You are open and you have the right attitude. We have a wonderful working relationship.”
Mr. Floyd echoed all the responses and added, “You do your job well and we expect you to keep doing your job well.”
He added that the evaluation is done each year as required by Lakeland policy and includes feedback from teachers. Of the six objectives, the lowest score was 4.63 in “student outcomes and achievement” and the highest, 5.0 for “integrity, fairness and ethics.” Teachers rated Dr. Horrell with an average score of 4.23.
Two items were added to the discussion and approved: An update to 2017-18 school fees list to include $150 fees each for boys’ and girls’ basketball teams; and application for TSBA (Tennessee School Board Association) Board of Distinction application.
Mrs. Henry reviewed nine resolutions the Board could support at the TSBA convention. She said the purpose of the resolutions is to allow TSBA to lobby the General Assembly.
Among the nine items was release of TNReady scores two weeks after submission (Board approved) and funding of school nurses (approved).
In his report to the Board, Dr. Horrell said he was requested by the BOC (Board of Commissioners) to collect data on a school build out (a high school for Lakeland adjoining LMPS) for the City’s Vision 2020 plan. He will also secure data on classroom expansion at Lakeland Elementary School. He noted the BOC is also interested in a joint meeting with LSB. The City started a series of special meetings last week and education is one of the topics.
Link to meeting agenda: https://lakelandk12.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/10.2.17-Business-Meeting-Agenda.pdf .
There is only one LSB session this month because of fall break Oct. 9-13.
… Photos by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents.
