City school board completes last task for state honor

The Dyersburg City Board of Education entertained visitors at its regular monthly meeting on Monday evening.

Three school board representatives from the Trenton Special and Weakley County school systems were on hand to observe and critique the interaction and performance of city school board representatives. The group offered an evaluation of the board's efficiency and suggestions on techniques used in their own systems.

The visit was the last step for the board toward earning a "Board of Distinction" ranking by the Tennessee School Board Association.

Trenton Special School Board members Doug Smith and Mark Harper joined Jeff Perkins of Weakley County for the meeting as city school board members addressed a large agenda.

Suggestions by the visiting board members at the conclusion of the meeting included encouraging school principals and administrators to attend school board meetings, honoring students in person, having the board secretary present and approving the minutes alone instead of as a consent item. Board members were complimented on their communication skills and their camaraderie.

City Schools Superintendent Lloyd Ramer, members of the board and Dyersburg High School drama teacher Chris Solmon, who was also present, noted the smooth transition into the system's new uniform dress code at the meeting held on the second full day of school.

"Both schools were ecstatic," said Ramer. "I think we had three issues at the high school: plaid shorts, a non-collared shirt and a belt. (DHS English teacher) Suzanne Edwards e-mailed me and asked me to thank you."

"It did my heart good (to see two students going into the school in the morning)," said school board representative Joe Yates. "They both came out of the car in khaki pants and a shirt like this. It fit and everything looked great."

Discipline Hearing Authority members were named for the 2008-2009 school year including Chair Joetta Yarbro replacing Errol Hook, who retired at the end of the 2007-2008 school year. Other members are Neel Durbin, Jerry Edwards, Sharon Grooms, William Taylor, Mary Jaycox and George Mitchell with alternatives John Lowrance and Richard Carroway.

"We feel like we needed more African American participation," said Ramer. "The group is meeting at the Learning Center now."

Ramer updated board members on summer improvements to the schools with a facilities update, noting that new paint had been added to all four schools and the Learning Center throughout summer break.

Dyersburg High School:

* knocked out walls and enlarged the locker rooms. Added new lockers for boys to go with the new girls' lockers purchased last year.

* new practice field for band, soccer teams.

* new carpentry and fresh paint

Dyersburg Intermediate School:

* purchased new furniture to bring the library up to date. Includes age-appropriate tables and chairs and shelving to be installed during fall break.

* Removal of old lighting fixtures in older part of the building. The addition of recessed lighting in fourth-grade classrooms, with more scheduled to be replaced during fall break.

Dyersburg Primary School:

* Plans for Fall Break include replacing worn carpet with tile at library entrance and adding small tables and chairs to the library's furnishings.

Dyersburg Middle School:

* touch-up painting throughout the system's newest school.

Board member Joe Yates expressed an interest in adding air conditioning to the DMS gym if a windfall ever occurs and requested listing the project on the system's three-year plan.

Ramer passed on thanks from coaches at the high school for the addition of the air conditioning recently added to the high school gym.

Also at the meeting, Students of the Week from the last week of the 2007-2008 school year at Dyersburg Middle School were recognized. The list included sixth-graders Brittany Windle and Zaid Baba, seventh-graders Nante Bernier and Jordan Galewski and eighth-graders Shaq Moses and Gavin Hawks.

DMS Trojans of the Year were also named, including sixth-grader Laurie Williams, seventh-grader MacKenzie Walker and eighth-grader Will Fowlkes.

Each of the students were sent a personalized note from Ramer on behalf of the school board.

New 2008-2009 assignments delegated after the last board meeting include Yaqi Hao, teaching Mandarin Chinese to gifted students at Dyersburg Primary School; DHS FFA teacher Allison Martinez; DHS Social Studies teacher Mark Stenbert; DMS Music teacher Chris Cauthen, who will also teach at the high school and offer a Special Ed music class; DMS English teacher Jessica Dunivant; DMS Math teacher Patricia Warren; DIS fourth-grade teacher Susan Veal; Yu Liu, teaching Mandarin Chinese at DHS; and DPS art teacher Amy Uitendaal.