The Board of Education wants the Smithville Mayor and Board of Aldermen to formally request the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) to conduct a cost free study of traffic flow patterns and to make suggestions for relieving congestion on highways at Northside Elementary as well as DCHS and DeKalb Middle School in Smithville.
On Thursday night, the board voted to formally ask the city to make this request of MTAS.
In August, Board Chairman Charles Robinson wrote a letter to Rex Barton, Police Management Consultant for MTAS, requesting a traffic study at Northside Elementary, DCHS and DeKalb Middle School. “On behalf of the DeKalb County Board of Education, I am requesting a traffic study. We are experiencing congestion and difficulty entering and exiting three of our schools. The locations are Northside Elementary on North Congress Boulevard and DCHS and DeKalb Middle School on West Broad Street in Smithville.”
Barton responded in a letter to Robinson in September, stating that the request would have to come from the City of Smithville “An MTAS Public Works Consultant and I can review the infrastructure and traffic patterns to determine what physical or traffic flow changes might benefit the traffic issues around the schools”
“MTAS exists to provide consulting services to Tennessee cities. The schools you reference are in the city of Smithville, but the city will have to make the request for the traffic study. I am copying this letter to Mayor Taft Hendrixson to ensure he is aware of your request”.
The Board of Education Thursday night adopted a resolution paying tribute to custodians.
The resolution states:
“Whereas, our school custodians have a long list of responsibilities to tend to daily, which includes everything from emptying waste baskets to spot cleaning walls and light fixtures; and
Whereas, custodians frequently go above and beyond the call of duty to help keep schools free of dirt and germs that may cause illness and make our schools unattractive; and
Whereas, custodians are at the school long before anyone else arrives and well after everyone else has left; and
Whereas, like western sheriffs cleaned up their towns, our custodians clean up our schools by getting rid of the gangs of germs and eliminating their hideouts, protecting the students on campus by sending trash and garbage away for good and much more; and
Whereas, our school custodians are such an important part of our school staff that our schools could not operate properly without them
Therefore, be it resolved, that the DeKalb County School Board expresses appreciation to our custodians for all that they do to make our schools good places for students to grow and learn.
Be it further resolved, that each school is encouraged to celebrate the October 27, 2011 Custodian Appreciation Day by getting students, employees, and parents involved and in saying a heartfelt “thanks” to their custodians.
Director of Schools Mark Willoughby updated the board on personnel.
The following persons have been employed since last month:
Anita Conley, Rhonda Pilgrim, and Judy Wright as substitute cooks/cafeteria workers
Dianne Werth, DCHS teacher
David Stanley, Donald Haggard, and James Lewis as substitute bus drivers
Leave of Absence:
Marla Beshearse, teacher at Northside Elementary School, granted a leave as requested
Carrie Lee, teacher at Smithville Elementary School, granted a leave as requested
Resignations:
Amy Tobitt, teacher at DCHS
Tonya Roberts, Educational Assistant at DeKalb West School
Neal Brown, bus driver
Transfers:
Jennifer Martin, Educational Assistant transferred from Northside Elementary to DeKalb West School replacing Tonya Roberts. David Stanley transferred to a full time bus driver replacing Neal Brown.
In other business, the board voted to formally request that the county commission allow school system related expenditures up to $10,000 without competitive bidding, which is the same limit allowed under state law. The current limit is $5,000 under the DeKalb County Private Chapter #63, Section 3.
The board set the date of the 2012 DeKalb County High School Graduation for Friday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. on the football field.
Archived News & Obituaries