The Kingsport City Schools Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Several key items were discussed, including:
- Recognition of the student whose artwork was selected for the 2022 KCS Christmas Card;
- Recognition of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band for winning the 2022 Bands of America Class AAA National Championship;
- Approval of a superintendent search timeline and details, following a review with the Executive Director of the Tennessee School Boards Association;
- An update and approval of an architectural services agreement related to the renovation of the Dobyns-Bennett Buck Van Huss Dome;
- Approval for the district to enter into a purchasing cooperative;
- Approval of a bid regarding renovations to the Dobyns-Bennett pool;
- Approval of 2022-23 Budget Amendment #5;
- Review of the 1st Quarter Financial Report for Budget Year 2022-23; and
- A presentation regarding the timeline and process for development of the 2023-24 KCS Budget.
Meeting Audio
**Due to technical difficulties, the initial portion of tonight's meeting did not record. The audio file below includes the portion that was recorded.
CALL TO ORDER
The Pledge of Allegiance was led this evening by Greyson Doty. Greyson is a pre-k student at the Palmer Center. He is the son of Micah and Sophie Doty.
Recognitions
Dr. Chris Hampton, Interim Superintendent, recognized Kylie Henry, 5th grader at Jefferson Elementary School, for submitting the artwork selected for the 2022 KCS Christmas card. Kylie is in Mrs. Patricia McCarty's art class at Jefferson Elementary.
Board Member Todd Golden presented a recognition honoring the Dobyns-Bennett High School Competitive Marching Band for winning the 2022 Bands of America Class AAA national championship.
- The competition took place November 10-12, 2022 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.
- The band finished in first place in the 3A classification and 6th place overall in all classes. This was the highest finish by any Tennessee high school band in history.
- Mr. Lafe Cook is Director of Bands at Dobyns-Bennett. Other directors include Ryan Gilbert (Associate Director of Bands), Jacob Carpenter (Assistant Director of Bands), Jed Garvey (Color Guard Director), and Daniel Del Moro (Percussion Director). Drum Majors include Ella Halliburton (lead), Kaden Powers, and Ryan True.
business items
Dr. Tammy Grissom, Executive Director of Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA), was present to provide a draft superintendent search timeline and review advertisement of the vacancy.
- The Board reviewed the timeline, desired experience, and selection criteria to be utilized in the selection process.
- Following the discussion, the Board voted 5-0 to approve the timeline for selecting a candidate.
- Criteria identified by the Board included five years of administrative experience at the principal and/or district level and a doctorate degree. The Board wishes to have a list of three finalist candidates to review by February 13, 2023, a recommendation for a final selection by March 1, 2023, and a new superintendent in place by July 1, 2023.
Dr. Andy True, Assistant Superintendent - Administration, and Brian Alderson, Senior Architect at Thompson & Litton, presented information to the Board regarding renovation options for the Buck Van Huss Dome at Dobyns-Bennett High School. The presentation included a recommended action to execute an agreement with Thompson & Litton to provide architectural services in designing the recommended dome repair. Jason South, a representative of Dome Technology (located in Idaho), was present via zoom link.
- The Buck Van Huss Dome has been closed since earlier this fall due to the identification of concerns with the dome's upper structural compression rings.
- Thompson & Litton, supported by a national experts in dome construction and engineering, Dome Technology, has provided information regarding the current state of the dome and recommended actions for repair. For this evening's full presentation providing this information, please click below.
- A summary description of the three potential repair solutions presented by Thompson & Litton and Dome Technology included:
- Option 1: Installation of steel below the existing wood structure. In this option, steel beams would be placed directly below the existing wood beams, effectively supporting underneath the current wood structure. Acoustical panels and lighting would then be placed between the new steel beams for sound dampening and to further mimic the current dome appearance.
- Option 2: Installation of a concrete roof system. In this option, a reinforced concrete roof would be installed over the top of the existing structure, with an additional reinforced ring beam constructed above the current existing ring beam. Lighting, insulation, and acoustic panels would then be placed between the current wood beams.
- Option 3: Installation of new roof panels and framework. In this option, individual sections of the dome structure would be systematically removed and replaced with new steel beams.
- It is estimated that all three options would remedy the dome for an approximate 50-year lifespan.
- Additional needed renovations could be included during the dome repair for items reaching their end-of-life, such as seating, the gym floor, and HVAC replacements. Other items to be considered during the design phase include improvements to the Activities/Lobby area, entry concourses, scoreboard, areas in the areas surrounding the dome, the auxiliary gym, parking, and ADA improvements.
- Upon review and considering factors such as estimated costs, safety, the potential construction schedule, the longevity and durability of the new structure, and the constructability of the project, Thompson & Litton and Dome Technology recommended the design of Option 1 as the preferred option to pursue.
- After a review of all options, the Board voted 5-0 to approve an architectural services agreement with Thompson & Litton to provide design work to implement Option 1 to repair the Buck Van Huss Dome. This item will next go to the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen for its approval.
- It is anticipated that such design work will take approximately 6-8 months to complete. After that time, the project would be put out for a competitive bid and require additional Board and BMA action before the project would be approved.
David Frye, Chief Finance Officer, presented an interlocal agreement with the Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS Purchasing Cooperative) for consideration.
- The agreement would allow for the utilization of pricing for school and city purchasing.
- Utilizing cooperative purchasing agreements often leads to increased efficiency by decreasing the amount of time it takes from requisition entry to product/service receipt.
- After review, the Board voted 5-0 to approve the agreement for KCS to utilize the TIPS Purchasing Cooperative.
Mr. Frye presented a bid for consideration regarding needed renovations to the Dobyns-Bennett Pool.
- Renovations are needed for areas including HVAC, filter system, and in and around the pool itself.
- After advertising for bids on the renovation project, a bid was received from Preston Constrctuion Company for a base bid of $2,315,000.00.
- Alternate One for an extended warranty (three additional years) for the mechaical HVAC equipment was $9,000.00, which is recommended for acceptance.
- The total project cost would be $2,525,990.00, including architect fee, construction costs, and a six percent contingency. The mechanical HVAC equipment cost of $694,000.00 will be paid with ESSER funds and the remainder will be from the Dobyns-Bennett Renovation Project GP2111.
- After review and discussion, the Board voted 5-0 to approve the bid and renovation work.
Mr. Frye presented 2022-23 Budget Amendment #5 for review and approval.
- Items in the Budget Amendment included acceptance of a donation, revision to the revenue expected for pre-k special education, inclusion of a position needed to support the student information department, reappropriation of funds previously identified for a potential purchase of the Colonial Heights Middle School property, revision of expected revenues due to a Niswonger - Project On Track grant, and funding from the Eastman Foundation to support teacher classroom grants.
- After review, the Board approved Budget Amendment #5 by a vote of 5-0.
Mr. Frye presented the Financial Report for the 1st quarter of Fiscal Year 2022-23.
- Click below to view Mr. Frye's full report.
Mr. Frye presented a proposed timeline and process for the development of the 2023-24 KCS Budget.
- It is anticipated that after a development process that will take from December 2022 through April 2023, a proposed budget will be initially presented to the KCS Board on April 23, 2023, with potential approval on May 9, 2023.
- The Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen would then take action on approving such budget in May, 2023.
The next meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 6 p.m. The work session will take place in the Tennessee Room of the Administrative Support Center (400 Clinchfield Street).
For more information on KCS, visit
www.k12k.com, listen live on WCSK 90.3 FM, The Voice of KCS, read our blog, We Are KCS, download our mobile app for Apple/Android devices or call (423) 378.2100. We’re social too; follow us on Facebook (
Kingsport City Schools), Instagram (
@kcs_district), Twitter (
@KCS_District), LinkedIn (
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KPTSchools).
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