School Board

Sullivan promoted to Harris principal (05/23/12)
James J. Sullivan, the current assistant principal of Harris Middle School, has been named principal. Sullivan succeeds Dr. Tracy Lampley, who has resigned the position effective in June. Sullivan came to Bedford County Schools in July 2011, at the same time as Lampley, to serve as assistant principal at Harris...

Music, maestro, please! (05/16/12)
The Nashville Symphony made its annual visit to Shelbyville on Tuesday night, accompanied by the Shelbyville Central High School Wind Symphony. "Symphony At The Celebration" was the orchestra's first public performance since its well-reviewed return to Carnegie Hall on Saturday night...

Schools face budget crunch (05/15/12)
There's a gap of nearly $800,000 between where next year's school budget is and where it needs to be. That's what Bedford County Board of Education learned at a budget study session Monday night. For the past two fiscal years, 2010-11 and 2011-12, the school system has been spending more than it has taken in. The difference came out of the school system's fund balance...

Miller joins power board (05/11/12)
Ervin L. Miller is the newest member of the Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer Board, following a vote by the city council Thursday night. Claudia Mallard, who had been serving the remainder of the unexpired term of the late Johnny Donegan, was unanimously selected to serve a three-year term. However, Howard "Herbie" Powell lost his seat on the board...

Harris horse show funds benefit athletic programs (05/11/12)
The Harris Middle School Athletic Department launched fundraising efforts for school programs last weekend at the Walking with Eagle Pride Horse Show. Coordinated by Allison Smith, Dana Edwards and the HMS faculty, proceeds from the event are earmarked for various needs in the school's athletic department...

Freshman takes leading role in theatre awards (05/11/12)
Chelsea Mills became the first freshman in the history of the Smokestack Theatre Group to win the "Best On-Stage" award for her portrayal of Helen Keller in the spring production of "The Miracle Worker." She received the award at the 18th annual End of the Year Show, held by the group at Community High School on May 7 to celebrate the work of the school's acclaimed drama department...

Fire school graduation Friday (05/10/12)
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak will deliver the commencement address to the recruit firefighter class 9 a.m. Friday at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy on Unionville-Deason Road. As TDCI Commissioner, McPeak also is the State Fire Marshal...

Vannatta seat stays unfilled (05/09/12)
Bedford County Board of Commissioners failed Tuesday night to fill recently retired commissioner Bobby Vannatta's request that his son-in-law fill his vacant District 2 commission seat. Vannatta, who retired from the commission last month after 19 years of service due to illness, had recommended Ralph Edwards fill his seat until the countywide general election is held in August...

Text of Vannatta proclamation (05/09/12)
A PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE EXEMPLARY SERVICE OF COMMISSIONER BOBBY VANNATTA, SECOND DISTRICT OF BEDFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE, TO THE CITIZENS OF BEDFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE 2011-2012 Be it proclaimed by the Board of Commissioners of Bedford County, Tennessee, that:...

HMS principal takes Franklin Co. position (05/01/12)
Dr. Tracy Lampley, principal of Harris Middle School, has been named principal of Rock Creek Elementary in Estill Springs, part of the Franklin County school system. Lampley, who was named principal of Harris last summer after having worked previously in Williamson County, will continue to serve at Harris through June 30...

Oscar-nominated animator visits Webb (04/25/12)
BELL BUCKLE -- Oscar-nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt recently was on The Webb School campus to discuss his work and the independent film/animation industry. He gave a presentation as part of the school's Follin Speaker Series and also conducted hands-on workshops in art classes...

Schools decision draws criticism (04/25/12)
Two members of Bedford County Board of Education criticized School Superintendent Ray Butrum and school board chairman Barry Cooper on Thursday night for committing to an educational software package prior to final approval by the board. The board was asked on Thursday night to approve a three-year agreement with Curriculum Advantage Inc. ...

Home school policy proposal deferred (04/24/12)
Bedford County Board of Education, on Thursday, considered a number of policy revisions. The board deferred action on a draft policy on home schooling which board member Glenn Forsee said "crosses the line" and interferes too much with the home schooling process. Forsee didn't explain to which specific provisions or points he was referring...

Dress code blues: Enforcement cuts into teaching time (04/10/12)
Bedford County school superintendent Dr. Ray Butrum invited discussion of issues that seem to be prevalent in schools -- such as dress code and electronic device policies -- at a school board study session late last month. The board's next meeting is April 19...

New approach to nepotism (04/04/12)
Bedford County School System's policy on nepotism is getting a complete rewrite, according to discussion at a Board of Education study session on Tuesday night of last week The former policy was two paragraphs long and only addressed the initial hire of the most immediate family members of sitting members of the school board...

Late, absent students face trouble (04/03/12)
Recommended changes in Bedford County School System's attendance policy are intended to fortify enforcement of school attendance, especially for students of legal age. Students age 18 and older do not fall under the state's compulsory attendance law...

Stores pay price for underage beer sales (03/30/12)
Fifteen Shelbyville convenience stores accepted fines from the city's beer board Thursday following a sting conducted by the sheriff's department. Last month, an 18-year-old male working with the Bedford County Sheriff's Department entered 29 stores as a deputy observed his actions, with all the transactions captured on both audio and video...

Strike up the band! (03/27/12)
The program for this year's "Symphony at the Celebration" concert featuring the Grammy Award-winning Nashville Symphony will range from the macabre to the fantastic, with selections including the main title music from "Star Wars" and a tribute to George M. Cohan...

Cook announces run for school board seat (03/23/12)
Michael A. Cook has announced his candidacy for the 5th district seat on Bedford County Board of Education in the Aug. 2 general election. Cook is a Bedford County native and a graduate of Shelbyville Central High School. He received a bachelor of business administration (BBA) degree in accounting from Middle Tennessee State University. ...

Imagine...'John Lennon and Me' (03/22/12)
The Heart House in Nashville is the scene of this weekend's play, "John Lennon and Me," presented by the Community Middle School Drama Club. Hollywood-wannabe Star (played by Jessica Hesson) is the ultimate Beatles fan. Her dreams are complicated by cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease which often assures a young death. Star is a frequent resident at the facility for seriously and terminally ill young people...

Thomas teacher quits after abuse allegation (03/22/12)
A fifth grade teacher at Thomas Magnet School resigned Tuesday after being arrested on a felony aggravated child abuse charge involving one of her three adopted children. Cynthia Hunter, 43, of Murfreesboro is accused of throwing a plate of Hamburger Helper in the face of her 14-year-old adopted son at their home, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department. He suffered burns and severe blisters and went untreated until the next day when he saw a school nurse, the BCSD said...

Harris dreams of ballfields (03/18/12)
Harris Middle School approached the Board of Education Thursday night for permission to apply for grant funding from Major League Baseball. Although land was designated for use as baseball and softball fields in the original design of the campus which includes HMS and Learning Way Elementary, those features have yet to be constructed...

God is their co-pilot: Ministers are also school bus drivers (03/18/12)
Among the 69 bus drivers serving Bedford County Schools are seven with a common bi-vocation -- they are ministers from local churches. In the mid-1990s, the transportation department was actively recruiting drivers, whose rate of pay at that time was about half of what it is today. Tim Fleming was supervisor of transportation and hit upon the idea to hire local pastors as drivers...

Redistricting plans approved for schools (03/16/12)
Bedford County Board of Education considered redistricting options at its monthly meeting Thursday night, opting for a plan which will increase enrollment at Liberty Elementary, provide relief to Cascade Elementary and Learning Way, and realign student populations in the city elementary schools of Eakin, East Side and Southside. The monthly meeting was held at Thomas Magnet School...

Past meets future: Community alumni produce DVD (03/16/12)
The 2011-12 school year may be the best-documented in Community High School's history, according to Keith Williams, assistant principal. The school's alumni association has been preparing a year-long video project to document student life and events...

TWHNC gets $1.5K county donation (03/14/12)
Bedford County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday night to give $1,500 to the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration for promoting an upcoming quarter horse show, even though a letter from the Celebration to the City of Shelbyville indicates that the money is no longer needed...

School bus shot while parked (03/14/12)
A Bedford County school bus was shot three times near Haley over the weekend, according to a Shelbyville police report. The driver said she parked the bus at her Haley Lane home Friday afternoon, when it was running normally, and it began overheating Monday morning as she was picking up students...

World embraces Alex (02/26/12)
A local story about a local boy has captured international attention this week. Cancer patient Alex Rodriguez, 12, was profiled in last Sunday's Times-Gazette as his local middle school sold blue ribbons to show their support for he and his family...

School board chair says it's time to go (02/17/12)
Bedford County Board of Education Chairman Barry Cooper announced at the end of Thursday night's meeting that he will not seek re-election to his 5th District seat during this year's election cycle. Cooper will continue to serve until a new school board member is elected to his seat in August, and then in September the board will need to elect a new chairman. Five of the nine school board seats are up for election this year...

Holiday filled with stage delights (02/17/12)
Community High School will use the upcoming President's Day school holiday to promote Middle Tennessee theater efforts. Tony Davis, a drama and speech teacher, began the Smokestack Theatre Group in 1994 with the school's first play "Wait Until Dark." Since then, the group has offered ambitious productions such as Steel Magnolias, The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life...

Community students start 'boot camp' (02/01/12)
Students at Community Middle School entered boot camp last week, a 15-week program dedicated to improving state TCAP scores. The idea was the brainchild of teachers Aaron Reid and Jasen Richardson. "This plan was implemented in response to the state-mandated test because the test will count as 25 percent of the students' second semester grade," said Principal Michael Wright...

High-tech exercises also teach (01/29/12)
Students at Harris Middle School are not only using technology during school, but after -- with a fitness program designed to get students moving while having fun. A 21st Century Community Centers Grant provides money for the Wii Fit Club, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

Harris will add magnet program (01/20/12)
A magnet program at the middle school level will be phased in gradually, starting next year with the sixth grade and adding an additional grade each year, according to discussion at Thursday night's meeting of Bedford County Board of Education. According to School Superintendent Ray Butrum, a lot of professional development will need to take place to prepare teachers for the program...

2nd SRO asked for Community (01/19/12)
The safety of children was on the minds of Bedford County Board of Commissioners' law enforcement and workhouse committee Tuesday night. Commissioner Jimmy Patterson repeated his insistence that Community High School and the campus containing Community Middle and Elementary schools, which currently share a school resource officer, each needs its own dedicated SRO -- one for the high school, one for the middle and elementary schools. ...

Top of the class: Cascade Elementary honored (01/13/12)
Just before schools let out from Christmas break, Cascade Elementary School administrators were notified of a special honor. The school has been nominated to receive designation as a U.S. Department of Education 2012 National Blue Ribbon School -- one of only six schools in the state, and just more than 300 nationally, to receive the honor...

Tales of loss lead annual top story list (01/01/12)
Two stories that touched the hearts of local readers top this year's list of the top 10 local stories as determined by a poll of the Times-Gazette staff. The top story of the year was the plight of the three people collectively known as The Shelbyville Missing: Shelley Mook, Bobby Smelcer and Antonio Taylor. That story was followed by the story of a young sixth grader whose illness brought the community together and whose death broke its heart...

30 years of caring: SCHS canned food drive continues (12/25/11)
When local educator Bill Pietkiewicz took a group of Shelbyvile Central High School students to a student council workshop in 1981, all he really hoped for was the students returning home feeling inspired. The motivational speech they heard that day, given by well-known speaker Mark Scharenbroich, planted a seed in the students' minds to start a canned food drive. That first year, 1,000 cans were collected...

Religious music OK'd for schools (12/20/11)
In a community where faith-based values are treasured, educators attempt to maintain a careful balance during a time of year traditionally set aside by Christians to honor the birth of Jesus. When the student council of Shelbyville's Central High School set out to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by playing student-requested holiday songs in the cafeteria, they were reminded to keep the music strictly secular...

Webb students ride into 'orbit' (12/09/11)
Physician and former astronaut Rhea Seddon of Murfreesboro took Webb School students with her on a journey into Earth orbit on Thursday. Seddon, a veteran of three space shuttle missions, appeared as part of the school's Follin Speaker Series. With the help of video footage, she told the story of STS-40, a 1991 mission dedicated to research in life sciences during which she and her crewmates performed a series of experiments testing the effects of space travel on humans -- and on some of the shuttle's other passengers, several laboratory rats.. ...

Open or closed? (12/08/11)
With 4,278 miles to be driven each day, and nearly as many students riding the buses, the weight of a decision to close schools doesn't come lightly to those who make it. In the case of snow and ice -- and sometimes flooding -- Jimmy Williams, supervisor of the student placement and safety office for Bedford County schools, is often up late watching a variety of local weather reports...

Central students prove dreams 'can' come true (12/06/11)
Students at Shelbyville Central High School proved on Friday that dreams 'can' come true -- displaying 28,166 canned food items in a Disney-themed Great Canned Food Drive. Drawings and posters of Disney characters were hung throughout the school during November to remind students to bring in canned and non-perishable items to help those in need during the holiday season...

Art for awareness: Harris students step up to fight breast cancer (11/04/11)
Eagle Power transformed into the Power of Pink last week at Harris Middle School. The Harris Middle School Art Club sold buttons to raise awareness for breast cancer issues during lunch period and raised more than $500. Some of the buttons carried student designs, while others were designed by art teacher Rebecca Soper...

Cascade mentors help 3rd graders in reading skills (10/28/11)
Twice a week juniors and seniors at Cascade High take time to work with younger students to help improve their reading skills. Part of the national Teen Trendsetters program, the students have been trained as reading mentors to their third grade peers...

Cascade overcrowding may draw closer study (10/21/11)
Bedford County Board of Education, responding Thursday night to discussion by county commission members earlier in the week, asked School Superintendent Ray Butrum to meet with County Mayor Eugene Ray and propose a study committee to decide how to address overcrowding at the building which houses Cascade High School and Cascade Middle School...

Economy hits Cascade (10/19/11)
County officials said Tuesday night they're still looking at overcrowded Cascade High School but that the county's options are limited at present. "It's easy to borrow money," said County Mayor Eugene Ray. "But where are you going to get the money to pay it back?"...

Webb siren may serve town (10/13/11)
For a warning siren to be useful, you have to be able to hear it, and to know clearly what it's trying to communicate. The Town of Bell Buckle is working with The Webb School to improve emergency notification for both the town and the private prep school located there...

Arts alive! It's Webb Craft Fair time in Bell Buckle (10/12/11)
The Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce and The Webb School are excited about the 35th anniversary of one of Tennessee's favorite festivals. The Webb School Art and Craft Festival will kick off Saturday at 9 a.m. "More artists will be attending this year's event than ever before with a field of artistic talent that is sure to please and impress," said Jenny Hunt, the town's vice-mayor...

Students donate more than 1,200 shoes (10/11/11)
During homecoming week the Shelbyville Central High School student council coordinated a successful Soles4Souls shoe drive, collecting 1,258 pairs of new shoes. Non-profit organization Soles4Souls was born from the sofa of founder Wayne Elsey while he watched the devastation of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. The image of "a single shoe, stranded on a decimated beach," sparked the seed of the idea...

GM impact on county uncertain (10/04/11)
It's not clear yet what impact the restarting of assembly operations at the General Motors Co. plant in Spring Hill will have on Bedford County, but officials say that when the plant was at its peak, it had a definite impact on growth in the northwestern portion of the county...

Johnson 'shocked' by Webb award (09/22/11)
Mary Jo Johnson, a former Bedford County school board member who has taught English for 13 years, was recognized by the Webb School Parents' Association with the WSPA Faculty Enrichment Award. Leigh Huddleston, WSPA president, presented the award at the opening of school Faculty and Trustee Dinner...

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