School Board Appreciation Week Set for Jan. 20-26, 2019 (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

January 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

January 20-26, 2019 is School Board Appreciation Week in Tennessee. This week helps build awareness and understanding of the vital functions our locally elected boards of education play in our community. The DeKalb County School District is joining public school districts from across the state to celebrate School Board Appreciation Week and honor local board members for their commitment to DeKalb County and its children.

(Video shows DCHS Principal Randy Jennings addressing the school board Thursday night)

“I along with our staff want to thank you for the work you do and for the time you put in. We meet once a month but the community may not know that you often have to take phone calls late at night and throughout the week. We do appreciate your time that you dedicate to our students and the decisions and suggestions you make for students to better our school district and our community,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps during Thursday night’s regular monthly Board of Education meeting.

“Our school system is the backbone of our community, and these men and women devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child,” Cripps said. “There is no greater honor that can be bestowed upon a citizen than membership on a local board of education. They spend countless hours studying the issues and regulations and make the tough decisions when called upon to ensure the type of accountability people expect.”

Cripps said the key work of school boards is to:

•Create a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;

•Establish standards for what students will be expected to learn and be able to do;

•Ensure progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;

•Create a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;

•Form partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and

•Focus attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining and revising issues related to student achievement.

“Our local school board shapes the future of education in DeKalb County by influencing the high-quality of education that our children and youth receive. The DeKalb County school board shows its commitment to educational excellence and equity – and for that we are very grateful for their attitude of service.”

The members serving our district and their years of service are as follows: Danny Parkerson in the 1st district, Alan Hayes in the 2nd district, Jim Beshearse in the 3rd district, Kate Miller in the 4th district, W.J. (Dub) Evins, III in the 5th district, Doug Stephens in the 6th district, and Shaun Tubbs in the 7th district.

January 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

If the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department should ever need help fighting a large structure fire, the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department would like to provide assistance with their ladder truck.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker asked the aldermen to consider adopting an automatic aid agreement between the two departments at the request of the Alexandria Fire Department.

The aldermen will most likely act on it at their next regular monthly meeting in February.

Under the agreement, Chief Parker said the Smithville Department would send the ladder truck and two firefighters to operate it in assisting Alexandria in the event of a structure fire in a commercial or any pre-identified large building within the boundaries of the town of Alexandria provided the ladder truck and firefighters are not needed at the same time in Smithville.

The proposed agreement states that “the purpose is to provide firefighting equipment and personnel as may be necessary to mitigate a structure fire in a commercial, or any pre-identified large structure within the boundaries of the city”.

The term of the proposed agreement would be from February 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022 but it could be extended by mutual written consent of authorized representatives signing the original agreement.

The parties would participate in an annual training/familiarization of equipment with at least 30 days prior notice of training. A specific written dispatch protocol for responding to automatic aid calls and agreed on by the fire chiefs and approved by the DeKalb 911 Emergency Communications District would also be required. Automatic aid may be rendered unless sufficient firefighting equipment or personnel are not available at the time of the request or it is already in use on another incident.

Under the agreement, either party may without reason submit a written 30 day notice of termination.
Alexandria already has an automatic aid agreement with the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department but the county does not have a ladder truck.

January 11, 2019
By: Donny Green

The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department is applying for a 2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to purchase fire equipment for the county wide volunteer fire department. Part of the application process includes conducting community household surveys with randomly selected addresses in the areas served by DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department (all areas of DeKalb County outside the city limits of Smithville and Alexandria).

The survey process takes less than 3 minutes and all information will be secure and not used for any other purposes.

“We want to make sure our residents understand that these surveys are legitimate and necessary for us to submit this grant application. We would greatly appreciate cooperation from those who are selected for a survey. The surveys will be conducted by telephone or personal visits. All surveys will be completed by DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department personnel who will be able to provide identification proving they are members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department. Anyone can also feel free to contact me at 615-464-7176 if they have any questions or concerns,” says Chief Donny Green.

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