Bees Too Much for Tigers

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

The Upperman Bees stung the Tigers in a 43-0 shutout Friday night in Smithville.

The loss drops the Tiger record to 1-1 with a trip to Crossville to face Stone Memorial next Friday night to open region play

Blake Metzgar scored four of Upperman’s six touchdowns on the night including his first on a 2 yard run with 5:28 left in the 1^st period. The PAT was good and the Bees led 7-0.

The Tigers threatened to score after advancing to the Bees 10 yard line but the drive was stalled by penalties and a 25 yard field goal attempt by Andrew Fuson missed its mark.

Metzgar scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1 yard run with 9:28 left in the 2^nd period. The extra point put Upperman up 14-0.

Tiger quarterback Axel Aldino was tackled in the endzone for a safety with 8:23 left in the 2^nd period to give the Bees a 16-0 advantage.

Metzgar’s third touchdown came on a 9 yard run with 2:54 left in the 2^nd period and with the extra point the Bees took a 23-0 lead.

Cole Bush scored on a 55 yard pass play with 27 seconds left in the half to lift Upperman to a 29-0 lead. Upperman missed on the extra point try.

Metzgar scored his last touchdown of the game on a 6 yard run with 10:51 left in the 3^rd period and with the extra point the Bees held a 36-0 lead.

Upperman added another TD on a 65 yard run in the 4^th period  and went on to win 43-0.

August 24, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Students in DeKalb County are now subject to new truancy guidelines as outlined in state law.

The bill, which went into effect July 1,  mandates how school districts across the state handle truant students.

Under the law, five unexcused absences now requires an “attendance contact meeting” between a school administrator and the student’s parent or guardian.

The purpose of the meeting will be to determine strategies to reduce the number of unexcused absences.

State truancy law did not previously require the meeting, and it permitted administrators to report unlawful attendance to county authorities after five unexcused absences if a parent and student failed to comply with attendance notices.

The bill also requires principals at the beginning of every year to “notify a child’s parent, in writing, that if the student is absent for an aggregate of five days during the school year without excuse, the child is subject to referral to juvenile court and that it is the parent’s responsibility to monitor the child’s school attendance.”

The measure, signed into law last year by Gov. Bill Haslam, is in an effort to reduce the number of truancy cases referred to Tennessee’s juvenile courts.

“It is basically a three tier approach to prevent truancy and keep students out of the court system as far as not attending school,” said Joey Reeder, Attendance Supervisor for the DeKalb County School System.

“In the past we have always sent out a letter after five unexcused absences and we will continue to do that but now when you get that five day letter you will have an appointed time to go to your child’s school for an attendance meeting. We will have a meeting and try to determine why your child is missing school and if there is anything we or you can do to help to get a grip on our attendance with children. If that approach doesn’t work then probably after seven absences there will be another meeting. It may be with the parents or just the student depending upon their age. If it is a high school student, we may not have the parents back. They will meet with our guidance counselors for an assessment to determine if there are underlying circumstances why they are not coming to school. Any student who doesn’t attend the meetings will automatically go to the next tier,” Reeder continued.

“Once a student gets into one of these three tiers, he or she will stay in that tier for the remainder of the year. You can’t start over. If you get to that third tier you will probably have to go to juvenile court. Its not something we want to do but we have to nip this in the bud,” added Reeder.

The three tier truancy policy for DeKalb County is as follows:

Tier I

Tier I of the progressive truancy intervention plan shall include the following:

A conference with the student and the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s)

An attendance contract, based on the conference, signed by the student, the parent(s)/guardian(s), and an attendance supervisor or designee. The contract shall include:

A specific description of the school’s attendance expectations for the student;

The period for which the contract is effective; and

Penalties for additional absences and alleged school offenses, including additional disciplinary action and potential referral to juvenile court; and

Regularly scheduled follow-up meetings to discuss the student’s progress.

Tier II

If a student accumulates additional unexcused absences in violation of the attendance contract in Tier I, the student will be subject to Tier II.

Under this tier, a school employee shall conduct an individualized assessment detailing the reasons a student has been absent from school. The employee may refer the student to counseling, community- based services, or other services to address the student’s attendance problems.

Tier III

This tier shall be implemented if the truancy interventions under Tier II are unsuccessful.

These interventions shall be determined by a team formed at each school. The interventions shall address student needs in an age-appropriate manner. Finalized plans shall be approved by the Director of Schools/designee.

August 24, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Almost a year ago, the City of Smithville entered into a one year agreement with RiverWatch Golf & Resort to upgrade and maintain the golf course for a year.

The cost was over $70,000. With the agreement set to expire August 31 and the new owners of RiverWatch having decided to pass on renewing a deal, the aldermen have chosen to purchase golf course maintenance equipment as the city starts taking on the responsibility.

During a special meeting Thursday night, the aldermen voted to purchase a package of equipment from Abell Turf & Tractor of Georgia including mowers, tractor, and blower for $22,750 plus delivery costs to be paid from revenues generated in the city’s golf course fund. Another piece of equipment, a zero turn mower and spreader is expected to be bought from Tri Green Equipment for $10,000 under a state government bid contract to be funded from another line item of the budget, possibly parks and recreation.

Ken Lacy, manager of the golf course and swimming pool, recommended that the aldermen make this purchase as the city takes on the sole responsibility for maintaining the course.

“We can purchase this without having to amend the budget because we have enough money allotted in the golf course budget to buy equipment. We put money in the budget to cover RiverWatch before we knew they were not going to renew their contract and we have accumulated revenue in that fund from Golf Course receipts since April. That is enough to cover our equipment for the city to take over the golf course,” said City Administrator Hunter Hendrixson.

After the special meeting, Lacy informed the aldermen that the city swimming pool is in need of repairs to stop leaks. Lacy has contacted a company which is offering a performance contract to come and check the pool for leaks. According to Lacy, the company will review and diagnose the problem and provide an estimate on the repair costs.

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