August 1, 2024 • 12 mins
Welcome to another edition of Endless Possibilities with your host, Phil Ramsey! This episode marks the first day of school for teachers, and Phil is joined by three guests: Rebekah Byrd, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Instruction; John Combs, Superintendent; and James Fields, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Operations.
Our guests discuss the excitement of the new school year, the district's goals for 2024-2025, including post-secondary success and capital improvements, and the continuous focus on improving ACT scores and literacy. James Fields shares his ambitious goal to reduce truancy rates, emphasizing the importance of student attendance for effective learning.
The conversation also touches on significant changes in the district, including upcoming board elections, new safety measures, and the introduction of policy and procedures on artificial intelligence use in schools. Rebekah Byrd highlights the opening of new mechatronics labs, which will provide students with valuable career and technical education opportunities.
Tune in next week for a special episode featuring Sheriff Shannon Beasley, who will discuss school safety, traffic management, and bus safety. Don't miss out on this insightful discussion on the future of Tipton County Schools!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:26):
Welcome to another edition of Endless Possibilities. I'm your host,
Phil Ramsey, and very excited about today's program.
Today is the first day of school for teachers.
So we have three guests today. And if you would, two of you guys have been on
here before, and we have one that hasn't.
But from my left to my right, introduce yourself. Maybe give me your title.
(00:48):
Yes, I am Rebecca Bird. I am one of the assistant superintendents,
director of instruction. direction. John Combs, superintendent.
The John Combs. One of them. Yes, sir. James Fields, assistant superintendent and athletic director.
Well, it's good to have y'all here with us today. I remember last year,
kids are extremely excited to get out of school, but when they're out all summer, you know what?
(01:14):
They're actually excited to get back in school.
They miss those relationships and, you know, that structure.
And they long for that. So it's the beginning of the school year and there's
excitement in the air and they're ready to come back to school.
At least I think most of them are. There may be a few folks that aren't,
but anyway. I think there's some parents excited too.
Yeah, they get a break. So it's good to have y'all with us today.
(01:37):
I want to ask you guys a few questions.
What are the district's goals for the 24-25 school year?
You got any new goes? Well, I'll start off with some, you know,
they're kind of new, but kind of not.
I mean, we pull these together every year. Two big ones for me are going to
be post-secondary success.
You know, we can measure, everybody wants us to measure state testing through
(02:00):
TCAP and all that kind of stuff.
But, you know, to me, one of the biggest measures of success,
we've talked about this before, is post-secondary.
You know, are we getting our kids ready for what they're going to see after
high school, military, four-year university, straight into the workforce,
TCAT, being a good citizen.
I mean, all those kinds of things. That's what we're excited about.
(02:21):
That's a continual goal.
And also more capital improvements. We've done a number of capital improvements to our building.
We want our staff and our students to all be proud of where they go to school.
So we've done a lot of bathroom renovations.
We talked about before the turf updates and all that kind of thing,
new lighting, a number of HVAC installments, things like that,
(02:41):
that are going to continue to improve our facilities.
So those are two big ones for me right now. Because of the impact that ACT can
have on students' post-secondary plans, we want to continue to focus on improving our ACT scores.
We had 62 students last year who scored 30 or higher on the ACT, and we –.
(03:01):
That's good. It is good. It's great. And we know that with ACT prep and some
other instructional practices that we can make improvements in that area.
Also, the second thing that I would highlight is literacy.
Literacy across all grade levels and subjects will always be a goal.
We want to continue to improve in that area with the use of our high quality
(03:21):
instructional materials and instructional best practices to improve literacy
across the district. What about you, Mr. Fields? Yes, sir.
I was listening when you alluded to kids being excited to get back in school. I hope that's the case.
One of the hats I wear is being over truancy. My goal this year is to cut our
truancy percentage in half.
Last year, we had 549 kids, I think, that were chronically absent.
(03:47):
That means that they were absent 18 or more days. And of course,
you know, if they're not in the classroom, they can't learn.
And the one way we're going to combat that is we got a truancy officer last year.
So his priority this year will be at all the tier meetings.
You know, we have a progressive tier plan to try to keep kids in school.
(04:09):
Another thing, if you were to ask any school system, I think truancy and safety
will be the two biggest challenges for any district. So this year we've been, Dr.
Combs and myself, we've been to a couple threat assessment trainings,
active shooter trainings.
I definitely believe any parent wants their kids safe and hopefully keep them in school.
(04:32):
Next week on next week's podcast, we're going to have the sheriff in and he's
going to kind of go over all those things that you talked about dealing with
safety and even traffic, you know, in the morning at school can be kind of hectic
and also maybe deal with some bus safety also.
So he's going to be next week. So make sure you tune in next week and we'll
hear from the sheriff, Sheriff Beasley. I agree. I appreciate you bringing that up, Phil.
(04:55):
We have a great relationship with law enforcement across the county.
They are great friends with the school system, and we feel their support every
day. They're phenomenal.
So I'm glad he's coming on next so everyone can hear him. He's a great partner
for our students across the county.
If you look at the officers that serve in the cities and the county,
(05:17):
most of them went to school right here at Tipton County, which is pretty neat. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Are there any changes this year that you'd like to share with the
community? Well, one immediate change I think that people are going to see is
that we have four, five actually board positions up for reelection.
So in August, number one, please come vote.
(05:40):
But in August, community will make the decision of who fills those five spots.
So in September, there could be four or five possible changes to our nine board
member panel that's on our school board. Just coming off of that,
can you tell me in a very brief way what the board actually does?
The board specifically is in charge of the budget, they're over policy,
(06:03):
and they're in charge of hiring the superintendent.
And those are their three main things. However, obviously they meet every month
because they represent the constituents in their district,
and so they make sure they have all those concerns at the table when they meet
at the board meeting so that we can make sure we get everything accomplished
that needs to be taken care of.
Yes, you're asking what changes will be made next year.
(06:26):
To get back on safety a little bit, we have a.
A visitor code of ethics or where we have to post signs on how the expectations
of visitors that go into the schools.
We also have to have a visitor code of ethic or something on our buses that
(06:46):
warns parents that you can't approach the bus, you can't get on the bus for any reason.
You know, if you have a concern or something, you have to take it back to the
school that you can't get up on the bus and you can't deal with the bus driver.
So these are placards that would hang on a specific spot at the school when
you're dealing with visitors?
Yes, sir. Okay. And the last thing is there's a law that's passed for spectators,
(07:08):
the expectations for spectators at school events, ballgames, or whatnot,
where we're looking if there's one incident that parent or fan could possibly
be suspended from any event up to 30 days,
the second offense up to 90 days.
And if there's a third offense for entire calendar year.
(07:29):
So we're just trying to beef up safety and make everybody feel comfortable,
and that's the position we want our kids in.
Two changes that I'd like to talk about. One is every year there is several
new laws that affect education, and one of those this year is that we are required
to have a policy on artificial intelligence use in schools.
(07:50):
And so we have, our board has adopted a policy, And basically what it says is
in order for students and teachers to use an AI program, it has to be approved
by the district as a valuable resource. So that's one change.
Another change just involves CTE.
We know how important CTE is, and we are continuing to add new career pathways
(08:10):
for our students in career and technical education.
And one of the things that you'll see in all three of our high schools this
year that we're very excited about is the opening of three mechatronics labs.
We do have one in each high school. So along with mechatronics,
there will be some other changes in CTE that we're very excited about.
Let me ask you guys a question here.
Coming off of what you just said is, you know, this world's changing very quickly.
(08:34):
Is AI, do you view that as something good for the school system or could this
be something bad or a mixture of both?
Wow. Mixed bag. Yeah. I mean, for the right things, AI is going to be great.
It'll save us some time on, you know, generating some things that we need to
get out to the community or wherever.
(08:55):
However, you know, it's also a little bit of a hindrance sometimes in the classroom.
Because you're not really sure if learning has taken place or not,
if artificial intelligence is generating it. Now, here's why I say it's a mixed bag.
And I'm going to try to keep our director of instruction from swinging at me when I say this.
I remember my fourth grade math teacher saying, no, you can't use a calculator.
(09:18):
What do you think, you're always going to walk around and have a calculator
with you? Well, guess what?
Now we do, right? It's on all of our phones. yeah
so we have to make sure and that's what this ai
policy does we have to make sure that we are
using it correctly and that we're
allowing it to be used correctly so it's
a benefit not a hindrance yeah you can a student can depend a lot on that and
(09:41):
not exercise not not work the brain at all when i'm driving and if we're going
somewhere 99 times out of 100 i've got the gps on and it drives my wife batty
she says you've got to learn to drive and put that thing down and use your
brain is what she tells me. That's right. I hope she's not listening by the way.
Well, that's right. I mean, how many times have you said, Hey, Siri, call. Yeah.
(10:03):
That's artificial intelligence. Yeah, so there are some pluses and minuses. Absolutely.
Is there a long-term plan for continuous improvement?
Yes, it's a strategic plan and it's on our webpage. Generally,
it's a five-year plan and we revisit those goals every year.
Actually, the school board drives it and then we follow up with the strategies
(10:24):
and trying to implement that plan.
So the other thing is, you know, like I mentioned earlier, we're going to have
almost half or more of our board may change out.
And so they'll need to revisit that strategic plan and, you know,
make sure we're still aligned with what we're wanting to do.
But we review it every year and then for continuous improvement.
Phil, I'd also like to add that we are going to be so glad to have our teachers
(10:47):
and staff back on campus today and also can't wait to welcome our students back on August the 7th.
You know, after almost 32 years of doing this, every year I look forward to
seeing those kids' faces when they come back.
And then, of course, we're looking forward to a great year with staff,
students, parents, and everyone. one. Mr. Phil, I'd just like to welcome everybody back.
(11:09):
This is my 35th year with Tipton County Schools.
You got an education at six years old. How did that happen?
Hey, some people got it. Some people get lucky. I was a genius.
But again, like I said, this is my 35th year.
Very excited. This is probably the most exciting time of the year for me because
(11:30):
nothing has really happened yet and I hadn't really gotten busy.
But I'd just like to say welcome the teachers back and I'm looking forward to a great year.
Well, I'm excited also. I think the community's excited to get back at school,
and I'm glad y'all took time out of your busy schedule. I know you guys are busy.
When everybody else is vacationing and relaxing, this is the time where y'all
(11:51):
really get your plan together and ready for the new year.
So we appreciate you speaking from the community. We thank you guys for everything that you do.
We'll see you next time for another edition of Endless Possibilities.
Music.
Music.
(00:26):
Welcome to another edition of Endless Possibilities. I'm your host,
Phil Ramsey, and very excited about today's program.
Today is the first day of school for teachers.
So we have three guests today. And if you would, two of you guys have been on
here before, and we have one that hasn't.
But from my left to my right, introduce yourself. Maybe give me your title.
(00:48):
Yes, I am Rebecca Bird. I am one of the assistant superintendents,
director of instruction. direction. John Combs, superintendent.
The John Combs. One of them. Yes, sir. James Fields, assistant superintendent and athletic director.
Well, it's good to have y'all here with us today. I remember last year,
kids are extremely excited to get out of school, but when they're out all summer, you know what?
(01:14):
They're actually excited to get back in school.
They miss those relationships and, you know, that structure.
And they long for that. So it's the beginning of the school year and there's
excitement in the air and they're ready to come back to school.
At least I think most of them are. There may be a few folks that aren't,
but anyway. I think there's some parents excited too.
Yeah, they get a break. So it's good to have y'all with us today.
(01:37):
I want to ask you guys a few questions.
What are the district's goals for the 24-25 school year?
You got any new goes? Well, I'll start off with some, you know,
they're kind of new, but kind of not.
I mean, we pull these together every year. Two big ones for me are going to
be post-secondary success.
You know, we can measure, everybody wants us to measure state testing through
(02:00):
TCAP and all that kind of stuff.
But, you know, to me, one of the biggest measures of success,
we've talked about this before, is post-secondary.
You know, are we getting our kids ready for what they're going to see after
high school, military, four-year university, straight into the workforce,
TCAT, being a good citizen.
I mean, all those kinds of things. That's what we're excited about.
(02:21):
That's a continual goal.
And also more capital improvements. We've done a number of capital improvements to our building.
We want our staff and our students to all be proud of where they go to school.
So we've done a lot of bathroom renovations.
We talked about before the turf updates and all that kind of thing,
new lighting, a number of HVAC installments, things like that,
(02:41):
that are going to continue to improve our facilities.
So those are two big ones for me right now. Because of the impact that ACT can
have on students' post-secondary plans, we want to continue to focus on improving our ACT scores.
We had 62 students last year who scored 30 or higher on the ACT, and we –.
(03:01):
That's good. It is good. It's great. And we know that with ACT prep and some
other instructional practices that we can make improvements in that area.
Also, the second thing that I would highlight is literacy.
Literacy across all grade levels and subjects will always be a goal.
We want to continue to improve in that area with the use of our high quality
(03:21):
instructional materials and instructional best practices to improve literacy
across the district. What about you, Mr. Fields? Yes, sir.
I was listening when you alluded to kids being excited to get back in school. I hope that's the case.
One of the hats I wear is being over truancy. My goal this year is to cut our
truancy percentage in half.
Last year, we had 549 kids, I think, that were chronically absent.
(03:47):
That means that they were absent 18 or more days. And of course,
you know, if they're not in the classroom, they can't learn.
And the one way we're going to combat that is we got a truancy officer last year.
So his priority this year will be at all the tier meetings.
You know, we have a progressive tier plan to try to keep kids in school.
(04:09):
Another thing, if you were to ask any school system, I think truancy and safety
will be the two biggest challenges for any district. So this year we've been, Dr.
Combs and myself, we've been to a couple threat assessment trainings,
active shooter trainings.
I definitely believe any parent wants their kids safe and hopefully keep them in school.
(04:32):
Next week on next week's podcast, we're going to have the sheriff in and he's
going to kind of go over all those things that you talked about dealing with
safety and even traffic, you know, in the morning at school can be kind of hectic
and also maybe deal with some bus safety also.
So he's going to be next week. So make sure you tune in next week and we'll
hear from the sheriff, Sheriff Beasley. I agree. I appreciate you bringing that up, Phil.
(04:55):
We have a great relationship with law enforcement across the county.
They are great friends with the school system, and we feel their support every
day. They're phenomenal.
So I'm glad he's coming on next so everyone can hear him. He's a great partner
for our students across the county.
If you look at the officers that serve in the cities and the county,
(05:17):
most of them went to school right here at Tipton County, which is pretty neat. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Are there any changes this year that you'd like to share with the
community? Well, one immediate change I think that people are going to see is
that we have four, five actually board positions up for reelection.
So in August, number one, please come vote.
(05:40):
But in August, community will make the decision of who fills those five spots.
So in September, there could be four or five possible changes to our nine board
member panel that's on our school board. Just coming off of that,
can you tell me in a very brief way what the board actually does?
The board specifically is in charge of the budget, they're over policy,
(06:03):
and they're in charge of hiring the superintendent.
And those are their three main things. However, obviously they meet every month
because they represent the constituents in their district,
and so they make sure they have all those concerns at the table when they meet
at the board meeting so that we can make sure we get everything accomplished
that needs to be taken care of.
Yes, you're asking what changes will be made next year.
(06:26):
To get back on safety a little bit, we have a.
A visitor code of ethics or where we have to post signs on how the expectations
of visitors that go into the schools.
We also have to have a visitor code of ethic or something on our buses that
(06:46):
warns parents that you can't approach the bus, you can't get on the bus for any reason.
You know, if you have a concern or something, you have to take it back to the
school that you can't get up on the bus and you can't deal with the bus driver.
So these are placards that would hang on a specific spot at the school when
you're dealing with visitors?
Yes, sir. Okay. And the last thing is there's a law that's passed for spectators,
(07:08):
the expectations for spectators at school events, ballgames, or whatnot,
where we're looking if there's one incident that parent or fan could possibly
be suspended from any event up to 30 days,
the second offense up to 90 days.
And if there's a third offense for entire calendar year.
(07:29):
So we're just trying to beef up safety and make everybody feel comfortable,
and that's the position we want our kids in.
Two changes that I'd like to talk about. One is every year there is several
new laws that affect education, and one of those this year is that we are required
to have a policy on artificial intelligence use in schools.
(07:50):
And so we have, our board has adopted a policy, And basically what it says is
in order for students and teachers to use an AI program, it has to be approved
by the district as a valuable resource. So that's one change.
Another change just involves CTE.
We know how important CTE is, and we are continuing to add new career pathways
(08:10):
for our students in career and technical education.
And one of the things that you'll see in all three of our high schools this
year that we're very excited about is the opening of three mechatronics labs.
We do have one in each high school. So along with mechatronics,
there will be some other changes in CTE that we're very excited about.
Let me ask you guys a question here.
Coming off of what you just said is, you know, this world's changing very quickly.
(08:34):
Is AI, do you view that as something good for the school system or could this
be something bad or a mixture of both?
Wow. Mixed bag. Yeah. I mean, for the right things, AI is going to be great.
It'll save us some time on, you know, generating some things that we need to
get out to the community or wherever.
(08:55):
However, you know, it's also a little bit of a hindrance sometimes in the classroom.
Because you're not really sure if learning has taken place or not,
if artificial intelligence is generating it. Now, here's why I say it's a mixed bag.
And I'm going to try to keep our director of instruction from swinging at me when I say this.
I remember my fourth grade math teacher saying, no, you can't use a calculator.
(09:18):
What do you think, you're always going to walk around and have a calculator
with you? Well, guess what?
Now we do, right? It's on all of our phones. yeah
so we have to make sure and that's what this ai
policy does we have to make sure that we are
using it correctly and that we're
allowing it to be used correctly so it's
a benefit not a hindrance yeah you can a student can depend a lot on that and
(09:41):
not exercise not not work the brain at all when i'm driving and if we're going
somewhere 99 times out of 100 i've got the gps on and it drives my wife batty
she says you've got to learn to drive and put that thing down and use your
brain is what she tells me. That's right. I hope she's not listening by the way.
Well, that's right. I mean, how many times have you said, Hey, Siri, call. Yeah.
(10:03):
That's artificial intelligence. Yeah, so there are some pluses and minuses. Absolutely.
Is there a long-term plan for continuous improvement?
Yes, it's a strategic plan and it's on our webpage. Generally,
it's a five-year plan and we revisit those goals every year.
Actually, the school board drives it and then we follow up with the strategies
(10:24):
and trying to implement that plan.
So the other thing is, you know, like I mentioned earlier, we're going to have
almost half or more of our board may change out.
And so they'll need to revisit that strategic plan and, you know,
make sure we're still aligned with what we're wanting to do.
But we review it every year and then for continuous improvement.
Phil, I'd also like to add that we are going to be so glad to have our teachers
(10:47):
and staff back on campus today and also can't wait to welcome our students back on August the 7th.
You know, after almost 32 years of doing this, every year I look forward to
seeing those kids' faces when they come back.
And then, of course, we're looking forward to a great year with staff,
students, parents, and everyone. one. Mr. Phil, I'd just like to welcome everybody back.
(11:09):
This is my 35th year with Tipton County Schools.
You got an education at six years old. How did that happen?
Hey, some people got it. Some people get lucky. I was a genius.
But again, like I said, this is my 35th year.
Very excited. This is probably the most exciting time of the year for me because
(11:30):
nothing has really happened yet and I hadn't really gotten busy.
But I'd just like to say welcome the teachers back and I'm looking forward to a great year.
Well, I'm excited also. I think the community's excited to get back at school,
and I'm glad y'all took time out of your busy schedule. I know you guys are busy.
When everybody else is vacationing and relaxing, this is the time where y'all
(11:51):
really get your plan together and ready for the new year.
So we appreciate you speaking from the community. We thank you guys for everything that you do.
We'll see you next time for another edition of Endless Possibilities.
Music.
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