JMC Education vision committee meets, ahead of school board meeting

JACKSON, Tenn — School and county leaders met Tuesday night, ahead of this week’s school board meeting.

The Education Vision Committee, made up of Madison County commissioners and school board members, are working to re-vamp multiple buildings within the school district.

Madison county commissioners are in talks with school board members about granting the district $10 million towards Superintendent Eric Jones long-range plan.

“The amount I think is floating out there is about roughly $10 million going into the next school year for the capital projects,” JMCSS Superintendent, Eric Jones said.

Although Dr. Jones said that money will go towards future priority projects, there’s already improvement plans in place for the summer such as implementing new HVAC systems at North Side and South Side High Schools.

“Did a lot of prep work and preparation for the work is going to be going on this summer at South Side and North Side High School,” said Dr. Jones.

In addition to building renovations, committee members discussed applying for Governor Bill Haslam’s School Safety Grant.

“Over the next few months we’ll be really outlining what our needs are to fit the criteria,” Dr. Jones said. “And when the window opens we’ll be submitting our names to possibly be considered for this grant opportunity.”

School officials also plan to partner with Black & Decker to explore having more workforce development opportunities for students.

“To get students taking online courses half the day and getting out on the floor and working the next part of the day,” Dr. Jones said.

With the new fiscal year just a few months away, school leaders are working to outline next year’s budget. Dr. Jones said they have an efficiency group looking at the school system’s work in terms of transportation, maintenance, and human resources.

“To make sure that we are being as efficient and effective as possible in our processes and really helping us examine how we have everything setup,” Dr. Jones said.

The group will complete an audit by June and present their recommendations to the district. Dr. Jones said he also met with Jackson City Council members last week about the idea of funding a new Madison Academic building on the University of Memphis-Lambuth campus. The city agreed to create a committee to look at that possibility.

The next Jackson-Madison County School Board meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the central office. It is open to the public.