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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com 
The Elizabethton City Board of Education will be meeting in their regularly-scheduled February meeting on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the Mack Pierce Board Room located at 804 Watauga Avenue in Elizabethton.

After the meeting is called to order, the first piece of business will be for the board to recognize their Student School Board Liaison, Veronica Watson.

Watson was recently named a Roan Scholar at East Tennessee State University.

No one has requested to speak at this month’s meeting so the board will proceed to accept the consent agenda which includes the minutes of the meeting from the January meeting along with several requests for equipment disposals made by administrators throughout the school system.

Also in the consent agenda is a request to approve professional leave for Director of Schools Richard VanHuss to attend the Niswonger Consortium Director’s Retreat on February 28 through March 1 in Asheville, N.C.

Following approval of the consent agenda, VanHuss will present the Director’s Report to update the board on business and events that may be occurring throughout the school system.

Also, Michael Simerly, the City Council Liaison, will have an opportunity to share with the board as will Watson as the student liaison.

The board then will enter its regular agenda with the first item on the docket being the approval of a creation of a boys and girls soccer assistant coach to assist with student supervision and skills instruction.

Also, the board will consider the purchase of weight training equipment for the EHS baseball team from Legend Fitness through a Cooperative Purchasing Agreement for an amount not to exceed $16,805.05.

These items will be purchased using funds donated by the City of Elizabethton. The equipment is needed as the Minnesota Twins removed all the weight room items at the new field house built at the Northeast Community Baseball Park that the high school team utilizes.

The board will also be asked to approve a dual credit agreement between the Elizabethton City Schools and Middle Tennessee State University which will allow students to receive college credit for selected Aerospace Programs.

Elizabethton High School’s Aviation Program is also seeking approval for two courses of study during the meeting.

In consideration also will be a partnership agreement between Elizabethton City Schools and East Tennessee State University for the 2020-2021 school year.

City school board members will also be asked to approve purchasing BoxLight panels to replace smartboards throughout the system from Central Technologies.

The purchase will take place utilizing a Cooperative Purchasing Agreement in the amount of $516,333.00. The purchase will be contingent on ESSER 2.0 grant funding approval.

Also, the purchase of a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu Sedan from Freeland Chevrolet will be acted upon. The vehicle will be used for Driver Education classes at Elizabethton High School and will cost a total of $17,900.00.

The vehicle will be purchased utilizing State Contract pricing.

The final item will be to approve a budget request letter to the City of Elizabethton for the 2021-22 Fiscal Year.

Anyone may attend the meeting which will follow social distancing and mask-wearing protocol.