Editor’s note: Each of the following items was taken from police reports at the separate law enforcement agencies.

Columbia Police Department

Tuesday, May 8

Marcellus Carpenter, 22, 404 Willow St., was arrested and charged with aggravated domestic assault. He remained jailed Tuesday in lieu of $4,000 bond.

Columbia Fire Department

Tuesday, May 8

1:53 a.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1701 Grant St.

Monday, May 7

2:22 a.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 700 W. 12th St.

6:56 a.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 103 Brandywood Drive.

4:41 p.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1119 E. End St.

6:41 p.m. Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire, 1027 S. High St.

6:58 p.m. Gas leak (natural gas or LPG), 400 Early Road.

7:56 p.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 409 Oakwood Drive.

9:25 p.m. EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 203 Nowlin Court.

Article source: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/policefire-reports/policefire-reports-may-9-2012.html

Tags: Mount Pleasant, Tennessee

Maury County School Board members are slated to discuss implementing a program at Mt. Pleasant High School that would extend students’ school days up to an hour.

The board will meet 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Whitthorne Middle School gym to accommodate more than 30 educators who will be recognized for their service to the school system before they retire at the end of the academic year.

Extending school hours at Mt. Pleasant High School would fulfill a requirement to maintain a federal grant, board chairman Shaw Daniels said Wednesday. A proposed plan entails starting class 30 minutes early and delaying dismissal by 30 minutes to allow for additional learning time, he said.

“What we’ll be looking at is the cost associated with extending the school day versus the amount of funding coming in from the grant,” Daniels said. These factors include the additional cost of modifying bus routes to accommodate the change.

In 2009 the school was identified as one of the low-performing schools in the state, and school board members voted in April 2010 to accept the $1.5 million in federal funding over three years to help raise scores.

Requests made to the Central Office to view agenda attachments for further information regarding the extended school day were denied Wednesday. If board members approve the plan, the change would take effect for the 2012-2013 academic year.

School board members will also evaluate Director of Schools Eddie Hickman during the meeting. Board members rated Hickman at a 3.58 last year on a five-point scale, down from the 4.19 he received in 2010.

“We go through each board member, one-by-one, to discuss the evaluation they turned in for the director,” said Daniels, who gave Hickman a perfect score last year.

The evaluation addresses the director’s relationship with the board, community and school staff, as well as his leadership and business skills.

Article source: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/local/longer-days-considered-mt-pleasant-high-school.html

Tags: Mount Pleasant, Tennessee

Editor’s note: Each of the following items was taken from police reports at the separate law enforcement agencies.

Columbia Fire Department

Wednesday, May 9

3:27 a.m., Assist police or other governmental agency, 1522 Potter Drive

3:47 a.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1127 S. High St.

5:37 a.m., Medical assist, assist EMS crew, 400 E. 18th St.

7:23 a.m., Greens Mill Road/Nashville Highway

Tuesday, May 8

1:53 a.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1701 Grant St.

8:25 a.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1103 Timber Trail

9:46 a.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1235 Trotwood Ave./P.O. Box 2027

10:17 a.m., Gas leak (natural gas or LPG), 700 Riverside Drive

11:57 a.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 117 Rainbow Circle

1:13 p.m., Medical assist, assist EMS crew, 611 W. 12th St.

3:46 p.m., Motor Vehicle Accident with no injuries, Hampshire Pike Lion Parkway

4:19 p.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 1902 Cherry St.

6:10 p.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 2122 Denham Ave.

9:13 p.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 2841 Spring Meade Blvd.

11:42 p.m., EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury, 402 Hughes Ave.

Article source: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/policefire-reports/policefire-reports-may-10-2012.html

Tags: Mount Pleasant, Tennessee

Maury County commissioners made headway Thursday in addressing two recommendations presented by the state in an audit released in March — forming an audit committee and developing a centralized accounting, budgeting and purchasing system.

State auditors recommended county officials establish both as a means of improving accountability in local government.

Representatives from County Technical Assistance Service spoke during a Thursday administration committee meeting to address some commissioners’ concerns that an audit committee would cause micromanagement in county departments.

“It does not serve as an investigative body,” CTAS official Robin Roberts said.

CTAS official Doug Bodary said that whistleblowers should be urged to call the state’s fraud, waste and abuse hotline rather than probing the issue at the county level.

If approved, the audit committee would typically meet twice a year, Bodary said. The first meeting would be closed to the public to allow the committee and state auditors to review the state audit findings and develop a plan for county officials to address and correct them. The audit committee would convene for a second time to discuss the findings with county commissioners, and that meeting would be open to the public.

The committee voted to send the matter to the full commission for consideration during its 6:30 p.m. meeting on May 21. County commissioners have yet to decide whether the five-member audit committee would consist solely of county commissioners, citizens or a combination of both. Bodary recommended that at least one of the members have a background in accounting.

Adopting the County Financial Management System of 1981, which would form a centralized accounting, budgeting and purchasing system covering all county departments — including the Maury County school system — was also discussed. The county currently operates under provisions for centralized accounting and budgeting, but purchasing procedures are outlined by separate laws.

The committee deferred the decision as to whether to adopt the centralized system until July.

The committee also voted to send the school system’s proposed $80.3 million spending plan for 2012-2013 to the budget committee for consideration during its 4:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting. Commissioners approved a $76.4 million school budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

“I’ll vote to send it to the (budget) committee,” commissioner Judy Vick said. “But I won’t be voting for a $3.8 (million) increase.”

Article source: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/local/county-continues-considering-audits.html

Tags: Mount Pleasant, Tennessee

In order to retain a federal School Improvement Grant at Mt. Pleasant High School for another year, members of the Maury County Board of Education on Thursday approved an additional 30 minutes of instruction per day at the school, beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.

Director of Schools Eddie Hickman said the decision was required by the U.S. Department of Education for the school to keep the grant funds, which they originally began receiving in the 2010-2011 school year.

“The third year, to finish the plan of action, we were missing one thing — extending the school day,” he said. “If the board does not extend the school day, they understand we’ll lose this grant.”

Hickman called the plan for school improvement “a very good plan,” and emphasized that while complications may arise out of the additional time, the school system “is at the mercy of the federal government.”

The extension of the school day comes with some alterations to the bus schedule for all three Mt. Pleasant schools. Documents attached to the board’s agenda indicate that buses will pick up high school students first in the mornings and drop them off last in the afternoons to streamline routes.

System officials said that they will be working with parents in the coming months to ensure that they are aware of the change in bus scheduling, which for some students means a 6:50 a.m. pickup time.

In addition, the board reviewed its annual evaluation of Hickman’s performance as director of schools, which showed an improvement over last year’s score. While last year, Hickman received a 3.58 on a five-point scale, this year the score had grown to a 4.1.

Board Chairman and District 10 Representative Shaw Daniels gave Hickman a perfect score for the second year, because of the growth he said he’s observed in the director.

“I did give one of the highest scores,” he said. “With me having the amount of time on the board that I’ve had … I’ve seen him grow as a director. There are always going to be issues, but it’s how these issues are handled to make sure those don’t happen again, that drives a lot of my score.”

In the staff’s evaluation of Hickman, Assistant Director of Schools Scott Gaines said that one of the major factors for the director’s lower scores last year was his relationship with the news media. In Hickman’s self-evaluation, he gave himself a 4 in that area, leaving the comment, “It is much better.” Hickman’s self-evaluation came out with a 4.78, and he said he’ll continue to work to meet his goals.

“I will be looking at some goals in the future but they will be tied to what’s in hand,” he said. “It’s an ongoing job, it’s a difficult task. We’ve got some challenges ahead of us — difficult challenges. The challenges are before us. I’ve got some very serious decisions to make for the good of Maury County School System.”

Daniels said that due to the increase in scores in all criteria, he will propose the continuation of Hickman’s contract at the board’s next regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on June 14.

Article source: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/local/school-day-extended-mt-pleasant-high-school.html

Tags: Mount Pleasant, Tennessee