Monthly Meeting
The Fountain City Business and Professional Association holds a meeting once a month on the second Wednesday of every month from 12 pm to 1:00 pm at the Central Baptist Church of Fountain City in Fountain City, TN, unless otherwise posted. The address is 5364 North Broadway Street, Knoxville, TN 37918.
Scroll down to see specific details on this month’s upcoming meeting!
Directions:
- Go to parking lot cornering Gresham and Lynnwood (Note: Gresham St. is a ONE-WAY street, please do not travel down Gresham toward Broadway).
- Enter Church at double doors.
- Go down 1 flight of stairs and turn (L) left.
- Go down 1 more flight of stairs into fellowship hall.
There is light networking before the meeting starts. You’ll hear updates from the board, typically a speaker, as well. Lunch is available, and varies by meeting. The cost to attend, enjoy lunch and network with others is $10. We usually leave about 30 minutes after the speaker finishes for networking from 1 pm to 1:30 pm.
See the event calendar for specific meeting dates this year!
May 2012 – *Different Location, see below*
Speaker(s): Indya Kincannon, 2nd District Knox Co. School Board; Buzz Thomas, President, Great Schools Partnership; and Virginia Babb, Coordinator, Support Our Schools
Topic: Invest In Excellence – School Budget Q & A’s
Date: Wednesday, May 9th, from 12 pm to 1 pm
Knox Co. School’s Budget increase has been a topic of great discussion of late. You may be for the increase or you may be against it… but do you feel you know everything you need to know about the budget? The FCBPA is not taking a stance on the subject, but is hosting the above speakers in hopes to make available resources where YOU can come and ask the questions that are important to you. Please come and invite someone to attend this important meeting.
· What’s in it for students?
More instructional time – 5 additional instructional days, more enrichment opportunities for advanced students, more interventions for struggling students, full-day Kindergarten.
· What’s in it for teachers?
More instructional support from peers, more evaluators, enhanced performance pay, better professional development.
· What about facilities?
This budget would enable us to address critical facilities needs without going into further debt. It would enable us to implement our 5-year IT plan (infrastructure, hardware, software, support).
· Are we using our current resources effectively and efficiently?
Yes. Despite spending less per student than most surrounding districts, and less than the state and national averages, we still get decent results. We target our resources to the classroom.
· Aren’t our schools getting the job done with the current funds?
We are making progress, particularly in graduation rates. However, since Tennessee raised academic standards, our shortcomings are more visible. Only 47% of 3rd graders are reading at grade level. Only 19% of the class of 2011 met all four ACT college readiness benchmarks. We have significant achievement gaps by race and socio-economic status. Money doesn’t solve all our educational challenges, but it sure helps.
· How would this affect my pocketbook?
If this budget is approved by the School Board, and funded by County Commission, one way to raise the funds would be a 35 cent property tax increase. For the Knox County median home value of $156k, that translates to an increase of $2.63 a week. If your house is worth $300k, that would mean an increase of about $5 a week.
Of course in the long run, this investment will lead to a better educated work-force, drawing more businesses and higher-paying jobs. So the net effect on your pocketbook could be very positive!
*** NOTE – CHANGE OF MEETING LOCATION – FOR THIS LUNCHEON ONLY ***
Meeting will be held at:
Virginia College Campus – Ftn. City (Old Kroger Building)
5003 N. Broadway St.
Knoxville, TN 37918
Phone: 865-745-4500