News

After years of planning, construction of a new school to replace Smithville Elementary is on the verge of becoming a reality.

During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the county commission is expected to adopt a bond resolution to fund construction of a new 800 student Pre-K through 2nd grade school according to plans as presented by the Board of Education not to exceed $55 million over 30 years.

(Click link below to view plan)

School Plans

If approved as expected, the new school will be funded only by revenues from local option sales tax money (local purpose/sinking fund) designated for school construction and operation. There will be no need for a property tax increase because the county will not be allocating any property tax money to fund it.

County Mayor Matt Adcock and the county commission discussed the bond resolution during Tuesday night’s monthly workshop meeting.

According to County Mayor Adcock, school bonds are not subject to protest and calls for a public referendum, as was the case last year with the proposed bond resolution for a jail/judicial center.

“School bonds are not subject to protest (calls for a public referendum),” said County Mayor Adcock. “There is only a detailed bond resolution. For a school the state has made it easier for a county to allocate money or issue bonds. This is a detailed bond resolution not to exceed $55 million and funds would go into a construction account and the schools would have it after that and its only supposed to be spent for construction of a school and that’s all,” said County Mayor Adcock.

If bids come in at below $55 million, Adcock said that’s all the county would borrow. If it runs over $55 million, the school board would have to cut the cost of the project.

“If you put this out for bids and it comes in at $48 million then that’s all you borrow. If it comes in at $56 million, they (school board) will have to look at ways to cut costs to get it down to $55 million,” said County Mayor Adcock.

All the cities have joined the county and board of education in extending their existing local option sales tax agreements by 18 years through 2055 to help fund the debt on new school construction. Smithville extended its agreement with a stipulation that the county issue bonds within a year.

The county commission will meet Monday night, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

During a joint meeting with the Board of Education and Director of Schools on October 8, 2024 the County Commission and County Mayor heard from Brian Templeton of Upland Design Group, the school board’s architect on plans to build a new 800 student Pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school to replace the existing Smithville Elementary complex. The construction will be on property adjacent to Northside Elementary School.

Templeton conducted a power point presentation showing a rendering of the proposed new school as well as the schematic design and floor plans. The commission had first been shown the plans in a joint meeting with the school board in 2022.

According to Templeton, the plans are exactly the same except for the cost. In September 2022 the projected cost to build this proposed 124,207 square foot facility was $46,199,875. Today, the projected cost is $53,414,825.

In May, 2020 the school board voted to allocate funds from its own budget to purchase 24.5 acres of property on North Congress Boulevard adjacent to Northside Elementary School for construction of a new Pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school. The price paid was $18,000 per acre for a total of $441,000.
The purchase was made after a favorable core drill assessment of the property and TDOT approval of a traffic plan into the proposed new school off Highway 56 north.

According to Upland Design Group, the proposed new Pre-K to 2 Smithville Elementary School would be 124,207 square feet in size and would be designed to accommodate 800 students with room for future expansion to house up to 300 additional students (1,100) total. The school would be built with 11 classrooms for each grade level of kindergarten, first, and second grade (33 classrooms for 20 students each) along with seven Pre-K classrooms for 20 students each plus four CDC/SPED classrooms as needed. The future expansion would accommodate 15 new classrooms at 20 students each. There would be 189 parking spaces on the campus.

In September 2020 the School Board adopted a traffic plan as proposed by T-Square Engineering based in Franklin and approved by TDOT on how best to get traffic entering the schools off of Highway 56 to reduce congestion.

Under the plan each school (The proposed new Smithville Elementary School and Northside Elementary) would have its own entrance for car traffic off of Highway 56 (North Congress Boulevard) but there would also be a lane connecting the two schools should parents have to pick up and drop off children at both places.

Buses would enter the Northside campus from Smith Road for student pickup/drop off and then would follow a bus (only) lane to the new elementary school for pickup/drop off to be located at the rear of both schools. After making a turnaround at the new school, buses would then exit the same way they entered via the bus lane and then back onto Smith Road.

No construction or alterations would be needed on Highway 56 to accommodate the school traffic plan according to T-Square Engineering.

Seven DCHS basketball players have received All-District honors.

The selections were announced Monday.

Dallas Kirby of the Tiger basketball team was named to the 2nd Team All-District while Jordan Parker made the 3rd Team All-District. Elliot Barnes and Porter Hancock were named to the All District Freshman Team.

Chloe VanVranken and Avery Agee of the Lady Tigers received All-District Honorable Mention and Jordyn Agee made the All-District Freshman Team.

The DCHS Lady Tigers, seeded 6th, will make their debut in the District 7 AAA Tournament Wednesday night, February 19 at Cumberland County High School against the Cumberland County Lady Jets (3rd seed). The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The Tigers, also seeded 6th, will face White County (3rd seed) on Thursday, February 20 at Cumberland County High School. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

In other district tournament girls’ matchups at Cumberland County High School in Crossville:

#4 Livingston Academy vs #5 Stone Memorial: Wednesday, February 19 at 6 p.m.

#3 Cumberland County vs #6 DeKalb County: Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m.

#2 Upperman vs Cumberland County/DeKalb County winner: Friday, February 21 at 6 p.m.

#1 White County vs Livingston Academy/Stone Memorial winner: Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Girls Consolation Game: Monday, February 24 at 6 p.m.

Girls Championship Game: Monday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m.

In other district tournament boys’ matchups at Cumberland County High School in Crossville:

#4 Livingston Academy vs #5 Cumberland County: Thursday, February 20 at 6 p.m.

#3 White County vs #6 DeKalb County: Thursday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m.

#2 Stone Memorial vs White County/DeKalb County winner: Saturday, February 22 at 6 p.m.

#1 Upperman vs Livingston Academy/Cumberland County winner, Saturday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Boys Consolation Game: Tuesday, February 25 at 6 p.m.

Boys Championship Game: Tuesday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m.

DISTRICT 7 AAA ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS (BOYS)

Co MVP: Cade Capps-Stone Memorial and Ty Copp- Upperman

Defensive MVP: Tripp Pinion- White County High School

All-District Defensive Team: Evan Huddleston-Upperman, Bronzden Chaffin-Upperman, Branson Turnbow- Upperman, Kadyn Page-Stone Memorial, and Cole Sims-White County High School.

Freshman MVP: Triston Futtrell- Cumberland County High School

All Freshman Team: Joseph Maynard-Upperman High School, Elliot Barnes- DeKalb County High School, Kolt Norris-White County High School, Lofton Crouch-Upperman, and Porter Hancock-DeKalb County High School

Most Improved Player: Colton Johnson- Upperman High School

1^st Team All-District: Tripp Pinion- White County, Bronzden Chaffin-Upperman, Tucker Miller-Livingston Academy, Jack Cordell-Stone Memorial, and Sol Sitton-Cumberland County

2^nd Team All-District: Cole Harris-Livingston Academy, Rocco Carwile-Livingston Academy, Colton Johnson-Upperman, Andrew Dennis- Cumberland County, and Dallas Kirby- DeKalb County High School

3^rd Team All-District: Jordan Parker-DeKalb County High School, Briggs Lowe-Stone Memorial, Evan Huddleston-Upperman, Lucas Dickerson-White County, and Tucker Pinion-White County High School

Honorable Mention: Branson Turbow-Upperman, Cole Simes-White County, Triston Futrell- Cumberland County, Kayden Page-Stone Memorial, and Kayne Bosanko-Stone Memorial

DISTRICT 7 AAA ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS (GIRLS)

MVP: Ellie Butler-Livingston Academy

Defensive MVP: Lakelyn Gratsy-White County High School

All District Defensive Team:  Ava Jones- White County, Aliyah Hawkins-Cumberland County, Ava Allen-Upperman, Sydney Wilhite-Cumberland County, and Gracie Butler-Upperman

Freshman MVP: Ella Jane May-Stone Memorial

All Freshman Team: Reece Collins-Livingston Academy, Carile Kileen-Cumberland County, Cassie Crouch-Upperman, Jordyn Agee-DeKalb County High School, and Sarah Winfree-White County.

Most Improved Player: Bella Winningham- White County High School.

1^st Team All-District: Gracie Clark-White County, Sydney Wilhite-Cumberland County, Gracie Butler-Upperman, Ava Jones-White County, and Taylor Dolente-Upperman

2^nd Team All-District: Aliyah Hawkins-Cumberland County, Lakelyn Gratsy- White County, Bella Winningham-White County, Sadie South-Upperman, and Addi Howard-Stone Memorial

3^rd Team All-District: Ashley Wittenburg- Stone Memorial, Maggie Butler- Upperman, Chloe Jenkins-Livingston Academy, Ella Harrel-Upperman, and Ella Jane May-Stone Memorial

Honorable Mention: Chloe VanVranken-DeKalb County High School, Emma Poston-Livingston Academy, Avery Agee-DeKalb County High School, Lillie Hinch-Stone Memorial, and Ava Allen-Upperman

Do you have cattle, sheep, goats, or equine animals and have not signed up in the Livestock Forage program since it began in October 2024? If so, the 2024 Livestock Forage Program (LFP) signup period has been extended until March 1, 2025.

The 2024 Livestock Forage Assistance Program (LFP) has been approved for DeKalb and Cannon counties due to recent and extreme drought conditions that have affected livestock grazing during the 2024 normal grazing period. LFP provides compensation to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses for covered livestock on land with permanent vegetative cover or planted specifically for grazing.

Since the LFP signup began in early October 2024, nearly 450 livestock producers in DeKalb and Cannon counties have been approved and received just over $1 million.

If you are a livestock producer and have not filed your LFP application since the signup period began in early October 2024, please visit the FSA office in Smithville to file your application before the March 1, 2025 deadline. There are no approval provisions for late filed LFP applications.

For more information, call the office at 615-597-8225, Ext. 2, or come by the Smithville USDA Service Center located at 647 Bright Hill Rd., Smithville, Tennessee. The Farm Service Agency’s office hours are 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Marking a milestone!

Board members and staff of the DeKalb Emergency Communications (E-911) District along with several local first responders gathered Friday at the dispatch center on South Mountain Street for a meal and to commemorate a 20th anniversary.

Twenty years ago, the county and cities consolidated their emergency and non-emergency dispatch operations and relocated to a vacant building on South Mountain Street which once served as a restaurant. The celebration also marked radio communication technology upgrades made by the county and cities over the last two decades.

“We went from three different dispatch centers at the sheriff’s department, Smithville Police, and Alexandria Police to one consolidated location where everybody can communicate together,” said 911 Director Brad Mullinax.

“911 actually started in 1995 in DeKalb County,” Mullinax explained. “It started at the sheriff’s office and began with one little single phone. It was a 911 line. We shortly outgrew that location, and we were fortunate enough to get this building (present location) through the county’s efforts and us (911 board) doing some renovating to make it work for a 911 center,” said Mullinax.

“We made the move in 2005, but we started planning in 2004. I was hired late in 2004 to get this up and operational. It was a good move. We got a lot of grant money. On the very first after 9/11 there was a lot of grant funds available to help fund things we did then. Unfortunately, some of that federal funding has gone by the wayside but we are still able to tap into some state and local resources to get things done. We learned a lot of lessons from 9/11, and I think this is a direct result of some good planning on the part of the county and cities to consolidate this and make things more efficient as a result of that tragedy,” said Mullinax.

“When we moved up here in 2005 from the sheriff’s office a lot of times there was only one dispatcher on duty. Sometimes there were two. Now we have three dispatchers plus me, so we have at least doubled the staff in that amount of time, but we have call volume to support that. Call volume has picked up significantly since then. We get more calls today than in 2005,” Mullinax explained.

The DeKalb Emergency Communications (E-911) District is governed by a local board of directors made up of seven members appointed to staggered four-year terms by the county commission and city governments of Smithville and Alexandria.

“They (board) approve my budget. We are not really a county agency,” explained Mullinax. “We are more like a utility board. Most of our funding comes from the $1.50 per month you pay on your phone bill. Whether it’s a cell phone, home (landline) phone, etc. that money goes to the state, and it is turned back over to us. That is just for 911 to make sure someone answers a 911 call. Right now, there is legislation to raise it from $1.50 to $1.86 per month and that would mean an additional $200,000 per year in funding for us to further make some technology changes, hire additional staffing, and better train our staff,” Mullinax continued. “The rest of our funding is through cooperative agreements with the City of Smithville, the DeKalb County Government, and the Town of Alexandria. They contribute a portion of funding to do their non-emergency dispatching or to dispatch those emergency calls coming into 911. We follow state guidelines as far as training requirements to become a dispatcher. We have to meet those standards and then the TBI has some guidelines that FBI sent down to them that we have to follow as well as far as our National Crime Information computer operation,” he said.

For years the county had operated with a radio system made up of conventional analog technology to communicate between central dispatch and local law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMS, and rescue squad. But over time, the system’s technology had become antiquated and more unreliable. Over the last two years the county and cities made a commitment to update their mobile, portable, and fixed radio transmission technology and to join the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) which gives first responders, including law enforcement, fire, EMS, and healthcare providers, better communications capabilities for daily operations and the ability to talk to each other to coordinate at the local, regional, and statewide level to respond in the event of an emergency or disaster.

“This is an upgrade from our old analogue radio system and is the backbone of the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network,” said Mullinax. “We put all this (new equipment) in over the last few months. We did tap into some grant money in 2010 and were able to expand portable coverage a little bit, but we judge how affective our radio system is by how well a responder can talk on a portable radio. We went from about 50% coverage to now about 95% coverage. It works well. In 20 years, we basically have gone from doing dispatching on two different radio channels to now we have seven different digital talk groups where we can simultaneously dispatch responders,” said Mullinax.

Because of the new technology, the public won’t be able to monitor police scanner traffic as in the past because the radio communication will be encrypted.

“We are able to encrypt our traffic now, so the John Q public bad guy doesn’t know the sheriff’s department is on the way to his house. That’s been a major upgrade for us,” explained Mullinax.

TACN also has built-in redundancy to ensure the network will still offer statewide coverage in the event any location becomes inoperable after a natural or man-made disaster.

“We now have a lot more redundancy than we have had over the last 20 years,” said Mullinax. “For example, we now have redundant 911 servers, redundant CAD (computer aid dispatch) servers, and redundant locations. If this place (911 dispatch center) gets hit by a storm, we can get our operations back up with a remote trailer and not lose any of our data. There are two radio communication towers on Short Mountain so there is also redundancy there. We get very good coverage from Short Mountain. TACN is further investing in another tower at Center Hill Dam with a site on Corps property at Wolf Creek. That’s already in the planning phase. We are also looking at another location in Liberty for a site there. We are able to do much more today than we were able to do in 2005 and we are doing it more efficiently,” he said.

“The investment of us (911), the county, and the cities into this radio system has been paramount to getting this done. We have spent almost $2 million dollars collectively to make this happen but its going to be a good thing. I could never have imagined 20 years ago that we would be at this level now. I think for the future there is going to be a lot more changes including possibly automation, calling 911 automatically and being dispatched to resources that you need. I think that is coming,” said Mullinax.

While the current 911 dispatch center has served the county well over the last two decades, Mullinax said it is time to start looking for a new location.

“We have about outgrown this location now. This (equipment) room is pretty much full. I can’t get much more equipment in here. If I need to add another dispatcher, I don’t really have a place to put them at this point,” said Mullinax. “We are looking at some other options, potentially the old health department building once the health department moves out of there. That might be a good location”.

A joint investigation involving special agents from the TBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, the Cookeville Police Department and the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in the arrest of a Smithville man.

In January, special agents began investigating a tip regarding child sexual abuse material on a SnapChat account.

During the investigation special agents determined 40-year-old Christopher Edward Williams of Big Hurricane Road, Smithville who worked in Cookeville, was the account owner.

On Thursday, Cookeville police took Williams into custody, charging him with Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. Officers transported him to the Dekalb County jail where he was booked on a $25,000 bond. He will be in court on March 6.

Parents seeking additional information about cybercrime, child exploitation, and how best to safeguard their loved ones can visit http://www.NetSmartz.org for a variety of topical, age-appropriate resources.

The charges and allegations referenced in this release are merely accusations of criminal conduct and not evidence. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted through due process of law.

An 11th grader at DCHS prepared a winning essay in tribute to his foster dad for the honor of “Parent of the Month” for January.

Ray Patterson, Braxton Spears’ foster parent, received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal at Jude’s Traveling Food.

“I wrote this essay about him taking me into his home several months ago and how it has changed my life in and outside of school,” said Braxton.

Spears came to live with Patterson, his foster parent after a stay at New Frontiers boys’ home. He is originally from Kentucky but came here from Clay County.

Since enrolling at DCHS, Braxton said the experience has been a good one. “My high school experience has been entertaining. I have learned a lot of new things,” he said.

His favorite high school subject is math, and he hopes to one day become a marine biologist.

Patterson said he has been a foster parent since 2004. More recently Patterson has had five boys in his care including Braxton. He also has a daughter.

“He (Braxton) needed a home, and I had a placement for him. His case worker from New Frontiers knew of me because I had another kid who lived with me who also came from New Frontiers. She thought Braxton living with me would be a good fit for him. Its working out good. He has come a long way,” said Patterson.

As for Braxton’s essay about him, Patterson said he was surprised by it but that he is proud of Braxton for having written it.

Longing for a cute cuddly pet you can call your own? The DeKalb Animal Shelter has one just for you!

Come see “Percy”. You’ll find him hard to resist

The shelter is open Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Transfer Station Road off Highway 70 east behind Tenneco.

“Percy is an 8-month-old kitty we just got in recently,” said shelter employee Kota. “He is already vaccinated, and he is waiting to be neutered. If you are interested in meeting him, fill out an application on our website or come in and see us. His adoption fee is $120. He is a sweet, shy, and cuddly boy”.
Visit https://www.dekalbanimalsheltertn.com/ or call 615-597-3647.

A 9th grader has been awarded “Student of the Month” for January at DeKalb County High School.

15-year-old Lilly Anderson, daughter of Caitlin and the late PFC Billy Gene Anderson, was surprised to learn Friday that she had been named the recipient of the honor which included a certificate and a gift card for a meal at Jude’s Traveling Food.

“She did not know she had won the award whatsoever. Lilly was nominated by one of the teachers because she is always willing to help someone no matter what and we really appreciate having her around,” said DCHS Assistant Principal Seth Willoughby.

Lilly said she enjoys being in high school and receiving this honor was amazing. Her plans are to one day become a veterinarian because of her love for animals

The January Teacher of the Month award at DeKalb County High School goes to Maddison Richardson.

For winning the honor, Richardson received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal at Jude’s Traveling Food.

Richardson, a geometry teacher, was selected by the administration as Teacher of the Month. She is in her third year as teacher at DCHS. A 2019 graduate of DeKalb County High School, Richardson furthered her education at Tennessee Tech. Her parents are Sonya and Jeremy Parsley and she is married to Colton Richardson of Cannon County.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award,” said Richardson. “I have seen a lot of other teachers get this recognition for what they have done around the school helping out kids and making them feel good so for me to get it is pretty special. A lot of people I work with were my teachers when I was in school here and they treat me like their own and look after me. I enjoy working with them and plan to stay as long as I can,” said Richardson.

Maddison was a member of the Lady Tigers basketball team that made a state tournament appearance in 2019 under then Coach Danny Fish. She later became an assistant to Coach Fish for three years and for one year under Coach Brandy Alley.

In addition to her teaching duties, Richardson has been a Service Society and SGA club sponsor.

Classroom walls will soon be going up at DeKalb Middle School.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting, the Board of Education approved an agreement for an architect to design a plan for classroom walls to be added at DeKalb Middle School. Bids will later be sought and awarded for the project which could be started by summer.

When DeKalb Middle School was built in the early 1970s, it was designed with open classroom spaces without walls, a frequently used model among elementary schools at the time across the country. In the years since, efforts have been made to get away from that concept, but no permanent walls have been added.

In an effort to improve student learning, safety, and to reduce noise, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said the time has come to make a change at DeKalb Middle School.

“This has been a long time coming. We have been working with the fire marshal and I’ll have to give Aaron Young and our maintenance department credit for the work they have done trying to get an agreement so we can enclose all of our classrooms,” said Director Cripps. “We have several classrooms on the corners that are open and this would allow us to be able to close those classrooms off to reduce noise but also for safety. This (action) allows us to go forward with that building program so we can start getting bids and hopefully get this construction project underway this summer,” said Director Cripps.

Meanwhile the board is taking the next step toward the eventual construction of a new elementary school near the Northside Elementary School Campus on North Congress Boulevard. The board approved plans for a topographical survey of the property.

Prior to the vote Director Cripps thanked the cities for voting to extend their existing sales tax agreements with the county to help fund the new school project as well as the county for its commitment to build it.

In his monthly report on personnel moves, Director Cripps said Wade Dunnaway at DeKalb West School and Brittany Weller at DCHS have been hired as teachers and the following have been granted a leave of absence as requested: Britney Gulley, Josh Gulley, Adrienne McCormick, Emily Wheeler, and Kason Wheeler.

The Board also approved school calendars for the three-year period of 2026-27; 2027-28, and 2028-29

Meanwhile the DCHS Prom this spring will be held off campus at the Mill in Lebanon as approved by the Board.