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New school security plans face delays
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The Warren County School System is still looking for a company to install security access doors for all of the schools in the county. The doors will include a security card entrance system, complete with cameras, to monitor the entrance.
County Executive John Pelham announced during a recent Financial Management Committee meeting that only two companies had bid on installing security systems for the schools and both bids came in over the expected budget of $80,000.
The engineer for the project, Ken Roberts of Engineering Consultants and Design Inc., met with Director of Schools Bobby Cox to rethink the bid specifications. The item was withdrawn and will be put out for rebidding at a later date.
Greater school security became an issue following the Newtown, Conn., tragedy in December in which 26 students and school officials were shot to death.
Armed officers in every school and bullet-resistant glass have been discussed by officials, but the installation of cameras and magnetic locks, the School Board believes, is a good first step at securing area schools and keeping students and faculty safe.
The new system will require visitors to be buzzed in when they arrive at one of the public entrances. Someone watching a camera inside will be in charge of allowing access. Faculty and staff will have swipe cards they can use to enter the buildings. Each time they use their cards, their movements will be logged.
“We want all this done by the coming school year,” said Cox at a previous School Board meeting. The changes, Cox said, will help better regulate those who enter buildings on any of the campuses.
Others bids awarded during the Financial Management Committee meeting were:
• Bobby Ray Elementary will receive new playground equipment by Miracle Recreation at a cost of $14,589.
• Institutional Wholesale was the low bidder on food and non-food items for the school system. The contract is from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 with an option to renew for three additional years.
• The dish machine chemical bid will go to Rayco, which was the low bidder.
• Warren County buildings HVAC maintenance was awarded to Lee Company. The company will service HVAC units at the administrative building, courthouse, health department and jail. There was a mandatory pre-bid meeting where the companies traveled around the county to see what would be expected of them for the contract. Two companies were represented at the pre-bid meeting but only one company bid for the contract.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community