CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Members of the CMCSS school board finally offered their suggestions for names for the new elementary school in Clarksville, and the 2024-2025 school year should see some long-awaited raises in the employee pay scale.

On Tuesday night, the school board convened for their study session where they heard the latest update on the 2025 fiscal year budget and pitched out some potential school names for Elementary #26.

With the school year coming to an end and the design phase for the new elementary school underway, big changes are coming to CMCSS.

Elementary School #26: community members

Following the controversy surrounding the previously proposed name ‘Freedom Valley,” board members listened to the community to see what names the citizens of Clarksville-Montgomery County had to offer.

It was a mix of opinions: some were eager to name the school in honor of a community member, some were opposed, and some wanted to keep a piece of the previously suggested name, ‘Freedom.’ After receiving feedback from the community, here’s what the school board members proposed.

Herb Nelson offered up two names for Elementary #26 to be named after: Jimmy Terry Sr. and Command Sgt. Maj. Sidney Brown.

• Terry Sr. was born July 22, 1937, in a time of extreme racial divide in the country. He was encouraged by his faith to rise above racism and became one of the most admired and beloved ministers in Clarksville and was the founder of both the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and the Tabernacle Christian School. He passed away on June 21, 2017.
• Brown was born in 1931, experiencing the racism of the Jim Crow era. He was a long-standing Clarksville resident with a long history of military service, as well as working in local and state government, and in education. He both started and finished his military career at Fort Campbell, joining in 1950 with the 101st Airborne Division, and retiring after 30 years. Brown died on Jan. 3, 2020.

Jimmie Garland had only one recommendation: Lettie Kendall. Kendall was born May 2, 1930, and a had a 40-year-long teaching career. Her husband’s military career brought their family to Clarksville, and she was eventually elected as County Commissioner for Montgomery County District 13, where she was the first woman to serve on the Budget Committee. Kendall passed away on July 6, 2021.

Kent Griffy said that although he wasn’t in favor of naming the school after a person, he recommended naming it after Colin Powell.

Powell served in many capacities for the nation as the 16th national security advisor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and even as the first-ever Black man named U.S. Secretary of State. Before taking those titles, however, Powell served one year at Fort Campbell as the commander of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. He was born April 5, 1937, and died Oct. 18, 2021.

Elementary School #26: Fort Campbell

Carol Berry suggested two names: Mountain View Elementary School and Birchwood Elementary School. Berry called Fort Campbell a mountain that provides everyone in this nation freedom and explained that Birchwood is the location where the school will be located, before additionally offering her support to naming the school after Command Sgt. Maj. Brown.

“I loved Pastor Terry, as we all did, and what he did for the Lord, but he supported private schools,” Berry said. “Nothing’s wrong with that. But this is a public school that we are going to name. So, I’m just going to be upfront and honest like I always am.”

Charlie Patterson explained that, despite the controversy surrounding the previous name, he did like it. Instead, he offered that they keep the word “Freedom” and offered up the name “Freedom Pass” as a substitute for the word “valley.”

Aron Maberry suggested three names that he received from community members:

• Jordan Springs Elementary (Jordan Springs Road).
• Old Abe Elementary (The screaming eagle mascot for Fort Campbell is named ‘Old Abe’).
• Valor Elementary (To pay respect to Fort Campbell).

Margaret Pace offered the name Freedom Elementary School.

“Naming a school after an individual is the highest honor the school system can bestow, and there are certainly many, many worthy individuals in this county,” Pace said. “In the past, conflict and ill feelings were created due to the exclusion of honorary nominations. Montgomery County just cannot build enough schools to honor all of its worthy individuals.”

22.5% pay raise for CMCSS employees over 2 years

In other news, a new cost of living adjustment (COLA) is coming to CMCSS, with the school district set to present to the County Commission a 5% COLA for CMCSS employees. Due to step, also known as longevity pay, employees receive on average a 2% step increase each year.

“Let me put that into perspective for y’all,” Chris Reneau, CMCSS Chief Financial Officer, said. “The average employee with a five percent COLA and a step will get a 7% raise. When this budget is passed, and notice: I said ‘when,’ that means our CMCSS team members will get a 22.5 percent raise in the last 24 months.”

That puts CMCSS two years ahead of the governor’s schedule to set the Tennessee teacher minimum salary at $50,000.

Reneau said this pay raise comes from diligent savings from this school year, “We cut expenses to the best of our abilities to take care of our team members.”

In 2022, CMCSS was able to increase its base teacher salary schedules by 5%, taking the teacher starting salary from around $42,000 to $44,000.

Now, the starting salary for teachers, proposed for July 2024, is around $48,300.

In planning the budget for the 2023-2024 school year, CMCSS was able to meet the following goals:

• Increase the entire certified pay scale so that the starting teacher salary (candidate with a bachelor’s degree with 0 years of experience) is above $46,000.
• Increase the classified pay scale and implement market adjustments so that no classified employee makes below $15 an hour.
• Increase the substitute pay scale so that no substitute makes under $15 an hour.

The School Board is scheduled to vote on the budget on April 23, followed by the Montgomery County Commission’s review and vote.