The Nashville High School Board of Education met last night with a public hearing before and it was a relatively short meeting.  Superintendent Wendy Davis explained to the board during the public hearing about the tax levy that they would be looking at an increase of approximately $1.89, which is very close to the amount of increase that they have used for several years.  The equalized assessed value is unknown at this time, but they are looking at an estimate of $135 million.  It was $130 million last year.  The Board later approved this in the regular meeting.  She also gave an update on the school year with this being the last week of school before the holiday break.  The first class tomorrow will be an exam, then the rest of the day will be normal.  There will be exams for 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th hours on Thursday and for 2^nd, 4^th and 6^th hours on Friday.  School will resume on Monday, January 6, 2014.  The bad weather may also cause an increase in expenses, should the year be snowy, as they used plenty of materials for snow removal already to keep the grounds safe.  Davis explained why the school was closed last Monday.  She went out driving for a couple of hours and found the further south and west she went, the worse the road conditions were and she was concerned about the buses being out.  There were some heating – cooling units in the computer rooms that needed work and that is being dealt with now.  They are still waiting to hear back on a matching maintenance grant, but haven’t heard anything yet.  Some field trips were approved by the Board.  A couple of English teachers want to take approximately 24 students to attend the Holocaust Museum in Saint Louis in February.  Also, the FFA students are planning to attend 2 weekend events, including the FFA State Convention during the summer.  The Board agreed to borrow $25,000 from their Working Cash Fund to move into the Bond & Interest Fund to make a payment.  The money will be refunded to the Working Cash Fund when money due from tax money that hasn’t come in yet, does finally reach the school.  One female student wants to participate in softball and track & field in the spring at the same time.  The coaches are aware and the Board approved her participation in both sports.  Davis also told the Board of some possible curriculum changes for the future.  One is for Voice One Chorus to be a semester class instead of a full year class.  This way beginning band students could be in a class called Music One, as well as choir students.  This would help them all to learn to read music and perform better earlier.  Also, there is an idea to do away with the eighth credit that students in the Academic Enrichment Program.  Currently, students are in and out to receive special assistance on test taking or with classwork, but it isn’t a constant attendance for each student, instead of being in the class for the full semester or year.  There will be more discussion at the next meeting.  Finally, the Board learned about an amendment to the Section 125 Plan, which deals with the flexible benefit plan, which is a no cost benefit for the district.  Up to $200 per month can be set aside for medical expenses, tax free.  In the past, any money not used would be lost to the school district.  They would give it back to the contributors though.  Now, there is an option to use a carryover of up to $500 per year from one year to another.  Davis feels that more employees might want to join the plan with this new amendment.  The Board tabled it for later discussion.   In personnel moves, the Board approved Tom Taylor as the boys’ track coach and Doug Kell as the boys’ assistant coach.