The remaining funds of Jackson County’s ThreeStar Grant will go towards supplies for the school system’s TCAT classes.
Mayor Randy Heady said stipulations of the grant require it to be spent on infrastructure or consumables. Since the county does not have a TCAT campus, the school will focus on materials.
“We can’t buy computers that can be used again and again and again, or you can’t buy desks or things of that nature, but you can buy consumables,” Heady said. “Things that would be used up. If you had a wielding class, that would be wielding rods.”
Heady said the total amount Jackson County Schools received was about $40,000. Heady said the other $10,000 was spent on a feasibility study at Roaring River Park.
“That money, what you can spend it on comes out of the meetings you have with the strategy sessions that are put together with UT,” Heady said. “We had two. Number one would be advancement of applied technologies or technical schools in Jackson County. We have talked about having a TCAT here locally. We teamed up with TCAT Livingston back about three years ago. We have just been excited about that. What came out of those strategy session was we would like to see the TCAT opportunities expanded. Number two was the possible development of Roaring River park.”
Heady said grants like this show the teamwork county officials have with each other. Heady said sometimes there are different ideas, but the overall vision remains the same.
“We all work well with each other, and each of us have strengths where the other one may have weaknesses in,” Heady said. “It takes all of us to work together to reach the goals that we are trying to put forward for Jackson County.”
Heady said Director of Schools Kristy Brown is currently compiling a list of possible supplies. Heady said the grant was originally rewarded last year, but COVID slowed the spending process.
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