At the start of this school year, the students at Deerfield Elementary will be served breakfast in the classroom. Students wanting breakfast will receive it as they enter the classroom and eat at their desk. If the child is currently a paying student, the cost will continue to be $1.25 or $ .30 for a reduced meal price.
There are many benefits to this program. First, students that arrive at school on a later bus will still have time to eat their breakfast. Also, students eat with their classmates and enjoy a quite environment while announcements are made. Hopefully, students that don’t enjoy eating when they first get up will now get another opportunity. In schools that currently have breakfast in the classroom, many have seen a decrease in headaches, tummy aches, and trips to the nurse. Many participating schools in addition have seen an increase in test scores after starting this program.
Deerfield Elementary is the first school in the Coffee County School system to pilot this program. They hope to expand to other schools in the district in the future.

Education officials say changes in standardized testing in Tennessee are expected to reduce testing time for students and teachers by about 30 percent.
The Tennessean reports the state has cut the first part of spring standardized testing to create only one assessment window at the end of the school year.
The changes stem from the Tennessee Department of Education’s two-year, $60 million contract with Minnesota-based Questar Assessment, which was finalized last week.
The changes mean that in grades 3-8, students will spend about three-and-a-half hours less time on state-mandated standardized testing each year. High school students will also see a cut in year-end tests with a typical 11th-grader seeing about the same reduction in testing time.
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says that keeps flexibility for schools and maximizes instructional time.

The literal dirty truth about child rearing is the high price of diapers – which can cost families from $70 to $80 per month per child. Congress is considering legislation that would fund pilot programs in states such as Tennessee to help low-income families afford this necessity. There are currently no federal programs that meet the need, according to Alison Weir with the National Diaper Bank Network.
“You tell people that you can’t buy diapers with food stamps or WIC, and the first response is ‘What!’” Weir said. “Neither program is meant for that, but the programs that were meant to cover basic needs have all shrunk to the point where there’s a big hole in the safety net.”
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, is the only program that provides money that could be used for diapers. But in Tennessee, that benefit is limited to $185 per month for a household with one parent and two children.
Missouri recently opted to fund diaper banks, and California is considering a voucher to offset the cost for children enrolled in subsidized day care. The federal bill was referred to a House subcommittee for consideration.
The pressure to provide diapers for children often forces parents to make tough choices, Weir said. It’s a fact illustrated by a survey from Feeding America in which parents shared some surprising confessions.
“A large number of folks admitted to delaying changing a diaper or, in some cases, shaking a diaper out and trying to reuse it,” she said. “And if you don’t have diapers, in most cases you can’t leave your child at day care because most day cares require parents to provide the diapers their child will use.”
There are currently two diaper banks in Tennessee, located in Nashville and Memphis. Of the 240,000 children under age three in the state, almost one-third live in households that fall below the federal poverty line.
For more information, visit nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org or feedingamerica.org.

We told you on Thursday about a two-vehicle crash in Tullahoma. According to an accident report from the Tullahoma Police Department, a 2005 Chevrolet operated by Kayla Brooke Hickey, 21, of McMinnville ran a traffic light at the viaduct in Tullahoma during a police pursuit early Thursday morning and T-boned 66 year-old Joe Moon’s 2009 Ford Pickup truck, Moon a retired City of Tullahoma employee was pronounced dead at the scene. A Coffee County deputy attempted to stop Hickey’s vehicle for a traffic violation near the Summitville community around midnight Wednesday night.

Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves says the reason that the driver was being stopped by a deputy was a busted license plate light and the passenger acted suspicious by trying to hide from view of the deputy. He says another reason the pursuit continued was that Hickey attempted to hit a deputy head-on at the Hwy 41/55 intersection in Manchester.
Sheriff Graves added that Manchester and Tullahoma City police departments along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol were called to provide assistance.
The sheriff says that the investigation is continuing and any other information will be released by the District Attorney Craig Northcott’s office.

Driver–Kayla B Hickey age 21

• Schedule I, II and IV drug violations
• Manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of a controlled substance
• Vehicular homicide
• Driving on revoked/suspended
• Evading arrest
• Reckless endangerment
• Aggravated assault
• Unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities
• Unlawful carrying or possession of a weapon, illegal possession
• Bond $240,500. Court 7-25-16

Passenger Charleston Dakota Ortega age 22 of Rock Island, TN

• Firearm use in association with dangerous felonies
• Tampering with or fabricating evidence/destruction of evidence
• 3 counts of schedule II drug violation along with a schedule IV drug violation
• Unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities
• Manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of a controlled substance
• Vehicular homicide
• Tampering with or fabricating evidence/destruction

Bond $229,000. Court 7-25-16

A Manchester man was arrested after he allegedly took meat products from Kroger in Tullahoma and trying to leave without paying for them.
Store employee William Stephenson reported on July 13 to Tullahoma Police Officer John Bratten that Jerry Williamson, 52, of Mill Street, Manchester placed several packages of steak from the meat department in his pants and attempted to leave without paying.
Williamson is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court Aug. 18 on charges of shoplifting.

The Manchester Tourism and Community Development Commission in partnership with the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce and Manchester Parks and Recreation announced they have received a $41,000 tourism enhancement grant from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development & Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. These funds along with $17,000 from the Manchester Tourism and Community Development Commission to total $58,000 will be used for additional electrical infrastructure and facility enhancements at the Manchester Parks and Recreation’s Soccer Complex.
“The Parks and Recreation Department is excited to work in partnership with the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Commission on providing electrical service to the new Soccer Complex. The partnership allowed us to tap into the Tourism Enhancement Grant program funding to further develop the Soccer Complex. The electrical service is an important step forward to creating a venue for soccer to attract tournaments and tourism dollars to our local economy,” said Bonnie Gamble, Director, Manchester Parks and Recreation.