Extended Schools Program (ESP) at Westwood Middle School (WMS) will begin on Monday, March 4. Info will be sent home with students this week, including registration information.
The registration form will also be available on the Westwood Middle School webpage. Families can return the registration form along with the $10 registration fee at WMS next Tuesday-Friday from 7:00-7:45 am. Additionally, the school system will accept registrations at the Manchester City Schools Central Office (215 E. Fort Street). The program will have a daily rate of $6. Families can pay in advance but will only be charged for the days when they use the program. Each day from 3:00-4:00, students will participate in Homework Helper classes sponsored by WMS’s 21st Century Learning Center Grant. Beginning at 4:00, ESP will focus on building critical thinking, team-building, and skill development through games, the arts, and a focus on literacy.
Only registered students may attend ESP.
Parents will need to sign their child out of ESP and signs will be placed at WMS to direct parents to the pick-up location, which will be located in a classroom in the 6th-grade hall.
Dr Joey Vaughn says he’s excited to begin ESP at WMS and believes this will enable Manchester City Schools to better serve the children and families in the district. Vaughn statement:

If anyone has questions regarding the program, please feel free to contact Chad Fletcher at (931) 728-2316 ext 2006.

Daniel Chandler has received a new trial date for the slaying of his 26-year-old wife Samantha Chandler on May 1, 2016. Chandler’s body was found by off-road riders near Ross Creek in Gruetli-Laager in Grundy County.
Daniel Chandler was charged with the murder in 2017, and at the time he was 29. He was located in Walker County, Alabama at the time of his arrest.
He will face a jury on charges of first-degree murder on August 12, in Grundy County Circuit Court before Judge Thomas W. Graham.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services is advising SNAP recipients that they may receive their March benefits early.
Those who normally get their benefits on the first through sixth day of the month will receive benefits on their normal date.
However, if you normally receive benefits on the seventh through 20th day of the month, you will receive them on March 6.
Officials say the amount deposited will be the same as your usual deposit, but is not a bonus payment. It is intended to cover household food needs through March 2019.
Officials also say February benefits will not expire because of the early deposit of March benefits. SNAP benefits do not have to be used by a specific date and are good for up to a year after the deposit date.

A pair of lawmakers have proposed a bill that would ban gay marriage in Tennessee.
WTVF in Nashville reports the bill states it would “defend natural marriage between one man and one woman, regardless of any court decision to the contrary.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2015.
The sponsors are Representative Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) and Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon).
They have introduced similar bills in 2016 and 2018 that didn’t get anywhere.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he will repeal the state’s “gym tax” in his upcoming budget proposal.
The state imposes a nearly 10 percent amusement tax on memberships to gyms, fitness centers and health clubs. It’s been on the books since the mid-1980s and represents about $10 million in state revenue.
However, Lee says the tax discourages Tennesseans from developing healthy habits.
The Tennessee Department of Health says the state ranks 40th in the nation for physical activity and 35th for adult obesity. TDH estimates show illnesses related to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease cost the state more than $5.3 billion a year both directly and indirectly.