Peggy Pesterfield, Cleveland School Board Chairwoman

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Two Cleveland Middle School teachers will be presenting a report next week to the Tennessee School Boards Association meeting on their paperless classroom.

Sandy Farlow, eighth-grade teacher, and Jim David, seventh-grade teacher, gave a preview of their presentation Monday to the Cleveland Board of Education.

This is the second year for Cleveland Middle's classroom without books but with plenty of technology options for students to study, read, write and complete lessons.

"Textbooks come with so much 'stuff' and most teachers don't have the time to dig into all those resources. We have an opportunity to dig into all those CDs, all those videos and all that extra stuff," David said.

"I think a lot of what comes out of this is confidence by the students," Farlow said.

Each student in the class gets a computer and works with the same teacher all day.

"We think their presentation will be beneficial to everyone in Tennessee," said board Chairwoman Peggy Pesterfield.

The TSBA's annual convention is next week in Nashville.

In other business, the school board heard a presentation from Trane Inc. representatives about a performance contract that would begin with an in-depth energy audit. Trane would guarantee energy savings, and the school system could use that savings to support bonds for future capital energy conservation projects. Several Tennessee school systems have performance-based contracts with Trane, said company representative Nancy McBee.

The school board would decide if it wants a complete school district audit, just Cleveland High School or the east wing of Cleveland High with its aging HVAC system.

The school board's Site Committee will continue the discussion Wednesday.

Contact Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfreepress.com or 423-314-1029.