By Gary Lee Stuber
The Clay County School Board, at the Apr. 16 regular School Board Meeting held at 6 p.m. at the Clay County High School, had lots of personnel changes announced as a direct result of the 2024-2025 budget and the closing of the H.E. White, Lizemore, and Ivydale elementary schools. Next school year only the Clay Elementary and newly refurbished Big Otter Elementary will serve Clay County students grades 1-8.
The board opened the evening’s meeting by conducting a hearing requested by an employee on the Superintendent’s recommendation to terminate the employee’s existing contract and replacing it with a contract for fewer days. The employee requested a closed executive session and the board obliged by retiring to the principal’s office. The attending public mostly sat in place for a little more than an hour before the board returned for the meeting. Their decision was not made public, but many thought that somebody must have had a good argument to tie up the entire board for an hour.
Once the board returned a few minutes after seven, the meeting progressed quickly after that. They voted on a number of Superintendent’s recommendations for school personnel. First up, the board accepted the recommendation that a list of employees, both professional and service related, would be transferred to new positions within the Clay County school system.
On the professional list these include two office personnel: Tina Burnett, director, and Eric Legg, director. Their new positions were not identified at the time. Principals Samantha Holcomb of Lizemore School and Megan Starcher would be transferred. Lizemore teachers Teresa Huffman, Amy Nichols, and Cory Stricker would get transfers. Issac Casto of Clay Elementary, Barry Payton Clay Middle School principal, and Middle School teachers would all be transferred as well.
On the service side, BOE (Board of Education) Aide Edna Belt and central office secretary Denese Elliott would get transfers. Custodians Kathy Foster and Debora Gould, as well as cook Anita Holcomb, from the closed schools, would be transferred, along with aides Linda K. Miller and Cynthia K. Varney.
The next list considered was for termination for lack of need following the end of the school year. Jeffrey Krauklis, director at the central office, and Felisha Nutter, School Psychologist, were the only two not teachers on this list. The rest of this list were teachers: Denise L. Bennet, HEW (H.E. White); Addie Cole, HEW; Kaitlyn Holcomb, BOE; Joshua Huffman, CES (Clay Elementary School); Dawn Mullins, HEW; Elizabeth Rhodes, CES; Kaitlyn Samples, CES; Susanne Stinson, HEW and Pamela Woods, CES. While the board accepted the recommendation for termination, they were all placed on a preferred recall list.
The next list of professionals were probationary employees that would be rehired for the 2024-2025 school year. They include one Board of Education employee, Speech Pathologist Holly Ballard, and one Clay Elementary teacher, Issac Casto; school guidance counselors Sabrina Corwell and Tara Dotson; three middle school teachers including Melissa Samples, Heather Sears, and Allison Vaughn; and five high school teachers including Janie Casto, Elizabeth Hubbard, Christopher Johnson, McKenzie Osborne, and Dwayne Walker.
Service personnel rehires includes: Daniel Baird and Steven Litton, mechanics; custodians Lisa Legg, Tyler Nichols, Jamie Sears and Aaron Sivera; cooks Jennie Brady and Wendy Taylor; maintenance John R. Osborne; bus drivers Nicholas Christian, Joshua McKitrick, Sherman Pritt and Randy Hall; and aides Becky Barss, Edna Belt, Jerri Ferrebee, Dana Fields, Jennifer Jones, Linda K. Miller, Cynthia K. Varney and Dianne Lyons.
The board then voted to not award a contract to a list of employees for the 2024-2025 School Year but place their names on a preferred recall list. The professionals on this list include: School Psychologist Sidney Mollohan, and the remainder of the list were teachers: Christina Belt, Nellie Elliott, Stephani Gauding, Sebrina Grose, Julie Gunter, Hannah, Kacie Minger, Jamie Paxton, Myesscha Schoonover, Jessica Stone, Julia Triplett, and Richard Triplett.
Service personnel on this list include: custodians Joseph Fitzwater and Ethan Hacker; secretary Misty Winebrenner; cooks Pamela Haynes and Janice Moore; and aides Jeanie Bartsch, Sandra Potasnik, Michelle Ramsey, and Amber Wilmoth.
The board voted to modify contracts of a short list of employees by terminating their present contract and replacing it with contracts with shorter annual terms. Many of these were personnel whose position had changed. These include teachers Morgan Hacker and Kelsey McFarland; directors Jeffrey Krauklis and Eric Legg; CTE director Robert Morris; principals Samantha Holcomb, Michelle Paxton and Megan Starcher; and assistant principals Angela Nichols and Barry Paxton.
Following her monthly financial report, Jennifer Paxton was voted by the board to continue as the Treasurer for the Clay County School Board for fiscal year 2025. As far as new hires, the board accepted (pending successful drug testing, background checks, testing or training where appropriate) hired the following: Heather Sears for 6-8 Science Teacher at Clay Middle School; Barry Paxton as Project AWARE coordinator, a contract paid by Project Aware; Rebecca Burdette as Custodian I, evening shift at Clay Elementary; school custodians Jesse Runion, Sammy Reed, Ethan Hacker and Kenneth Smith; two cooks for the Appalachian Service Project Summer Program at Clay Middle School, paid by ASP Janice Moore and Dorothy Childers; Jacey Collins as substitute teacher; Margie Taylor and Karen Morris as substitute custodians; and the board approved the Volunteer Commitment Agreement for two Big Otter volunteers: Laura Duffield and Stephanie J. Adkins.
The board hired Patrick Shepherd as an enrichment teacher for the Elementary Summer Learning program halfdays Monday through Thursday, June 7 to July 25. And for the Secondary Career and Technical Education Camp, hired Dwayne Walker, welding; Patrick Shepherd, Entomology/Science, and Shyanne Lane for the halfday schedule also Monday through Thursday, July 17 to 25. And for the Summer KinderBoost Prep Days, June 25 and 25, and Taste of Kindergarten Day on June 26, hired aides Desi Facemire, Loretta Triplett, and C. Karen Varney.
The boards last act of the night before adjourning was to approve the Professional and the Service Personnel salary schedules for the 2024-2025 school year. The next regular school board meeting will be held the first Tuesday in May on May 7, at 6 p.m. at the Clay County High School.