School Board sets Academy staffing

By: Greg Bird

In a special called meeting of the McCreary County Board of Education a new Board member took her oath of office and may have set the tone for a new direction Thursday evening.

New member Rhonda Armijo and Brandon Kidd, who won re-election in November were given their oath of office by McCreary County Attorney Conley Chaney before the meeting began.

Nelda Gilreath, who had served as Board Chair, opened the meeting by announcing she was stepping away from the position.

“I appreciate you letting me be the Board Chair for the past two years,” she said. “I think it is time to give it up.”

With that statement she nominated Brandon Kidd as the new Chair, which passed

unanimously. Debbie Gibson was nominated and elected to the Vice Chair position as well with a 4-0 vote. (Board member Roxanne Shook was unable to attend the special called meeting.)

The Board conducted other housekeeping items, such as establishing the voting order and seating arrangements. Superintendent Donnie Wright, who typically is seated at the center of the table, was delegated to the end – farthest away from the Board Chair. The Board also appointed Melanie Thompson as Board Secretary, another position traditionally held by Wright.

The Board tabled discussion on setting the regular meeting date and time to allow time to confer with Board Attorney Jeff Hoover as what would be the best time for him to attend.

The only item on the agenda was to set the staffing allocation for the McCreary Academy. Last November the Board voted to move the Academy from the high school back to its original location at the McCreary County Middle School.

Superintendent Wright opened the discussion by quoting a Kentucky Revised Statute regarding a school board knowingly voting to spend more than its revenues.

Wright stated he just wanted the Board to be aware so they didn’t act without knowing what the actual expenditures versus what the expected revenues would be.

Kidd questioned why the district’s Finance Officer wasn’t in attendance, to which Wright stated the meeting was called only the afternoon before and she wasn’t able to attend.

The Board wished to eliminate the 22/1 staffing ratio for the academy to remove the restriction on how many teachers could be utilized in the Academy with lower attendance.

Additionally, the Board was to vote on the staffing allocation, calling for four high school teachers, one middle school level teacher, one secretary, one special education teacher, one guidance counselor and one instructional assistant.

Gibson noted her belief that the Academy already had been budgeted for three teachers, while there are only two on staff. The salary allocated for the non-filled position could be split, since it would only be for one semester, to fill the remaining two high school positions.

Academy Principal Mike Cash additionally stated the instructional assistant and guidance counselor positions would be paid from other sources, such as drug court, so the only positions needed to be allocated would be the middle school and special education slots.

Wright cautioned the Board from moving ahead with the move, advising them to get an idea on how much money the district had to spend before committing the funding, and asking them to allow him to check with the Kentucky Department of Education.

“Any time the superintendent needs to create a new position, the money miraculously comes,” Kidd said to oppose the request and making the motion to accept the allocation.

“In this school the students have the most trouble, and get the least help,” Armijo stated before voting. “I think the money should be found and they should get the help they need.”

The measure passed 4-0.

The next regular scheduled meeting of the McCreary County Board of Education will be on Tuesday, January 20 at 6:00 p.m.