School Board Meets Feb 13 2023
For our
new quorum of the Board and 3 months on the job interim School
Superintendent, all eyes are on em in Feb.
During recent Board meetings it's been very clear, cut backs are coming, heads will roll, and the budget must be balanced. Why all of this and all of a sudden? The monkey is being applied to the just ousted from office, the ole what's his name, Superintendent. From the outside lookin in, sounds like a cover up and miss application of funds was being used by the last Super... or at least that's what the State School Board reported to the public. Real concerns were made public during the State meeting in Charleston back in Jan '23.
On Feb 7th, TV-8 ran a story which included the first mention of closing 2 rural grade schools, H E White and Lizemore. Two and done this year! (see our Feb 8 article) That new info came from Superintendent Joan Haynie. It was shocking. Social media blew up. Parents got their shorts all bunched up. Away from the public, we think the School Board had a talk with Haynie.
Reason?
Two schools? It was all new to the Board ... three of the Boardsters have strong ties (voting base) with that portion of Clayberry..... and, there's a Sch Bd election in 2024.
As for closing H E White, it became official during the Jan 23rd Board meeting when Boardster Brooke Jones asked about it and Super Haynie responded: We're trying to get a waiver to close it this year due to special circumstances...We will have to make personnel cuts for the first time.. We can't afford to keep all the schools open....
OK, go take your blood pressure pills. Here comes the main event.
We're ready for the Feb 13th Board meeting held at the Pentagon. For this gathering, Boardster Brooke Jones was absent from duty. As for the peanut gallery, it was packed with parents and high school kids from the We The People class.
The agenda included a discussion item which stated, the waiver process for closing both grade schools, that request had been withdrawn. Gulp! Something is really going on behind the scenes!
The usual blah blah of approving the agenda followed by passage of the last meeting minutes, was interesting.
Board Chair Phobe Nichols challenged what had been written in the official meeting minutes. Her concern (ire) was raised over the wording that both schools would be closed. Ms Nichols said that was not discussed and that she had gone back and replayed the audio from the previous meeting to back up her statement. She said there was NO mention of closing Lizemore school. Without debate or comment, Lizemore closure was taken out of the minutes.
During recent Board meetings it's been very clear, cut backs are coming, heads will roll, and the budget must be balanced. Why all of this and all of a sudden? The monkey is being applied to the just ousted from office, the ole what's his name, Superintendent. From the outside lookin in, sounds like a cover up and miss application of funds was being used by the last Super... or at least that's what the State School Board reported to the public. Real concerns were made public during the State meeting in Charleston back in Jan '23.
On Feb 7th, TV-8 ran a story which included the first mention of closing 2 rural grade schools, H E White and Lizemore. Two and done this year! (see our Feb 8 article) That new info came from Superintendent Joan Haynie. It was shocking. Social media blew up. Parents got their shorts all bunched up. Away from the public, we think the School Board had a talk with Haynie.
Reason?
Two schools? It was all new to the Board ... three of the Boardsters have strong ties (voting base) with that portion of Clayberry..... and, there's a Sch Bd election in 2024.
As for closing H E White, it became official during the Jan 23rd Board meeting when Boardster Brooke Jones asked about it and Super Haynie responded: We're trying to get a waiver to close it this year due to special circumstances...We will have to make personnel cuts for the first time.. We can't afford to keep all the schools open....
OK, go take your blood pressure pills. Here comes the main event.
We're ready for the Feb 13th Board meeting held at the Pentagon. For this gathering, Boardster Brooke Jones was absent from duty. As for the peanut gallery, it was packed with parents and high school kids from the We The People class.
The agenda included a discussion item which stated, the waiver process for closing both grade schools, that request had been withdrawn. Gulp! Something is really going on behind the scenes!
The usual blah blah of approving the agenda followed by passage of the last meeting minutes, was interesting.
Board Chair Phobe Nichols challenged what had been written in the official meeting minutes. Her concern (ire) was raised over the wording that both schools would be closed. Ms Nichols said that was not discussed and that she had gone back and replayed the audio from the previous meeting to back up her statement. She said there was NO mention of closing Lizemore school. Without debate or comment, Lizemore closure was taken out of the minutes.
CCHS Teacher Phil Dobbins
One of the
few bright spots at Clay High has been Phil Dobbin's AP "We
The People" Class which has won State Competition 9 years in a
row. Dobbins and many of his students were on hand to seek
funding so they can compete in the National Competition April
21 thru 25 in Washington DC. According to Dobbins, the class
has been successfully raising $$$ on every corner but they
still need a bunch more.
No decision by the Board but it felt like, consensus, someway, somehow, the money will come together.
No decision by the Board but it felt like, consensus, someway, somehow, the money will come together.
Boardster Dave Pierson congratulating We The People Champs
Item 13
was to approve paying bookkeeper Mike Taylor an additional
$5397 for a salary error. The Chair made it clear, stuff will
be put in place so this doesn't happen again.... so this
doesn't happen again....
Readers, we think there's more on those extra salary deals but away from the public. After scrutiny by the Gold Dome Suits, we think some crapola was identified that they didn't like. Maybe there were a lot of extra duty contracts doled out minus Board approval. Maybe those extra pats on the back were found in weird places on the books. The State's don't like that.
Put a pin in it folks, we think those unapproved extra duty contracts will be back before the Board later this year.
Readers, we think there's more on those extra salary deals but away from the public. After scrutiny by the Gold Dome Suits, we think some crapola was identified that they didn't like. Maybe there were a lot of extra duty contracts doled out minus Board approval. Maybe those extra pats on the back were found in weird places on the books. The State's don't like that.
Put a pin in it folks, we think those unapproved extra duty contracts will be back before the Board later this year.
Boardster Brooke Jones was absent from this meeting
As
mentioned above, closing both grade schools this year is off
the table. Way down at the bottom of the agenda was that note.
From an emotional Joan Haynie: I don't want to close any school... there are benefits to county schools... [we] must have a balanced budget... to find a solution for best results of students and county.
A lady in the back wanted to get her thoughts on the record. Chair Nichols stopped that right a way and told her: Nope, you have to get on the agenda.. please get on the agenda and come back. Sort of muttering, from the lady in the back, "No one answers the phone."
Here's the way it works readers. In spite of what the previous Sch Bd Prez pressed, anybody can be heard during ANY public meeting if they call ahead or show up 10 minutes before start time and ask to be placed on the agenda.
Placed on an agenda 10 minutes ahead of time guarantees your spot to make a comment BUT there can be no decision on that matter.
If you call ahead of time to be on the agenda and make your request known, Yelp, they can vote on the subject that date.
From an emotional Joan Haynie: I don't want to close any school... there are benefits to county schools... [we] must have a balanced budget... to find a solution for best results of students and county.
A lady in the back wanted to get her thoughts on the record. Chair Nichols stopped that right a way and told her: Nope, you have to get on the agenda.. please get on the agenda and come back. Sort of muttering, from the lady in the back, "No one answers the phone."
Here's the way it works readers. In spite of what the previous Sch Bd Prez pressed, anybody can be heard during ANY public meeting if they call ahead or show up 10 minutes before start time and ask to be placed on the agenda.
Placed on an agenda 10 minutes ahead of time guarantees your spot to make a comment BUT there can be no decision on that matter.
If you call ahead of time to be on the agenda and make your request known, Yelp, they can vote on the subject that date.
The Sch Bd voted to provide our 28 bus drivers with a total of $4897 to purchase a new winter coat, one three season coat, and a long sleeve shirt. All will be monogrammed with "Clay County Schools". If memory serves us correctly, no clothing allowance was awarded last year. In years past, sometime, instead of buying the uniforms, each driver was provided a certain amount of $$$ ($170 or so) and they went out purchased outfits themselves. Of course, one year, when one lad came back with camouflaged clothes, that put an end to that.
Jared Fitzwater led the charge for the new uniforms and having enough bus mechanics (not handymen) available to keep the Big Yeller's safely on the road.
For this 44 minute meeting, finally for us, the hiring of a new School Superintendent.
Instead of the good ole boys sitting around and making the decision, this time around, the local school board agreed to have the State Superintendent Association guide them thru the process. We think that's another first for County Clay. The goal is to have a permanent Superintendent hired by May 1st for shadow training and full responsibility take over in June 2023.
With budget short falls, school (s) closure still on the table, lay offs comin, whomever gets the nod for Sch Superintendent, it's going to be a tough slog.
AW