Interim School Board Director Named
By Mark Darnell
At the regular monthly Macon County School Board meeting held on Tuesday June 28th, an interim Director was named. MCHS Principal Daniel Cook was selected to fill this position.
After Chairman Hix called the meeting to order Mr. Borders led a prayer and Mr. Case led the pledge of allegiance.
A motion was made by Case and seconded by Marsh to approve the board agenda as presented. Motion passed.
A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Case to approve the consent agenda. They approved the minutes of the previous meeting, approved four leave requests, and there were no trip requests. Motion passed.
There were no appearance requests but Director Boles brought up the county’s chronic absenteeism. Boles stated that last year the county had a rate of 15% that had been reduced to 8% for this school year. He wanted to recognize everyone in the school district who had contributed to this accomplishment.
At this point Chairman Hix presented Director Boles with a plaque honoring his service as Director of Schools. Everyone in attendance echoed this well deserved recognition.
In old business:
A motion was made by Case and seconded by Borders to approve to revise Policy 6.3001 code of behavior and discipline (Pre-K, Fairlane, Central, LES, RBS, and Westside) 2nd reading. As brought up in previous meetings, this was to make the policy consistent, as there were multiple punishments for seemingly the same offense within the policy. Motion passed.
A motion was made by Case and seconded by Borders to approve to revise Policy 6.316 suspension. Policy was changed to add making a phone call to parents. Motion passed.
In new business:
A motion was made by Marsh and seconded by Case to approve the procedural movement of monies within the SY 21-22 budget. Approximately $208,000 was moved from surplus accounts to accounts with expenditures; no new money was added or taken away. Motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.
A motion was made by Borders and seconded by Case to approve the school nutrition line item budget for SY 21-22. Again approximately $144,551 was moved from surplus accounts to make the budget balance. Motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.
A motion was made by Case and seconded by Borders to approve five fundraisers requested by the MCHS softball program. Motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.
Then Director Boles brought up the situation with athletic trainers. For the past three years the Board had a working agreement with Macon Community Hospital (MCH) to furnish athletic trainers at both high schools in the county. Currently neither of those positions are filled and there was some discussion that other programs in our area are short on certified trainers too. MCH CEO Thomas Kidd was on hand and stated that they had interviewed multiple people for the positions but no one would accept their offers, which he stated were very competitive. Mr. Kidd further pledged that the local hospital would do anything they could to help the school system, but they were unable to fill these positions, getting ready for the new school year.
Members of the Board discussed options and expressed hope that they would be able to fill these two important positions for student athletes in the school system.
A motion was made by Case and seconded by Borders to go into executive session to discuss the new director of schools position. Motion passed.
An executive session of a board is when a board discusses sensitive matters which are privy to only the members, the Director, and their attorney. No matters may be voted on in any executive session according to the rules of order. Typically these sessions are to discuss legal matters, disciplinary matters, or personnel matters.
Following a break the meeting was reconvened and Borders made a motion to go back into regular session for the meeting which was seconded by Case and passed. No further discussion was made about the new director position.
Then a motion was made by Marsh to appoint Director Boles, whose contract is expiring June 30th, to the position of interim Director. Boles then informed the Board that he would not accept the position, if offered, due to the fact that he wanted to concentrate on issues that his new position would demand.
A motion was then made by Case and seconded by Borders to offer the position to Daniel Cook, current MCHS principal. Mr. Cook then addressed the Board and said he absolutely did not want this position at this time, but for the good of the school system he would fill the vacancy on a temporary basis.
The rules in appointing a temporary director, when a general election is occurring, state that the interim position can only be filled up to 60 days following that general election. In addition the Macon County School Board has a policy already in place that discourages appointing an interim to the permanent position, out of fairness to candidates applying for that position. Therefore none of the candidates that interviewed for the position in April would be appointed into that interim position.
The motion passed on a 5-0 roll call vote.
The next monthly work session for the Board was set on July 7th at 6 pm at the Central Office.
A motion was made by Borders and seconded by Case to adjourn. Motion passed.
