Janet Meadows of Gainesboro was chosen to lead the Overton County Schools until a new director can be found.

Before Meadows was chosen, the board met for nearly two hours last Friday night, first focusing on the budget. Board members discussed every possible section of the document, from school buses to the food served at lunch.

With declining enrollment and cuts to the state budget, the board has less money coming in but still has the same number of needs to meet.

After the budget talks, it was time to work on finding an interim director to lead the school system. Board members produced the names and resumes of three candidates, all of whom had expressed interest in the job. Board member Mike Hayes produced a list of qualified individuals, but said he hadn’t spoken to any of them about the job.

The board verbally decided in the work session to offer the interim director an “open ended” contract, which would last until a new director is chosen. Chairman Randy Dodson said he didn’t know how long that would take, but hoped to have the new director in place before school starts in about six weeks.

Board member Dolphus Dial, citing the job posting currently in state newspapers and online, said a new director could be found in as little as three weeks.

“The posting is over on July 3,” he said.

Board member Leslie Norrod cautioned it could take much longer.

“You pointed out at the last meeting the ‘season of directors’ is past,” she said. “We don’t know how long we’ll need an interim.”

At the meeting on Monday, June 17, several members, including Dial, pointed out the best time to look for a new director was in the spring, and finding a new director during the summer months wasn’t a sure thing.

Both Norrod and Dial mentioned they weren’t entirely comfortable with voting on an interim Friday night, because all board members hadn’t gotten to meet all the candidates.

Board member Ray Smith said he didn’t believe waiting was a good idea because choosing now would give the interim a week to get ready to start the job on July 1.

Board members also agreed to offer the candidate the state minimum salary, based on experience and education.

The board didn’t come to a consensus on who to hire during the work session, but debated a few different points of each candidate. Norrod said she believed Meadows was “more enthusiastic” than another candidate.

Ultimately, the board took a 10-minute break before officially entering its called meeting session.

Norrod made a motion to hire Meadows, which was seconded by Kelly Hall. Dial made a similar motion for another candidate, Alan West, which was seconded by Mike Gilpatrick. The vote on Meadows passed 7-2, with Norrod, Hill, Smith, Hayes, Diann Poston, Houston Robbins, and Dodson voting in favor. Gilpatrick and Dial did not vote for Meadows, and Lenard Ledbetter wasn’t present at the meeting.

After that, the vote on West wasn’t necessary.

According to her resume, Meadows has never before been a director of schools. She has served as a teacher and attendance supervisor in Jackson County schools and with Tennessee Preparatory School, and as a student teacher coordinator at Tennessee Tech University. She has also served as a resource coordinator for therapeutic foster children.

Following the vote on Meadows, the board unanimously approved the budget.

Meadows’ selection follows a tumultuous few weeks at the board office. On June 11, the board hired an Illinois man to be the new director of schools. Four days later, following a long and at times aggressive contract work session, he backed out. That left the board scrambling to find a director for the schools before July 1.

Meadows was set to begin on that date.

———————————

A federal lawsuit filed against the Overton County Election Commission in 2009 has been resolved.

According to a press release brought to the Enterprise office by Overton County Executive Ron Cyrus, the suit has been dismissed in the Chancery and Circuit Courts. The case was “voluntarily dismissed pursuant to Rule 41 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.”

In June 2009, former election administrator Tommy Simcox filed a suit against the election commission and its new administrator Craig Story, who had replaced Simcox that spring.

As reported in the Enterprise in 2009 and 2012, Simcox alleged he had lost his position due to his perceived Democratic affiliation. He also claimed that the reappointment violated the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.

The administrator reappointment came after the state legislature’s power went to the Republican Party, which became the majority in both the House and Senate. State law dictated election commissioners to mirror the political party majority, with the Overton County Election Commission losing a Democrat seat and gaining a Republican one. Reportedly several Democratic-affiliated election commission administrators expressed fear in possibly losing their jobs after the change in power.

Simcox was one of several former administrators to file a lawsuit against county election commissions in nearby counties for similar reasons.

The release from the county’s attorneys is brief and doesn’t include many details.

Cyrus said the attorneys told him to let the release stand on its own and that additional comments weren’t necessary.

The case went on for four years, but Cyrus said it would be difficult to tell how much the case cost the county in legal fees. Cyrus said the fees for the Simcox case were rolled in with other cases, so separate figures only pertaining to that case aren’t available.

He did say average legal fees for Overton County range from $12,000 to $40,000 per year, depending on the number of cases pending.