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McMurray Resigns School Board Seat

Lisa Watson McCarty
Publisher

Folks in District 2 will soon have a new person representing them on the Scott County School Board.

Second District School Board Member Glenn McMurray announced his resignation at the end of last Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the school board.

McMurray explained to the board he planned to be a candidate this fall for another office. He is throwing his hat into the ring become the next Scott County Sheriff.

McMurray is in the final year of his second term and decided it was best to resign rather than run for a new office while serving as a non-partisan school board member.

“I will be a candidate for office this year but not as a School Board Member,” McMurray wrote in his resignation letter. “I want to thank all the employees for the dedication they have for our School System. It was a great honor to be a small part of this for the last seven-plus years.”

He added that during his tenure on the board they had made the right decisions at the right time. McMurray said he had garnered lots of experience while on the board which he would take with him.

Members of the board reluctantly voted to accept his resignation with several openly showing their emotions at the prospect of his departure.

McMurray’s fellow board members will now choose a replacement to complete his term. The board has 45 days to choose a successor. If McMurray had resigned during a non-election year, a special election would have been held in November to fill the vacated seat.

If the school board doesn’t select a new board member during the allotted time, then the decision is handled by the Scott County Circuit Court.

In other business, leaders of the Scott County Salary, Fringe Benefits and School Calendar Committee made a presentation on salary scales and the calendar for the 2007-08 school year.

The school board approved the calendar with a few modifications but took no action on the salary/fringe benefits proposal. Sue Arnold, secretary of the committee and a teacher at Duffield Primary School, asked the board to consider adding an additional amount to the 25th step of the salary scale to make it on par with other step increases.

The proposal requests an additional $375 at the 25th step. They also asked for a 5 percent salary increase, wanted step increases funded for the new school year and asked for continued funding of the incentive for classified and non-classified employees during their 30th year of employment.

School board members chose an alternative to the committee’s proposal for insurance premiums for 2007-08. The committee asked the board to maintain insurance rates at the current levels but the board voted otherwise after Scott County Division Superintendent Jim Scott explained the system had no choice.

Due to some high claims, Scott said, the school insurance plan, which is self-funded, needed to be adjusted. The board approved a $10 monthly increase for insurance premiums for all employees except for family insurance plans which will be increased $20 per month.

Dental insurance plans will be increased $1 per month on all plans.

The school system will pay an additional $20 per month on all health insurance plans and a $1 for dental insurance plans for their portion of the coverage. The new health insurance plan also includes some increases for Tier 3 drugs.

District 6 School Board Member David Kindle suggested the board change the date students return to the classroom after winter break rather than a Friday as requested by the committee. In the proposal, the first semester of 87 days ends Dec. 20 while the second semester would begin with a teachers’ workday on Jan. 3, 2008. Schools would open for the second semester Jan. 4.

The board voted to change the teacher workday to Jan. 2 and begin the second semester Jan. 3. The 2007-08 school year begins Aug. 15 for students with teacher workdays slated for Aug. 10, 13 and 14.

The board also approved meal prices for 2007-08 that will be at the same levels as the current year.

New personnel hired included Tim Benton as a school bus driver and Delonda Spivey as the Gate City Middle School Assistant Junior Varsity Tennis Coach. After some discussion, Spivey was hired as a volunteer only.

They accepted the retirement of Charlotte Hays, Gate City Middle School teacher and resignations from Rye Cove boys basketball coach Reagan Mullins and assistant coach Matthew Bays.

Scott reported the school system will be adding two additional classrooms at Yuma Elementary School in order to meet federal K-3 student/teacher guidelines. The estimated cost is $250,000 for the addition which will be built at the end of the current building.

He stated school maintenance crew would be building a field house at Rye Cove High School this summer, which he hopes will be completed by football season. The new Twin Springs gym project is going out to bid in April with work slated to start in the summer. The roof replacement project at Duffield is also expected to begin in April.

“I am proud of the way we are keeping our buildings up,” Scott explained. “If we keep growing, then we’ll plan for that as it happens.”

The Scott County School Board meets Tuesday, March 27 at 6 p.m. in the school board conference room. The board is expected to approve its 2007-08 budget at that time. All meetings are open to the public.

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