School Officials Hire Teachers, Coaches
Lisa Watson McCarty
Publisher
Current Gate City Middle School Principal John Ferguson has been moved to the central office in fill a vacancy left by Mike Brickey and other retirees. He will serve as the central officer supervisor, effective for the 2009-10 school year.
Jason Smith will move to Gate City Middle School as principal in the fall. He currently is principal at Weber City Elementary School and will be replaced by Kellie Johnson, who currently serves as the school's assistant principal.
Cindy Dorton becomes the principal at Duffield Primary School Principal, following the retirement of long-time principal Otis Bowen. Dorton is the current assistant principal.
Shoemaker Assistant Principal Travis Nickels is also moving to the central office as a central office supervisor, effective for 2009-10 school year.
Tracy Garrett and Jordan Mullins were hired as co-assistant principals at Twin Springs High School. Other assistant principals announced for the 2009-10 school year include: Duffield - Jeff Casteel, Gate City Middle - Scotty Vermillion, Gate City High - Brent Roberts, Hilton - Tracy Stallard, Nickelsville - Linda Burke, Rye Cove High - Jamie Carter, Rye Cove Intermediate - Chris Stapleton, Shoemaker - Mollie Leighton/Stephanie Potter and Weber City - Amber Smith.
The board spent nearly an hour in closed session to discuss personnel matters and returned with nearly a full slate of coaching assignments for the fall.
Adam Keith will serve as athletic director at Gate City High/Middle School in 2009-10. His counterparts at Rye Cove and Twin Springs are Jamie Carter and Jordan Mullins, respectively.
The board also voted to change the computer technicians' contracts to 12 month employment and increased Darren Reed to an 11-month contract.
New teachers hired were Lindsey Musick, Shannon Stewart, Ashley Hood, Jacob Horton, Adam Meadows, Cara Hamilton and Elizabeth 'Betsy' Humphreys. All begin work in the 2009-10 school year.
The board granted leaves of absence to Pamela K. Burke, Gate City Middle School teacher and Jessica (Seaton) Gillenwater, Gate City High School teacher.
Two other employees were approved under the early retirement incentive plan. They include Susan S. Greene, Central Office Supervisor and Zandra Long, elementary school teacher.
Two teachers, Bethany Clabaugh and Joanna Edens, tendered their resignations, effective at the end of April 2009.
After a presentation by Special Education Supervisor Brenda Robinette, the board approved an application for the VI-B grant in the amount of $825,136 and other related special education grants. They also agreed to allow Scott to sign pending grant applications related to federal stimulus monies.
The school plans to offer an economics course beginning in the fall that deals with personal finances. The state will require a personal finance class as part of its graduation requirements with the upcoming class of eighth graders.
The board voted to start the class this fall for eighth graders and will hire two persons to teach the class. Scott County Superintendent Jim Scott said if the board wanted to put the course off for another way, the class would have to taught in ninth grade, which would take away another elective for freshmen.
They also approved some changes to the policy council that adds imposes penalties for students caught with cell phones or pagers and approved a travel request for Gate City band students in June to Washington, D.C.
The Scott County School Board meets the first Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
To see the complete listing of coaches hired for the 2009-10 school year, pick up a copy of the May 13, 2009 edition of the Scott County Virginia Star.