Search continues for new Director of Schools

The Board of Education met on Friday, April 29, 2022, at the Middle School Auditorium. All members were present and they were met with an auditorium full of citizens and teachers, waiting to hear from the final four candidates.

Shortly after last month’s meeting minutes were approved, the meeting started off with a bang.

School Board member for District Seven Johnny Clayton began by saying he believed the board had unintentionally violated the Sunshine Law which states no governing board may hold a meeting in secret in which they take a vote or secret ballot.

This means that if a meeting is not properly advertised to the public, then a secret meeting is taking place.

Although the board met individually with each candidate, and did not officially call a board meeting, Clayton believed there had been a violation of the law due to the board telling Mr. Qualls, in private, who their top four were as he believed it to be a secret ballot. Because they were in violation of the law, in his opinion, the decision to select the final four was null and void.

Mr. Qualls stated that they were not in violation of the law because giving him their top four was a “recommendation” and not a vote.

After some debate, Clayton put forward a motion to interview all candidates publicly. Clayton’s motion passed in a unanimous vote and the interviewing process will have taken place on Tuesday night before print of this publication. The candidates being interviewed are Larry Helton, Allen Trull, and Brandi Feichtinger.

The interviews took place shortly after with Tara Tiller, Cheatham County, being the first applicant to be interviewed. She impressed the crowd with her experience and plans for Lewis County Schools by focusing on programs that could be implemented in the future to benefit both teachers and children. She has since dropped out.

The second applicant to be interviewed was Courtney Woods, Giles County, who focused on improving attendance and building up communication with parents, and having a positive impact.

The third to be interviewed was Tracy McAbee, Carter County, who also impressed the crowd. He focused on building a relationship with TCAT Hohenwald to give graduating high school students their diploma and maybe even an Associates degree from TCAT at the same time.

The fourth candidate was Justin Barden, Dickson, who focused on improving communication and being transparent with families and the community. He also focused on improving safety for the kids.

This is only a brief synopsis and a full, detailed report of each candidate’s answers to their interview questions will be given in the following week.