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129th Year--Edition 18 P.O. Box 577, Owingsville, KY 40360 • Ph.: 606-674-9994 May 01, 2014
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By Cecil Lawson
KyNewsGroup
cecil@kynewskmmp.com
Tight budgets are affect-
ing most school districts
across the state, and while
Bath County's school dis-
trict is reportedly in good
financial condition, ten-
sions over a revised teach-
er and staff stipend sched-
ule boiled over during
Monday evening's regular
April Board of Education
meeting.
A group of teachers,
coaches, and staff attend-
ed the meeting to express
their concerns over early
rumors that their stipends
would cut for the 2014-15
school year.
High School business
teacher Kristal Robin-
son, representing the
Bath County Education
Association, addressed
board members during
the working session prior
to regular meeting. She
noted that teachers donate
a great deal of their time
0 e
to school-related events
and that she is afraid that
the school will lose staff if
stipends are cut.
"We are not here for the
salaries," Robinson said.
"We know other counties
pay more than us."
Board chairperson
Shelly Sanders said that
board members had
looked at recommenda-
tions of a special com-
mittee created by Supt.
Harvey Tackett that were
based on comparisons
with stipends paid to staff
in similar positions in sur-
rounding counties. She
said that they reduced "a
few that are way out of
line" compared with other
school districts.
Supt. Tackett explained
that he had put the com-
mittee, consisting of Di-
rector Assessment Coor-
dinator Teresa Caudill,
District Technology Co-
ordinator Brenda Holder,
Instructional Supervisor
Karen Hammons, and Fi-
nance Director Jo Brewer,
Board member Barbara Razor, Superintendent Harvey
Tackett, Board Chairperson Shelly Sanders, and Board
Member Hurshell Rawlings bore the brunt of staff mem-
bers anger following approval of reductions to a num-
ber of stipends. A special called board meeting to
address this issue again will be held tonight Thursday,
May 1st at 7:30 p.m. at the Board Office Annex.
together three months ago
to come up with some data
regarding district-wide
stipends. He said that the
data had been presented to
board member last month
and that they had chosen
to table it at the time along
with the conmaittee's rec-
ommendations.
Tackett noted that since
April's agenda was pub-
lished on Friday, there
had been '%ts of talk" and
"misinformation" about
stipend recommenda-
Board member Barbara
said, "Any stipends
decided to touch were
out of touch with
cotlnties." She not-
that some were left the
and some were even
Both Robinson and
Elementary
Lorinda
expressed frustra-
that other school staff
not been invited to
participate in the stipend
committee and that details
of the recommendations
were not publically made
know.
This same group of
teachers and staff had ex-
pressed concerns prior to
Monday evening's meet-
ing over the fairness of a
salary increase given by
board members to Supl.
Tackett in February in an
addendum to his contract.
which would increase
his salary incrementally
from $132,1.00 during the
current school year to
$147,117 by the last year
of his contract in the 2015-
16 school year.
Details of the salary in-
crease were not discussed
openly by board members
during the February meet-
ing.
Supt. Tackett and board
members would not dis-
cuss the details of the
changes in the stipend
schedule during the meet-
ing. Tackett said that he
would send the schedule
to the principals the follow-
ing morning, who would
then distribute them to
school staff.
However, "after the
board meeting was ad-
journed, he allowed those
teachers and staff present
to examine the revised sal-
ary schedule.
The salary schedule,
which was emailed out
Monday evening after
Stipend
cont. on pg. lO
o
[ have its t
P
TWO BURGLARIES REPORTED DAILY, DEPUTY SAYS
By Cecil Lawson
KyNewsGroup
cecil@kynewsgroup.com
One individual has been
arrested and another is at
large who are suspected of
being involved in a number
of local burghwies arotmd
the Sharpsburg and Bethel
communities.
Bath County Sheriff's
Dep. John Sutherland said
that SheriffTuffy Snedegar
received a call in the early
morning hours of Sunday,
Photos courtesy of Montgomery Co.
Matthew Sorrell
Burglaries
cont. on pg. 10
This is a mug shot of Chris-
topher Miles, taken earlier this
year on another arrest. He re-
mains at large on theft charges.
Photo by Cecil Lawson
A large crowd of local resi-
dents, former students, con-
tributors, and government
dignitaries were on hand
this past Sunday afternoon
for the official dedication
of the Sharpsburg Commu-
nity Center. Construction on
the center was completed in
January, classes and events
have been held there since
February, and the Bath Coun-
ty Memorial Library opened
a branch library on site two
weeks ago. The center is
a community project that
has been seven years in the
making for the city and was
made possible by partner-
ships at the local, state, and
federal levels. Shown above
taking part in the ribbon cut-
ting ceremony are, from left,
Susan Boyd Thompson, Citi-
zens Bank; SamWright, Citi-
zens Bank; Brenda Vance,
Bath County Memorial Li-
brary; Philip Fetters and Pat
Richardson, Sharpsburg City
Council; John Peck; David
Jones, Sharpsburg City Coun-
cil; Rep. Andy Barr; George
Stone; Thelma June Gulley,
Sharpsburg City Council; Da-
vid Fern, USDA Rural De-
velopment; Mayor Dorothy
Clemons; Sarah Ratliff Ford;
and Teresa Shields, Gateway
Area Development District.
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