By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
The Carter County Board of Education is seeking another school board member to fill the vacant seat in District 5.
The seat was vacated by long-time board member Kirk Wilburn late last year, when he accepted an appointment to a vacant seat on the Olive Hill city council. The board moved to fill the seat in their December meeting, appointing Deborah Brown to complete the unexpired term. However after initially accepting, Brown has now withdrawn herself from the role as well. Board chair Lisa Ramey-Easterling said Brown told the board she decided now was not the best time for her to serve in that capacity, so they were accepting her resignation and re-advertising the position.
The board also moved to organize the board for the year, moving to reappoint Ramey-Easterling as board chair and Rachel Fankell as vice-chair.
The board, meeting remotely due to inclement weather, also heard an update from new director of districtwide programs, Dr. Jennifer Carroll.
Carroll was brief in her remarks, noting that she had “hit the ground running” with non-traditional instruction (NTI) in her first week with the district due to the inclement weather.
Superintendent of schools, Dr. Paul Green, also discussed the impact of recent snows on the district, discussing school cancellation, NTI days, and the possibility of further cancellations.
“So far, I’ve felt like we’ve made the right calls,” Green said of the cancellations.
Green also discussed the recognition of school staff that he had initially planned for the meeting, noting he would be postponing those recognitions until a future date when more staff could be present.
The board also skipped communication items for students, school staff, and citizens due to the remote meetings circumstances.
In other action, action items by consent were approved as a block. These included receipt of personnel action reports, consolidated school improvement plans, approval of board member travel to the KSBA annual conference, use of district property requests, and the 2023 school needs assessment – among other items.
They also approved financial documents and the 2022 board of education meeting schedule.
Following an executive session to discuss personnel issues, with no action taken, the board moved to adjourn.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
