DeKalb West School Announces March Students of the Month

March 12, 2021
By: Bill Conger

DeKalb West School announced the March Students of the Month. Teachers chose students for the honor based on academic achievement, character demonstrated and other qualities that make them an outstanding students.

Students recognized from PreK-2nd graders were the following: Mackenzie Novotny, Cash Hancock, Auna Leigh Starnes, Jacob Blair, Miguel Ramirez. Carson Mullinax, Noah Hall, Holden Leiser, Katie Jo Prichard, and Aniston Cox.

Students recognized from the 3rd-5th grades were Averie Winchester, Emily Roberts, Miley Tays, Kate Pistole, Kawasi Troyer and Jaiden Tramel.

Students recognized from the 6th-8th grades were Emily Young, Danica Collier, Abby Jo Crook, Jesse Foutch, Raegan Murphy, and Ava Cantrell

March 11, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Based on overall high marks given by the Board of Education in a recent performance evaluation, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps has been awarded a one year contract extension and given a $3,000 bonus, the same amount as certified staff have received over the past two years (2019-20 and 2020-21)

View video of the meeting below

DeKalb Board of Education Meeting (3-11-21) from dwayne page on Vimeo.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting, the Board voted 7-0 to grant the extension and bonus. Those voting in favor were Chairman Danny Parkerson, and fellow members Kate Miller, Alan Hayes, Shaun Tubbs, Jim Beshearse, Jamie Cripps, and Jason Miller.

Cripps, who has earned an annual salary of $90,000 will get the extra $3,000 bonus to be paid in equal payments before June 30, 2021. Starting July 1, 2021 the Board shall pay the Director an annual salary of $93,000 and he (Cripps) will be entitled to the same salary raises that the Board shall grant to all licensed employees going forward.

Cripps’ contract was to run through June 30, 2022, but with the one year extension, he will now serve as Director at least through June 30, 2023. Cripps has been Director since July, 2015.

Results of the Board of Education’s annual performance evaluation of Director Cripps show he is meeting “most” expectations of the board.

Cripps’ overall average score is 4.19 out of a possible 6 score.

In accordance with state law, the school board is required to develop and implement an evaluation plan to be used annually for the director of schools. Board members used a four page evaluation form to rate Director Cripps (1-6) in each of 60 areas from eight categories including on his relationship with the Board, the Community, Staff and Personnel, Educational Leadership, Business and Finance, Personal Qualities, Strategic Planning Skills, and Tennessee Specific questions.

A rating of “1” meant his performance was “Consistently Below Expectations”. A “5” rating signified that Cripps “Met All Expectations”. A rating with an asterisk (*) symbol or 6 meant he “Exceeded Expectations”.

Other ratings were:
“2”-Meets Few Expectations
“3”-Meets Some Expectations
“4”-Meets Most Expectations

Each board member scored Cripps in all areas from the categories on the form. The scores were then averaged to arrive at the grand total score. The completed forms were sent to officials of the Tennessee School Boards Association where the scores were tabulated and averaged.

In the overall evaluation report, Cripps scored highest (4.57) in “business and finance”. He scored lowest (3.71) in “strategic planning skills”.

A breakdown of Cripps’ scores in the eight goals evaluation were:

Performance Goal Average
Board Relationships
4.48

Community Relationships
4.10

Staff and Personnel Relationships
4.19

Educational Leadership
4.23

Business and Finance
4.57

Personal Qualities
4.39

Strategic Planning Skills
3.71

Tennessee Specific Questions
3.88

Grand Total
4.19

March 11, 2021
By:

One Middle Tennessean is now a millionaire thanks to a lucky lottery ticket.

A DeKalb County player hit the Tennessee Cash jackpot Wednesday to win $1,178,746. The winning ticket was sold at Village Market, 825 N. Congress Boulevard in Smithville.

Lottery officials said the player hit five out of five numbers plus the Cash Ball to win.

They now become the 15th millionaire created by this game.

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