Retirement Reception Held in Honor of School Maintenance Supervisor Earl Jared (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

May 25, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

After 26 years of service to the DeKalb County School District as Maintenance Supervisor, Earl Jared has retired.

A retirement reception luncheon was held Friday at the DCHS cafeteria where Jared was surrounded by family, friends, and co-workers.

Since the early 1990’s, the board of education and school administrators have counted on Jared’s experience and expertise in ensuring that all school owned buildings were up and running smoothly when it came to heating and cooling, lighting, refrigeration, etc.

“The main thing I tried to do was put the children first and do everything I could to make them safe and in a comfortable environment. My job was to keep the buildings and kitchens going with air, lights, heat, and to make sure the roofs didn’t leak. I also had the responsibility of making sure we got our money’s worth out of construction projects.  I’ve always had good employees and we tried to do our best for the system and the children,” said Jared.

A native of White County, Jared has called DeKalb County his home for more than 30 years. Before taking on the role of maintenance supervisor here, Jared worked for the Williamson County School District.

“I worked five years there in the maintenance department. I started out as an electrician and then worked in HVAC. During that time this job (maintenance supervisor) came open here (DeKalb County) but I decided I didn’t have enough refrigeration (experience) so I got a job in Rutherford County and worked there nine months where I did work in refrigeration so when the job here (DeKalb County) came back open again I applied for it. The Superintendent of Schools at that time Aubrey Turner, Jr. and the School Board Chairman Waniford Cantrell interviewed and hired me,” said Jared.

Jared has worked for five Superintendents/Directors of Schools and the Board of Education on which the members having served has changed a lot over the years.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, who had once served as Assistant Principal and later as Principal at DCHS, said he has known and worked with Jared his entire career as an administrator and will miss him.

“He is more than an employee to me and these last two days of school have been emotional for me and him because we worked closely on different levels as assistant principal, principal, and director. We have been through a lot together. The one thing I always knew is that when I asked Earl to start a project it would be done right and with the utmost professionalism but first and foremost with the safety of the kids in mind. The county will never realize how much money Earl has saved by the work that he has done himself. There are many projects that could have been bid out but Earl took on a ton of those himself with his workers and they got the job done. And when I went into a meeting with a vendor, especially with me being a young director,  I knew when I was taking Earl with me I’d be okay. He knew the business. He always wanted it done right and properly. Nobody was ever going to take advantage of Earl. But it’s more than money. It’s relationships you build and he is a good friend.  We’re going to miss him as a friend and employee. I appreciate all he has done for us” said Director Cripps.

“He was the best I ever saw at keeping  outside vendors and contractors in check. He didn’t pull any punches. If they were doing something outside the realm of what we needed he called their hand on it. He had the authority to do it and we didn’t question him. We depended on him and he was there all the time. He has always been a great friend,” added Board of Education Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.

Jared said while he will miss seeing his friends and co-workers everyday in the school system, he won’t miss the long hours.

“I’ll miss the people. I won’t miss being on call 24/7 for 365 days a year,” said Jared

“He probably won’t miss the 2 o’clock in the morning calls when alarms go off and I have to tell him there’s a freezer down can you come out and help me,” added Director Cripps.

As for future plans in retirement, Jared said he’ll find something to do.

“I’ll be able to do whatever I want when I want. I have a few projects I want to do including working on my house but I may also do a little traveling and fishing and I’ll be spending time with my grandkids all I can. I love my two children and my two grandbabies,” said Jared.

May 24, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

23 year old Jessica Ashley May has again been denied parole but she might have only nine more months behind bars anyway.

May is serving an eight year sentence for attempted aggravated child neglect stemming from the 2015 death of her 23 month old son.

After her most recent parole hearing on May 7, members of the Tennessee Board of Parole voted and concurred that May should be declined parole for the balance of her sentence due to the seriousness of the offense. According to the Tennessee Department of Correction website, May’s sentence is scheduled to end in February, 2020.

She is incarcerated at the Carroll County Jail as a state prisoner.

May stood before Judge Gary McKenzie in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 and entered a plea to attempted aggravated child neglect, a Class B felony, and received an eight year sentence as a range I mitigated offender to serve at least 20% before parole eligibility. At the time May had already served 568 days since her arrest on May 19, 2015.

Less than a week before May’s plea, her fiance’ at the time, Cody Key, now age 27, was handed a 45 year prison term for the beating death of May’s child, 23 month old Colten Alexander May after entering a plea in Putnam County Criminal Court to second degree murder. Key is to serve 100% of the sentence but he was given jail credit of 563 days for time served from May 19, 2015 to December 1, 2016.

Key is incarcerated at the South Central Correctional Center in Wayne County, a Tennessee Department of Correction facility. His prison term is to expire in 2059

The couple brought the child to the emergency room of Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital on Sunday morning, May 17, 2015 but he was already dead. It was determined that the child had suffered internal and other physical injuries that resulted in his death. Law enforcement officers concluded that Key had severely beaten the child and that May knew the abuse was taking place but did nothing to stop it.

May, who was pregnant again at the time of her arrest in 2015, was later transferred to the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction due to her special needs. After giving birth, she was initially incarcerated in the Warren County Jail. Her child was placed in the custody of the Department of Children Services at the time and is reportedly now with May’s family members.

May 24, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County’s state lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly stopped by WJLE Thursday to discuss major issues addressed by the Legislature this year.

In a three part video segment, Senator Mark Pody and State Representatives Terri Lynn Weaver and Clark Boyd discussed their stands on issues ranging from the state budget to education and health care to transportation, ethics and judicial reform, among others.

The video segment below deals with education.

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