Board of Education Budgets Pay Raises for Teachers and Other Staff

June 10, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Although it’s not as large as the amount they received last year, DeKalb County teachers and support staff will be getting another pay raise with passage of the 2022-23 budget, and they have the Board of Education and Director of Schools to thank for it.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting, the School Board adopted the new 2022-23 budget which includes a raise of $2,000 per teacher and other certified personnel (227 employees) and a $1,000 increase in pay for support staff (173 employees). Half of the ($2,000) increase for teachers is coming from the state and the rest ($1,000) for educators and support staff will be funded locally including plans to absorb projected increases in employee health care premiums.

Director Patrick Cripps will present the proposed spending plan for schools to the budget committee of the DeKalb County Commission next Tuesday night, June 14.

“In this budget we are requesting a $2,000 pay increase each for certified staff and $1,000 for non-certified. Some may think this is not much of a raise, but insurance (cost increases) really hit us hard this year,” said Director Cripps. “The aggregate across the board increase on insurance was 6.1% with some plans going up as much as 10%. Our people are not paid enough as it is. Some people think that teaching is an 8a.m. to 3 p.m. job and they work for nine months and that is it but what people don’t realize is that teachers put a lot of hours in including after work preparing for the next day. They put in a lot of hours in the summertime for the next year. They are required to do five days of professional development, but five days don’t touch it. There is more they have to do beyond five days. We have to continue to pay our people more. We have done very well with our budget over the years. We are setting good as far as what is in our reserves (approximately $12 million). We need to continue to increase our teacher salaries and if the state won’t do it, we need to. I am a firm believer in that,” said Director Cripps.

In other business, the school board granted tenure to the following teachers upon the recommendation of Director Cripps: Tabitha Farmer, Christian Merriman, Sarah Storey, Amy Fricks, Justin Poteete, Allison Collier, Teresa Jones, and Cristy Spears. “These teachers have successfully completed the probationary period of five years and received evaluations demonstrating an overall performance effectiveness level of above or significantly above expectations as required for tenure,” said Director Cripps.

The board voted to revise the credit requirements needed for students to graduate from DeKalb County High School.

“In the past high school students have needed 30 plus credits to graduate because the high school had been on a block schedule system. They are no longer on a total block system. Tennessee Department of Education requirements for graduation is a total of 22 credits. We are not changing anything to meet that requirement threshold, but we would like to reduce it locally down to the 22-credit state requirement instead of the 30 plus credit system we are under. We will stair step it back starting with 29 credits required with the Class of 2023 and 27 credits for the Class of 2024 and 22 credits for the incoming freshmen,” said Director Cripps.

High school lockers will soon be removed to make way for more classroom space. The board voted to sell the lockers by sealed bids as surplus property. Director Cripps said with students now using chrome books, lockers are no longer used or needed.

“The school is bursting at the seams with needed space for teachers and with the addition of the 1:1 devices at the high school students have computers in their hands and that’s what they use on a regular basis so lockers have not been used for several years now,” said Director Cripps.

The board adopted a differentiated pay plan for the 2022-23 school year as required by the state. Under the local plan two educators per school will be compensated to serve as academic coaches.

In his monthly personnel report, Director Cripps said the following employees have resigned: Cody Burton, teacher at DCHS; Danny Fish, teacher at DCHS, Charlene Hallum, educational assistant at DeKalb Middle School and Brent Simpson, teacher at DCHS.

In other business, the board voted to enter into a contract with STAR Physical Therapy to provide athletic trainer services at DeKalb County High School. The cost is $20,000 for the year beginning July 1, 2022. Athletic Trainers are responsible as health care professionals for the well-being of student-athletes. They are involved with injury prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation.

“There will only be one athletic trainer and he or she will be working high school football, basketball, and soccer games as much as possible. The athletic trainer will also float among the high school spring athletic sports. He or she will be at home games in spring sports but won’t travel to away games. In football and basketball, the trainer will be at home games and travel to away games as much as possible,” said Director Cripps.

Services provided under the contract between Star Physical Therapy and the DeKalb County School District are as follows:

STAR will make available a Board of Certification Certified Athletic Trainer that is licensed to practice in the State of Tennessee to:

1. Provide injury assessment at the school for students who request evaluation starting daily when school is in session.

2. Provide daily practice coverage involving injury prevention, assessment and rehabilitation. The Athletic Trainer will be present on campus until the last high school practice is complete or the last home school contest is complete whichever is later.

3. Coverage of all home and away varsity football games.

4. Coverage of all home contests for high school sports other than football that are held on campus as agreed to by STAR and the Athletic Director.

5. Coverage of special events and tournaments as agreed to by STAR and the Athletic Director.

6. The Athletic Trainer will be present 1-2 days per week during summer workouts or off-season workouts for high school sports. This schedule will be agreed to by STAR and the Athletic Director.

7. Work with school to maintain TSSAA health guidelines for athletic participation, physical forms, medical questionnaires, and injury records under HIPPA compliance.

8. Assist with arranging pre-participation sports physicals for high school students to meet TSSAA guidelines, and provide staffing from STAR to provide duties within the scope of their training and education.

9. Provide guidance regarding emergency procedures, including an emergency action plan specific to athletic practices and games at the schools.

June 10, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps has hired a total of 227 teachers and other professional personnel for the 2022-23 school year.

Cripps presented a list of the employees to the Board of Education Thursday night.

Certified personnel at each school are as follows:

DeKalb County High School-
Kelly Agee, Angie Anderson, Charlotte Blaylock, Amanda Brown, Kevin Burchfield, Brian Cadle, Thomas Cagle, Amee Cantrell, Jeanine Cantrell, Todd Cantrell, Gary Caplinger, Lisa Craig, Bruce Curtis, Deborah DePriest, Ethan Duke, Luke Dycus, Donna Emmons, Lauren Ferrell, Lacey Foutch, Amanda Fuller, Emily Geist, Joseph Green, Luke Green, Ann Griffey, Jessica Griffith, Britney Gulley, Josh Gulley, Lesa Hayes, Bradley Hendrix, Danielle Horton, Sonja House, Lori Isabell, Dylan Kleparek, Brad Leach, Rebecca Miller, Lori Myrick, Jenny Norris, Shelly Painter, Linda Parris, Wanda Phillips, John Pryor, Gabby Robinson, Melissa Ruch, John Sanders, Daniel Seber, Michael Shaw, Steve Trapp, Stephanie Turner, Logan Vance, Tad Webb, Barbara Weller, Michael Whitefield, Don Whitt, Seth Willoughby, and Sara Young.

Northside Elementary School-
Marla Beshearse, Linda Bush, Shanea Cantrell, Ashley Cantrell, Sandy Cantrell, Megan Carroll, Allison Collier, Trent Colwell, Michael Crockett, Alisha Day, Tabitha Farmer, Amanda Goodwin, Carrie Gottlied, Amanda Griffith, Jennifer Griffith, Cynthia Hale, Patty Hale, Loree Hall, Callie Herman, Jennifer Herndon, Amber Howell, Meagan Humbert, Shelly Jennings, Karen Knowles, Kristy Lasser, Lisa Mabe, Jama Martin, Amanda Mathis, Elizabeth Miller, Diana Moon, Melissa Odom, Beth Pafford, Deb Poteete, Paris Rabidoux, Kathy Ramsey, Amy Raymond, Kristen Rowland, Melissa Roysdon, Brooklyn Shirah , Tammy Sims, Taylor Spare, Sarah Storey, Carol Tripp, Cheryl Vandagriff, Kristen Van Vranken, and Melissa Wallace.

DeKalb West School-
Joey Agee, Jessica Antoniak, Crystal Barnes, Vickey Barrett, Katie Barrett, Erica Birmingham, Mollie Bratten, Whitney Brelje, Galen Brown, Jenny Cantrell, Jeanna Caplinger, William Conger, Kim Crook, Kayley Curtis, Rachel Desimone, Tonya Ellis, Sabrina Farler, Karen France, Rachel Hernandez, Cathleen Humphrey, Jennifer Martin, Shelia McMillen, Leslie Moore, Amanda Mullinax, Tammy Payne, Lori Pryor, Kelly Pyburn, Missy Sliger, Cynthia Snow, Teresa Sullivan, Ashlee Thomason, Susan West, and Amy Young.

Smithville Elementary School-
Misty Agee, Brooke Anderson, Allison Atnip, Ashley Barnes, Lindsey Bouldin, Beth Cantrell, Summer Cantrell, Rayanna Chapman, Claire Cloyd, Tiffany Cowart, Amanda Dakas, Edward Dillard, Brittany Ferrell, Tina Gash, Emily Harville, Holly Hendrix, Tanya Howard, Brooke Howard, Kelly Huling, Morgan Hutson, Ana Jarvis, Sydney Johnson, Emily Lattimore, Cameron Lester, Leah Magness, Adrienne McCormick, Christina Merriman, LeVaughnda Midgett, Kady Moffett, Jacquelyn Overbey, Amanda Parker, Maxwell Patterson, Bethany Poss, Jane Ramsey, Amanda Rhoady, Bethany Rigsby, Melissa Sliger, Cristy Spears, Cynthia Stoglin, Emily Summers, Carol Tallent, Kaylene Thomason, Janet Trapp, Allyson Trapp, Kristy Williams, Lisa Woods, Janet Woodward, Mykaela Young, and Crystal Young.

DeKalb Middle School-
January Agee, Josh Agee, Kelly Birmingham, Victoria Christian, Nancy Cowan, Laura Daniel, Melba Farmer, Amy Fricks, Stephanie Fuson, Suzanne Gash, Amy Hayes, Lori Hendrix, Sarah Jacobs, Angela Johnson, Bryan Jones, Michelle Jones, Teresa Jones, Alyssa Leslie, Kristen Lynch, Martha Melching, Justin Nokes, Courtney O’Conner, Scott Odom, David Parker, Hunter Poteete, Justin Poteete, Anita Puckett, Cody Randolph, Janie Roberts, Candice Scrabo, Carson Speck, Danni Stahlke, Jessica Taylor, Kitty Thomas, Cheryl Vance, Jennifer West, and Christie Young

Central Office Staff-
Dr. Kathy Bryant, Michelle Burklow, Dr. Danielle Collins, Elise Driver, Emily Estes, Joey Reeder, Lori Rogers, and Natasha Vaughn.

June 10, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps has employed the 171-support staff for the 2022-23 school year.

The personnel report was submitted to the Board of Education during Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting.

Those employed at DeKalb County High School are:
Justin Braswell, Kathy Chapman, Isabella Clark, Jamie Cripps, Tena Edwards, Beverly Ferrell, Betty Foster, Lori Gallagher, Haley Haggard, Yvonne Hale, Ester Holder, Brooke Hutchings, Patricia Linder, Marsha Martin, Mike Merriman, Tera Mooneyham, Holly Moore, Cora Pack, Sara Parker, Santos Sosa, Jerry Strait, Brad Trapp, and Vicky Walker.

DeKalb Middle School:
Fay Baker, Patricia Bratcher, Deanna Brooks, Callie Brown, Martha Cantrell, Rochelle Davis, Trena Ferrell, Ginda Kilgore, Isla Ledbetter, Jodi Lester, Tammy Maynard, Lacey McMillen, Lisa Norton, Brandi Patterson, Tina Pedigo, Brittany Simpson, Ethan VanHook, and Miranda Waggoner

Smithville Elementary School:
Jamie Bloise, Kristen Braseel, Katie Brewer, Dean Broadhead, Brenda Beth Cantrell, Hope Carter, Melanie Crews, Darlene Evans, Jennifer Gay, Margie Hale, Nikki Johnson, Talitha Looney, Deanna Page, Rebecca Parker, Lori Poss, Stephanie Reeder, Brenda Rigney, Jennifer Roller, Jennifer Salas, Kathy Stanley, Jackie Stockling, Marie Storie, Patricia Tallent, Allison Taylor, Mary-Margaret Tripp, Tammy Tyler, and Celia Whaley.

Northside Elementary School:
Tiffany Bjorge, Kortny Blaylock, Chelsie Bryant, Tristian Burgess, Brenda Cantrell, Rosalinda Cervantas, Tara Driver, Alexis Dube, Terrie Ford, Glenda Gassaway, Mary Hancock, Janda Hendrixson, Tamara Judkins, LaTonya Kleparek, Ann Knisley,Melinda Lattimore, Cassidy Mitchell, Angela O’Connell, Jada Shinkle,, Joy Troncoso, and Deneene Willingham.

DeKalb West School:
Brenda Bandy, Margaret Curtis, Emily Davis, Donna Driver, Makenzie Dunaway, Erica Garrett, Donna Hale, Lisa Hale, Alyssa Harvey, Nancy Mulloy, Tina Paschal, Kayla Randolph, Courtney Reynolds, Tonya Roberts, Kristi Sullivan, and Brandi Womack

County Wide Positions:
Chandra Adcock, Cindy Childers, Kenderly Cripps, Bettye June Dodd, Christie Driver, Wade Ferrell, Greg Frasier, Jordon Funk, April Hale, Jessica Hale, Rebecca Hawkins, Dillon Hicks, Terry Hicks, Shelly Jared, Tammy Judkins, Lindsey Knight, Jenean Lawson, Debra London, Shirley Mathis, Greg Matthews, Kirby Morton, Shirley Ours, Natasha Pedigo, Danny Pirtle, Jr., Melissa Pirtle, Cindy Rhody, Roger Sharp, Brooke Shirah, Aaron Shirah, Kimberly Turner, Jamie Vickers, Joannie Williams, Linda Williams, and Aaron Young.

Transportation:
Zack Adams, Michael Agee, Danny Bond, Debra Bernal, Jessica Brewington, Dwayne Cantrell, Todd Cantrell, Shara Cowan, Cathy Driver, Debbie Eaton, Marshall Ferrell, Julie Fitts, Lori Gallagher, Judith Hale, Tonya Hale, Darnette Hibdon, Melissa Hicks, Danny Jenkins, Daniel Lawson, Cheryl Mach, Scott McBroom, Mike Merriman, Ronald Merriman, Linda Gail Pack, Kelly Pyburn, Ashley Redmon, Myron Rhody, Robert Steinmetz, Carol Swope, , Bobby Taylor, Danny Washer, Lorie Watson, Angela Wilkerson, and James Wilkerson.

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