Sheriff Patrick Ray has reported an inmate death

October 11, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Sheriff Patrick Ray has reported an inmate death.

“On October 11 at 3:35 a.m. an ambulance from DeKalb EMS was summoned to the DeKalb County Jail for a medical issue with one of the inmates that was unresponsive, but breathing. During the transport of the inmate to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb, the inmate was administered CPR. The inmate was pronounced dead at Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Emergency Room,” said Sheriff Ray

The inmate is 34-year-old Dustin Allen Pedigo of King Ridge Road Dowelltown.

October 11, 2024
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 three-year contract extension, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting, the Board voted 4 to 2 to grant the extension. Members voting in favor were Chairman Shaun Tubbs, Danny Parkerson, Alan Hayes, and Megan Moore. Voting against were Jim Beshearse and Jason Miller. Eric Ervin was absent.

Cripps will earn a salary of $109,000 per year but he is entitled to the same salary raises that the Board shall grant to all licensed employees going forward under the contract. Cripps has been Director since July 2015.

Chairman Tubbs explained that while the evaluation of Director Cripps was conducted in March, a vote on a contract extension was delayed until after the election to give the new board member Megan Moore an opportunity to vote on it.

In making the motion in favor of the three-year extension, Chairman Tubbs spoke of progress made in the school system working with the board under Director Cripps’ leadership. Member Parkerson offered a second to the motion.

“When we first vetted Mr. Cripps nine years ago there were several characteristics that the board was looking for in a director and I think we were fortunate enough to find local talent here in our own backdoor,” said Chairman Tubbs. “We wanted someone who was vested in the community and someone who had our students and our faculty at heart. Throughout his tenure of being our director we have watched him grow as well as us as a board grow. I can recall that whenever Mr. Cripps took the director’s position. I met with him for several hours to go over again what his vision was for our school system and things he was looking to implement. One thing I did say to him was that he had held the position as the principal at our high school and that I was sure that he knew of waste that was going on in our high school and if it was going on there, it was probably going on at our other schools as well. I told him that while I would be one of the biggest advocates for schools if we were spending money not so wisely I wanted it to stop,” said Tubbs.

“I think if you look at the current situation with the school system it shows that we have been very good stewards of the county’s money,” Chairman Tubbs continued. “Under Mr. Cripps’ leadership we have undergone many large projects. We replaced the gym floor at the high school. We replaced the backstop at the high school baseball field. We replaced the lights and the bleachers at the high school and the football field as well as the soccer field. We have upgraded the restrooms in all of our schools. One thing that is very noticeable is that we now have air conditioning in our gyms and I think that is something we can all be proud of. Mr. Cripps has put a major emphasis on school safety. He has implemented a key fob system at our high school. We now have vestibules at each of our schools for increased safety measures. We also have SRO’s in each of our schools and two SROs at our high school,” said Tubbs.

“Another thing I want to point out is that TISA (Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement) for the director’s position sends $139,000 for that salary. Mr. Cripps is currently being paid $109,000 and his pay increases are tied with the rest of the staff’s salary increases. That means if the staff gets a pay increase then he gets one. If the staff doesn’t get a pay increase he doesn’t either. We can choose to do nothing and let his contract expire on June 30 2025 or extend the contract by one year up to four years”, said Chairman Tubbs.

In the latest board evaluation in March, Cripps was given overall good marks.

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 4.47 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 (5.05) in “business and finance”. He scored lowest (4.14) in “strategic planning skills”.

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

Performance Goal Average

Board Relationships
4.60

Community Relationships
4.32

Staff and Personnel Relationships
4.18

Educational Leadership
4.31

Business and Finance
5.05

Personal Qualities
4.63

Strategic Planning Skills
4.14

Tennessee Specific Questions
4.54

Grand Total
4.47

In other business, Director Cripps gave his monthly report on personnel. In it Brooke Howard, a teacher at DCHS has resigned.

Director Cripps also made mention that this is Custodians Week. “I do want to recognize our custodians. This is Custodian Week and I just want to say thank you to them for the hard work they do,” he said.

October 11, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The September Teacher of the Month award at DeKalb County High School goes to Lauren Ferrell.

For winning the honor, Ferrell received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal at Twisted Oaks.

Ferrell, a physical science teacher, was selected by the administration as Teacher of the Month.

“I feel very flattered, appreciated and I am really excited,” said Ferrell. “In the past I taught biology but this year I am teaching physical science. This is my 6th year teaching at DCHS,” said Ferrell

Lauren is married to Travis Ferrell and they have a one-year-old child, Wyatt. Her parents are Richard and Betty Lewis.

A 2014 graduate of DCHS, Ferrell furthered her education at Motlow State Community College and at Tennessee Tech University.

Ferrell said she enjoys teaching. “My students and staff make it an enjoyable place to be,” she said.

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