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.