SB members declare intentions for office

By KEVIN BOWDEN
Special to The Messenger
With less than a month before the start of the 2010-11 school year, the Union City School Board took care of a handful of personnel decisions Monday night. The brief school board meeting also included a surprise announcement.
Longtime school board member Shea Riley III formally announced he will not be seeking re-election this fall. He cited a couple of reasons for his decision — the recent death of his father and business partner and the changes this has made in the time he can allot to service in various community venues and his longtime commitment to Scouting and new responsibilities there.
“I would like to say personally it has been a joy serving with you,” board chairman Glenda Caudle said upon hearing Riley’s announcement
Mrs. Caudle announced she will be running for re-election from Ward I in November, as will Curtis McClendon from Ward 3. The fourth spot on the seven-member board that will be on the ballot belongs to Ellarine Moses — an at-large board member — who has not officially declared her intentions.
There is an Aug. 19 filing deadline for those interested in running for the Union City School Board. Those interested in running for a seat on the board must register with the Obion County Election Commission and submit an official nominating petition with the signatures of registered voters from their wards in support of their candidacy. The petitions are available at the Obion County Election Commission office behind the Obion County Courthouse in downtown Union City.
Monday night’s 10-minute school board meeting was dominated by personnel matters and an update on school renovations that are nearing completion.
The upcoming school year will kick off with a Back to School Dinner July 27 for school personnel. The annual dinner serves as a meet-and-greet session for new and returning teachers and their families.
Registration for the new school year is set for Aug. 2 and the first full day of classes will be Aug. 3, according to Director of Schools Gary Houston.
When the new school year begins, student athletes in the Union City School system will be welcoming back Ronald Ward as the head coach of the Union City Middle School boys basketball team and legendary high school coach Marty Sisco will be returning to join his son on the sidelines with the Union City High School boys basketball team.
When spring sports roll around in 2011, Elizabeth Mooney will take over as the head coach of the UCHS tennis program.
Miss Mooney, who will be student teaching in the fall, is a 2002 UCHS graduate and was a standout on the Golden Tornadoes girls tennis squad. In addition to being a stellar tennis player, Miss Mooney was an academic standout in high school and was actively involved in cheerleading.
Unanimous approval was granted by the school board to bringing all three non-faculty coaches on board for the upcoming year. The addition of the three non-faculty coaches to the athletic program is expected to pay big dividends for an already outstanding sports program.
Other personnel matters brought up during Monday night’s meeting included the formal resignation of UCMS educational aide Mitzi Hopkins, and the hiring of Brandi Harbison as an educational aide at Union City Elementary School, Amy Petty as an educational aide at UCMS and Terri King as an addition to the UCMS cafeteria staff. Houston also announced Tess Westmoreland will be transfering from the elementary school cafeteria staff to UCMS cafeteria manager.
Houston also informed the school board that renovation work is nearing completion at the UCHS band house, as is painting work and tile work at other schools in the system.
“Mr. (John) Easley (UCHS band director) is very proud of it,” Houston said about the renovation work on the UCHS band house. “It’s practically a new building.”
Work on the band house and other renovation projects is scheduled to be completed by the start of the new school year, according to Houston, who explained much of the painting work and other renovations are being handled by school personnel.
In other action, the school board:
• Was advised by Houston that he has reviewed preliminary Advanced Placement test scored that show Union City students have scored very well.
“We are very pleased with the scores,” Houston told the board as he congratulated students and teachers for the achievement. “We are very proud of them.”
• Approved the low bids in three categories for food service supplies for the upcoming school year. A low bid of $1,096,667.43 was accepted from U.S. Food Service for food for the school year; a low bid of $158,265.26 was accepted from the same company for produce for the upcoming school year; and the lone bid of $49,225.16 from Ecolab for cafeteria chemical supplies was accepted by the board.
Monday night’s meeting was opened in prayer by Mrs. Caudle. Absent from the meeting were board members Karl Ullrich and Curtis McLendon.
Published in The Messenger 7.13.10

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