The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by David Grimes, Quill correspondent
On March 21, Union High School Principal Pat Collins had the unenviable responsibility of telling the science teacher Karen Doyle that a motion to rehire her for next school year had been voted down by the school board the night before.
"You could have knocked me over with a feather," Doyle said.
Doyle, who resides near Monmouth, is in her second year as a teacher at Union and is not tenured.
Still, her personnel files reveal nothing as far as reprimands or disciplinary action.
The school board is not required by law to offer an explanation regarding the outcome of a vote, according to Collins.
But school administrators, including Collins, who had just received pay raises from the board last month, gave their support to Doyle in recommending to the board that she be rehired for the 2002-03 school year.
Doyle, who also serves as the school's cheerleading sponsor, wondered how the board could, in effect, tell administrators that they're doing a commendable job by affording them salary increases and then turn around and ignore their recommendations regarding staff.
"It doesn't make sense," she said.
At the same meeting in March board members also voted on the same measure for English teacher Marlo Ross.
Ross, too, is in her second year of teaching at Union and is not tenured.
That motion resulted in 3 voting to rehire, 3 voting against and one voting to abstain.
Because both issues then had to be followed by a vote for dismissal, the issue was revisited by the board during their April 10 meeting.
But not before Union senior Marissa Cole and science teacher Cathy Ziglar offered support for Doyle and Ross on behalf of the school faculty and students, reading from prepared statements. Both teachers received high marks for concern for the students, offering wholehearted support for the school and investing countless hours in volunteering during school events and activities.
Some 40 students and staff attended the meeting in person.
Following a 90-minute executive session, board members once again voted on the matter of whether to rehire the two, with the count on both teachers being 4-2 to rehire.
Board President Joe Bigger declined to comment on why the voting went as well as it did, as did Beth Weber, one of two board members to vote against rehiring both teachers both times.
But Wendell Parsons, the other board member to vote against the rehire motions both times, said, "I was voted onto the board by the people to represent them. I had received a lot of phone calls from people concerned about the way things were being done. That's why I voted the way I did."
Parsons did not clarify what those specific concerns were.
In the meantime, Collins said that barring the resignations of Doyle and Ross, all that remains for the two to be back on staff next year is for them too sign their contracts.
In other business, the board accepted the resignations of Galen Noard, physical education; Jane Noard, math; and Jody Heavner, ag instructor and FFA sponsor.
Following executive session, the board listened to staff presentations from the areas of football, golf, driver education and high school and elementary extra-curricular activities.
Prior to adjournment, board member Doug Sams announced that a closed meeting was to be attended by consolidation committee members from Southern and Union the following night at Union.
Dennis Reaves was not in attendance due to illness in the family
The board's next regular meeting will be April 17 at 7 p.m.