Less than two weeks after voting to eliminate the positions of 28 district employees, the Greenwood School Board has decided to hire 22 people into a newly created position.
The board voted 4-1 Tuesday to create the position of instructional tutor and to approve hiring 22 individuals under the title.
The move comes after the board voted at an April 2 specially called meeting to eliminate the positions of 25 teachers’ assistants and three other non-certified employees in what was described as a necessary cost-saving measure.
In an email this morning, Margaret Dean, the district’s director of communications, said that at least some teachers’ assistants whose positions were eliminated at the earlier board meeting were among the 22 instructional tutors hired Tuesday, though Dean did not specify how many.
The district did not explain how the duties of the two positions differ.
Dean wrote that the newly created positions would be federally funded but that the district had not yet determined if additional instructional tutors would be hired. She said that an unspecified number of teachers’ assistants would continue to work in the district.
The personnel recommendation form the board approved Tuesday indicated that the instructional tutors were being approved for the current school year. Asked when the previous job cuts would take effect, Dean wrote only, “To date, no employees holding positions that were eliminated are without employment in the Greenwood Public School District. The 28 positions the board eliminated no longer exist within our district.”
The district did not immediately respond to requests for further clarification on the personnel moves or say what roles employees in other eliminated positions now hold.
Following the meeting, Board President Bill Clay and George Ellis, a member of the board, repeatedly declined to comment about the personnel moves.
The back and forth over the positions in the district had at least one member of the school board confused. Kathy Whicker repeatedly asked for an explanation of the moves from Greene during Tuesday’s meeting, but the superintendent evaded her questions.
“I’m asking you to explain to me what we did last meeting and why we’re doing this,” Whicker said to Greene during one exchange.
“My response to that is last meeting is last meeting,” Greene said. “I’d be glad to address that, but it depends on what the chair would say.”
At that point, Ellis made a motion to approve Greene’s personnel recommendations, which Clay seconded, closing debate.
“Can you tell me why? Can you just tell me why?” asked Whicker, who cast the lone dissenting votes against creating the new positions and all of the other personnel recommendations approved Tuesday.
Reached at home later, Whicker declined to comment further.
The other two board members, Connie Johnson and Samantha Milton, left shortly after the meeting and could not be reached for comment.
The minutes from the April 2 specially called meeting have not been completed and the district has not yet provided the Commonwealth with a copy of the board’s packet, including personnel recommendations, from the April 2 specially called session.
In other business Tuesday:
• The contracts of a number of district employees were extended for next school year, including that of district Instructional Coach Robie Greene, the wife of the superintendent, and Director of Curriculum June Leigh, the wife of Deputy Superintendent Chester Leigh. Robie Greene will be paid $70,343 annually, and June Leigh $87,500.
• The board was scheduled to meet again today in another specially called session at noon. An agenda posted on the door of the district’s central office indicated the meeting would primarily be dedicated to speaking with officials from AdvancED, an affiliate of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is conducting an accreditation review of the district.
• A number of board policies were added, revised or revoked as part of the district’s ongoing effort to update its official policies. Among the changes for next year: Students at Greenwood schools will be required to use only mesh or transparent bags or backpacks in what Chester Leigh called a move to improve security on campuses.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
