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By David
Fisher
Staff
Reporter |
During a called meeting of
the Weakley County School Board held prior to the board’s
regular monthly meeting Thursday, April 9, members finalized
terms of a contract agreement with Randy Frazier, who has
been selected for and has accepted the position of director
of Weakley County Schools.
Board members voted to
hire Frazier, principal of Gleason School and coach of the
Lady Bulldogs Basketball Team, to fill the post during a
daylong meeting Monday, March 30. Frazier was selected from
a field of five Weakley County School System employees
seeking the job.
Last Thursday’s special
session allowed “tweaking” of the contract between Frazier
and the School Board to take place before the new director
signs the final draft of the agreement and is officially
hired for the job.
During the negotiations,
the board agreed to give Frazier a three-year contract
agreement, instead of the two-year contract originally
proposed.
School Board Chairman
Gordon Morris agreed with the contract extension, saying
that of the 20 contracts from other school systems reviewed
by the board when formulating a new contact for Weakley
County director of schools, only two had two-year contracts,
while the rest had contracts of three or more years.
The measure was approved
unanimously by all board members present.
The total compensation
package for the director of schools position includes
$91,600 as the base salary paid by the state of Tennessee
through the Better Education Program (BEP), plus insurance
benefits, an auto allowance, sick leave and vacation time.
At the suggestion of
Chairman Morris, the board agreed that the contract should
state that all insurance premiums for the director of
schools be paid by the county, rather than stipulating a
specific amount. This will prevent the need of having to
change the contract each year as the premiums fluctuate.
The car allowance
stipulated in the contract amounts to $5,400. However, the
board agreed to consider adjusting the automobile
compensation clause to allow for future fuel price
fluctuations.
During discussion of this
issue, Frazier stated the auto allowance in the contract
seems to be fair, but suggested that after a year, if fuel
prices increase drastically, the board might wish to
consider making an adjustment accordingly.
“In accepting this job,
money was not an issue,” Frazier said. “I was just surprised
after getting into this and looking at the data that our
county is low when compared with other area superintendents.
I think Mr. Barber is underpaid with the job he’s done. And
I would hope in the future, the board would look at that,
because it is a big responsibility being the biggest system
outside of Madison County. I’m very aware of the economy and
the way people perceive that as a lot of money, and I
understand that.” However, he noted when compared to the
market value of the job, it is less than what is being paid
by other school systems of comparable size. He added this is
reflected in only having five candidates apply for the
position of director of Weakley County Schools, while a
position in another county with a smaller school system
received 27 applications.
“But, I’m comfortable with
what we have here,” Frazier said.
(Read the rest of this story in the April 15th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)
