School Board Leadership To Be Selected Tonight

Tonight’s gathering of the Paulding County School Board will consist of several annual housekeeping measures as the board selects its leadership for the upcoming year. The meeting had originally been set for Jan. 8 but was moved to give officials more time to prepare following the district’s winter break.

According to tonight’s agenda, which is attached to this article, board members’ first votes on the evening will be directed toward the selection of their chairman and vice chairman for 2013. The board is guaranteed to be headed by someone new this year as last year’s chairman, Michael Skelton, served his last meeting last month. Skelton last summer did not seek re-election to his board seat.

This will be the first official meeting of Skelton’s successor, Richard Manous, who was elected during the July primary after being the sole candidate to seek Skelton’s seat. July’s primary also saw incumbents Kim Cobb, Theresa Lyons and Joe Watson earn new terms. Watson was the sole school board candidate to face a challenger in his primary; none of the four winners—all of them Republicans—faced opposition in the November general election.

Other housekeeping measures to be considered include the selection of a board attorney and approval of meeting dates for the year.

Also to be considered is a policy placed on the table last month that would lay out the compensation and benefits for the superintendent.

According to the proposed policy, the superintendent is entitled to family health and hospitalization insurance; family dental insurance; a long-term disability policy; contribution to Social Security, Medicare and the Teacher's Retirement System of Georgia; and an automobile expense in lieu of being reimbursed for mileage traveled.

The policy also requires the superintendent to live in Paulding County within one year from the time of his or her contract and to remain a county resident through his or her term.

In other business:

• The board will weigh in on three tribunals after returning for a period of closed session.
• Will be on hand for the recognitions of the Dallas Rotary Teacher of the Month and the district’s Fall Players of the Year.

The board will meet at 6:15 p.m. in the central office boardroom. Return to Dallas-Hiram Patch for coverage of tonight’s meeting.