Jamesport Tri-County R-7 School Superintendent Mary Kish has been absent from school since the Sept. 11 school board meeting. Kish is not presently listed as the superintendent of the Tri-County R-7 School on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Dennis Croy is listed as the interim superintendent.
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According to the Tri-County Weekly, Kish received word from the school board’s lawyer telling her not to return to school since the board is discussing a buy-out. The board, according to Rodney Odom, president, is only speaking through their lawyer.
Foremost in the controversy is the transportation issue. At the April 13, 2006, meeting, the R-7 board accepted a bid from Hill Transportation to provide buses and drivers. Hill agreed to purchase the district’s buses and hire the current bus drivers at the current rate. At that time, the transportation committee had recommended to the board that the district should change from owning the buses and go to the transportation service. At the same meeting, the board approved a six percent salary increase for support staff.
At the Oct. 12 meeting of the Tri-County R-7 school board, Howard Stevenson called for the resignation of four board members, Russell Hopkins, Brandon Hoover, Tim Wahlers and Rodney Odom. Stevenson is a school district patron who had asked to be included on the agenda. Stevenson’s complaint against the board members was that they had voted to place the non-certified employees on an hourly wage.