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First wave of school personnel reassigned, more to come By J. FRANK
LYNCH
Faced with a tight budget for the next school year and the need to open two new schools with minimal new hires, the Fayette County School Board has approved the first round of staff restructuring that eliminates three top positions in administration. Fred Oliver, formerly assistant superintendent for operations, has been promoted to the new position of deputy superintendent, second in command to Superintendent John DeCotis. He replaces Stuart Bennett, formerly assistant superintendent for curriculum who left the district earlier this year to work for the state Department of Education under Superintendent Kathy Cox. Oliver will have as direct reports Pam Riddle, promoted to assistant superintendent for curriculum in all grades from director of elementary operations, and Wayne Robinson, named assistant superintendent for operations systemwide. Robinson formerly oversaw just secondary operations. Principal Lyn Wenzel of J.C. Booth Middle will join the county office staff as the school system's director of curriculum. She will be responsible for working with school personnel, principals and central office staff to coordinate curriculum throughout the county and ensure that all schools are meeting federal and state guidelines in instruction. A replacement for Wenzel will be named later this year. In addition, the new staff flowchart has Comptroller James Stephens reporting directly to DeCotis. Positions eliminated or combined with other duties include three retirements: Juliette Babb, executive director of school improvement; Jerry Reeves, director of student testing services; and Mary Perry, principal of the evening high school. Faith Hardnett, principal at East Fayette Elementary, will assume a new position at the county office as director of student services. In her new role, Hardnett will oversee all of the county's guidance, counseling, crisis and CARE (Children at Risk in Education) programs as well as work with students who are receiving services through the school system's alternative programs. The school board requested a "reexamination" of organizational structure at the county office in Januay, said member Janet Smola. "So it's been in the works. But recognizing we were dealing with significant funding cuts, we knew we had to maximize our manpower at the top and this was a way to do it." What's more, Smola said, the new structure makes sense. "It divides the school system into two very clearly defined columns, education and operations," she said. And by promoting Oliver to the new position of deputy superintendent, DeCotis will have more time to deal with the increasing demands of the growing system. "We think the public will find everybody more accessible at the county office," Smola said. "Job duties are now clearly defined." Other staffing changes approved Monday night: Louis Robinson, who has been the principal at North Fayette Elementary for the last four years, will replace Hardnett as principal of East Fayette. A replacement for Robinson will be determined later this year. A position of Director of LEC (LaFayette Educational Center) is also being created to help balance the workload of Perry, principal of the evening high school. This job has not been assigned but will entail overseeing both the evening high and community schools. Tyrone Jones, principal of Flat Rock Middle for the last four years, is moving to McIntosh High as an assistant principal. A replacement for Jones will be selected later this year. Assistant principals who are transferring their positions to other schools include John Bouchell from Oak Grove Elementary to Starr's Mill High; Julie Turner from Starr's Mill to Oak Grove; Sharon Walters from Huddleston Elementary to Crabapple Lane Elementary and Audrey Toney from Flat Rock Middle to Starr's Mill. Additionally, Hood Avenue Primary Assistant Principal Patsy Slagle is resigning her position to return as a classroom teacher. Assistant principals to replace the positions vacated at Huddleston Elementary and Hood Avenue Primary will be selected later this year. In addition, he board gave blanket approval to 113 "reclassifications" or transfers at its Monday meeting, as well as accepting seven retirements, 53 resignations and two requests for maternity leave. Another 34 new hires were approved, most to replace those who have retired or resigned, and the contracts of 10 teachers who have not established tenure yet were also OK'd.
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