Wednesday, January 21, 2004
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Wednesday, January 21, 2004 |
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Smith renamed school board chairman; Smola to run again By J. FRANK LYNCH Terri Smith was re-appointed chairman of the Fayette County Board of Education in a called meeting last Thursday night, but it wasn’t unanimous. Board Member Janet Smola cast the lone vote against the reappointment, which Smith said on Friday came as a surprise. Marion Key made the motion to reelect Smith for a second year, and Greg Powers seconded. Key was re-appointed as vice-chair unanimously. Smola announced Monday her intentions to run for reelection to the Post 1 board seat next November but denied her opposition to Smith’s chairmanshiop was political in nature. “I love this job,” she said. “I really do. I work with one of the most respected men in education in this state, Dr. John DeCotis. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as a board.” Smith is also up for reelection this year, as is Marion Key, but neither have said what their plans are. Qualifying in the partisan contest is set for April. “From the time I took office, I’ve always believed there is tremendous benefit to rotating the leadership position on the School Board,” said Smola Monday. In Smola’s view, each of the five elected members of the board should serve automatically on an annual rotation, starting in the vice-chairman’s seat and then progressing to chairman, annually. January marks the beginning of Smola’s final year of her first four-year term, but she said interest in being named chairman herself had nothing to do with Monday’s vote. “When you take on the role of chair, you are not only responsible for leading the meetings, but also attending larger meetings wih the superintendent at the regional and state level,” Smola said. “One of my desires as leader of this school system is to make this board as diverse as possible, and one of the ways to do that is to rotate that position so at least you’ve got different people on the board taking advantage of those opportunities.” The current process is flawed, she said. “This is very political the way it’s done now,” said Smola, a professional fundraiser who got her first taste of school district business in 1998 working to pass a SPLOST intiative. In other business Monday, the board: • Agreed to hold regular meeetings in 2004 on the third Monday of each month, and called workshop sessions if needed on the first Tuesdays at 7 p.m. • Heard an update on early work on the 2005 budget, with DeCotis hinting that more cuts in state funding are pending. • Approved the low-bid on casement furnishings for outfitting the science labs and other classrooms at Whitewater High School.
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