GRAYSVILLE, Tenn. — Four months after it first deadlocked on the matter, the Rhea County Board of Education elected a chairman and vice chairman Thursday.
Board members had agreed not to consider the selection until all members were present, and board member Chip Pendergrass was absent Thursday. But board member Bimbo McCawley said it was time to act.
“We have been publicly criticized, and I think we need to get this thing behind us,” he said.
As in earlier sessions, Chairman Ron Masterson and Vice Chairman B.J. McCoy were nominated for the top posts. This time, board member Dale Harris also was nominated, but no one received the necessary five votes on the first ballot.
On the second ballot, Mr. Harris was elected. Then the board chose Mr. McCoy as vice chairman.
“I didn’t seek this,” Mr. Harris said. “This board has been going through strife lately, and we have got to get back to working as a team.”
In other matters, board members voted to accept a bid of 3.31 percent from Regions Bank to borrow $155,000 to buy two school buses.
Finance Director Billy Graham said funds appropriated to buy buses this year had to be used to pay for buses ordered last year because of an oversight, so there was no money available without borrowing.
Board members agreed to ask the County Commission to consider adding the money to its transportation budget to avoid incurring the cost of the loan. They said they will have to buy at least nine buses in the next several years.
Mr. Harris announced a meeting Jan. 29 to interview architects interested in designing the proposed new county middle school.
Mr. Graham said county officials would meet with financial advisers in the coming week to review options for funding the project.
Contact Tom Davis at tdavis@volstate.net.