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Board votes 4-4 and one pass

For the second time in three months, Coffee County School Board members declined to renew the contract of Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson during its regular meeting Oct. 9.

Board members voted 4-4 with Jennifer Peacock Hodge opting to pass. Board members Brent Parsley, Larry Crabtree, Kathy Rose and Gary Nester voted in favor of renewing the contract with Freda K. Jones, Thomas Ballard, Gary Cordell and Robert Gilley casting a no vote.

Crabtree said during the meeting that he wanted to bring Lawson’s contract back before the board following backlash from the community when the board failed to renew Lawson’s contract in late July.

“After our last effort to approve the new contract for Dr. Lawson I was inundated with calls from people who work within the district and parents of students within the district, expressing their displeasure at our failing to renew the contract,” he said.

Crabtree said he had received more than 70 emails, text messages and personal contacts from community stakeholders expressing their displeasure at the board’s failure to renew Lawson’s contract.

Board member Kathy Rose said during the meeting that she previously worked with Lawson when they were both employed by Tullahoma City Schools, including time when Rose served as principal and Lawson was assistant principal of Tullahoma High School.

“I relied very heavily on his expertise and his very unique way at looking at things,” Rose said. “If I wanted an out of the box opinion on things, Dr. Lawson is the man I would go to and talk things out. Never once, was he backward about telling me when he didn’t agree with me and I loved that because I didn’t want a yes man in there, I wanted somebody who was going to fill in the gaps for where my weaknesses were and he did that.”

“I give him my unconditional support in this position,” Rose added. “I think Coffee County is very fortunate to have him at our helm.”

Board member Robert Gilley said he sees the issues regarding Lawson’s contract renewal differently than some of his fellow board members. One of the issues was the subject of teacher raises and a revised pay scale.

“I want to thank the board for decisions they have made,” Gilley said. “Past members, present members, I want to thank everybody for what we have done and those accomplishments and sending people back to their office to get those answers to make things happen. I want the teachers to understand this board is what has made these pay increases happen and everyone…and it has always been a unanimous decision to make sure the teachers are taken care of.”

“I am not saying Mr. Lawson does not care about our children and does not care about our teachers, I am not saying that by any means,” Gilley added. “I am saying let’s look of the truth of what actual accomplishments and what level and who accomplished what and who pushed what.”

Crabtree said if it weren’t for Lawson, the raises would not have happened.

“I work directly with Dr. Lawson on the pay scales for the employees in the district office and the pay scales for the teachers,” he said. “Yes, the board voted to do it. We would have never even thought about doing it had not Dr. Lawson worked his tail off to get those numbers to where they were the right numbers for teachers now.”

Board Chairman Dr. Gary Nester also voiced his support for Lawson.

“I think a no vote is a no vote against the people that we work for in our community, I think it is a no vote for the teachers and a no vote for our staff,” Nester said. “I just want everyone to know I that am not the one that is shooting the goose because I am going to vote to extend his contract two years…”

Peacock Hodge opted to pass during the vote, saying she felt torn regarding the issue.

“I see it both ways,” she said. “Dr. Lawson, you have some very, very high highs and I have heard some very low lows from other people I have talked to. I like you, I don’t want you to leave, but I would rather wait and vote on this again later, so I am going to pass.”

Following the vote, Peacock Hodge provided further explanation for her decision to pass rather than voting yes or no.

“I am rather painfully aware that I have most likely upset a lot of people in this county tonight with my decision to pass on a vote and I don’t love that, that is no fun, but I did what felt right to me. I have been thinking about it all week long and I didn’t like voting either way so that being said I really love our school systems and our leaders and I hope that we can come together over the next year as a board, as a community and maybe be more unanimous in our decisions and move forward and everybody be happy.

Lawson has served as director of schools for Coffee County since June 2019 when he was originally hired with a three-year contract and a salary of $115,000. His contract was later renewed in October 2021 for four years and a $5,000 raise in a 4-3 vote.