MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

The Coffee County School Board voted to offer the Director of Schools contract to East Lincoln Elementary School Principal Scott Hargrove amid concerns over the search process.

Hargrove has held his current role since 2014. He also served as the Interim Superintendent for Tullahoma City Schools from 2019-2020.

At a work session preceding the special-call Board meeting held on April 28, Board member Holly Matthews suggested a second round of interviews for each candidate with no questions provided beforehand.

Matthews cited the Tennessee School Boards Association only referring two candidates, including Hargrove, to the Board to interview and wanting to see how the candidates answered questions under pressure as reasons for the suggestion.

After the withdrawal of Amie Lonas from consideration after taking a position in another school district, Matthews said she felt as though TSBA only offered one candidate.

“Giving us one is no choice,” she explained. “That’s one of my issues I’ve taken with the process.”

In the meeting, Board member Chris Koon made a motion to amend the agenda to add a second round of interviews which was seconded by Matthews.

The motion failed when Matthews and Koon were the only members to vote in favor of it.

The Board voted by paper ballots which were distributed and collected by Interim Director Dr. Prater Powell and then read aloud by Board Secretary Melisa Westmoreland.

Board Chairman Thomas Ballard and  Board members Freda K. Jones, Scott Hansert, Robert Gilley, Beth Yentsch and Gary Cordell all voted in favor of Hargrove.

The other three votes went to Dr. Kathy Crabtree from Koon, Matthews and Board member Jennifer Peacock Hodge. Hodge also gave public comment in favor of Crabtree at the beginning of the meeting.

Ballard gave each member an opportunity to address why they voted the way they did at the end of the meeting.

Hargrove’s experience at many different levels of education, his six years of military experience and, his ability to remain undeterred when asked tough questions were some of the reasons cited.

Each member who voted for Hargrove noted how difficult a decision it was and how the Board was presented with three very capable candidates.

Due to the meeting falling on press day, this story will be covered in the May 7th edition of the Manchester Times.