MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

A new Director’s contract was approved at the April 15 meeting of the Coffee County School Board.

The contract includes an annual salary of $165,000 with the potential for up to a $10,000 annual bonus if the new Director meets each objectively measurable benchmark established by the Board with each benchmark achieved paying $2,500.

An annual mileage allowance for in-county travel not to exceed $2,500 is also included in the contract.

After a motion to approve the contract with a cleanup of a gender specific wording in one of the sections in the document by Board member Robert Gilley and a second by Board member Gary Cordell, Board member Jennifer Peacock Hodge questioned a clause in the contract requiring the new Director to live in Coffee County.

“I feel like that should say surrounding counties,” she explained. “Say you live on Woodbury Highway or say you live right inside of Morrison, that’s so close. I think that’s insane to make someone move a couple of miles to reside in Coffee County.”

Both Gilley and Board Chairman Thomas Ballard explained that the contract is negotiable

“As a Board we would have to use discretion and suspend policy or negotiate, and obviously the candidates would want to negotiate that as well,” said Gilley

“Quite frankly, contracts are negotiable so we would probably end up negotiating some of these terms,” added Ballard with Hodge joking that she’s never hired anyone. “We’re starting off with a contract, but I imagine whoever the new Director is going to be will request some changes to the contract.”

Interim Director Prater Powell explained that once negotiations were completed between the Board and the new Director, the final contract would be brought back to the Board to be approved.

Hodge said that she just wanted it stated that the clause could be negotiated and thanked the group for explaining the process.

The contract was approved unanimously 8-0 with Board member Freda K. Jones absent.