Board will select counsel by year's end
Columbia County school officials said Tuesday that they hope to make a decision on hiring legal counsel by the end of the year.
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The board announced in late July that it will develop a request for proposals to seek legal representation.
Attorney Bill Fleming, who has represented the school system for several years, will continue in that capacity through the end of the year. He said he likely will reapply for the contract, which is awarded on an annual basis.
"We'll look at and evaluate the entire picture," he said. "I don't think they know what concrete information they're going to present at this point."
Superintendent Charles Nagle told the board he hopes to present more detailed information about the types of legal services it needs by its next meeting. He said administrators are compiling a list of legal services and costs that the board has incurred in the past year.
He said the administrators include Tommy Price, the retired superintendent who is working for the school system part-time.
Board members said they would like to name their legal counsel for next year at their January meeting.
Nagle also announced the five finalists for Teacher of the Year honors. They are: Carole Ayers, a first-grade teacher at Evans Elementary; Danielle Callan, the River Ridge Elementary music teacher; Amy Coleman, a first-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary; Jane ElLaissi, who teaches seventh-grade science and social studies at Riverside Middle; and Wendy Kersey, a North Harlem Elementary fourth-grade teacher.
Faculty members from each of the system's 28 schools selected their Teacher of the Year candidates.
"To be recognized by your peers is a tremendous honor," Nagle said.
The finalists were chosen by a panel of three outside judges. Another team of educators will interview and observe the five teachers to select the winner, who will be announced Oct. 4.
Columbia County's top teacher will represent the system in the state Teacher of the Year contest.
Anna Olliff, of Evans Middle School, is the 2007-08 Media Specialist of the Year.
The board also named James Van Meter as the system's new technology director at a salary of $81,562. He will begin his duties Monday.