Overton County board narrows director of schools contract to two years, plans staff survey and TSBA severability clause

The Overton County Board of Education discussed revisions to the director of schools employment contract and agreed informally to set the contract term at two years, with the contract (if finalized at that length) ending in June 2027. The board also directed staff to add a severability clause recommended by the Tennessee School Boards Association and to run an anonymous evaluation of employees who work directly with the director before a follow-up work session.

Board members said continuity of leadership weighed against shorter terms for accountability. A majority of board members voiced support for a two-year contract during the meeting; several members said they preferred shorter terms (one or 12 months) while one member favored a longer term. Board members asked staff to confirm how the contract language about probation and automatic rollovers should read and to add the TSBA-recommended severability clause as a new numbered paragraph in the draft contract.

The board discussed compensation language in the draft agreement and noted that the proposed contract salary would reflect prior pay increases the board authorized for teachers; one participant described the salary figure in the draft as “one hundred and eight thousand” (text in meeting). Members who spoke in favor of a raise said the director’s work is demanding and that pay should be comparable with peer counties; others said any change in the contract term should be used to encourage improved performance.

Separately, board members agreed to solicit feedback from staff who work directly with the director. They discussed using an online anonymous tool (for example, SurveyMonkey) and debated which groups should receive the survey: principals and supervisors were cited as the staff most likely to have regular contact with the director and therefore the most relevant respondents. The board reviewed the evaluation items and identified question groupings (board-level questions 1–14; community relations; staff and personnel relationships; leadership; business and finance; strategic planning and long-range planning). Members raised concerns about true anonymity and about response bias (that disgruntled employees may be more likely to respond than satisfied ones). The board asked staff to draft the survey quickly, send it out, collect results, and schedule a work session to review findings prior to a formal vote in a regular meeting.

The board set a tentative timeline: members discussed distributing the survey and returning results within about two weeks and holding a work session on the Tuesday the board referred to as the “20 ninth” (the meeting transcript did not specify the calendar month). Board members asked staff to confirm the date and time; one member stated the work session would be at 6:30 p.m. in the board’s regular time slot, and a formal vote on the contract was to be scheduled for the next regular meeting in May.

Members also raised procedural points about board communications and the role of the director. One board member reminded colleagues that communications with principals and supervisors typically should be routed through the director and noted that the board’s single direct hire is the director of schools.

Board members asked staff to: (1) add TSBA’s suggested severability clause into the draft contract as a new numbered provision; (2) prepare and distribute an anonymous evaluation instrument to supervisors and principals (and other staff as appropriate); (3) collect and disseminate survey results to the board; and (4) hold a work session to review results before a formal vote. Board members said they would double-check statutory requirements for contract changes and termination thresholds (members discussed whether Tennessee law requires a majority or a two-thirds vote to remove a director and asked staff to confirm the current legal standard).

The discussion combined policy considerations — term length, performance accountability, salary alignment with teacher increases — with procedural steps to gather more input from employees who work most directly with the director and to finalize contract language recommended by TSBA. No formal roll-call vote on the contract term occurred during the meeting; the board moved to the two-year term by majority voice and scheduled follow-up steps for final action.