While the New Year tends to bring changes, for the Marion County School District one thing will stay the same: Superintendent Wendy Bracey.
At the board meeting on Monday night, the board voted to approve Bracey’s contract for the next 18 months. That will take the contract to the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Bracey will be paid $105,000 a year. Her current salary is $101,000.
Board member Richard Culliver said, “Due to the fact that Miss Bracey has done an excellent job here in the past four years and throughout those four years Miss Bracey has rejected a pay raise because the teachers did not get one, we did adjust her pay up to $105,000, and she will also be considered for pay raises whenever teachers get one from the state in the future.”
The Marion County district is rated as a B by the state, one of the top grades in the region.
Bracey, who was elected as superintendent in 2015, said on Tuesday she is excited to be staying on.
“I love my students and my staff,” she said.
The Legislature approved in 2016 to do away with electing school superintendents with the change to take effect when the current four-year terms expire on Jan. 1, 2020. Of the 144 school districts in the state, only 60 districts still have elected superintendents, including Marion County. The Columbia School District superintendent has been an appointed position for decades.
According to a chart of superintendent’s salaries from 2018-2019 published by Mississippi Today, Bracey’s previous salary of $101,000 ranked 106th out of 154 school districts in the state. The new salary would move her up to 97th. Columbia Superintendent Jason Harris ranked 50th at $128,000.
Also Monday, the school board elected new officers for the upcoming year. Richard Culliver has been elected president and Larry Jenkins secretary. They will assume those positions Jan. 1.
Jenkins discussed attending continuous leadership training. Board members are required at least six hours a year of training with 12 hours for first-year board members. The training is to keep board members knowledgeable on policies. Jenkins said he received the Premier Circle Award last year for attending 30.5 hours of continuous training.
In other actions the board voted to hire Heather Gay as a cafeteria worker and Leigh Hall as a part-time graduation coach at East Marion High School.
The board approved the following 16th Section lease amendments:
Jeff Anthony 160 acres in Section 16-3N-12E and Charles R. Thompson Jr. 1.2 acres in Section 16-3N, 18W.
Approval was received for the lease assignment of Austin Randall 20 acres in Section 16-5N-17W to Amy Terrell and approved the lease for David McDonald and Kyle Gardner 5 acres in Section 16-3N-18W.
