Why would there be interest in School Board seats. Because the Knox Charter Petition / Accountability people left the school board out of the amendment. That is the likely reason that Jim McClain and his former School Board members endorsed the plan. In addition, Laurens Tullock of Cornerstone Foundation through the foundation funded several junkets for School Board back when Jim McClain was a School Board member, but I digress.
The School Board is exempt from Term Limits. The School Board is exempt from Nepotism. The School Board is exempt from the Conflicts of Interest.
So, the five seats that are open in 2010 and the likely candidates for those seats are as follows.
First District – Former Commissioner Diane Jordan who is a former Knoxville City School Board Member. Current Commissioner Thomas “Tank” Strickland.
Fourth District – Former Commission appointees Elaine Davis and William Daniels, Current Commissioner Ed Shouse, Former Commissioner Bee Deselm and John Schmid.
Sixth District – Current Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert, Former Commission appointee Sharon Cawood.
Seventh District – Current Commissioner Scott Moore.
Ninth District – Current Commissioner Paul Pinkston, Mike Hammond, Former Commissioner Larry Clark or Former Commission appointee Tim Greene.
In 2012 the four School Board seats open and likely candidates are.
Second District – Current Commissioners Amy Broyles and Mark Harmon whichever loses the Commission seat in 2010.
Third District – Current Commissioner Rex “Tony” Norman, Former Commissioner Wanda Moody.
Fifth District – Current Commissioner Craig Leuthold, former Commission appointee Frank Leuthold, former School Board member Thomas Deakins (due to residency being shifted into the fifth district)
Eighth District – Current School Board member Bill Phillips likely will NOT face opposition.
How much money does a school board member make?
I have always wondered about the commission districts when thinking about the reduction of commissioners. The KCP folks say that districts will not have to be restructured. Well, I still find it hard to believe that one, part-time commissioner will be able to handle my 8th district, the largest land mass district.
The Charter states that School Board members make the EXACT same salary, including travel per diem as County Commission.
So when County Commission votes itself a payraise the School Board gets a payraise.
As a matter of fact three years after I left the School Board. I received a check for a payraise that the School Board was unaware that Commission had received for a brief period, maybe three months.
I donated the money from the check to my church.
I just heard them talking about amendment 3 on the Voice 1040am. They were saying that the districts will have to be redone.
I have to wonder, who really knows the answers to what this reduction in commissioners will actually mean to Knox County?