(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, February 5 and their regular monthly meeting Monday, February 9.
Closed session and personnel: The board adjourned into a 12 minute closed session to discuss personnel. After the session, the board voted to hire Katie Bartram as receptionist at Patterson Elementary, Robert Smith as a full-time teacher at the high school and Shirley Blackmon and Amber Corbitt as school nutrition food assistants, all for this year. For the 2026-2027 school year, the board voted to hire Blair Hubbard and Macey Martin as teachers, Ashley “Parker” Smith as speech language pathologist and Ashlee Barrow as school nurse, all at Blackshear Elementary; Anna Lisa Sturdivant and Douglas B. Williamson, both as teachers and Rebecca Davis and JoNisha Palmer as paraprofessionals all at Midway Elementary; Brianna Raithel and Ava Whitaker, as teachers at the middle school and Briana Turner as school nurse and Britt Williamson as assistant track coach, both at the high school. The board voted to accept the resignation of high school principal Kelly Murray (See related story.) The board also approved the resignations of teachers Logan Berryhill and Cameron Moore, both also at the high school; Lauren Hyers as assistant principal at the middle school and Pamela Huff, teacher, also at PCMS; Emily Ray as speech language pathologist and Jessica Hayes as paraprofessional, both at Blackshear Elementary, Candice “Sunny” Oliver as bookkeeper at Midway and Patterson Elementary Schools; Helen Sirmons as school nutrition food assistant and Heather Mcfarland as a bus driver. The board approved the retirements of Nancy Smith, teacher at Blackshear Elementary and Tina Cravey, teacher at Pierce County High School. The board approved recommendations for returning staff for all schools in the system including Yvette Newton, assistant superintendent, Melanie Helms, director of finance and human resources, Teresa Dixon, director of instruction and assessment, Becky Swain, school nutrition director, Dr. Anita Harris, director of special programs, Sarah McIntosh, director of student services, Lauren Taylor, school psychologist, Jennifer Johnson, social worker and PBIS coordinator, Mandy Williams, Blackshear Elementary principal, Dr. Brandi Todd, Midway Elementary principal, Amanda Lankford, Patterson Elementary principal and Amanda Gay, PCMS principal along with certified staff for all five schools. In separate votes, Board chairman Duward Boatright abstained in the vote for his daughter-in-law, Nancy Boatright, media specialist at Patterson Elementary, second district board member Perry Tison abstained on the vote for his daughter-in-law, Virginia Tison, teacher at the high school and third district board member Chip Griner abstained on the votes for his daughter and son-inlaw, Ella Griner Teston and Beau Teston, teachers at PCMS. Griner also abstained on the vote for the retirement of his wife, Julie Griner, a teacher at Patterson Elementary. All five votes were 4-1. Abstentions count as no votes for recording purposes. The board also adjourned into a five minute closed session for personnel at Monday’s meeting. Following the session, the board approved the hire of Kyler Allen as assistant principal at the middle school, Garrett Anderson as a teacher at the high school, and Lori Edwards and Mandy Gill as school nutrition assistants. SaraCoggin was approved as a community coach for the girls track team at the middle school and Sarah Walley was changed from a paraprofessional to a teacher at Blackshear Elementary. The board also accepted the resignations of Larry Insalaco, teacher at the high school, James Douberly custodian at the middle school and Abigail Burkett, school nutrition assistant.
Non resident tuition: The board approved the out-of-district tuition for 2026-2027 school year.
