Murray Ledger & Times article by Hawkins Teague
MURRAY – The Murray Independent School District Board of Education gave glowing reviews to Superintendent Coy Samons in its annual evaluation last week, as well as honoring an outgoing board member and a retiring longtime district employee.
The MISD board does its annual superintendent’s evaluation each December. Board Chair Richard Crouch said board members fill out a form with several pages of items on which superintendents are ranked. Each of the criteria are graded on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being poor and 4 being excellent, or exceeding expectations. He said almost every board member gave Samons a 4 in each category.
“Every mother and father wants their adult son and daughter described with terms like, ‘honest,’ ‘sincere,’ ‘integrity,’ ‘leadership,’ ‘professional,’ ‘committed,’ ‘dedicated,’” Crouch said. “Those were words the school board members used in their open-ended comments to describe Mr. Samons. We’re very fortunate to have Mr. Samons as our superintendent. He’s been here for four years, and he was a superintendent in his previous school district, so he’s got roughly 20 years of working as a superintendent. He’s someone that other superintendents in the region who are less experienced will call to seek his input on decisions to be made. So when your peers are calling you for advice, that’s a very high compliment. He’s a mentor to other superintendents. We don’t have anything bad to say about Mr. Samons.”
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During the meeting, Samons updated board members on the newest re-opening guidelines from Kentucky Department of Education Commissioner Jason Glass. Although KDE is still advising districts in red zones (25 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents) to consider remote learning until cases decline, Samons said he is hoping to stick to the board’s current reopening plan.
“We are still scheduled to begin in-person instruction for families that choose to do so Jan. 11,” Samons said. “We had our initial meeting today with our principals and administrators to decide on how we could possibly tweak (our plans) when new guidance comes down, and I think we’ll be ready. I will communicate to the board any changes that we get from Frankfort.”
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The board recognized outgoing board member Jason Howell, who is leaving the board to take office in January as the new state senator for Kentucky’s District 1. He will succeed Stan Humphries of Cadiz, who decided not to run for re-election. Samons thanked Howell for his service and gave him a throw blanket and a bell with Howell’s years of service inscribed on a mantlepiece.
Incoming board member Gayle Rogers, who will be replacing Howell on the board next month, was present at Thursday’s meeting.
The board also recognized Chief Information Officer Rusty Back, who is retiring after working for MISD for 28 1/2 years. Samons said Back’s retirement will be effective Jan. 1, and he also gave Back the gift of a throw blanket.
“This is a token of our appreciation, and we wish you much happiness in retirement,” Samons said.
“I can’t think of anything better on a cold December night,” Back said to laughter.
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MISD Digital Learning Coach Mechelle Morgan opened the meeting by talking about the digital resource cards the Calloway County Public Library is making available to students. She said the card gives students free access to e-books, audiobooks, movies, music and other media through digital services like Kentucky Libraries Unbound, Hoopla and Kanopy. It also gives them access to World Book Online and Tutor.com, a service that allows students to take practice tests for the ACT and other tests.
“We’re just very grateful to the library for reaching out to us and making these available, and hopefully we’ll continue to get more and more students access to these cards as they sign up for them,” Morgan said.
Sandy Linn, CCPL’s community relations coordinator, told the Ledger & Times she is also planning to work with Calloway County Schools in the coming weeks to give their students access to the same services.
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The board approved the second readings of proposed “traditional” and “variable” school calendars for 2021-22. Although the number of instructional days would be fewer for the variable calendar – 162 days compared to the traditional calendar’s 176 days – Samons said both calendars include 1,062 hours of instruction.
The traditional calendar has opening day scheduled for Aug. 4; fall break set for Oct. 4-8, Thanksgiving break set for Nov. 24-26; Christmas break set for Dec. 20-31, with school restarting on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022; days off scheduled for Feb. 21 and March 25; spring break set for April 4-8; and closing day on May 17.
The variable calendar – which Samons said he hoped would not be needed – has opening day scheduled for Aug. 20; fall break set for Oct. 4-8, Thanksgiving break set for Nov. 24-26; Christmas break set for Dec. 23 through Jan. 7, with school restarting on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022; days off scheduled for Feb. 21 and March 25; spring break set for April 4-8; and closing day on May 17.
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The executive session included not only the superintendent’s evaluation, but also a discussion of the potential sale or acquisition of real property. The board took no action after that discussion.
Crouch kicked off the final meeting of 2020 by thanking district employees for their hard work navigating a rough and unpredictable year.
“There’s a sign over at the hospital that says, ‘Heroes Work Here,’” said Crouch, who is a retired physician. “There could be a similar sign at the school district. Thank you for all that you do.”