VOL. 54 NO. 27
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BUZZ Smith to head Richard Yoakley Seth Smith has been appointed the new principal at the Richard Yoakley School. He is currently an assistant principal at Central High School. Smith began his tenure with Knox County Schools in 1997 as a social studies teacher at Farragut High School and has also been a social studies teacher at Fulton High School. He moved into administration in 2006 as an assistant principal at Carter High School and has also served as an assistant principal at Farragut High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee and a master’s in education administration and supervision from Lincoln Memorial University.
Ed and Bob coming to Carter Knox County at-large commissioners Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas will host a community meeting 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, at Cardin’s Drive-In, 8529 Asheville Highway. All residents are invited to attend to discuss county issues. Other commissioners may attend as well.
Red Gate Rodeo The annual Red Gate Festival and Rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday, July 17-18, at Red Gate Farm in Maynardville. Carnival starts at 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Rodeo starts at 8 p.m. each day. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for kids 4-10 years old, and free for kids age 3 and under. Info: www.redgaterodeo. com or 992-3303.
IN THIS ISSUE Student on board Betty Bean talks with Bearden High School senior Sydney Gabrielson after her first school board meeting as the student representative.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-5
Green is here Wendy Smith snagged an interview with Gerald Green, new director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, during his first week in town.
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Read Wendy Smith on page A-4
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July 8, 2015
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By Sandra San and dra a Clark Clar Cl ark k
What started as a free lunch turned into a celebration of freedom at Commercial Bank in Halls on June 30. With a display of patriotism a mile wide, the bank staff put on entertainment, a rousing speech and spectacular desserts. It was a Fourth of July gift to some of the bank’s most loyal customers – The Golden Presidential Club. Janice Clark, Halls branch operations supervisor, invited Commercial Bank staff from Emory Road, Fountain City and West Knoxville branches. Entertainment was by Autumn and Abby Arsenault, the 14- and 11-year-old daughters of David and Carrie Arsenault. Both have played violin since age four. Both are part of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra (KSYO). Autumn won this year’s KSYO Concerto Competition and Abby is KSYO concert master. Dean LaRue, executive vice president over Knox and Union counties, brought the message. And that’s what it was. LaRue spoke of the “ragged rebels” who fought off a superior British force to secure victory for the United States of America. “They were fighting for their lives,” he said, “while the British were fighting for their king. “The American Revolution was fought for freedom to transform our dreams into reality.” He got no disagreement from the red-, white- and blue-clad members of the GPC. LaRue got wound up then, talking about how George
Carolyn Valentine and Nadean Meredith, leaders of Commercial Bank’s Golden Presidential Club. More pictures on Page A-9
To page A-9
Coaching legend Joel Helton dead at 66 By Betty Bean “Coach Helton, you’ve sure got a big heart – for a white man.” D.J. Bowman, Central High School Class of 2000 The worst-kept secret in Fountain City was that there was something Joel Helton loved more than winning: Helping the kids who needed him most. Helton, the 27-year Central High School head football coach, had a heart as big as “Ghostbusters’” Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Rides to and from school for kids with no transportation? Sure. Lunch money for hungry kids with empty pockets? Check. Finding scholarships for deserving players with no other way to go to college? Yes. Breakfast and a fieldhouse shower for a homeless kid who’d spent the night in his mother’s car? Every day. And Helton came to work at 6 a.m. It wasn’t that he didn’t love to win; he just had a different agenda – to do his best for
Longtime Central High School football coach Joel Helton and his daughter, Alison File photo
all his kids, particularly those who needed him most. And he didn’t stop caring even after he was summarily dismissed from the job he loved on charges that proved to be unfounded. Despite his compassion, Helton was a taskmaster. A generation of American government students who were required to memorize the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution will be struck by the fact that he died on the Fourth of July. Powell resident Helton, a proud Rule High School Golden Bear and Cumberland College graduate, leaves his wife, Chris, his children, Alison and Zach, and grandchildren Jake Covington, Anderson Helton and soon-to-be-born Everly Joel Helton. He is also survived by his mother, Dorothy Helton, siblings Ronnie, Debbie, Tim, Jamie and Tonya, and 21 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, James “Bull” Helton, and his brother Jerry. He also leaves a generation of students who know the Preamble to the Constitution.
The day after: What did teachers gain? the four anti-McIntyre faction members – two of whom, Terry Hill of District 6 and Mike McMillan of District 8, are being rewarded with constituent-pleasing new middle schools. When District 5 board member Karen Carson signaled her intention to vote yes by proposing an amendment making sure that Burchett didn’t hog the credit for the pay raise, any suspense surrounding the vote was removed. Under the terms of the compromise, McIntyre agreed to trim $1 million from his original budget request and apply it to teacher raises. Burchett agreed to make a onetime payment to Knox CounIt really wasn’t a nail biter. The political reality is there ty Schools of $3 million to fund was little chance that the MOU APEX (strategic compensation) would fail, given that board mem- bonuses promised to teachers who ber Doug Harris, a member of the earned them. This leaves open the pro-McIntyre faction, had initi- question of how such bonuses will ated the negotiating process and be funded in the future. was locked into a yes vote, as were The agreement to sell the An-
By Betty Bean
Knox County school board members were faced with a stark choice last week: Approve a memorandum of understanding between Mayor Tim Burchett and Superintendent James McIntyre that leaves teachers with half the pay raise they’d been led to expect, or be stuck with Burchett’s original budget offer, which would leave the school system with a $6.5 million shortfall and mean no raise at all.
Analysis
drew Johnson Building was accepted with no comment, and little reference was made to a paragraph in the agreement that bars additional new school construction until 2021, except for a couple of board members who are hoping for new schools in their districts noting that the agreement is “nonbinding.” Board members Tracie Sanger, Lynne Fugate and Gloria Deathridge made strong cases for turning down the deal, and Sanger was eloquent when she spoke of “havenot” schools – like Inskip Elementary School – whose actual needs “will be superseded by projected needs. We need to address current needs before we address projected needs,” she said. Several dozen red-shirted teachers who had rallied in support of nonrenewed colleagues before the board meeting stuck around to watch the vote. Most
had little to say about the MOU. When asked how teachers felt about getting only half of the 4 percent raise that McIntyre – and Gov. Bill Haslam – semi-promised them this year, one teacher activist said teachers are accustomed to getting shafted. “Once again we’re feeling like an afterthought, but we’re thinking, ‘Something’s better than nothing.’ You can say raises are a priority, and we’ve got to take care of them, but meanwhile teachers are being chased out; veteran teachers are being replaced by young teachers. It’s cheaper that way. And McIntyre keeps creating administrative positions for people like Clifford Davis and Russ Oaks. And the $65 million for new schools? Teachers don’t think much about that.” The teacher tapped Burchett as the big winner in the compromise. “He’s got McIntyre on a short leash.”
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