DCSS hires new HR Director

ALBANY, Ga. — The Dougherty County School Board on Monday hired Terrell Young as its new director of human resources by a 5-0 vote. Young, who is coming from North Carolina, replaces Tracy Williams, who was fired earlier this year.

Earlier in the meeting, Superintendent Joshua Murfree informed the School Board that consultant Darrell Sabbs had repaid the system $6,000 from a disputed contract involving Sabbs’ “Saturday Academy” for boosting the reading skills of fourth-grade students.

Board member David Maschke was unhappy with the system getting $6,000 back from Sabbs’ $91,000 contract.

“I hope the Board of Education won’t accept just $6,000 when I feel we are owed significantly more,” said Maschke, who had said Sabbs owed the system at least $11,377 for not fulfilling the terms of the contract.

In the lengthy board pre-briefing, there was much discussion as to how to rework system policy on the awarding of contracts to consultants.

“I feel like this policy must have some teeth in it,” Board Chairman James Bush said.

“I agree,” Maschke said. “I feel like the board needs to vote on these contracts and $15,000 to $20,000 seems like a reasonable starting range.”

While he said he thought current policy was good, Murfree said, “We need a stronger policy that is more consistent and is not filled with contradictions.”

The superintendent said he would task the DCSS finance committee, which consists of Bush, Carol Tharin and Anita Williams-Brown, with the job of reviewing and revising existing policies to present before the full board.

Murfree, updating the board in the recent probe into Title I expenditures by the Georgia Department of Education, said he felt the system had met all the state requirements as it looks into 33 expenditures of Title I funds that state officials said were questionable.

The superintendent added that he thought the issues would be resolved by the Oct. 1 start of the new federal fiscal year, which would free up approximately $11 million in frozen FY 2013 federal funds.

In other information to the board, Murfree said the system expected a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) team to be in town on Sept. 23 to begin the system’s reaccreditation process.

The next School Board meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Aug. 22 at the School Administration Building.