Dougherty School Board chair takes out-of-town job, staying on board
School system CFO Ken Dyer favorite to succeed outgoing School Chief Butch Mosely
Dougherty County School Board Chair Velvet Riggins has taken a full-time job with the Turner County Recreation Department, while Associate Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer Ken Dyer is the odds-on favorite to replace Butch Mosely as school system superintendent. Mosely will step down in June with a year remaining on his contract due to health and family reasons. (Staff Photo: Terry Lewis)
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — Dougherty County School Board Chair Velvet Riggins confirmed today she has accepted a job with Turner County in its recreation department. Riggins, who is in her second stint as DCSS board chair, said she will maintain her residence in Dougherty County and will continue serving on the School Board.
“I haven’t worked full time in five years and I needed a job,” Riggins said. “I’m not moving to Ashburn and have no plans to resign from the Dougherty County School Board.”
She has been unemployed since her arrest in a school lunch fraud investigation in 2012. Riggins was indicted by a grand jury on two felony counts of theft by taking and public record fraud, in addition to a misdemeanor count of theft by taking. A Dougherty County Superior Court trial jury found her not guilty, but not before she was terminated from her job with the Girl Scouts of Albany.
The school system finds itself in a state of flux at the moment. In addition to reacting to the two January storms that affected students and personnel alike, Superintendent Butch Mosely Mosely is stepping down at the end of June — a year early — for health and family reasons, and Assistant Superintendent Jack Willis will be leaving when Mosely departs.
The School Board meets Wednesday with a light agenda, but has an executive session scheduled at the end of the meeting with the subject of Mosely’s replacement at the main topic of discussion.
The odds-on favorite as Mosely’s replacement is Associate Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer Ken Dyer, who has held his position for the past five years.
“I’m not campaigning for the job, that is up to the School Board to decide,” Dyer said. “The situation is still fluid, but I’ll leave that decision to the board.”
Mosely will reportedly recommend Dyer’s promotion during the executive session, but it is highly unlikely that a final decision will be reached on Wednesday.
In his five years on the job, Mosely has built a considerable of good will among board members, and his recommendation likely will carry weight in the naming of his successor.
“I trust Butch Mosely’s judgment and will vote accordingly when the time comes,” one board member, who would not speak for attribution, said. “As I said, he has very good judgment. I’ve known him since 1980 and he has never changed and he has never given me a reason to doubt him.”
Related Articles
Dougherty Schools prepare for bell-to-bell student cell phone ban
As Georgia prepares to expand its statewide ban on personal electronic devices in public schools, Dougherty County School System leaders say they are working to balance compliance with the new law while giving individual schools flexibility in how they implement the policy.
Georgia’s school funding formula still ignores poverty; educators say students pay the price
During a report to the board on the outcomes of this year’s legislative session, Dyer discussed the district’s efforts to persuade lawmakers to add an “opportunity weight” to Georgia’s Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula — a change supporters say would provide additional state funding for students living in poverty.
Albany teen, 16, makes bodybuilding debut at Atlanta OCB Pro/Am
Crockett, an Albany resident and student at Albany Technical College Academy, placed second in the teen bikini division this weekend at the OCB Immortal Muscle Pro/Am Bodybuilding Competition in Atlanta, becoming the youngest competitor across all categories at the event.
