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| Bart Reeves |
By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland
Jackson County Board of Education Superintendent Bart Reeves
served in his last board meeting before Kevin Dukes takes office last night.
Reeves said he felt it best that that be his last meeting so
Dukes would have time to conduct interviews, make recommendations to the board
and have time to prepare ideas for his first meeting after he is sworn into
office in January.
Reeves made the following statement about hi s time in
Jackson County:
“This has been a wonderful, wonderful experience. I have met some great and wonderful people in
this county. As I told the board at the beginning it was a win win. If I won
the election it would be great … if I didn’t that’s fine too because picking up
16 months of experience as superintendent again that was a win win for me and I
don’t leave bitter. I don’t leave upset or angry or anything like that. I came here
to do a job and I think I’ve done that from day one … and I will continue to do that up until Christmas or the official day we transition to
a new administration.
“Some of you might wonder about Mr. Dukes and my relationship.
In my opinion when there is a transition of power …it needs to be smooth … in
this situation this is in the best interest of the kids and it’s in the best interest
of the employees and that’s the way I look at it and that’s the way I have
looked at it since March.
“Mr. Dukes and I have gone together to some of the
superintendent meetings over the past several months. He has asked me questions
here and there about different things and I have consulted with him about different
things that would affect his administration going into the future, because when
you get right down to it that’s the right thing to do and that’s something I believe
in. I’m fortunate to say I was raised by really good parents. They wanted me to
do right they wanted me to be honest and I think I have done that.
“ I’ve had to make some very difficult decisions over the
past year and they were hard to make, but when you’re given the evidence and
given the information you are supposed to act on it folks, when it’s in the
best interest of the employees and when it’s in the best interest of the kids. I
believe I have done just that. It’s been a collaborative effort among the supervisors,
among the board attorney and among the board and I don’t lose any sleep and I haven’t
lost any sleep.
“’I’m going to leave this position and I feel like the
school system is better today than what it was when I inherited it and
hopefully in four years, as Mr. Dukes is
possibly running again, I hope he can say the same thing, it’s better four
years later than when he first inherited it. We want it to become great. We don’t
want to become complacent. If we become complacent we are not really looking
out for the best interest of our kids, looking out for new ideas and how to
make the school system better.”
The board’s next meeting will be held January 3.
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