After the school board approved to extend Director of Schools Jennifer Fields contract, the audience of teachers and administrative staff applauded.

By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The Campbell County School Board voted to extend Director of Schools Jennifer Fields contract for two more years. Her original contract was set to expire next spring and will now run through April of 2027.

Extending the director’s contract was by law the first item on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.

Board member Sharon Ridenour made the motion to extend the contract for two years until April 2027.

Board member Josh James seconded the motion.

Of the ten school board members, seven were present for Thursday’s meeting, with Crystal Creekmore, Jeffrey Miller and Ronnie Lasley absent. The remaining school board members Steve Morgan, Sharon Ridenour, Josh James, Johnny Byrge, Brent Lester, Randy Heatherly and Lisa Fields were present for the meeting. Lisa Fields abstained from voting and the remainder voted unanimous to extend the contract.

After the vote was approved, teachers and administrative school staff in the audience applauded.

At the end of the overall meeting, during the portion set aside for school board member comments, several board members congratulated Fields.

“Congratulations Ms. Fields on your contract. I’ve seen day in day out how hard you work, and I appreciate it; a lot of it goes unnoticed and I just appreciate the job you do and also your staff. The school system is in good hands; I fully trust your decisions and it makes our job a lot easier as a board,” Johnny Byrge said. Sharon Ridenour echoed these sentiments.

Campbell County School Board members voted to extend Director of Schools Jennifer Fields contract at Thursday’s meeting.

Josh James said Fields does a “phenomenal job.”

He also read a statement he had prepared.

“Thank you all for being here today. Your commitment to our schools, students and staff is evident. I was made aware of a comment that was made by board member Lasley in the LaFollette Press article. I would like to share that comment with everyone. Mr. Lasley was quoted as saying, ‘I think our schools are performing very badly.’ So, I am here to reassure everyone that Mr. Lasley does not speak on behalf of the entire board, and he definitely does not speak on my behalf. When an individual is in a position such as we are, one can either lift others up or tear others down. Unfortunately, Mr. Lasley chose the latter. I just want to take the time to say just how proud I am of our students, parents, staff, teachers and administrators. We continue to see improvement, and it would not be possible without each of you and your hard work in bettering our community. I am so proud of our schools, and I am extremely grateful to represent the fourth district. Thank you.”

His statement received applause from the audience.

Fields spoke briefly after this, thanking those in attendance for their support.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank not only the board but everyone who I know came tonight to support me. All my staff is here tonight, my family, my friends, colleagues, neighbors who are like family to me, thank you for being here tonight. I appreciate you, and I think it’s very important to say that when you have support, you’re going to have progress and you’re going to have strength, and you’re going to move ahead, and that’s what it’s going to take to make the progress that we have consistently made over the last six years. Now unfortunately, the state changed the calculation formula, they removed AMOs, so our letter grades do not reflect the achievements we have made. So, I don’t ever want our teachers or my supervisors to feel that they have not worked to the best of their ability, and they’ve gone above and beyond, because you certainly have; you are not defined by a letter grade. I am proud of you, and I am proud to be in this position to work for you for three more years.”

Fields also received applause. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/05/2024-6AM)

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