Talawanda school board OKs superintendent’s retire/rehire

Talawanda Board of Education members voted Monday night to grant the retire/rehire request of Superintendent Kelly Spivey, saying they wanted to keep continuity in the district.

Board President Mark Butterfield read a statement indicating he thought it in the best interest of the district to grant the request, even though some had spoken against the idea, based on opposition to the retire/rehire practice.

“Retire/Rehire is a difficult decision. We researched it and we delayed it a month to get feedback from the community,” Butterfield said on Tuesday. “It’s like in business. You want to surround yourself with capable people. That’s the way I see it with Kelly. She holds a lot of pieces in the puzzle.”

The board voted 4-0 to approve the request, with board member Darrell Smith absent.

Butterfield said Spivey is well-versed in the requirements mandated by the state as well as matters in the district, allowing for smooth operation and cooperation within the district.

At a public hearing on the request in January, one resident said she opposed the retire/rehire concept because it kept younger, deserving replacements from moving up in the ranks. Other speakers, however, said Spivey deserved to keep the post because of her leadership and work with staff at all levels.

Changes in the state teachers’ retirement system have been forcing more educators to retire earlier than they planned to rather than risk changes that would cost them money.

Spivey said she had been approached about possible education-related jobs outside of public schools which would be an option if her request was denied, but said she preferred to stay at Talawanda.

Butterfield’s statement read at the meeting on Monday prior to the board’s vote also noted many professionals were being forced into the decision to retire earlier than planned.

The decision was not arrived at lightly, he said.

“The Board spent over four months reviewing the process, options, financial impact and the availability of developed superintendents in Ohio,” he said. “The board received information from the public and as a result delayed the process 30 days to review all information provided.”

While the action will save the district a little money directly, it is the long-term savings in both money and experience that Butterfield said helped him decide.

“The board of education’s decision to rehire Mrs. Spivey was not for the annual savings in salary, but to prevent the costs that can be associated with a new superintendent not only financially but in the momentum of the district,” he said. “Talawanda sets goals and achieves them, it takes the right people in the right positions supported and guided appropriately to make that happen. I’m glad Mrs. Spivey is here at Talawanda.”

He reiterated that on Tuesday, saying he felt it would take a new superintendent a year to gain the working knowledge of the district and the job to be fully effective in the post, also noting that Spivey worked in the district prior to her appointment as superintendent, including time as assistant superintendent.

That was an important consideration, Butterfield said.

“There are many pieces to the puzzle of a successful district, the superintendent is the border that holds them all together,” he said in his Monday statement at the board meeting. “Mrs. Spivey has been developed by this district as a superintendent and is a large part of its success.”

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