CELINA-Clay County Commissioners voted to request state lawmakers pass a law to give each county in the state the choice to have either an appointed or elected director of schools at their February meeting.

The Tennessee Legislature several years ago passed a law ending elected “superintendents of schools” and authorizing an appointed “director of schools” to be hired by local school boards. 

Tennessee Code Annotated says in part the law’s intention was to “convert the former elected office of superintendent of public instruction to an administrative position filled by the applicable local board of education.”

Resolution #1 passed by the Clay commission last week “requests that a state law be drawn that allows Tennessee counties to either appoint or to elect the director of schools based on their individual discretion.”

The resolution asks that “counties be allowed to make this decision by a resolution passed by the county legislative body.”

In other action, the commission:

• authorized county mayor Dale Reagan to submit a grant application to the Rural Development division of the USDA “for the renovation, expansion of the Celina Senior Citizens Center and (to) purchase a new air conditioner for the County Public Library,” the meeting summary says. The grant request total was $715,000 for both projects,

• passed a budget amendment of $500 transferring funds from “insurance recovery” to “motor vehicles,”

• passed a budget amendment of $7,000 transferring funds from “state revenue sharing – TVA” to “highway/public works,” and 

• passed a budget amendment of $6,322.06 transferring funds from “fund balance” to pay for “litigation tax/reports that were not filed properly by the previous administration,” the resolution said. 

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Commissioners also appointed Sarah Meadows, Tiffany Boles, Alma Edgington, Sandra Eads, Elwood Ervin and Crys Stephens as notaries public. 

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At the January 26 planning meeting, commissioners agreed the so-called “motel” or occupancy tax would be put on the March planning meeting agenda, with another vote on the measure at the April meeting.