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March 16, 2010

Monroe BOE declines to renew superintendent’s contract

By Tina Alvey Register-Herald Reporter

UNION — The Monroe County Board of Education declined Monday evening to renew the contract of Dr. Lyn Guy, who has served as superintendent of schools in her home county for 19 years.

The relationship between the superintendent and the board had turned rocky in recent years.

“It’s been a difficult couple of years,” Guy said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It was so bad, I thought about resigning, but I decided to stick with it.”

Guy would not provide any details of her disagreements with the board, saying, “I don’t want to muddy the waters.”

She added, “I know what’s been said in public, but it would be presumptuous for me to try to define what the ulterior motives (for this action) are.”

Board member Danny Lively presented a motion Monday to offer Guy a new contract, but said it died for lack of a second. All five board members were present at the meeting.

“The board had differences of opinion with Dr. Guy,” Lively explained, “but everybody has differences of opinion. You work it out; you don’t eliminate somebody who has done so much for the school system.”

A 28-year veteran of Monroe County schools who retired two years ago, Lively said he felt Guy deserved the contract offer.

He said two factors figured largely into his decision to support Guy — a “much better than average” job performance evaluation score and the clout she wields on the state level in obtaining funding for Monroe County schools.

“She has amassed a lot of support at the state level,” Lively said. “She knows how to get things done.”

The timing is particularly bad, he noted, given that the county is now working to get a new middle school built for Peterstown area students.

Explaining the decision to not offer Guy a new contract, board member Larry Mustain said, “We felt that we wanted to kind of throw the position open and interview other people. It’s been some time since we’ve looked at other candidates.”

While he acknowledged there have been “some problems” between the superintendent and the board, Mustain declined to air specifics, citing the privacy of personnel matters.

He said he expects the search for a new superintendent to extend at least statewide, and perhaps nationwide.

Guy said she met with her staff Tuesday morning to tell them of the board’s decision. Her contract expires at the end of June, the conclusion of the fiscal year.

“My goal ... is to end the year with as much grace, dignity and integrity as possible,” she said. “I feel I’ve accomplished a lot as superintendent.”

Guy noted, “You have to play the cards that are dealt. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to play these.”

Board President Bill Shiflet did not immediately return a telephone message left at his office seeking comment. Efforts to contact board members Aaron Judy and Ben James Tuesday afternoon were also unsuccessful.

— E-mail: talvey@register-herald.com

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