Goodbye Kate (View video of school board meeting here)

August 12, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Goodbye Kate!

Fourth District Board of Education representative Kate Miller met with her colleagues for the last time as a member of the board during Thursday night’s regular monthly session.

Miller, who has served on the Board of Education since 2014, is stepping down when her term ends on August 31. She chose not to seek re-election this year and will be succeeded by Eric Ervin who won the seat in last Thursday’s County General Election. His four-year term begins September 1.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps praised Miller for her service. “This is the last night for one of our board members. We would like to say thank you to Ms. Miller for her service and dedication to our students, faculty, staff, and community. She has a servant heart and that is to be commended. We appreciate everything she has done for our schools and the system,” said Director Cripps.

“I want to thank you for the kind words,” said Miller. “Its been a pleasure working with Mr. Cripps and the board. Its always been such a great honor to represent the fourth district and serve DeKalb County. I learned a lot being on the board and I am proud of all our accomplishments. There are still a few goals we have that we didn’t get accomplished that I had hoped we would while I was on the board but I know you will continue to work hard and do great things for the schools and DeKalb County. I appreciate all the support of the community and I wish Mr. Ervin the best,” said Miller.

Board Chairman Shaun Tubbs also bragged on Miller and the board as a whole for accomplishments made in recent years and he congratulated Incumbent board members Danny Parkerson, Alan Hayes, and Jim Beshearse, along with newcomer Eric Ervin on their election last week.

“Its been a joy to serve on the board with you Kate,” said Tubbs. “I think it speaks volumes to this board that we are staying intact. I think it shows the confidence and trust the community has in us as a whole. I am very proud of the accomplishments that this board has made. When I first got on the board one of the things I wanted to implement was more technology in our school system. We now have Chrome books for each student. We also have a new soccer field approved for the junior high and high school soccer teams. We have added courses to our high school vocational program. We have cosmetology and megatronics this school year. We have also provided the largest pay increase for our teachers and bus drivers. When we started our wages were among the bottom third and now we are in the top third in this area. All of that was done without a tax increase. We have increased security at all of our schools. We have the anti-ram barriers (concrete balls) in front of our schools. We have SRO officers at each school and now we have included vestibules at the schools. We are adding air conditioning units to all the gymnasiums. These are the types of things the community should be proud of due to strong leadership top to bottom from our director to the school board, our principals, administration, teachers, bus drivers and all the support staff. That’s what it takes. Each year has its own set of challenges and I think so far we have gotten off to a great start and I hope we have a prosperous 2022-23 school year,” said Chairman Tubbs.

In other business, Director Cripps updated the board on student enrollment numbers which are up in the elementary grade levels but down overall from last year at this time.

“We are a little above 3,000 as students continue to flow in and flow out. It appears the elementary level is really growing and with those numbers the one thing you have to look at are the average and maximum numbers of students that can be in those classrooms so we are at the point where we are looking at having to add at least one teacher at one grade level,” said Director Cripps.

Cripps is still working to fill a few remaining open positions within the district and he says more bus drivers are needed.

“We don’t have all positions filled. If anybody wants to drive a bus we are taking applications. Thanks to our parents for being patient with that. Trust me if we had drivers we would put them to work. Be patient because we are getting new students daily. Right now drivers don’t always know where they are going and kids don’t always know where they are going. The challenge for a bus driver is when you ask a kindergarten student what his mamma’s name is and he says mama but we’ll try to get it all straightened out,” said Director Cripps.

For the most part, Cripps said the first week of school has gone well.

“We did have a good start to the first week. I appreciate our faculty, staff, bus drivers and everyone. Yesterday (Wednesday) we had a minor hiccup due to flooding at the middle school and high school but kudos to the faculty and staff, administration, custodians, and our maintenance crew who got in there and cleaned it all up because at one time I was worried if we would make it to school today (Thursday) but I went back out at 6:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. last night and it looked like nothing ever happened so I want to say thank you to them for the hard work they did,” added Director Cripps.

In other business, the board approved the launching of a new tennis program at DeKalb Middle School.

The monthly personnel report was presented to the Board.

Employment:
Jacob Greer, teacher at Smithville Elementary School (SES)
John Figgins, teacher at SES
Jaley Hale, Educational Assistant at SES
Crystal Moore, Educational Assistant at Northside Elementary School
Jessica Tatrow, Secretary at DeKalb Middle School
Brittany Bogle, Educational Assistant at SES
Talitha Shirah, Educational Assistant at SES
Crystal Horton, Educational Assistant at SES
Priscilla Campbell, Teacher at SES
Rita Umstead, Cafeteria
Tracy Kyle, Cafeteria
Rainey Hunt, Cafeteria
Dennis Patz, Cafeteria
Charlotte Bertsch, Cafeteria

Leave of Absence as Requested: Ally Atnip

Transferred:
Tara Driver transferred from Educational Assistant to Teacher at Northside Elementary School
Jennifer Salas, transferred from Educational Assistant to Teacher at Northside Elementary School

Resignations/Retirements
Jodi Lester, Secretary at DeKalb Middle School
Isla Ledbetter, Bus Driver and Educational Assistant at DeKalb Middle School

August 11, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System is down by 37 students compared to last year at this time.

Comparing the numbers for the first full week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide is 3,007 as of Thursday (August 11), down from 3,044 last year. Two years ago (2020) the total enrollment for the first week of school was 2,881.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers are down by 33 students at both DCHS and at DeKalb Middle School and down by 1 student at Northside Elementary. Enrollment is up by 7 students at Smithville Elementary and 22 students at DeKalb West School.

The largest class by grade district-wide is the second grade with 253 students. The smallest class district-wide other than the pre-K classes is eighth grade at 203 students.

As of Thursday, August 11 enrollment at each school is as follows compared to last year:

DCHS: 857 (down by 33 students)

DeKalb Middle School: 544 (down by 33 students)

Northside Elementary: 577 (down by 1student)

Smithville Elementary: 581 (up by 7 students)

DeKalb West School: 447 (up by 22 students)

The following is the current enrollment by grade system-wide:

Pre-K: Smithville Elementary-72

Pre-K: DeKalb West-20

Kindergarten: 216

First Grade: 236

Second Grade: 253

Third Grade: 225

Fourth Grade: 242

Fifth Grade: 221

Sixth Grade: 232

Seventh Grade: 229

Eighth Grade: 203

Ninth Grade: 226

Tenth Grade: 205

Eleventh Grade: 222

Twelfth Grade: 205

TOTAL ENROLLMENT DISTRICT-WIDE: 3,007

Reeder also provided numbers on how the enrollment has been trending over the last nine years district-wide

Year 2014: 3,005 students

2015: 3,015 students (up by 10 students)

2016: 2,950 students (down by 65 students)

2017: 3,039 students (up by 89 students)

2018: 2,993 students (down by 46 students)

2019: 2,999 students (up by 6 students)

2020: 2,881 students (down by 118 students)

2021: 3,044 students (up by 163 students)

2022: 3,007 students (down by 37 students)

August 11, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the conviction of courthouse arsonist Gary Wayne Ponder.

Ponder Court Documents

The 12-page opinion of the court, delivered on Wednesday, August 10 by Judge Robert Wedemeyer, affirmed the trial court’s judgment “after a thorough review of the record and relevant authorities” in the case against Ponder, who was convicted in July, 2019 of aggravated arson for setting fire in a DeKalb County Courthouse vestibule recycling bin on June 14, 2016 causing more than $100,000 in damage to the building. The 59 year old Ponder is serving a 23 year prison sentence in the Morgan County Correctional Complex.

Through the District Public Defender’s office, Ponder filed an appeal, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, that the trial court erred when it denied a motion for a change of venue, and that the trial court erred when it sentenced Ponder.

In the appeal, Ponder claimed that he should have been granted a motion for a change of venue because his trial actually took place in the same courthouse building where the fire occurred and that this may have had an influence on the jury that tried him.

The appellate court saw it differently. “The record demonstrates the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Defendant’s (change of venue) motion. The trial court considered the host of factors relevant to a change of venue determination, and it noted that there was no evidence that any of the jurors were affected by the location of the crime and the trial both being in the DeKalb County courthouse. It also noted that the jurors had not indicated much or any awareness of publicity about the facts of the case that would have come out at the time of the incident. The Defendant (Ponder) has provided nothing more than mere speculation and certainly did not demonstrate that the jurors who actually sat on the jury were biased or prejudiced against him because of the connection between the crime’s location and the trial venue. Accordingly, the Defendant is not entitled to relief on this claim,” according to the opinion of the appellate court.

On the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, the appellate court opined that “the evidence presented, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, was that the Defendant (Ponder) entered the courthouse and, after spending some time loitering in the vestibule, set an item or items on fire inside the vestibule’s recycling bin. Video recordings show the Defendant’s actions, and he later stated to law enforcement that he had put a cigarette out inside the bin. At the time of the fire, multiple people were inside the courthouse, which housed multiple county offices. This is sufficient evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude that the Defendant was guilty of aggravated arson. As to the Defendant’s contention that he lacked the requisite mental state for the crime, Dr. Pamela Auble (a Neuro-Psychologist) opined to the jury that the Defendant was not aware of his actions because of a drug induced medical delirium. The jury heard Dr. Auble’s testimony and chose to reject that defense as is its province as fact finder. The evidence is sufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction, and the Defendant is not entitled to relief on this issue,” the appellate court found.

Ponder also asserted that he did not deserve a 23-year prison sentence.

“The Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it sentenced him to serve a twenty-three-year sentence rather than the minimum sentence of fifteen years. He argues that the trial court’s heavy weight placed on his prior criminal history did not account for the fact that his prior convictions were non-violent and only drug related. He contends that this, his first conviction involving violence or threat of harm to others, should have been a shorter sentence. The State responds that the trial court properly enhanced the Defendant’s sentence within its discretion based on the applicable enhancing factors. We agree with the State,” according to the opinion of the appellate court.

“We conclude that the trial court properly sentenced the Defendant (Ponder). The trial court considered the relevant principles and sentenced the Defendant to a within range sentence. Based on the evidence at trial and the Defendant’s criminal history provided in the presentence report, the sentence imposed was not excessive, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Accordingly, we conclude that the Defendant is not entitled to relief as to this issue.  In conclusion, after a thorough review of the record and relevant authorities, we affirm the trial court’s judgment,” stated the appellate court in its opinion as delivered by Judge Wedemeyer.

Ponder Court Documents