Teachers, staff honored at Obion County Board of Education meeting

January 06, 2026

by Megan Dame

The Obion County Board of Education convened for its regular meeting Monday evening with Director of Schools Tim Watkins, board chairman Fritz Fussell, vice-chair Keisha Hooper, chair pro tem Barry Adams, board members Tim Britt, Shannon Graham, Chris Akin and Jared Poore present.

Fussell opened the meeting with an invocation and observed a moment of silence for a 16-year-old Obion County Central High School junior, who passed away Dec. 29, 2025, in an early morning motor vehicle accident in rural Obion County.

Watkins said that in his experience as an educator, the first day back at school after losing a classmate is always difficult.

After approving a request from Watkins to remove an item from the meeting agenda concerning partnering with the Special Olympics, Tennessee until a later date, the board approved the amended agenda, followed by the approval of the consent agenda.

The personnel report was approved, including the resignation of Taylor Pitts as an educational assistant at Ridgemont, Kristen Laws as an educational assistant at Ridgemont, Penny Gantt as a food service worker at Lake Road, Madison Dunn as a food service worker at Lake Road, Ariana Warner as a speech/language pathologist and Amy Wright as a teacher at Obion County Central High School.

New hires on the report included Jazmine Rotgers as a food service worker at Lake Road, Sa Donna Robinson as a secretary at the board office, Brittany Rollins as an educational assistant at Ridgemont, Anthony Hammond as a bus driver at Lake Road, Steve Pinion as a bus driver at Lake Road, Charla Ring as an educational assistant at Ridgemont and Emily Wilkes in the cafeteria at Lake Road. Carol Hames retired as a teacher at Hillcrest.

The personnel report also included the termination of Traci Swegman as a bus aide, and leaves of absence for Amy Windsor, a teacher at Ridgemont, Allison Jimenez-Leal, an educational assistant at Ridgemont, Teresa Hutchison, an educational assistant at Hillcrest, Debra Alexander, a bus aide at Lake Road, Casey Stewart, a teacher at Lake Road, Patricia Southerland, an educational assistant at Ridgemont, Moranda Crawford, a teacher at South Fulton Elementary and Tonya Cochran, a teacher at Obion County Central High School.

The board then heard a series of recognitions highlighting teachers, staff members, and administrators from across the school system.

The annual awards focused on honoring building-level teachers of the Year, staff members of the year, and system-wide award recipients.

“Tonight, we are recognizing our building-level teachers of the year, our staff of the year recipients, and our system-wide recognition,” Watkins said.

Building-level Teachers of the Year were announced:

Hillcrest (Pre-K–4): Amanda Spicer, (Grades 5–8): Ped Foster, Lake Road Pre-K–4: Jennifer Pate, (Grades 5–8): Julie Everage,

Obion County Central (Grades 9–12): Geneva Storey, (Grades 9–12): Jeanna Walker, Ridgemont (Pre-K–4): Nicole Hicks, (Grades 5–8): Stacy Halford, South Fulton Elementary (Pre-K–4): Tina Hill, (Grades 5–8): Robin Long,

South Fulton Middle High (Grades 5–8): Marina Greer, (Grades 9–12): Casey Webb.

RISE Staff of the Year recipients were also recognized. They included Cheryl Grubbs of the Board Office, Randy Milligan of the Bus Garage, Dayton Thompson of Hillcrest, Laura Terrell of Lake Road, Angie Neal of Obion County Central, Cecilia Mandujano of Ridgemont:, Sarah Davis of South Fulton Elementary and Greg Southerland of South Fulton Middle High.

Watkins emphasized the importance of recognizing all school employees, noting that many essential staff members often work behind the scenes.

“A lot of times, you may know the secretary, but you may not know the educational assistants or the custodians or the bus drivers or the guys that keep the computers running,” Watkins said.

“If they don’t do their job, those of us that are doing the teaching can’t do our jobs.”

System-wide awards were then presented: to System-Wide Teacher of the Year (Pre-K–4): Nicole Hicks, Ridgemont, System-Wide Teacher of the Year (Grades 5–8): Marina Greer, South Fulton Middle High, and

System-Wide Teacher of the Year (Grades 9–12): Gina Walker.

Principal of the Year went to Melissa Merritt of Ridgemont, Assistant Principal of the Year was Maria Matheny of Hillcrest and Supervisor of the Year was Adam Stevens.

Following recognitions, the preliminary school calendar options were presented.

District administrators presented two proposed school calendar options for informational purposes only.

District staff members will receive a survey allowing them to vote between the options, with results to be presented to the board in February.

Watkins noted that the 2024-25 calendar has been well received by teachers, with only minor adjustments proposed for the 2025-26 calendar.

“Each school comes in and helps develop these calendars,” the superintendent said. “Our teachers like the calendar we have this year. They’ve actually tweaked it just a little.”

Differences between the two options include the structure of fall break—split over a weekend instead of a full week—and slight variations in start and end dates.

Both options propose students return on Aug. 3, with the last days of school ranging between May 20 and May 21, depending on the option chosen.

The board approved a recommendation to surplus athletic uniforms from the middle schools affected by recent grade reconfigurations and consolidations.

The surplus designation allows athletic departments from Hillcrest, Lake Road, Ridgemont and Black Oak to determine how best to reuse or dispose of the uniforms no longer needed.

With state and federal budget cuts, the Obion County School District saw its 2025-26 school year open with the closure of Black Oak Elementary. Displaced students would be redistricted to attend either Lake Road or Hillcrest elementary schools.

Going forward, the 2026-27 will see more changes, with Lake Road and Hillcrest serving students from preK through fifth grades only. The former Ridgemont Elementary School will be converted into the new Obion County Middle School and serve students in grades 6-8.

With the consolidation, middle school athletics will be converted to one, making the four individual teams and their uniforms obsolete.

Board members unanimously approved a bid to purchase three new school buses for the 2026–27 school year budget. The purchase includes one special education bus—deferred from the previous year’s budget—and two regular buses.

“This keeps our fleet up to date, keeps us in safe buses, and gives us enough buses to operate when breakdowns happen,” Watkins told the board.

Only one bid was received, from Cumberland, the same company supplying the district’s current fleet. Watkins noted the sharp increase in the cost of buses over recent years.

Cumberland bid $182,553.42 for the SPED bus and $322,548.92 for the standard 78-passenger buses.

“We bought our buses for $90,000 apiece, and seven years later, we’re buying them for $150,000 apiece,” he said. “Some of y’all have seen that price has doubled since you’ve been on the board.”

The board clarified that approval was for the bid price only, with purchases to be finalized only after the full 2026–27 budget was approved.

The board also addressed a newly discovered property ownership issue involving land dating back to 1907. According to a letter from County Attorney Steve Conley, dated Dec. 9, 2025, the school system holds half ownership of a parcel of property associated with the Cunningham Methodist Church property.

Watkins said what most likely happened was the property was used as a school and a church. Now, the church is dissolving as it has no active membership and would like to sell the property. Since half of the property is deeded to Obion County Public Schools, the school board can either assert an ownership of the property or execute a quitclaim deed transferring its interests to the church. The board voted to transfer ownership to the church with a quitclaim deed.

“We didn’t even know about it,” Watkins said. “The school district has half ownership of the property.”

In closing comments, administrators asked for continued prayers for students and staff returning to school, particularly those affected by the recent loss of an Obion County Central High School student.

“You walk back in that door on the first day back. It’s tough,” Watkins said. “Those teachers that are going to look at that empty desk tomorrow—just keep them in prayer.”

Watkins noted the upcoming middle school basketball tournament, scheduled for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, with hopes for favorable winter weather.

Before adjournment board member, Shannon Graham extended New Year’s greetings and her hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday experiences.

Watkins recognized the service of board member Jared Poore, who had been absent from a few recent meetings due to assisting with law enforcement efforts in Memphis.

“I’d like to thank him for his service to our people,” Watkins noted.

The Obion County School Board will meet again on Mon., Feb. 2, at South Fulton Elementary School at 7 p.m.