The Union County Board of Education approved a use contract for four years at the field located below the sheriff's office on Hwy 33. Mary Ann Stackhouse, attorney for the BOE, recommended the approval. Stackhouse will be retiring this year, but the Board also extended the services of her affiliated firm with different legal representation.

All Union County teachers will see an increase in their pay this school year. The Union County Board of Education approved a revised teacher salary scale at its meeting on January 11.
Missy Brown, finance director, explained that the additional increase is necessary to put the salary schedule on track to meet the $50,000 state mandated beginning salary in 2028. She further noted that the additional funding will come from the state TISA Growth monies and the pay increases do keep us competitive with surrounding counties.

The Union County School Board approved the 2024-2025 calendar at its November meeting. Most of the calendar was very similar to past years.
However, the addition of six early release days sparked some discussion. The early release days would close school at 1 p.m. rather than 3:15. Carolyn Murr, a Maynardville teacher and president of UCEA, voiced a concern for parents including teachers who would need to find additional daycare during the work day.

The Union County Board of Education agreed to purchase a Visitor Management System as a component of the Raptor System that is already in place. Josh Williams, Supervisor of Safety, explained to school board members that the Raptor System manages and tracks the data for all fire drills, disaster drills and all real-life emergencies that may require a lockdown or evacuation.

Two grants, mowing bids, and audio recording equipment appeared on the special called meeting of the Union County Board of Education last month.
Spring has arrived, the grass is growing and the former mowing contractor has gone out of business.
The Central Finance Purchasing Agent bid out a new contract that was much the same as the previous one. But the BOE requested that the contract only be for a partial calendar year and asked if a better use of funds would be to add one or two maintenance employees to mow.

January 30 was the first day on the job for Greg Clay, the new Director of Union County Schools. At the regular meeting on January12, the Union County Board of Education approved a motion by Brad Griffey to accept a three-year contract as negotiated with a minor change to delete the word academic and broaden the scope of the four performance goals.

At its December 20, 2022, the Union County Board of Education elected to negotiate a director's contract with Washburn Principal Gregory Clay. Clay had been employed as a teacher and a principal at Horace Maynard Middle School. The announcement brought a round of applause from the audience.

The Union County Board of Education will have a new sound system that will include individual microphones that can be controlled by the member and a central location such as the chairperson. The board's action at its November meeting addresses concerns from board members and parents who had difficulty hearing the discussion at the meetings. Chip Brown offered the board several options but recommended the local vendor known as Avco because of the high quality at less expense.

The Union County Board of Education approved two candidates for consideration for director as recommended by the Tennessee School Board Association in a special called meeting on Monday, December 5, 2022. Ten applicants were considered by TSBA and the two recommended were Angela Messer, a Knox County Supervisor of Music, who will interview on Wednesday, December 14, and Gregory Clay, a Grainger County Principal, who will interview on Monday, December 19.

The Union County Board of Education will be employing a new Director of Schools. A key part of this process is to provide everyone an opportunity to be heard. Dr. Tammy Grissom, Executive Director of the Tennessee School Boards Association, will lead a forum designed to determine views about the issues and challenges facing our school system and Director of Schools.