News from February
10, 2005 issue
School
board hires consultant
The Crittenden County Board of Education has hired a Kentucky
School Boards Association (KSBA) consultant to guide it through
its superintendent search.
Meeting in special session Friday afternoon, the board voted unanimously
to hire Dr. Ken Scott, a 21-year veteran to comprehensive superintendent
searches, for a flat fee of $5,500.
Scott's services include planning the entire search, advertising
the position, recruiting and screening candidates, working closely
with the school district's screening committee and assisting the
board in developing an interview format and questions. He will
help develop the contract and serve as a mediator during contract
negations. Both he and the screening committee will investigate
candidates' backgrounds a critical part of the selection
process, he said.
"What (candidates) do now and did in their past and the type
of individual they are are the best indicators of how they will
do when they get here," Scott said. "I look at their
work history, their leadership characteristics, their styles and
personal character, their ability to work hard all those
things are relevant to predict how well they will do here."
Scott advertised the position early this week on web sites maintained
by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, Kentucky
Department of Education and KSBA as well as in the KSBA magazine.
All applications will be mailed directly to Scott, who will meet
with the local screening committee immediately at the close of
the application period in mid-March. His goal is for the board
of education to interview finalists in mid-April and hire a superintendent
the first week in May.
"The competition is very keen," Scott told the board.
"It's a seller's market and a lot of Kentucky districts (have
superintendent vacancies) right now."
Scott is working with school boards for Russell Independent, Bardstown
Independent, Campbellsville and Daviess County. He has experience
with more than 100 superintendent searches, and is familiar with
many of the candidates on the market, he told board members.
The Crittenden County Board of Education will meet in the coming
weeks to compile a list of criteria, or personal and professional
characteristics they're looking for in a candidate.
Board chairman Phyllis Orr said taxpayer money is well spent to
hire Scott.
"We are being looked at under a microscope, whether we need
to be or not, and we need to do everything we can to show that
we're doing the best job for children, teachers and taxpayers,"
she said.
Scott suggests the board release the names and resumes of its
finalists to the media, but says preventing information leaks
by the screening committee is imperative.
Rozwalka
files suit against Hargis
Tracey Rozwalka, the woman whose foot was run over by former school
superintendent Fredericka Hargis last February, is now suing Hargis.
Rozwalka's attorney Kenneth Haggard of Hopkinsville filed the
action Wednesday morning in Crittenden Circuit Court.
The complaint charges that Hargis, acting with "gross negligence
ran over (Rozwalka's) foot... Feb. 19, 2004 causing physical pain
and injury."
Hargis entered an Alford plea last summer in District Court in
regard to criminal charges against her because of the incident.
Now, Rozwalka wants her medical bills paid, to be compensated
for future medical bills and other pain and suffering. The lawsuit
asks for punitive damages to be decided by a jury.
Lawsuits such as this tell only one side of a story.
Hargis, who was fired from her job as a result of the incident
involving Rozwalka, is now a principal of a school in Louisville.
Police
bag burglars from Salem heist
A man and woman who allegedly burglarized the Salem Clinic Pharmacy
late Sunday night may have gotten away clean had they not stopped
to swap drivers in the parking lot of Crittenden Hospital.
Authorities in Marion and Livingston County were piecing together
evidence Monday morning from the burglary that included more than
1,000 tablets of Valium.
According to Livingston County Det. Alan Glendening, the two suspects
spent quite a while casing out the pharmacy late Sunday night.
Shortly after midnight, police say Cecil W. Burnett, 38, of Grand
Rivers tried to disarm the Salem pharmacy's alarm system by tampering
with an electrical box on the side of the building.
Believing the alarm to have been disabled, Burnett broke out a
window with a brick then returned to his Dodge pickup truck where
an accomplice, Mechelle L. Rideout, 35, of Burna was waiting.
The alarm had actually not been disarmed and began sounding.
Police say statements made by one of the suspects suggest that
the two waited around to see how long it took law enforcement
to arrive. After no one showed up, Burnett decided to put on a
ski mask and enter the pharmacy. Inside, he allegedly took thousands
of pills, including large bottles of Valium.
Workers at the nearby Livingston Hospital heard the alarm and
looked outside where they saw the suspect fleeing and saw a suspicious
Dodge pickup which left on U.S. 60 eastward toward Marion.
Police here were put on alert and began watching near the city
limits. Officer Chuck Hoover saw the Dodge truck parked near the
emergency room entrance at Crittenden Hospital. Hoover initially
approached the suspects and was later aided by officer Bobby West.
Police say Rideout drove the truck from Salem to Marion, but had
stopped here to let Burnett back behind the wheel because her
driver's license was suspended.
Burnett now faces three charges in Marion, including possession
of a controlled substance, trafficking in a controlled substance
and permitting an unlicensed driver to drive. In Livingston, he
is charged with burglary. Rideout is charged with complicity to
burglary in Livingston. Here, she faces operating on a suspended
license, possession of a controlled substance and trafficking
charges. Both were lodged in Crittenden Jail about 1 a.m., Monday
morning.
Officers say the suspects threw most of the stolen drugs out of
the vehicle window between Marion and Salem, but kept the Valium.