LIBERTY - Casey County Board of Education will have new leadership next year.
Two of the five school board members, Gary Whited, who represents the 2nd District, and Mike Davis, of the 3rd District, will not seek re-election in November.
Whited, who has been on the board 16 years, and Davis, who has served eight years, will end their terms at the end of December.
Whited, the current chairman, and Davis, vice chairman, think it's time to step down and let someone else have a chance to serve.
"I've accomplished all I wanted to," said Davis. "It's time for someone else to come in with new thoughts and new energy." "We need some new faces on the board," said Whited, who had intended to serve a couple of terms and step down. He thinks 16 years is enough.
Whited said he has had a lot of headaches while on the board, and the most enjoyment came from working with students. "I've always been involved with kids," said Whited, who has a son.
"We've accomplished a lot of work on improvements on current buildings and added new ones," Whited said. The high school was renovated, and a new science laboratory was added. Construction on the middle school was just winding down when Whited began his tenure on the board, but he's seen a new roof added and other improvements made. Programs for track and field, tennis and volleyball have been added.
Both men had a hand in closing Middleburg and Garrett elementary schools and moving the students to the new Jones Park Elementary School, a project that Whited has been very vocal about.
He has battled with contractors over defective bricks and roof leaks and is still not happy with the finishing touches.
"I'm hoping the problems will be taken care of by the end of the year," he said. Davis and Whited's tenure will end with the beginning of construction for the new Walnut Hill Elementary School.
Whited's not happy with the flat roof for the Walnut Hill project.
"I'm not a great believer of flat roofs, but I understand that if the roof is not flat, there would not be enough natural light," he said. However, he said, "The main thing in a classroom is having organization and teaching the kids."
Whited will miss listening and talking with students about what they want from the school board. He keeps a bulletin board in his office of newspaper clips about schools, an attraction to some of the students in his district.
He's also gotten some ideas from the young people, who see the needs in the schools. "Some of the kids pushed for a drug prevention program and drug testing," he said. The district set up the program during last school year.
One of Davis' accomplishments was having schools host the school board meetings. "It gave the teachers and parents a better opportunity to meet in a relaxed setting," he said. "It has worked really well, and we have had more involvement."
Davis' proudest moments have been seeing the graduates walk across the stage on graduation night, and his worst times have been when students had to be expelled.
Whited and Davis have worked under three superintendents - Wendell Emerson, Vernon Clark and Linda Hatter.
Davis thinks the schools are better than they were when he took office eight years ago. More computer classes are offered, the high school has a television station, and the freshman class is in a department separate from the older classes. "With new ideas, I hope the schools will continue to improve," Davis said.
The reason Davis ran for school board was to get a new gymnasium at Phillips Elementary School, the only one in the county without a gym. When he asked the board about a gym, he was told it would be 20 years before that would come about.
"I decided I'd run for that board seat that night," Davis said. He won by a 2-to-1 vote.
He helped get the funding and saw plans drawn, only to see the project turned down. "It was hard on the kids, but they will have one at Walnut Hill Elementary," he said.
When Davis looks back, he sees many accomplishments including small things like a guard at the gate of the high school, blacktopping, tennis courts and track for field events.
When his term is over, Whited wants to spend more time at his used car business and mechanic shop. Davis is a MRI-CT technician at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.
