Last week, the Board of Education hired Katrina Kingsley as assistant principal at Ellijay Elementary School. Kingsley, a resident of Gilmer County, holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Harding University. Her post graduate work includes a master’s degree, also in Early Childhood Education, from Piedmont College and a specialist degree from Lincoln Memorial University. In addition, Mrs. Kingsley is certified to teach K-8 and a certified administrator. She has been teaching in Gilmer County for the past 10 years and has won a teacher of the year award and has been in charge of the After-school program for the last four years.With all this, Kingsley seems qualified enough. However, considering the county’s recent budget troubles, the decision to hire a new administrator is bound to cause friction. The move comes on the heels of a series of controversial decisions made by the Board of Education recently.

The May decision to close Oakland Elementary School was the first in the series. The school was one of three elementary schools in the county. Shortly after closing, a group of concerned citizens attempted to save the school by reopening as a charter school, but without the blessing of the BOE, leaving the school’s fate undetermined. The second unpopular decision was the decision to privatize the county’s custodial services. And, most recently, on August 10th, the board approved to purchase a new Department of Education administration building to the tune of $667,000. The Board of Education asserted that the closing of Oakland and the privatization of custodial services were intended to save the county money, and, according to the board, the new building will be paid for with SPLOST funds. And, the justification for the new assistant principal position at Ellijay Elementary School is equity. In the BOE’s August 18th special session, Superintendent Dorsey said that after looking at the structure of Ellijay Elementary,

“the students and staff deserve the support of another administrator,”

and the addition of Mrs. Kingsley as administrator,

“puts us in line with Mountain View,”

giving Ellijay Elementary the same amount of administrators as Mountain View Elementary.