Board members approved the retirement of 18 teachers, assistants and other personnel at the April 9 meeting of the Limestone County Board of Education.

District 7 representative Earl Glaze took a moment before the personnel actions were approved to thank the employees for their hard work over the years.

“We’ve got a lot of people we’re approving to retire tonight,” Glaze said at the meeting. “… It’s going to be hard to replace some of these folks.”

Tom Sisk echoed the sentiment during board comments at the end of the meeting.

“We appreciate the service and dedication of our retirees, some retiring after many, many years of service,” Sisk said.

Each of the employees will retire effective June 1. Kaye Dorning, who teaches third-grade at Creekside Elementary, said she’s looking forward to traveling and getting some “me time” but knows she has a lot to miss.

“I am going to miss those precious children,” Dorning said. “I love making a difference in their little lives. I’m going to miss the hugs and the excitement in their little faces when they learn something new.”

Dorning has been teaching with Limestone County Schools for 37 years total. Twenty-one of those were at Ardmore High, but the last 16 were at Creekside. She said she’ll miss her fellow teachers and staff.

“We have a special group of coworkers at Creekside,” Dorning said. “I will miss them dearly.”

Here is the full list of employees who will be retiring at the end of the 2018-2019 school year:

• Renee Beggs, second-grade teacher at Blue Springs Elementary School;

• Emily Emerson, first-grade teacher, Cedar Hill Elementary;

• Lesli Blair, teacher, Cedar Hill Elementary;

• Pam Hobbs, kindergarten teacher, Cedar Hill Elementary;

• Nancy P. Thornton, teacher, Cedar Hill Elementary;

• Myra Pinson, middle school math and English arts teacher, Clements High;

• Gretta Kilgore, science teacher, Clements High;

• Kathy Harper, teacher, Clements High;

• Kaye Dorning, third-grade teacher, Creekside Elementary;

• Laura Black, first-grade teacher, Creekside Primary;

• Maggie Grant, receptionist, Creekside Primary;

• Patricia Higginbotham, inclusion assistant, Creekside Primary;

• Barbara Harris McCollum, teacher, Elkmont Elementary;

• Teddy James, IT/cybersecurity instructor, Limestone County Career Technical Center;

• Cynthia Bates, media specialist, Tanner High;

• Janet Flippo, English language teacher, Tanner High;

• Samuel Buchanan, bus driver, Tanner High; and

• Buford Bates, teacher and bus driver, West Limestone High.

Other actions

The following other personnel actions were approved at the April 9 meeting.

• Amanda Defoe, contract as homebound instructional assistant, special education department, paid $12 per hour not to exceed $9,000, five days a week, retroactive to March 26 through May 24;

• Connie Connell, resigning as bookkeeper at Elkmont Elementary/High School, effective April 12;

• Justin Kephart, assistant baseball coach at West Limestone High, replacing Chase Crowson, paid $1,500, retroactive to March 1 through April 14;

• Angela Vanhoozer, transferring from bookkeeper at Piney Chapel Elementary to bookkeeper at Elkmont Elementary/High School, effective April 10;

• Whitney Reeves, Ardmore High teacher, leave of absence retroactive to March 4 through May 24 under the Family Medical Leave Act;

• Kathy Shores, Cedar Hill Elementary teacher, intermittent leave of absence retroactive to March 1 through Feb. 28, 2020;

• Kristin Andrews, Creekside Elementary teacher, leave of absence retroactive to March 3 through April 15 under FMLA;

• Kelly Lewis, East Limestone High CNP worker, leave in lieu of sick leave, 15.5 days retroactive to March 1 through March 15 and March 26 through March 29;

• Rose Green, Elkmont High chaperone/volunteer, effective April 10 through May 23;

• Anna Boger, Elkmont High chaperone/volunteer, effective April 10 through May 23;

• Hallie McCluskey, Tanner Elementary chaperone/volunteer, effective April 10 through May 23; and

• Betty Moore, Tanner Elementary chaperone/volunteer, effective April 10 through May 23.

Corrections

LCBOE approved the following corrections at the meeting.

• Angie Shaw, transportation department utility driver, was approved March 12 but effective April 1; and

• Tony Clemons, maintenance technician, was approved March 12 but effective April 1.