Director of Weakley County Schools, Randy Frazier, announces retirement

Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter

Director of Weakley County Schools, Randy Frazier, announced his retirement during the Jan. 5 school board meeting. Frazier will retire at the end of the 2022/23 school year after serving 37 years with the school system. “I’ve enjoyed it and it’s been a pleasure.” Frazier said that he anticipates a smooth transition to the next person. More information will be forthcoming at the February board meeting.

Dresden Mayor Mark Maddox spoke on the WCPDC stating that the building houses the adult education program, a nursing program, a welding program, an alternative school, coordinated school health program, technology department and the recovery center.

The first ever countywide Agriscience Fair was held under the guidance of Dresden High School (DHS) teacher Jessica Browning and Westview High School (WHS) teacher David Hochreiter. Students had their projects displayed at the Weakley County Personal Development Center (WCPDC), where January’s board meeting was held.

Hochreiter spoke on the Fair stating, “For a long time now Weakley County has always stood out as one of the best County-wide ag programs in all the state of Tennessee and tonight, hopefully we are starting something that will continue for many more years to come.”

Students conducted research and experiments which combined agriculture and science. Judges for the projects included UT Martin’s Dr. Will Bird and Dr. Barbara Darroch, Associate Professors, Department of Agriculture, Geoscience, and Natural Resources. Categories and winners were in Environmental Services and Natural Resource Systems with 1st place winner going to Hayle Alford, DHS and 2nd place winner going to Jerzey Aven and Emma McGregor, WHS. Animal Systems category 1st Place winner went to Edward Schertz and Aiyana Jones, WHS and 2nd place winner went to Lyric Mullins and Zoe Wicker, WHS. In Food Products and Processing category the 1st place -winner went to Payton Leverette and Lexie Edminson, WHS and 2nd Place winner Case Perry, DHS. In the Plant Systems category, the 1st Place winner went to Jack Mantooth, WHS and 2nd Place winner was Dylan Parker, DHS. In the Social Systems category, the 1st Place winner was Myra Morgan, DHS. In the Power Structure and Technical Systems category, the 1st Place winner was Sarah Elizabeth Byars and Easton Wyatt, WHS and the 2nd Place winner was Dalton Davis and Violet Nichols, WHS.

The tenure for eligible teachers was spoken on by Frazier who stated, “the law says that in order to gain tenure eligibility you had to have taught five years and in year four and five you had to score a level four or five which is at or above expectations on your evaluation to be considered. We have some good teachers here and request that you all approve their tenure.”

Tenure was approved unanimously and 10 teachers in Weakley County will now be tenured as a result including Teresa Brawner, Robin Higdon and Marla Rook for Dresden Elementary School, Jonathan Holden from Dresden High School, Jan Mitchell from Greenfield School, Karen Baker from Martin Elementary, Amy Brown, Lindsey Stover and Kristen Vernon from Westview and Wes Morgan from the Central Office.

A resolution authorizing budget amendments was approved where a distance learning and telemedicine grant were received to finance a project providing distance learning and/or telemedicine services in rural areas. Frazier stated, “this is a continuation of grant money that we received for distance learning equipment. The next big upgrade is to update out training office and a couple of other building will be getting equipment added to their site.”

The next school board meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 at Martin Elementary School.

A note from Randy Frazier:

“At the January 2023 meeting of the Weakley County School Board, I announced my plans to retire at the end of this school year. It has been an honor to work in education alongside caring individuals who are committed to educating and enhancing the lives of children in Weakley County for 37 years, with the last 14 serving as the Director of Schools.

Weakley County Schools has the greatest students, faculty, and staff that you’ll ever find.  It has been a pleasure to see the growth and improvement in our district over the years. I’m also proud to have worked with educators and school teams who are dedicated to putting students first, no matter the challenge. We’ve encountered many obstacles, but our team never gives up. To everyone who has worked in education, both currently and retired, your legacy of learning and leadership shines brightly in our schools.

In the coming months, the School Board will begin the search process for the next Director. Be assured that I will do all that I can to work together for a smooth transition. I am grateful to the School Board for their support and all they do to benefit students, faculty, and staff in each of our schools. I look forward to making the most of the remainder of this school year.

Thank you to every student, board member, teacher, administrator, and staff member for the opportunity to do this great work with you. I will forever cherish my days with Weakley County Schools. Best wishes and God’s blessings to each of you.

#WEAKLEYSTRONG”