Gordon Central AD appointment gets messy
♦ Billy Shackelford was approved by a 4-3 vote
The new athletic director at Gordon Central has seen a bit of a messy first few days following his hire.
Billy Shackelford was originally recommended to be approved as the new athletics director at the school on March 14. After returning from their executive session, the Gordon County Schools Board of Education did not approve Shackelford’s hire. The motion to approve his hire died to a 3-1-3 vote, with Board Member Jason Hendrix as the lone abstaining vote.
Shackelford was approved for hire by the county Board of Education ten days later, on March 24, at a called board meeting intended to discuss the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget and approve personnel. Shackelford was approved 4-3, with Dana
Stewart, Bobby Hall, and Christie Fox voting ‘no.’
The approval brought a flurry of criticism from some in the community, with questions as to whether or not the Board had violated the school system’s Conflict of Interest policy due to a possible familial connection between the new athletic director and one of the assistant coaches. In light of that criticism, the Board held yet another called meeting on March 28.
That meeting immediately went into an executive session which lasted approximately one hour. The content of executive sessions is not made public, however the Board reconvened with a joint statement regarding Shackelford’s contentious hire that clarified the existing Conflict of Interest policy as well as the hiring process.
Per that statement:
“The hiring process for that position was consistent with the hiring
process for the majority of positions at all of our schools. That process includes the Principal of the school reviewing all applications submitted and determining candidates
for interview. Principals may have a hiring committee comprised of appropriate individuals to assist in interviews, which was done in this hiring process.
Following the interviews, the committee makes a recommendation to the Principal, who considers that recommendation and makes
a recommendation to the Superintendent. The Superintendent considers the recommendation and if she agrees with it, makes the recommendation to the Board for its consideration.
There have been some inquires as to whether the Athletic Director hire violates the District’s Staff Conflict of Interest policy. Because assistant coaches do not report to the Athletic Director, who does not do evaluations or supervise assistant coaches, there would not be a staff conflict of interest between assistant coaches and athletic directors.
There have also been some inquiries regarding the agenda for the Board meeting when the position was filled. As required under Georgia law, the agenda for that meeting was posted at the meeting site prior to the meeting, as well as on the
District’s e-Board website.”
The meeting subsequently adjourned, with Shackelford staying on as the new Athletic Director for Gordon Central High School.
Shackelford has over 29 years of experience, according to a bio released by the school, and is taking over the Gordon Central program after a combined 15 years as football coach at Sprayberry High School and East Paulding High School. The new athletic director also holds a background in facilities improvement and has previously been a national speaker for the Nike and Frank Glazier coaching clinics.
He has a wife, Dr. Melissa Shackelford, and a daughter, Sami, who will be attending Ashworth Middle School.
The Gordon County Board of Education is scheduled to meet again on Monday, April 11 at 6:15 p.m. at the
Gordon County College and Career Academy, 305 Beamer
Rd. For more information on GCS, visit gcbe.org.