Grundy school board buys out director’s contract

After months of infighting, the Grundy County School Board voted to buy out Director of Schools Jessie Kinsey’s contract during a special called meeting Friday night.

The board voted to pay Kinsey $105,000, to the boos of some in attendance. School board attorney Chuck Cagle told the crowd that Kinsey approached him about a buyout in March. The two sides have negotiated since then.

“There’s some rancor between the board and the office of director,” Cagle said. “… She was tired of being harassed and tired of everybody calling and tired of all the trouble.”

Board members Lebron Coffelt, Chris Grooms, Phyllis Lusk, Reuben Newsome and Chris Snyder voted to accept the buyout. Board members Paul Gallagher, Janie Layne and Gary Don Melton voted against the deal. Melton is Kinsey’s brother.

As has been the case all year, board member Kasey Anderson did not attend Friday night’s meeting. Kinsey and former board member Robert Foster filed a defamation of character and intentional inflection of emotional distress lawsuit against Anderson in June.

Tension among board members rose in October after investigators charged five Grundy County High School football players with attempted rape.

In November, Grooms said that someone may have mishandled money at the concession stand of football games. He pointed out that Melton worked in the stand.

Someone then spraypainted Grooms’ truck and poured cooking oil in the truck’s gas tank.