“This has been the biggest year in personnel changes I’ve ever seen,” said Covington County School Board Member Sonny Thomasson Thursday.

Thomasson was among those attending the meeting in which the board finalized personnel for the upcoming school year.

Board Member Jeff Bailey agreed with Thomasson’s description and added, “I also can’t remember seeing so many teachers excited about the upcoming school year. Everyone I talk to says they can’t wait for school to start back.”

And while most students wouldn’t agree, parents should note that classes resume countywide on Aug. 19.

As for the latest personnel changes, the board voted to:

• employ Jeffrey Lavon Chatman as custodian at Florala High School;

• accept the resignation of Alison Renee Sullivan as elementary teacher at Pleasant Home School;

• employ Stella Lizabeth Jackson as elementary teacher at PHS;

• transfer Shannon Morgan Lee from special education teacher at FHS to part-time special education teacher at FHS and part-time special education teacher at PHS;

• employ Megan Pinckard as paraprofessional at Straughn High School;

• accept the retirement resignation of Ruth Ann Freeney as lunchroom worker at Straughn Middle School;

• accept the resignation of Herbert Jason Holloway as general social science teacher and junior varsity football coach at SMS;

• employ Karen E. Ziglar as general social science teacher at SMS;

• employ Timothy Scott Gafford as general social science teacher with possible coaching duties at SHS;

• employ Bill Frank Graham as bus driver at SHS;

• employ Deborah J. Biggs as bookkeeper at SHS;

• transfer Amanda Shea Varnum from special education teacher at W.S. Harlan Elementary School to special education teacher at FHS; and,

• employ Curtis Brandon Davis as collaborative (K-6) teacher at WSH.