Johnson to stay on with Mercer

This from the Advocate-Messenger, photo by Charlie Cox:

Tentative budget approved

HARRODSBURG - Bruce Johnson has decided to stay on board as the head of Mercer County schools. He made his plans clear at the end of Thursday night’s special meeting of the Mercer County Board of Education, during which the long-awaited approval of the 2008-09 tentative budget also took place.

The two events would seem to provide temporary bookends for what has been a seemingly endless saga of Mercer’s fiscal problems.

Thursday’s meeting was in sharp contrast to the one on Tuesday that offered a two-and-half hour executive session and no comment or resolution of Johnson’s status or the budget...

...All eyes were on Johnson as he entered the room at Thursday’s meeting, and Chairperson Glynda Short called the meeting to order, acknowledging the sizable crowd in attendance.

She introduced two guests, Larry G. Stinson, associate commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education and Brad Hughes of the Kentucky School Boards Association. Both men addressed the crowd and stayed after the meeting to speak with those who had questions.

Since the board has asked the Department of Education to conduct a full review of the system, Stinson said he was on-hand to explain what exactly will be looked at. According to Stinson, agents will inspect all of the financial records, attendance records, personnel records, audit reports, and examine operations not only of the current Mercer County system but of the two former school districts as well from two years before the merger...