Sallisaw School Board rehires Wood

The Sallisaw School Board approved to rehire former superintendent Randy Wood for the time period of January 2023 through June 30, 2023, and conducted other personnel-related actions at their monthly meeting on Monday.

Interim Superintendent Steve Barrett, who was appointed to serve until January, will return to his assistant superintendent duties as well as his duties as the federal programs director, he said.

“Mr. Wood is coming back to the district on Jan. 3 to finish his career by providing guidance and leadership during the transition to a new superintendent,” Barrett said.

Randy Wood “Mr. Wood had recently retired and was not employed for the 60-day period required by the Oklahoma Teacher’s Retirement System. Based on the rules of the system, Mr. Wood has compensation limits that will save the district a considerable amount of money for the spring semester and at the same time, allow Mr. Wood to provide assistance and guidance on the day-to-day operations of the district,” Barrett said.

“Mr. Wood provides 48 years of invaluable experience in the school business. I feel extremely fortunate to have Mr. Wood in this capacity for the spring semester. He has been a great mentor and teacher for myself as well as many others. In addition, this period of time will allow the district to honor the great contributions that Mr. Wood has provided to the students and staff of Sallisaw Public Schools over his many years of service,” Barrett said.

Board member Frank Sullivan said Wood may choose to retire completely after June but could not comment further.

Barrett said if Wood decides to retire completely, the board will then look for a full-time superintendent and he plans to submit his application, but the decision to hire a new full-time superintendent will be left up to the board, he said.

The board also approved to hire Justin Haywood as an assistant high school golf coach, and Hannah Caughman as elementary 4-H director for the 202223 school year.

In other business, the board accepted resignations from Mark Hutson-Head Football Coach and Matt Hawkins-Teacher/Coach.

They also approved the financial report presented by the school treasurer Steve Merrill. Merrill reported revenue collected for the month of November was $1,013,288.56 and the total revenue collected for the year is $7,519,299.74.

Activity fund balances are as follows: Administration-$41,342.52, SHS$232,537.96, SMS-$32,554.93, Eastside-$ 9,236.61, Liberty-$21,728.69, and Food Service fund balance-$13,721.18.