Henderson County Board of Education member Joe McGarrh has resigned from his position so that he can be transparent in applying for the school district’s open transportation director position.
McGarrh, who ran unopposed for the District 2 school board member in the general election last week, said that he spoke to Superintendent Dr. Bob Lawson and others about the open position before he decided to pursue it.
McGarrh also spoke with school board attorney Elizabeth Bird, who according to Mcgarrh, told him there was no statute that required him to resign his school board position as he pursues the transportation director spot.
McGarrh, however, told the Hendersonian that he wanted to resign his school board seat to be as transparent as possible and so the position can be filled objectively.
“Serving on the Henderson County Schools Board of Education has been an honor, and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent District 2 and work alongside my fellow board members in support of our students, staff and community,” McGarrh said in a prepared statement included in a release from HCS. “Out of respect for my fellow board members and for a fully transparent process, I believe stepping away from my position is the right decision as I apply for the Transportation Director Position with Henderson County Schools.”
According to McGarrh, the position has been vacant for about seven weeks after former Transportation Director Wes Alexander resigned. McGarrh said the job opening has been posted by HCS for about three weeks.
He said there have been no promises made that he will get the job and said that he’ll apply for and go through the same process as any other applicant does. An independent hiring committee of the school board will ultimately make the decision, McGarrh said.
McGarrh said he didn’t know how many people have applied for the transportation director position.
Filling McGarrh’s open school board seat, meanwhile, will entail an interested resident of district 2 submitting applications to the board, who will then interview and then appoint a temporary replacement, he said. District 2 includes southeastern Henderson County and the towns Zion, Anthoston, Niagara and Robards.
Later, a permanent replacement must be filled through a special election that will occur in a future election.
McGarrh said he has a background in transportation and logistics. He and his father ran Bluegrass Transport for 20 years, and before that, McGarrh was in the Air Force and drove fuel trucks and also worked on fuel trucks, he said.
