Jose Reyes Jr. full-fledged superintendent of county schools

Sherry Kughn, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·2 min read

Jul. 13—The Calhoun County Board of Education voted Tuesday to suspend its search for a superintendent and hire the interim replacement.

Jose Reyes Jr. had assumed the temporary leadership role on June 7 and impressed the board members enough to hire him.

"My wife Leslie and I are tickled to be here," Reyes said. "Calhoun County is a diamond in the rough, and we hope to bring all the people together to be one team and be the best."

Before the board broke into executive session to discuss personnel matters, chairman Tobi Burt said he could not be more excited about the future of the county schools. He added that the contract with the Alabama Association of School Boards will be canceled, and a prorated amount of money will be returned to the county. Reyes' salary was not released Tuesday.

Reyes' background includes serving as a teacher, principal and superintendent. He has worked in Winchester, Tenn.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Skipperville in Dale County, Alexander City and Scottsboro. He retired last year from the superintendent's job in Scottsboro, where he served for four years.

Reyes holds a doctoral degree.

The Calhoun County Board of Education oversees seven schools with an enrollment of 8,000 students.

In recent months, the AASB had contracted with Terry Jenkins to conduct a survey to learn the traits the community most wanted in a superintendent. Jenkins told the board at a recent meeting that the large number of respondents showed that teachers, parents, staff members and community members cared about giving its students the best education possible. The number of respondents was about the same as Huntsville's, but the Huntsville school system is much bigger.

Sewage system to be replaced at Weaver High

In other action Tuesday, the board also agreed to spend $200,000 to replace an old, non-functioning sewage system at Weaver High School. The new one will be located on additional property that the school owns near the sports fields.

The cost savings to pump the sewage to the new property is more than if they dug up the old one and replaced it in the same location.

"At the end of the school year, the field lines were not working," said Dee Ingram, the board's director of maintenance. "At the end of school, I had to have the system pumped every two to three days."

Ingram said she hopes the new system will be in place by the time school resumes in a few weeks.