The Berea Independent School Board voted Ryan Neaves as the town’s new superintendent during its most recent meeting Monday.
Last month, the board placed its former superintendent Diane Hatchett on leave as they investigate claims of budget mismanagement.
Students staged a school walkout in protest after district-wide staff cuts were announced. Hatchett said the system “drastically overspent” their school budget.
Neaves says he’ll focus on transparency as the district continues to manage the crisis.
“I think the most important step that I can do is listen, and then I'm going to learn and figure out as much about the community and the school as I can,” Neaves said.
Interim superintendent Elmer Thomas says they’ve got some funding back from federal and student workforce programs, but that the budget is still tight. The district is currently spending around $300,000 more than it’s making.
Thomas says the board will continue to be transparent as the budget crisis continues.
“We'll dig on into that through the rest of this year and into the summer. And as I do that, I'll be certain to keep everyone apprised of everything that's going on with our teaching staff, with our budget and so forth,” Thomas said.
Neaves will officially step into the position July 1.
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