Superintendent Estes gives official resignation with a twist, leave of absense

Hancock County Superintendent Kyle Estes made his resignation official at Thursday’s meeting of the school board, but with a twist: he’s taking an extended leave of absence rather than simply quit, in an effort to preserve his state retirement as he moves to Alaska to follow his wife and her new job.

He presented a letter to the board, which they first discussed before accepting. In it Estes requested professional leave for the entirety of the 2021-2022 school year, with the option to request another full year after that. He would no longer hold a position, but technically still be employed, which would let him keep his state retirement intact.

“As everybody knows, we have a policy that allows for leaves of absences,” said board chairman Allen Kennedy. “But we also know that we have no control over personnel issues, other than the board attorney and the superintendent.”

He said he checked with the attorney to ensure that they would be allowed to offer the leave so they wouldn’t find themselves in any trouble.
“I have a letter from the board attorney that basically says that we have the authority to give him a leave of absence for this period of time, as we have said, and he is vacating a position of superintendent but he’s not vacating his position as a potential employee at Hancock County school system,” he said.

The board could technically hire him back after his leave is over, which would be either one or two years, but his old job won’t be held for him.

“He’s going to be on leave as an employee of the school system, but in two years, or a year, he could come back, not as superintendent unless we have a superintendent vacancy,” Kennedy said.   A board member asked if that meant that whoever was hired to replace him might have a short-term position, but Kennedy said that whoever is hired is hired as a permanent replacement.

Estes clarified that he wasn’t asking for the leave in order to be able to come back but solely to maintain his position in the state retirement system, which requires a minimum number of years without a break in employment.

“First of all, obviously I’m not going to be here next year, obviously,” Estes said.
He announced last month that he’d be leaving to move to Alaska, where his wife had taken a job.

“I don’t want to wait and hold the board hostage by waiting until May, June or July to where I found a different job and then say oh by the way I’m leaving,” he said. “Now you’ve got a month, month and a half to fill the position.”

“But at the same time to give you all the time that you need to find the right person to lead the district, I don’t want to put myself in a situation to where I lose and it affects my retirement when I can draw it,” he said. “So essentially what I’m doing is I’m asking you to help me protect my retirement, because I’m not coming back. That chapter is being written right now.”
“But you all need to move forward and find the next superintendent of schools for Hancock County,” he added. “That’s the main thing.”

He said he hopes to find a job working remotely from Alaska where he’s employed by a school district in Kentucky, where he can maintain his retirement. If that happens, he said, he will no longer need the leave because he will be employed by someone else. “But I need to do this just to protect myself until that materializes,” he said. “So that’s why I’m asking that it be done this way, so that you all protect me a little bit until I can move forward.”

The board unanimously approved the leave.

The board also took the following actions:
• Judge-Executive Johnny “Chic” Roberts swore in Shane Ball, who was elected to his first full term after being appointed to fill an empty board seat.
• Estes told the board the schools would be returning to in-person A/B schedule on Monday of this week.
• Reviewed emergency flip charts to be placed in every classroom and office space in the district. Some emergency information like where students will relocate in the event of some events is only shared to users of an app available to staff. A second flip chart was made for the buses.
• Discussed the addition of a greenhouse for the horticulture program using grant money.
• Kara Eckles gave the treasurer’s report for December that showed receipts of $3,158,170.45 and expenditures of $761,658.16, with a balance at the end of the month of $5,988,096.95.
• Approved the dates for the board meetings for the year.
• Voted Allen Kennedy as chairman, David Emmick as vice-chairman, Nicole Cameron as secretary, and Kara Eckles as treasurer.
• Approved the district wellness policy.

By Dave Taylor