Retiring School Board member and longtime educator Stephen Sage wrapped up his career in the same place it began.
Board members and others lauded Sage on Dec. 9 at the School Board’s monthly meeting at Jackson Memorial Elementary School.
The meeting brought to a close Sage’s 13 years on the board and 52 years with the Wythe County school system.
Another longtime educator and board member, Chalmer Frye, noted that he and Sage had been together for 52 years now.
Frye said he has seen a lot of board members come and go and there’s “never been a person on the School Board I’ve disagreed with more than Sage.” Yet he pointed out that the two have remained friends and he hopes that they will continue to do so despite any disagreements. Frye said that Sage’s contributions to Wythe schools have been “magnificent.”
Sage joked that in the disagreements it was Frye who was usually wrong.
He went on to say that his time at Jackson Memorial changed his career’s trajectory. With hair down to his shoulders, Sage said he started out wanting to be a high school teacher and change the world with love and peace on his mind. The students there at Jackson changed his whole outlook, he said.
In other news, interim Superintendent Dr. Wesley Poole announced that the inaugural student representative to the school board, Lucas Arnold, was awarded the VSBA Exhibitors Scholarship on Nov. 17. Poole said that Arnold was one of three in the state to earn the scholarship.
Poole also warned the board that Wythe County’s local composite index, which is based on a locality’s ability to pay, saw a very slight increase. He said the LCI, along with mileage and per diem rates will be part of upcoming budget discussions.
Poole said that Wythe’s mileage rate is currently 40 cents per mile, which he described as relatively low compared to the IRS allowed 54 cents per mile.
Per diem rates in Wythe are at $30 per day. Rates at other school systems, he said, range from $30 per day to $45 per day.
Poole also thanked Wythe supervisors for funding middle school construction at GeorgeWythe.
