Clay School Board Hires New Attorney

The Clay County School Board approved the hiring of a new attorney during Thursday night’s board meeting.

The board will replace current School Board Attorney Jamie Winkler with Knoxville Attorney Chris McCarty. School Board Chair Benji Bailey said over the past few months the school system consulted with McCarty on several items and were satisfied with the results.

“Mr. McCarty is involved very heavily with a lot of the state legislature and the laws that are passed regarding school systems,” Bailey said. “Unfortunately, Mr. Winkler, as a small firm and an individual practicing, probably doesn’t have a lot of time to do that.”

Bailey said that McCarty’s location would not have a huge impact. Bailey said that McCarty charges a higher rate for his service, but McCarty’s service is faster.

“Mr. McCarty, just dealing with this every day is usually quicker to respond and saves time,” Bailey said. “It may be a higher rate but he also has associates at a cheaper rate that we could use as well.”

Bailey said McCarty would charge the school system by an hourly rate. Bailey said the school system would use McCarty until the board makes a change otherwise.

“This is until we decide to change ultimately,” Bailey said. “We don’t have to do it again until we decide to change. We have used Mr. Winkler for about three or four years now.”

Bailey said Winkler did a good job during his tenure and was thankful for his services as the school board’s attorney.

In other business, the board approved the Clay County High School FBLA program to participate in the State FBLA Leadership Conference in Chattanooga. The conference will take place April 7-9.