Hatchett out, Thomas in at Berea Independent Schools
Elmer Thomas, past Berea Community teacher and former Madison County Schools superintendent, to get $38,000 as 3-month interim chief
BEREA — In a special called meeting, the Berea Independent School District’s board of education made the unanimous decision to relieve Superintendent Diane Hatchett, PhD, of her duties, effective immediately, and a nearly unanimous decision to hire Berea Community School former Spanish teacher, and Madison County Schools superintendent, Elmer Thomas, to finish out the school year in Hatchett’s place.
Board member Jackie Burnside, PhD, abstained from the vote after learning how much it would cost to hire Thomas.
“There are costs associated with this,” Board chair, Joe Morgan, told his fellow members. “[Thomas] will be paid a daily rate as a superintendent, but he is well positioned to do an investigation. He has the experience necessary for that.”
But how much, Burnside wanted to know.
“The daily rate for a superintendent with that level of experience is $568.00 per day,” Morgan said.
Amortized over the 66 days Thomas is expected to work in the District, that comes to $37,488 by June 30.
The plan is for Thomas to stay with the District through June 30, when the Board is expected to have chosen a full-time replacement for Hatchett.
Thomas will be helping to lead an investigation into Hatchett’s tenure at the District which has coincided with a 1.3 million dollar budget shortfall this year.
Morgan said it was possible that in the future, the Board would make the case for Hatchett to be dismissed with cause. After the investigation, the state’s commissioner of education has a month to make the ultimate decision about Hatchett’s fate in the District, according to Morgan.
Board member Nathaniel Hackett asked if the decision to place Hatchett on paid administrative leave instead of unpaid leave was necessary, which Morgan affirmed.
Morgan said he anticipated that Thomas will help them be a better board. “Bringing in someone who knows how to rebuild a district, who knows how to create good and open communications, the board will benefit,” Morgan said. “We will learn how to be in better relationship with our next superintendent.”
After the meeting, The Edge asked the Board’s vice chair, Sarah Rohrer, where the money to pay Thomas will come from, given that three dozen teachers were laid off in March due to the shortfall in the District’s budget.
“It’s going to come from where we still are with our deficit,” Rohrer said. “Which is why we spoke with the KDE in advance, since they are, obviously, watching our every penny. They understood that this was a move forward toward transparency and a balanced budget. I have mixed feelings about it,” she said. The KDE is the Kentucky Department of Education.
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Update: This story was updated at midnight on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, to clarify that Hatchett’s administrative leave is paid, and to add that Thomas was a Spanish teacher.
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Whitney McKnight
