GATE CITY — After a two-hour closed session and lunch, the Scott County Board of Supervisors took no action on a formal county administrator appointment Wednesday.
Board members voted to go into the closed meeting with the stated purpose of discussing the position. County Attorney Sally Kegley and Supervisor-at-Large Stephanie Addington confirmed before the session that the board had interviewed four candidates over two days of closed meetings on April 28-29.
The board, at its April meeting, voted to hold the closed interview meetings at a then-unspecified date.
Acting County Administrator Bill Dingus, who has taken on the duties since Freda Starnes’ resignation in March, confirmed in April that he had applied for the position.
The board, at Wednesday’s budget workshop, also questioned county Schools Superintendent John Ferguson about the division’s $10.8 million local share budget request for 2025-26.
Asked by District 3 Supervisor Eddie Skeen what he envisioned for the school system’s plans for the next decade, Ferguson said he hoped to see the status quo maintained with no consolidation.
Ferguson said he has seen the effects of consolidation in neighboring counties in recent years, adding that each of the division’s 14 physical schools and the Career and Technical Center are important focal points in each community.
“As long as we can keep the lights on, the buildings open and enrollment doesn’t drop drastically, we’ll operate within the funding we receive,” said Ferguson.
Except for some needed HVAC renovation/replacement in schools in recent years and spending under the American Recovery Plan Act post-COVID pandemic, Ferguson said the school division has not made unusually high budget requests.
Skeen asked about the number of Tennessee resident students — approximately 420 — attending county schools and whether consideration had been given to charging then tuition. Ferguson said Virginia gives state aid to school systems for all students attending, with a higher per-pupil reimbursement for in-division resident students.
Some of the Tennessee students attending Scott County schools have parents who own property in the county, Ferguson said, while some other students may have one parent residing in the county and another in Tennessee.
Skeen asked Ferguson about Tennessee students in county schools taking dual-enrollment college classes. Ferguson said dual enrollment courses offered by Mountain Empire Community College are available to Virginia resident students at 20% of the normal tuition cost. Tennessee residents would have to pay full tuition rates for such courses, he added.
Asked by District 5 Supervisor Danny Casteel if the county needs to build new schools, Ferguson said the schools have undergone several renovations with ARPA funds.
“The bones are good,” Ferguson said of the schools’ physical condition, “but I’m concerned about electrical upgrades in the future.”