By James Cook, Times Editor

The dismissal of the former Stanton City Clerk was a hot topic when it happened back in May. It is bound to be heating up again as she has filed a lawsuit against the city and the mayor, claiming she was wrongfully terminated and treated unfairly. She is asking for $20 million in damages.

On May 1 of this year then City Clerk, Vickie Slemp, was called into the mayor’s office where she was given a letter. That letter informed her that she was being terminated effective May 8, but that she was to leave the office and not to return as of right then. Mayor Dale Allen also informed her that he would not discuss her termination and the letter stated she could ask for a prediscplinary hearing. That hearing was set for May 8. Slemp left the office, “visibly upset” as she has stated in her suit, with “customers in the office” and “her daughter with her.”

At the time of the dismissal, Allen did not release a statement. However, in the lawsuit a claim has been made that Allen advised Slemp there may have been an issue with the audits and bank reconciliations. No one has ever claimed any wrong doing or illegal activity by Slemp in the case.

Allen also refused to recuse himself from the predisciplinary hearing and he also refused to answer questions on the advice of counsel. The suit claims that Slemp was not given a fair hearing and that her request for a continuance was denied. That claim also states that she was denied due process and the chance to call witnesses. 

Former mayor Virginia Wills did testify stating that she never had any problems with Slemp performance. Wills also stated that she would give a verbal reprimand followed by a written reprimand if an employee’s conduct was “inappropriate or dissatisfactory” before she would terminate anyone. Wills stated that was the way it was supposed to be handled according to the policy and procedure manual.

Slemp has never received a yearly evaluation, which the manual states are supposed to be completed. She claims she was never verbally reprimanded or written up for any wrong doing while she was a city employee. In contrast, Slemp states in her court documents that Allen told her she was doing a good job, giving her the feeling that her employment was safe.

Slemp, who worked for the city from Feb. 8 2001 until her dismissal, claims that based on the city’s policy and procedure manual she could only be dismissed “for just cause” and that only “probationary period” employees could “be dismissed at will.” That manual has been what the city has used since it was approved, according to Slemp, on April 29, 2004. In the city’s last meeting on Oct. 8 the council did discuss looking at the policies to update them if needed.

Slemp and her attorney, Donna Hale, claim in the lawsuit that neither Slemp nor the Assistant Clerk, Teresa Koontz, ever received any bookkeeping or finance training. The mayor has claimed, at a meeting following the dismissal that training was available but Slemp did not attend.  

Slemp also claims the yearly audits fell behind from 2003 until 2007. Those were completed in a matter of 18 months, with 2005 through 2007 being completed on Mar. 2, 2009. According to the suit, neither the auditors from Summers, McCray and Sparks, or Allen ever discussed the audits with her or Koontz. She also claims that when she asked the auditors about them, she was advised they would discuss it with her later. The audits did mention that the clerk needed more training, but that she was never sent to any training.

As for bank reconciliations, Slemp claims that the city hired “outside people” back in 2003 to take over that responsibility. The suit points out that the position for City Clerk that was advertised after her dismissal did not list this duty as being part of the job.

The 17 page lawsuit has other claims as well that deal with the possibility that Slemp may have been discriminated against. The suit also claimed that her replacement was hired illegally, that the open meetings act was violated and that Slemp was never paid for the first week she worked for the city. Some businesses and entities hold the check for the first 40 hours and that is paid when the employee leaves a job. Slemp claims in the suit that she was not paid for those hours.

As for her replacement, the suit claims that a position that does not exist in the city’s policy was created to hire the new clerk. The suit also claims that the posting methods of the special meetings were changed and that because of that Slemp and Hale missed a meeting on May 4. It was at that meeting that new clerk was hired as a Deputy Clerk.

The lawsuit also claims that male employees from the water and sewer departments who completed a one week training session received a $50 per month raise. However, after completing a three year process for certification, Slemp was not given such a raise. The suit also claims that when she inquired about the raise she was told by Allen that he would have to check with City Attorney Scott Graham. That was a week before she was given the dismissal letter.

She also claims that when positions came open that current employees would be offered the position for at least one week before it will be opened for applications outside of the city’s employees. But that when Koontz asked on May 2 why the position was not offered to her Allen allegedly advised that she had to be certified. The suit claims that the advertisement posted in the Times for the position did not list that as a requirement.

The lawsuit asks for a trial by jury as well as a judgment against Allen, both individually and as the Mayor of Stanton, and the City of Stanton. She is asking for compensation for her “past, present and future economic loss as well as for the mental distress she has suffered.” The suit also asks for Slemp’s costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees for the suit and the predisciplinary hearing be included in any damages awarded. The document also asks the Powell Circuit Court find that that the City of Stanton violated the Open Meetings Act, for punitive damages of $20 million to “deter future wrongful conduct by the Defendants, Dale Allen and the City of Stanton.”

Allen was contacted by the Times for a comment. “Based on the advise of my attorney and since this is pending litigation, I really cannot discuss anything about it,” Allen said on Monday. 

These type of lawsuits only give the plaintiff’s side of the story.

Photo by James Cook

The Powell County Pirates football seniors took their final walk on the field after last Friday’s game against Estill County. From left to right they are Shane Karpensky, Qunintin Vancleve, Tyler Brewer, Tim Hardy, Wes Branham, Anthony Tipton, Patrick Salisbury and Jordan Matthews

By James Cook, Times Editor

Dr. Sam Cecil, a long-time resident and physician in Powell County, died last Saturday at St. Joseph East in Lexington.  He was 67. 

Cecil, known affectionately by his patients as “Doc”, was born in Morgan County and graduated from Ezel High School where he was a member of the basketball team. He also graduated from Berea College in 1964 and the UK Medical School in 1968.

Cecil opened his family practice and office in Stanton in 1970. Generations of families have been patients and friends with the Cecil family ever since. He served Powell County right up until his death, which caught many local residents by surprise.

Cecil was a former chairman of the Powell County Board of Health and a former attending physician at the Stanton Nursing Center. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Anne Cecil and two sons, David and Darin and their families.  He was laid to rest on Wednesday. Hearne’s Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

By David J. Griffin, Times Reporter

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 requires all states to measure each public school’s achievement and establish annual improvement targets for the state. The most recent test results for Powell County have been compiled, and two schools met the required progress goals. Bowen Elementary and Stanton Elementary achieved 100 percent of their target goals for 2009. 

Under the NCLB standards, schools are measured on whether students meet performance benchmarks in Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Participation Rate, and either graduation rates (for high schools) or other academic indicators (for elementary and middle schools). Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the term used in the Federal NCLB Act to categorize whether a school or district has met the federal accountability requirements for that year. 

If a district that is receiving Title I (Part A) funds fails to meet AYP for two consecutive years, that district is subject to certain requirements, such as offering supplemental education services, offering school choices, and/or taking corrective action. The students’ scores are used to determine whether students at each school have been taught well. Schools using Title I funds through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 must make Adequate Yearly Progress in test scores. For example, each year the school’s fifth graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous years. Under the NCLB Act, a school must make 100 percent of its target goals in order to qualify as having made Adequate Yearly Progress. 

As a district, Powell County did not achieve AYP, and only two of five schools met AYP target goals. Below are the results for each individual school in the Powell County School District.

The District met 12 out of 13 target goals or 92.3 percent. In other words, the AYP for the District was not met. 

Bowen Elementary met 10 out of 10 target goals or 100 percent. Clay City Elementary met 11 out of 12 target goals or 91.7 percent. Stanton Elementary met 10 out of 10 target goals or 100 percent. Powell Middle met 10 out of 11 target goals or 90.9 percent. Powell County High School met 8 out of 10 target goals or 80 percent. 

In March 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1 (SB1) that was subsequently signed into law by the Governor. SB1 calls for a significant overhaul of the state’s assessment and accountability system. The new assessment begins in the spring of 2012. The school years of 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 are described in SB1 as an interim period. 

This three year-period allows Kentucky to develop the new assessment system and to carry on state and federal testing requirements. The Interim Performance Report includes the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) in Reading (grades 3-8-10), Mathematics (grades 3-8-11), Science (grades 4-7-11), Social Studies (grades 5-8-11) and Writing On-Demand (grades 5-8-12). The KCCT is based on the Kentucky Core Content for Assessment (Version 4.1) and contains multiple choice and open response questions. The Writing On-Demand test uses writing prompts that require students to craft a piece of writing in a 60-minute period. 

The following KCCT scores were also reported for 2009. The numbers are percentages of students scoring Proficient or Distinguished in the assessed content.

Bowen: Reading – 72.58, Math – 61.29, Science – 72.34, Social Studies – 24.39, On-Demand – 17.07.

Clay City: Reading – 71.78, Math – 72.61, Science – 81.08, Social Studies – 70.51, On-Demand – 33.33.

Stanton: Reading – 64.02, Math – 64.02, Science – 41.07, Social Studies – 67.39, On-Demand – 52.17.

PCMS: Reading – 60.04, Math – 66.67, Science – 60.91, Social Studies – 63.19, On-Demand – 32.42.

PCHS: Reading – 51.96, Math – 38.56, Science – 32.03, Social Studies – 32.68, On-Demand – 18.06.

The PCHS Marching Pirates performed at the Pirate Classic this past weekend, but did not compete. They will be competing in Rowan County at the Class 3A East Regional this Saturday at 3 p.m., Anthony Tipton, Patrick Salisbury and Jordan Matthews,

By James Cook, Times Editor

Despite all the rain and mud, gloomy skies and cool weather, the Pirate Classic Band Competition was quite a success last Saturday. The Powell County High School parking lot had to become the playing field for the nine bands that competed. But that was a story all in its own.

Garrard County took home the overall Grand Champion trophy as they scored 87.15. The Marching Golden Lions captured first place in the Class 3A categories of Color Guard and percussion. Garrard, as well as Reserve Grand Champion Estill County, achieved a distinguished rating for their performances.

Hazard High School placed third overall with Harrison County coming in fourth. Other bands that participated were from Morgan County, Lewis County, Paris, Rockcastle County and Perry County Central. Members of the Lewis County band wore t-shirts that sported a heart logo showing their support for senior band member Casey Clark. Clark had been critically injured in an auto accident last week. 

“It took a lot of extra work to put this one on,” PCHS Band Director Mike Estep said. “But our parents and staff and our kids worked hard, the community helped and we were able to get it ready.”

Usually the competition is held on the football field, but the heavy rains and the Powell-Estill football game on Friday night took its toll on the field conditions. The competition was moved to the parking lot, but only after squeegees and leaf blowers were used to dry out the area. Then the lot had to be painted to look something like a football field.

“I had some of the directors tell me they appreciated our efforts and giving them a chance to compete,” Estep said. “We always try and our people were great in helping making this happen. I’m proud of them.”

The host band, the PCHS Marching Pirates, put on an exhibition show of their performance. This year they are performing “Once upon a Haunted Heart: A composer’s tale.” The music is from Ludwig van Beethoven and is a story about his lost love. 

The Marching Pirates have made the finals in each of the three competitions they took part in this year. Now they will perform at the Class 3A East Regional in Rowan County this Saturday. Powell will take to the field at 3 p.m. Neighbor and Class 3A competitor Estill County will also perform at Rowan County. They are set to take the field at 1:15 p.m.