Ex Tift Superintendent Paid Through June

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

EX-TIFT SCHOOL SUPT. TO BE PAID THROUGH JUNE 30

ADAM HATHAWAY SAYS HE IS 'VOLUNTARILY' TERMINATING HIS CONTRACT

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tift County Schools Superintendent Adam Hathaway, who resigned effective last Thursday, will continue to be paid through June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

In Hathaway's letter of resignation, released Tuesday to the Tifton Grapevine following a request, the superintendent wrote that he will "voluntarily terminate my employment contract with the Tift County School District effective June 30, 2024." Hathaway noted that his "last day as superintendent with the Tift County School District will be September 28, 2023," the date of his resignation letter.

Jonathan Jones, chairman of the Tift County Board of Education (BOE), confirmed that Hathaway will be paid through June 30 and that his annual salary is approximately $221,000.

At a special called meeting on Thursday, the BOE accepted Hathaway's resignation without comment. No reasons have been given for Hathaway's resignation.

"We are not disclosing those discussions," Jones told the Tifton Grapevine following last week's meeting. The following day, the school system released a short statement noting that Hathaway's resignation was accepted and that "the board appreciates the tireless efforts of Mr. Hathaway during his tenure."

In another special called meeting during the previous week, the board had placed Hathaway on administrative leave indefinitely. Again, the BOE gave no reason for that action.

Mickey Weldon, assistant superintendent for human resources, is serving as acting superintendent.

When Hathaway was placed on indefinite administrative leave, the BOE had also placed Tift County High Principal Chad Stone on temporary administrative leave for five days, offering no reason for its action. Stone publicly apologized for unspecified "ethical lapses," for which he said he will "repay restitution to the school system."

Stone, Georgia's principal of the year, said he intends to retire at the end of the school year.

Hathaway was named Tift County Schools superintendent in 2019. The Clinch County High School graduate was previously superintendent in Schley County (Ellaville). He also had been a principal in Gilmer County and had taught in schools in Fitzgerald, and in Cook and Berrien counties.

He is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the 101st Airborne Division. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English education and a specialist degree in educational leadership, all from Valdosta State University.

Layton Lester, left, serving a life sentence for a Tift County murder in 2007, is accused of attacking and killing corrections officer Robert Clark in a Glennville prison on Sunday.

TIFTON MAN JAILED FOR MURDER ACCUSED OF KILLING PRISON GUARD

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A Tifton man serving a life sentence for a Tift County murder in 2007 is being charged in the killing Sunday of a prison guard at Smith State Prison in Glennville, authorities say.

Layton Kiev Lester, 32, is accused of using a “homemade weapon” to attack correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, who began his corrections career at the prison in April, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC).

Clark was escorting Lester and another inmate, Marko Willingham, from the dining hall when the officer was assaulted from behind with a homemade weapon, the corrections department said in a statement. Willingham "stepped in to assist Officer Clark and was also assaulted. Both Officer Clark and (Willingham) were transported to local hospitals," where Clark "tragically succumbed to his injuries," the statement read.

Willingham remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

“The entire GDC team is mourning the loss of one of our own, and we collectively express our deepest condolences to Officer Clark’s family and friends,” said Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. “We will support them as they navigate this tragedy over the coming days, weeks, and months.”

Further details of the incident will be made available as soon as they are confirmed, corrections officials said.

A Tift County jury in 2009 had found Lester guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death and robbery of his great-aunt Lorrine Bozeman, who had received $5,000 that she was planning to use to purchase property.

Bozeman was shot twice during a home invasion and armed robbery on April 29, 2007, according to court documents. Lester was 15 at the time and was tried in court as an adult.

He was sentenced to life in prison for malice murder, a concurrent term of 20 years for armed robbery, and terms of 20 years for burglary to run consecutively to the murder sentence, and five years for a firearm count to run consecutively to the burglary sentence.

In 2020, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld Lester's conviction.

Two Tift County Sheriff's patrol cars were severely damaged when they were rammed Monday by an SUV on Interstate 75 in Tift County. No one was seriously injured.

I-75 WRECK DAMAGES TIFT DEPUTIES' CARS;

NO SERIOUS INJURIES

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

No one was seriously injured Monday when an SUV rammed into a Tift County Sheriff's patrol car, pushing it into another patrol car, as deputies were redirecting traffic around a stalled vehicle on Interstate 75 near Exit 59, the Georgia State Patrol said.

The incident occurred at approximately noon in the southbound lanes, said GSP Sgt. Phillip Kilgore with Tifton Post 13.

The chain of events began when a vehicle, driven by Dhales Slack, 23, of Fitzgerald, started shaking, the trooper said. Slack then pulled off Exit 59 and exited her vehicle as she called for assistance but left her car in drive, the GSP said.

The car then traveled across Southwell Boulevard and back onto the interstate. It crossed the southbound lanes, striking a concrete barrier at the far left lane, Sgt. Kilgore said. The vehicle was partially blocking the left lane of traffic, and Tift County deputies responded to redirect traffic around the car, the trooper said.

That's when an SUV driven by Thomas Watson of West Palm Beach, Fla., struck a deputy's patrol car, ramming it into another parked patrol vehicle, Kilgore said.

The SUV driver was apparently "distracted by something within his vehicle, and when he looked up he saw the patrol car" but couldn't stop in time, the trooper said. The SUV attempted to swerve into the middle lane and back, forcing other vehicles to react as debris was scattered across the lanes.

"Nobody was seriously injured," Sgt. Kilgore said.

Watson, the SUV driver, was charged with failure to execute due care, and Slack, who left her vehicle in drive, was charged with reckless conduct, the trooper said.

MOBILE LIBRARY COMING TO TY TY CITY HALL

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

"Library Everywhere" has a new twice monthly route stop at Ty Ty City Hall, 141 E. Elman St., beginning Oct. 19.

The mobile library will visit from 9:30-11:30 a.m. every first and third Thursday on the north side of City Hall offices.

Library-card registration, computers for public use, and free wireless Internet will be available. Materials such as books, and DVDs may be checked out.

Mobile library visits are also scheduled in Alapaha, Mystic, Rebecca, Sycamore, Fitzgerald, Lenox, and Sparks.

"Library Everywhere" is a project assisted through a grant from Georgia Public Library Service with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Its directive is to bring crucial library services to underserved communities.

It is a mobile branch of the Coastal Plain Regional Library System, serving Ben Hill, Berrien, Cook, Irwin, Tift, and Turner counties. For information, contact Allison Young, outreach services coordinator, at 229-402-9115 or [email protected]

KTB NAMES 'BEAUTY SPOTS' OF MONTH

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Keep Tift Beautiful, a city-county citizens advisory board promoting recycling, community gardening, litter abatement, and outdoor beautification, has named its “Beauty Spots” for October.

Pictured above is the Sparks family home at 7214 Northgate Drive, this month’s residential Beauty Spot. Pictured below is the month’s commercial Beauty Spot: South Georgia Banking Co. at 2005 N. Tift Ave.

Pictured from left beginning in the bottom row are: Berkeia Lashae Benton, Dynisha Lasha Fowler, Addison Jo Pearson, Quinteria Keshauna Hall, Chelsea Dawn Todd, Ashlynn K'Marie Howard, Samuel Ashton Hornbuckle, Kei-Kei Latonya Flucas, Alexis Leigh Harrison, Bailey Rianna Clements, Deidra Nicole White, Kimberly Michelle Pitts, Macy Logan Strenth, Shaniqua Gabeielle Scott, De'Terrion Damal White, and Johnna Danielle Dales.

SRTC's TIFTON PRACTICAL NURSING GRADS NOTCH 100% PASSING RATE

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Summer semester graduates from Southern Regional Technical College's practical nursing program in Tifton achieved a 100% passage on their National Council Licensure Examination for practical nurses.

The exam is a standardized test that each practical nursing graduate must pass to obtain a license as a licensed practical nurse.

Completing the course work were, from Adel: Dynisha Lasha Fowler and Kei-Kei Latonya Flucas; Albany: Berkeia Lashae Benton; Ashburn: Quinteria Keshauna Hall; Enigma: Kimberly Michelle Pitts; Nashville: De'Terrion Damal White; Oxford: Addison Jo Pearson; Rochelle: Bailey Rianna Clements; Sycamore: Shaniqua Gabeielle Scott; Sylvester: Macy Logan Strenth; Tifton: Chelsea Dawn Todd, Ashlynn K'Marie Howard, Samuel Ashton Hornbuckle, Alexis Leigh Harrison, and Johnna Danielle Dales; Ty Ty: Deidra Nicole White.

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

"Domino" is looking for a good home. This friendly kitty is available at the Tift County Animal Shelter. Visit between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

GEORGIA VOTES FOR CREATING

A NEW COUNTY FOR TIFTON

~ OCT. 5, 1904

Georgians went to the polls on Oct. 5, 1904, to overwhelmingly approve a constitutional amendment that would create a new county with Tifton as the county seat. According to press dispatches of the day, "the section around Tifton voted for the change to the man." Tift County was ultimately created in 1905 from sections of Berrien, Irwin, and Worth counties.