Murfreesboro Diamond

Lavon Flaherty, an experienced area administrator, has been hired by the Delight School Board for the 2007-08 school year. Flaherty accepted the $80,000 post for one year.

Delight School Board President Jim Kirkham said Monday the board voted 7-0 to hire him Friday night after interviewing 11 candidates for the job.

``He has the experience - he has been at Blevins, Lockesburg, Saratoga,’’ said Kirkham.

Flaherty said Monday he is excited about coming on board at Delight and eager to give the top spot a try. Flaherty was superintendent at Saratoga when it was merged with Mineral Springs and he remained as principal for two years. He has also been superintendent at Lockesburg and Blevins.

He faces some daunting challenges, but tops on the agenda is turning around the school district’s declining enrollment which has slipped just below the 350 student level. Schools which average less than 350 students over a two-year period can be forced by the state to merge with another district.

Kirkham said the school won’t know what its exact enrollment is until classes begin, but he said the district is considering some ``attractive packages to try to get a few more students,’’ including the possibility of getting eight to 10 exchange students.

Also on the school’s agenda is a proposed six mill tax hike. Asked about how he felt the millage proposal would fare in the fall Kirkham said he thought public sentiment was moving in favor of passage.

``We have to have it,’’ said Kirkham. The proposal, along with debt restructing, would mean more than an additional $100,000 revenue a year.

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