SOUTH POINT – Bill Rose came out of retirement Tuesday afternoon to accept the position of South Point Board of Education member.

Wednesday, August 18, 1999

SOUTH POINT – Bill Rose came out of retirement Tuesday afternoon to accept the position of South Point Board of Education member.

The former board member will replace Gene McKee, who died Aug. 5 after a battle with cancer.

"I served on the board for 12 years," Rose said. "My last term ended in 1997 and I did not want to run for office after that. I felt I had spent enough time on it. It was time for new people to be on the board – people with new ideas and thoughts."

But Rose said he would be honored to complete the rest of McKee’s term.

"Gene and I were friends," Rose said. "We had the same philosophies and thoughts. I want to finish his term for him."

And school officials could not think of a better person to fill the seat, said Rick Waggoner, South Point superintendent.

"Rose was the last board member to leave office," Waggoner said. "And he was good friends with Gene McKee. I think if Gene could have chosen someone to take over for him, Bill would have been his first choice."

Board members voted unanimously to appoint Rose, and he was sworn in by South Point Mayor Bill Gaskin at Tuesday’s special board meeting.

"We just appreciate that Rose said yes to the position," Waggoner added.

A little surprised by the offer, Rose said he asked why the board did not choose one of the people running for office this November.

"They said they didn’t want to try to influence voters and they wanted to be fair with all the candidates," Rose said.

McKee’s term would have ended Dec. 31. Rose said he will not pursue reelection.

Although he will not serve for long, while back in a board of education seat, Rose said he will work with his fellow board members to pass the upcoming property tax levy for new schools in the district.

"I remember when we passed a levy for a new high school," Rose said. "And that will be coming off soon, so if this passes, the taxes won’t be going up that much. I think new schools will be a good thing for the children, especially the young children."

Board members have a little more than two months to convince voters to approve a tax levy which will provide $7.1 million in a local funding match to $23.4 million in state building assistance funds to build a new high school and consolidated elementary school, as well as to remodel the current high school to house middle school students.

"The maintenance and things on older schools are just a larger thing now," Rose said. "They need new space in the high school, and the middle school’s getting older now. There’s just a lot of reasons why we should pass this levy. We need space and technology for all the schools."