During the latest meeting of the Manchester School Board Monday night, board attorney for the past 16 years Mark Williams announced his plans to resign at the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Williams also owns the building that the system leases in downtown Manchester. The school system started using that building in July of last year for its central office. The cost of the lease comes in at just under $150,000 over three years. According to the Manchester Times, Williams told the board, speaking as a citizen rather than as board attorney, “I’m not in a position to say you can just walk away from the lease.” The system was looking at way they could possibly get out of the agreement.
The school system is waiting on decision by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen on whether a referendum will be put on a ballot to merge the city schools with the county.
Work on the budget begins this month by the system’s executive committee.

A Tullahoma man has been arrested for robbing three men last week.
Russell Nathaniel Farris, 37, of South Franklin Street was charged by Detective Rana Pawlowski with robbery, aggravated assault, especially aggravated kidnapping, criminal impersonation, possession of drug paraphernalia and manufacture/delivery/sell of a controlled substance in connection with a robbery on South Jefferson Street on Feb. 5.
According to a police report by Officer Holly Sparkman and warrants by Detective Rana Pawlowski, Farris entered the South Jefferson Street residence under the pretense that he was a police officer. Once inside the residence, Farris allegedly held the three occupants at gunpoint and made them lay on the floor of a bedroom while he ransacked the room.
He allegedly stole $1,500 and a cell phone and left.
During the investigation Detective Pawlowski learned that Farris lived on South Franklin Street. When she entered the residence she located in the dining room a large amount of what is believed to be marijuana, a set of digital scales, baggies for packaging and a knife.
Farris was booked into the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $116,500. He is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on Feb 12.

Tennessee teachers are hopeful after Governor Bill Haslam proposed spending $100 million for teacher salary increases during his annual State of the State address Monday night.
Tennessee Education Association President Barbara Gray called Gov. Haslam’s proposal “a great first step to fulfilling his promise to make Tennessee the fastest improving in teacher salaries.”
The governor’s budget proposal includes nearly $49 million additional money for K-12 education, including:
• Nearly $44 million to fully fund the Basic Education Program; and
• $5 million to create the Educators’ Liability Trust Fund to offer liability insurance to Tennessee teachers at no cost to them.

The Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall will be at the Winchester City Park Red Roof Pavilion from May 21 through May 26, 2015.
The wall is a 3/5 scale depiction of the original in Washington D.C. and is six feet in height at the center with a span of 300 feet from one end to the other. The names of over 58,000 soldiers who were lost are inscribed on the wall.
Viewers are reminded of the great sacrifices made during the Vietnam War, and the building of the wall was intended to promote healing, to allow soldiers to rekindle memories of friends that they lost, and to provide those who cannot travel to see the original an opportunity to honor hometown soldiers.
The traveling wall visited Manchester in 2009.