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Outgoing school board members honored

By DAWN HANKINS - dhankins@t-g.com
Posted 8/23/22

Outgoing Bedford County Board of Education members, Diane Neeley, John Boutwell and Nicole Cashion were all recognized and honored with a reception prior to Thursday night’s school board …

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Outgoing school board members honored

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Outgoing Bedford County Board of Education members, Diane Neeley, John Boutwell and Nicole Cashion were all recognized and honored with a reception prior to Thursday night’s school board meeting.  

All service times combined, they share 34 years of dedicated service. Neeley and Boutwell were recently elected to serve their respective district seats on the Bedford County Board of Commission.  

New school board members will be sworn in during the board’s Sept. 15 meeting. Please note: school board meetings have been moved to the third Thursday each month at 6 p.m.  

BCBE chair Michael Cook presented awards during a reception in honor of the outgoing school board members. Neeley and Boutwell have both served as school board chairs.  

Director of Schools Tammy Garrett said in honor of the board members, “It has been my honor to serve Bedford County Schools under the leadership of Mr. Boutwell, Mrs. Cashion and Mrs. Neeley. Serving as a school board member is so much more than a once-a-month meeting. There’s a lot of research involved, studying of issues, answering questions and making decisions, which requires time and dedication. On behalf of our school district, I thank them for their many years of service to the students, our schools and our communities.” 

Diane Neeley  

Neeley has served on Bedford County Board of Education for 20 years, representing District 4, which includes Liberty School. During her tenure, she has spent countless hours in study and research to oversee the largest budget in the county.  

Over those 20 years, she’s also participated in the planning and budgeting to build Harris Middle, Community High, Cascade High, Learning Way as well as the renovation and addition at Shelbyville Central High. She has served as chair, vice-chair, and board team leader of the collaborative conferencing committee since its inception in 2012.  

She has been the Tennessee Legislative liaison for the local board for many years along with serving on numerous committees, both local and state, in relation to community involvement and initiatives for public education.  

Neeley has been recognized by the Tennessee School Board Association as a Level V Master Boardman. She was honored as a member of the AllTennessee School Board in 2010 and was a recipient of the TSBA Scholars Circle award in 2017.  

Neeley said prior to her recent election to the Commission, “My work in the private sector—coupled with my years of board experience—have taught me how to budget, differentiate between needs and wants . . . collaborate to find solutions for funding those needs.”  

John Boutwell  

John Boutwell has served the school board for a total of 10 years. He has achieved high level status with the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) over the years and served up until 2019-2020 as school board chair.  

Coming from a business and industrial background, Boutwell has long noted that one of his goals has always been to bring to light the connection between economic development and the local school system. He also has advised how good paying jobs require an educated workforce.  

A retired human resources director, Boutwell worked as a human resources advisor with Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham when he was first elected four years ago to his office

One of his platforms has been per pupil spending in Bedford County, which remains at the bottom of the list within the South Central Development District. He has made a couple of presentations to the board on per pupil spending.  

“Our children and our workforce suffer from our lack of investment in schools,” Boutwell recently stated. He said while he will miss serving as a school board representative, he is looking forward to his new position with the Commission.  

Nicole Cashion  

Serving a 4-year term on the school board has been Nicole Cashion, who works professionally as director of Bedford County Juvenile Court.  

Cashion has stated that her main priority as a school board member has been to “foster a sense of community through increased parental engagement.”  

She notes on her school board profile how her roots run deep in Bedford County with several generations of her family being Bedford County natives. Also a mother and grandmother, education has been an important facet of her life. 

Cashion is a product of Bedford County schools; she earned a law degree. She has always hoped that her juvenile court experience would prove advantageous for the board, students and community.