Hawkins County commission appoints Bob Larkins to school board

ROGERSVILLE — The Hawkins County Board of Commissioners appointed Bob Larkins to the school district's Board of Education at its meeting Monday night. Larkins previously served on the education board from 2012 to '20. According to previous reporting from the Kingsport Times News, he was vice-chairman for one year and chairman for three. He represented District 1, and will again. Larkins told the commissioners at their Oct. 27 meeting that he left the board because he felt it was time for him to do other things. However, he came to miss being on the board. Larkins, a retiree, said he was the director of Sullivan County's juvenile court for 34 years. In that role, he had experience with budgets and grants from the federal and state levels. Larkins said he's lived in Mount Carmel for 42 years. He now has two grandchildren in the county's school system: one at Church Hill Middle School, and another at Volunteer High School. "I have an investment in the system, and I'm real proud of Hawkins County," Larkins said. "It'd be my honor to serve again." Larkins will serve as a board member until the August 2026 election. He replaces Ronaldo Benavides, who resigned to become the school district's supervisor of transportation. District 1 Commissioner John Gibson nominated Larkins, as well as Jeff Mann and Barbara Cogliano. Mann said he worked at Eastman Chemical Company for 34 years. His wife and daughter are both teachers in Hawkins County Schools; Mann's children graduated from Volunteer High School, and his grandchildren will also attend the county's schools. Cogliano was absent. District 1 Commissioner Syble Vaughan Trent said, on her behalf, that Cogliano has worked as a school nurse and taught at Volunteer High School. She also said Cogliano worked as a registered nurse in a hospital and was an administrative assistant at Eastman Chemical. Of the 13 commissioners in attendance — Danny Alvis was absent — eight voted for Larkins, which was just enough to approve his appointment. Commissioners Nancy Barker and Josh Gilliam voted for Mann, while Vaughan Trent voted for Cogliano. Commissioners Jeff Barrett and Jason Roach abstained. Other updates The board approved all the resolutions presented to them. These included: signing a five-year lease extension for the Rock Hill Convenience Center; accepting a $60,000 state grant for the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office DUI enforcement program; applying for a state historical development grant — for $100,000 with a $5,000 local match — to refurbish the courthouse's exterior; and several budget amendments that moved funds around without requesting new money, or acclimated new money. Additionally, one budget amendment requested $93,605 from the highway capital projects fund to purchase two freightliner dump trucks. Road Superintendent Danny Jones said the trucks, each over a decade old, are better than any of the equipment his department currently has. The next Hawkins County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Nov. 24. Volunteer High School's broadcast class livestreams the meetings on its VHS Broadcasting YouTube channel. Recordings of the Sept. 22 and this Oct. 27 meeting can be found on that channel.