SCSO detective newest Sullivan school board member | News

BLOUNTVILLE — Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office Detective Lt. Matt Price has made an almost 19-year career of law enforcement, but now he’s immersing himself in the world of education.

The Blountville area resident has a father who is a retired educator in Bristol, Tennessee, a wife who teaches in Sullivan County, and three children in county schools.

Price said his background gives him a unique perspective as the newest Sullivan County Board of Education member. The county commission appointed him to the seat from which Randall Gilmore resigned last year after moving outside the district.

And Price might be joined by another SCSO employee, Sgt. Jeret Lee Ratliff, on the 2022 BOE ballot. Ratliff, a county coach, has picked up a petition to seek the District 2 seat held by Paul Robinson of Bloomingdale, but as of Friday evening had not filed to run for a four-year term on the board.

Price has picked up a petition to seek the District 6 seat in the Republican primary and said in a Thursday interview he plans to run. As of Friday afternoon, no one else had picked up or filed in that district.

Incumbent Michael Hughes of the Hickory Tree area in District 4 is seeking reelection.

EDUCATION RUNS IN PRICE FAMILY

“My dad was a teacher. My wife is a teacher. I’ve dealt with kids. I love kids. I care about kids,” Price said. In May, he will mark 19 years with the sheriff’s office, and in November he will mark his 19th year of marriage.

His wife, Sandra, teaches at Holston Elementary near Tri-Cities Airport.

Price said that as a school board member, he wants to help students, staff and faculty. His oldest is a freshman at West Ridge, where Price on Thursday night attended his first BOE work session, followed by a voting meeting. It also marked the first time the board held such a meeting at the school.

Price has another child in the seventh grade at Sullivan Central Middle and a third in the second grade at Holston Elementary.

“I thought I could offer a little different perspective,” Price said, adding that he wants to be sure about the safety, security and well-being of students as well as academic and extracurricular activities. Before the meeting in the auditorium, he and Sheriff Jeff Cassidy chatted, and before and after the work session he and school board Chairman Randall Jones chatted.

PRICE’S BACKGROUND

Price, 42, graduated from Tennessee High School, where Jones was then a principal. Price earned a degree in criminal justice and criminology from East Tennessee State University and started to work with the SCSO when Republican Wayne Anderson was sheriff.

“I’ve known Matt since he was about 4 years old,” Jones said during the meeting.

Earlier in the work session, Jones quipped that the board had gone from two Randalls (he and Gilmore) and a Matthew (Matthew Spivey) to one Randall and two Matthews. Price goes by Matt or Matthew but Matt most of the time.

Price began his SCSO career working in the jail, then did patrol and ended up in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) as a detective, where he has worked since 2009. He was promoted to sergeant and then, under Republican Sheriff Jeff Cassidy, to a lieutenant who supervises the CID.

“We look forward to his ideas and input,” Director of Schools Evelyn Rafalowski said during the meeting in welcoming Price.

WHAT ABOUT RATLIFF?

Ratliff is the wrestling coach at West Ridge and has served as the wrestling coach at the former Sullivan South High and is in the same position at Sullivan East Middle.

According to information released when Ratliff was named West Ridge wrestling coach, he works for the SCSO and the Sullivan County Department of Education, serving as the district’s safety officer and coordinating the district’s school resource officer program.

He also used to coach baseball at the former Sullivan Gardens K-8 school.

The deadline to file is noon Feb. 17, and the deadline to withdraw is a week later. The other three school board seats will be up for grabs in 2024.

The county primary, which for the first time will include partisan school board races because of a change in Tennessee law during a special session of the General Assembly last year, is May 3. The general election is Aug. 4.

As of Friday evening, no Democrats or independents had picked up or filed a petition for any of the three school board seats. The parties have primaries, while independents would bypass primaries and appear only on the general election ballot.

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