DEMOPOLIS &8212; At a special called meeting of the Demopolis City Schools Board of Education Friday, board members moved to approve the hires of six new educators.

Two of the individuals approved for hire were Jeremy Sullivan and Rudy Griffin, who will fill the coaching vacancies at the high school. The identities of the other new personnel were not made public as of press time as the individuals had yet to formally accept the system&8217;s offers.

The hires are the board&8217;s first since its May decision to cut seven employees in an effort to comply with state education budget cuts. Upon seeing the tardy state education budget and determining its own, the board posted its vacancies for the 2008-2009 school year.

Vickers was upbeat following Friday&8217;s approvals.

Before going into executive session to discuss the new personnel matters, the board accepted the retirements of Community Education Director Barbara Hill and Demopolis Middle School Library Media Specialist Cathy Leet as well as the resignations of lunchroom manager Helen W. Kelly and JROTC Sr. Army Instructor Beverly I. Jones.