Roane County Schools

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1. This meeting can be joined remotely. The public could join by calling 1-304-553-7794 and entering the provided conference ID or on Microsoft Teams using the provided link.
2. Presentations
   1. Superintendent SpotlightDianna Carpenter introduced Ava Bratton, Emma Sloan, and Reece Thornabarr (not present), who competed at the National FBLA Conference in Anaheim. Miss Bratton, the 2024-25 WV FBLA President, and Miss Sloan, the 2025-26 WV FBLA President, were thankful for the continued support of FBLA, which offered them so many opportunities over the years.
      1. Summer SOARLora Matheney (SOAR Into Summer Coordinator), presented on the Summer SOAR program, which serves Roane County students from 1st grade through 4th to combat the summer slide.
   2. Public ParticipationTheresa Parker, former President of Roane Arts and Humanities, introduced Will Frum, the new President of Roane Arts and Humanities.
   3. Student Achievement
      1. 2025-26 Federal Programs Funding UpdateAmy Cole, Director of Federal Programs and Compliance, presented on federal programs funding in Roane County. State Superintendent Blatt, along with Margaret Williamson and Amon Gilliam from the Division of Federal Programs and Support, held an informational meeting on July 15th about the current pause on federal funding streams for Title IIa, Title IVa, which approximates to about $177,000. These paused funds have not been released to the U.S. Department of Education due to a review currently underway by the Office of Management and Budget that is focused on ensuring alignment with the current federal administration policies. We are waiting to see if and when funds will be released and will plan accordingly, just in case.
      2. 2025 Special Education Determination for Roane County SchoolsMichelle Ash, Director of Student Support Services, presented a letter from Sheila Paitsel, Director of Special Education in the Division of Federal Programs and Support with WVDE. The letter explains that IDEA requires States to make annual determinations of each LEA's compliance with IDEA. Therefore, though we were monitored last year and were in the "needs assistance" category, we have improved and moved out to the "meets requirements" category. We will continue to grow and raise our scores for next year concerning our compliance and management of funds, but we're glad to say that our students are being provided the services they need.
   4. WVBE Policy 2322: West Virginia Support and AccountabilityThe WVBE Policy 2322 is the policy that governs continuous improvement of the school district. It encourages us to build the capacity and ensures the efficiency of how schools and the district are run. It sets expectations that we will have parent involvement, family involvement and community involvement in all of our schools and in our operations at the board level. It gives performance indicators and defines that local responsibility does fall with the Superintendent and Roane County Board Education and it does state that we can be held accountable for failure to operate the schools efficiently and within the guidelines. It also gives us framework for self-assessment, decision-making, professional development and the strategic planning process and also defines the roles of LSIC's.
   5. Update on Roane County Schools State of EmergencyI have met with the Office of Accountability and worked together to set expectations. We immediately scheduled appointments and met with our leadership team to discuss these expectations and began to divide tasks to preparation to report tonight. We have had many meetings with the finance department. Uriah held a training for our staff and leadership team to go over the entire book of reports. Next, a member of the Accountability and Finance Office will do a full scrub of the budgets for Food Service and the Special Education to see if we can identify what led to us being significantly over budget in those departments. We will also devise a plan of how we will prevent that from happening again. The leadership team will meet and put together a main plan and a few optional plans. We need to schedule a work session on Tuesday, July 29th, to discuss scenarios.
3. New Business for Consideration and Potential Action
   1. Create Athletic Director, Roane County High School/Spencer Middle SchoolMotion by Eileen Richardson and seconded by Dennis Carpenter to approve. Motion carried. (7:18 pm)
   2. Abolish Athletic Director, Roane County High SchoolMotion by Dennis Carpenter and seconded by Daris Harper to approve. Motion carried. (7:19 pm)
   3. Create Aide / ECCAT (Geary Elementary / Middle School), effective August 12, 2025Motion by James Minney and seconded by Dennis Carpenter to approve. Motion carried. (7:20 pm)
   4. Reassignment by Mutual Consent
      1. Ashley Mills, from Special Education (self-contained) at Spencer Middle School to Special Education (self-contained) at Spencer Elementary School
   5. Abolish PreK at Geary Elementary Middle SchoolMotion by Dennis Carpenter and seconded by James Minney to approve. Motion carried. (7:22 pm)
4. Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Eileen Richardson and seconded by James Minney to approve the following consent agenda as recommended by Michelle Stellato, Superintendent. Motion carried. (8:03 pm)
   1. Approval of minutes of the regular board meeting on July 10, 2025
   2. Financial
      1. Financial Reports
      2. Transfers/supplements to the budget
      3. Payments of bills as submitted; pre-approval to release checks not to exceed $20,000 prior to the next board meeting
   3. Policies
   4. Contract(s) / Bid(s) / Agreement(s)
      1. Bid/Contract for Speech and Physical Therapy ServicesLinguacare Associates, Inc. contract for speech and language services and another Linguacare Associates, Inc. contract for physical therapy services
      2. Bid/Contract for Occupational ServicesThera-Pedics, Inc. contract for occupational services
      3. Bid/Contract for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Interpretative Services
      4. Bid/Contract for Vision and Mobility ServicesDot One-Three Vision contract for vision evaluations and services
      5. MOU with Roane Arts and Humanities Council, Inc.
   5. Field Trips
   6. Volunteers
   7. Student Transfers
5. Personnel Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Dennis Carpenter and seconded by Eileen Richardson to approve the following personnel items as recommended by Michelle Stellato, Superintendent. Motion carried. (8:12 pm)
   1. Resignation(s)
      1. Gainer, Katherine - Social Media Coordinator (Spencer Middle School), effective July 11, 2025
      2. Gainer, Katherine - Game Manager (Spencer Middle School), effective July 11, 2025
   2. New Employment(s)
      1. _______________________ - Accountant II / Secretary II (Roane County High School), effective July 23, 2025This position was not filled.
      2. Camp, Haley - Teacher / 2nd & 3rd Grade (Spencer Elementary School), effective August 12, 2025
      3. Moats, Shane - Elementary Alternative Education Teacher (RCS - Student Support (75%), Spencer Elementary (25%)), effective August 12, 2025
   3. Transfer(s)
      1. Chancey-Brown, Brenda - Technology Systems Specialist (RCS - Central Office) to Coordinator of Technology (RCS - Central Office), effective July 22, 2025
      2. Hunt, Jennifer - Principal (Walton Elementary / Middle School) to Principal (Roane County High School), effective July 22, 2025
      3. Umstead, Wendy - Teacher / Math (Roane County High School) to Teacher / Math & Science (Roane County High School), effective August 12, 2025
      4. Mills, Ashley - Teacher / Special Education (Spencer Middle School) to Teacher / Special Education (Walton Elementary / Middle School), effective August 12, 2025
   4. Rescind action(s)
      1. New Employment of Carmichael, Josie - Teacher / Art (Spencer Middle School), effective August 12, 2025 [from May 22, 2025]
6. Reports of Committees
   1. Roane Jackson Technical Center Administrative Council (7/15/2025)We evaluated Mr. Cummings, which was fantastic. The progress on the building project is going great and we approved the co-op sites for the 2025-26 school year.
7. Superintendent's RemarksWe want to introduce our new Coordinator of Special Education Compliance, Sara Beth Monk. She was hired at our previous board meeting and has been working hard. I had the privilege today to attend the Rotary Club meeting in Spencer. Thank you Mr. Hedges, who invited me to be the speaker. I gave a brief overview about myself and my leadership experience. My first leadership experience was sponsored by Rotary and that is where I felt I got my identity as a leader and realized that I wanted to do this with my life. I enjoyed connecting with the community and hearing what they're thinking. Lastly, I would like to recognize Erica Moore, our Delegate for the House of Delegates, who came out tonight to visit with us and help us through our financial struggles. We thank you for your help.
8. Adjournment
   1. Adjourn until the next regular meeting on on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at 6:00 pm at Roane County High SchoolMotion by James Minney and seconded by Daris Harper to Adjourn until the special meeting on Tuesday, August 29, 2025, at 5:00 pm at Roane County High School. The next regular meeting on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at 5:00 pm at Roane County High School. Motion carried. (8:16 pm)