Roane County Schools

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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the
Board of Education of the County of Roane

December 5, 2019

6:00 pm @ Roane County High School, Spencer, WV

  1. Presentations
    1. Positively ChargedRoane County Schools technology team was recognized for their hard work. Though they are nominally a 2-man team, they have managed to help coordinate with Frontier to upgrade the SES fiber connection, which has been long awaited. There are currently only 17 open tickets in the county and they have closed 119 tickets this quarter. Some of the open tickets are long-term projects. One of the major projects that they will undertake will be the installation of a new phone/intercom system at RCHS, WEMS, SES, and GEMS.
    2. Public ParticipationRCHS student Katie Cummings presented the Board with a fruit basket on behalf of FFA in appreciation for the purchase of over 100 boxes of fruit during the recent FFA fundraiser. This fruit was purchased through our Child Nutrition program under the direction of Mr. Christopher Melonas, who also works to buy locally-sourced beef and produce for our kitchens.AFT representative, Christine Barr, presented her concerns about Policy 154- Termination of Administrative Contracts and Policy 524 - Transfers and Reductions-in-Force.
    3. Student Achievement
      1. Strategic Planning
  2. New Business for Consideration and Potential Action
    1. Student expulsion hearing #20191205AMotion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Jeffrey Tanner to go into closed session as per WV Code 6-9A-4(b)(3) for student expulsion hearing #20191205A. Motion carried. (6:15 pm)Motion by James Minney and seconded by Eileen Richardson to return to open session. Motion carried. No action was taken in closed session. (7:29 pm)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to expel student #20191205A for a period not to exceed 1 year. Motion carried. (7:30 pm)
    2. Student expulsion hearing #20191205BMotion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to go into closed session as per WV Code 6-9A-4(b)(3) for student expulsion hearing #20191205B. Motion carried. (7:37 pm)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to return to open session. Motion carried. No action was taken in closed session. (9:11 pm)Motion by Eileen Richardson and seconded by Gregory Boggs to ratify the current 10 day suspension for student expulsion #20191205B and return to school at the end of the suspension. Motion carried. James Minney, Jeffrey Tanner opposed.(9:12 pm)
    3. Update regarding Student Expulsion #20191014Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to go into closed session for an update on Student Expulsion #20191014. Motion carried. (9:13 pm)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by James Minney to return to open session. Motion carried. No action was taken in closed session. (9:20 pm)
  3. Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve the following consent agenda as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (9:56 pm)
    1. Approval of minutes of Regular Board Meeting on November 21, 2019
    2. Financial
      1. Transfers/supplements to the budget
      2. Payments of bills as submitted; pre-approval to release checks not to exceed $20,000 prior to the next board meeting
      3. Financial Reports
    3. Policies
      1. Second Reading
        1. Policy 154 - Termination of Administrative Contracts (revised)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to strike criteria #3-7 and 9 when determining the qualifications of an administrator under Policy 154 - Termination of Administrative Contracts. Motion carried. (9:53 pm)
        2. Policy 524 - Transfers and Reductions-in-Force (revised)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to strike criteria #3-7 and 9-11 when determining the qualifications of a professional employee under Policy 524 - Transfers and Reductions-in-Force, as amended by Mr. Tanner. Motion carried. (9:52 pm)
      2. Third Reading and Approval
        1. Policy 513 - Extra-curricular Assignments (revised)
    4. Contracts
    5. Field Trips
      1. Roane County High School FFA to Morgantown, WV for WV FFA Career Development Events on 12/12/19 to 12/13/19 and transported by county bus
    6. Volunteers
  4. Personnel Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve the following personnel items as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (9:57 pm)To establish calling order for the substitute bus operators hired, a drawing was held with the following order determined: Richard Elmore, Frankie Marks
    1. Resignation(s)
      1. Ward, Cari - Supplemental Teacher / Tutor / Adult Mentor (Spencer Elementary School), effective November 8, 2019
      2. Spencer, Jennifer - Coach, Volleyball (Spencer Middle School), effective December 3, 2019
      3. Epling, Craig - Supplemental Teacher / Tutor / Adult Mentor (Roane County High School), effective December 3, 2019
      4. Tallman, Clarissa - (), effective December 18, 2019
    2. New Employment(s)
      1. McQuain, Robin - Assistant Principal (Spencer Elementary School), effective November 30, 2019, amending previous start date of December 2, 2019 (from November 7, 2019)
      2. Marks, Frankie - Substitute bus operator (RCS - Substitutes), effective December 6, 2019
      3. Nester, Carrie - Cook II (Geary Elementary / Middle School), effective December 6, 2019, during a leave of absence
      4. Elmore, Richard - Substitute bus operator (RCS - Substitutes), effective December 6, 2019,
    3. Leave of Absence(s)
      1. Mckown, Tara - Custodian III (Spencer Middle School), effective October 11, 2019 to December 6, 2019, previously approved through 1/1/20
      2. Goodwin, Kendra - Teacher / Spanish (Roane County High School), effective January 2, 2020 to May 29, 2020
      3. Rucker, Janet - Custodian III (Roane County High School), effective November 19, 2019 to January 1, 2020
      4. Tallman, Clarissa - Teacher / 5th Grade (Geary Elementary / Middle School), effective April 1, 2020 to May 29, 2020
  5. Reports of Committees
  6. Superintendent's RemarksNext meeting, there should be another legal update. There was a notice from a law firm regarding school boards taking action against vaping, similar to the one we previously received concerning the opioid crisis. Received a request for information from the House Government Organization Committee concerning how many sign language interpreters we have. There will be a need to address a number of different polices. One policy would concern instructional materials and how we adopt instructional materials. Another policy would concern home schooling and how to return to public school from home school, specifically in high school. Another policy would concern charter schools. We will have a public forum in the beginning of our next meeting addressing the student discipline policy. To address our issues with transportation, we have to start by deciding both, how long is too long for a child to be on the bus and how long is too long for a child to be at school? These are the big factors we have to consider. One of the constraints would be that the maximum time required for staff is 8 hours. These are all just a few of the factors to consider as we look further into our bus route schedules.
  7. Adjournment
    1. Adjourn until the next regular meeting on Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 6:00 pm at Spencer Middle School.Motion by James Minney and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve. Motion carried. (10:26 pm)