Roane County Schools

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

May 14, 2020

6:00 pm @ Roane County Schools Central Office, Spencer, WV

  1. This meeting was held virtually / telephonically. The public could join by calling 1-304-553-7794 and entering the provided conference ID or by joining on Microsoft Teams using the provided link.
  2. Presentations
    1. Positively ChargedThe State Board of Education adopted a resolution in honor of the class of 2020 in this unprecedented year. Motion by James Minney and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve. Motion carried. (6:12 pm)
    2. Public ParticipationParent, Stephanie Stover had some questions and concerns on grading of dual credit college courses during this time.
    3. Student AchievementWith the different scenarios that can take place in Fall 2020, we'd like to prepare so that we may adapt quicker to the challenges COVID-19 may bring in this year. 65% of students have internet access at home, which makes online classes unreliable. As much as there are efforts underway to address inaccessibility of internet access, it is unrealistic that we will all have internet when the school year starts in 3 months. Roane county will get $835k plus from part of the CARES Act ESSERF. It is intended to help us get through the continuing crisis. We are evaluating our one-to-one program now and seeing what is needed to complete it for K-12. Devices needs to be provided to teachers, staff members and all students K-12. We will also need to hire some teachers as Programmatic Leads to start planning in the Summer and push out the training in the Fall. We are now looking at what school will look like when we return to school and what PPE we will provide for everyone now that funding is available.
  3. New Business for Consideration and Potential Action
    1. Update on BOE operations during statewide school closure due to COVID-19 outbreak
    2. Annual update on Prevention Resource Officer and School Resource Officer Program
    3. Annual update on School-based Probation Officer Program
    4. Approval of bid related to bond construction program
      1. Paving and other site improvements at Spencer Elementary School - Kelly Paving, Inc. with base bid of $201,665 (no alternates were available on this project)Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Eileen Richardson to approve. Motion carried. (7:28 pm)
    5. Personnel hearings related to non-renewal of probationary contracts as requestedCustodian, Terry Flinchem, requested an open hearing.
      1. Terry Flinchem, Custodian IIIMotion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to uphold the non-renewal of the probationary contract of Custodian III, Terry Flinchem. Motion carried. (8:03 pm)
      2. Adam Short, CounselorCounselor, Adam Short, requested an open hearing.Motion by Jeffrey Tanner and seconded by Gregory Boggs to to go into closed session to discuss the probationary contract of Adam Short, as per WV Code 6-9A-4(b)(2)(B). Motion carried. (8:48 pm)Motion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Jeffrey Tanner to return to open session. Motion carried. No action was taken in closed session. (9:03 pm)Motion by James Minney and seconded by Gregory Boggs to uphold the non-renewal of probationary contract for Counselor, Adam Short. Motion carried. (9:04 pm)
  4. Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by James Minney and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve the following consent agenda as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (9:19 pm)
    1. Approval of minutes of statutory board meeting on April 21, 2020
    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
      4. Approval of FY19 Financial Audit
    3. Policies
    4. Contract(s) / Agreement(s) / Bid(s)
      1. Agreement with Roane County Sheriff for School Resource Officer Program for 2020-21 (renewal)
      2. Agreement with Roane County Sheriff for Prevention Resource Officer Program for 2020-21 (new grant)
      3. Agreement with Wirt County Schools to provide child nutrition administrative service (renewal)
      4. Agreement with Jackson County Schools to provide bus operator training (continuing agreement)
      5. Agreement with Jackson County Schools to receive bus operator training (continuing agreement)
      6. Agreement with Calhoun County Schools for technology support services (continuing agreement)
      7. Agreement with West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals for school-based probation officer (renewal)
      8. Appointment of DLM Decisions as Clerk-of-the-Works for Summer 2020 Bond Construction Projects
      9. AIA B221 - Service Order with Thrasher Group for Paving and Lighting Improvements
    5. Fieldtrip(s)
    6. Volunteer(s)
    7. Student Transfer(s)
  5. Personnel Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Jeffrey Tanner to approve the following personnel items as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (9:25 pm)
    1. Resignation(s)
      1. Gray, John - Assistant Coach, Football (Roane County High School), effective May 7, 2020
      2. Hayes, Matthew - Social Media Coordinator (Roane County High School), effective June 30, 2020
      3. Hayes, Matthew - Robotics Sponsor (Roane County High School), effective June 30, 2020
    2. Retirement(s)
      1. Funk, Donna - Cook II (Spencer Middle School), effective June 30, 2020
    3. New Employment(s)
      1. Babu, Revington - Teacher / Math (Roane County High School), effective August 10, 2020
      2. Sinclair, Meghan - Teacher / 6th Grade (Geary Elementary / Middle School), effective August 10, 2020
      3. Saunders, Alexis - (blank) (), effective August 10, 2020, pending CIB clearance
      4. DeWees, Robert - Teacher / Science (Spencer Middle School), effective August 10, 2020, pending CIB clearance
    4. Transfer person(s)
      1. Hall, Dixie - Administrative Transfer (RCS - Student Support Services) to Aide (Spencer Elementary School), effective July 1, 2020
      2. Williams, Ashley - Teacher / 1st Grade (Spencer Elementary School) to Teacher / Career Literacy (Spencer Middle School), effective July 1, 2020
      3. Heis, Rachael - Teacher / Music (Spencer Elementary School) to Teacher / Career Literacy (Spencer Middle School), effective July 1, 2020
  6. Reports of Committees
    1. Roane Jackson Technical Center Administrative Council (5/7/2020)The Kinder family will be doing roofing and plumbing construction on building D. Previously, there was an issue with a contractor that could not complete the work. Funds for the HVAC units were found and they will finally be mounted at the school. There is still some concern for certain CTE programs getting enough hours. We're hoping that when businesses reopen, the Cosmetology students can get their clinical hours in. It is still too early to tell how things will look for the Fall. As part of the CARES Act, there is a large amount of funding for post-secondary programs, such as our adult program there. The monies are to help their students through distance learning.
  7. Superintendent's RemarksWe completed phase 1 of the CEFP before the closure. We will soon be asking for board approval. We will be moving towards phase 2 which includes some assessments that Thrasher has already done on the facilities. We also need community input, which is normally when we meet with the community and request their input. Since we are unable to meet in large groups, we may have to now resort to a survey. We're currently awaiting further guidance on how to complete the CEFP process given the current restrictions. Coming up, we will finally be reviewing the updates in the attendance and discipline policies. As the 2019-2020 school year comes to an end, we must start to consider the out of county transfers for next year. Starting from this year, approval for out of county transfers are only needed for the receiving county. The State Board will be interviewing for the State Superintendent. They have the chosen a number of finalists to consider and will be conducting the interviews on June 4th and 5th. They will probably the announcement at the next meeting.
  8. Adjournment
    1. Adjourn until the regular meeting on Thursday, May 28, 2020, at a time and place to be determined.Motion by Eileen Richardson and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve. Motion carried. (9:49 pm)