Roane County Schools

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

January 21, 2021

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

  1. This meeting could be joined remotely. 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 ChargedVaccines have been distributed to some of the staff so far. The allotment in education is on pause this week and the focus will again be on the community and healthcare workers. The next week, we will resume with education and in a couple weeks we will start to distribute the second round of vaccines.
    2. Public Participation
    3. Student AchievementThe grades for the 2nd 9 weeks will come in soon and we can analyze data. After the 1st 9 weeks, some students had a wake up call, but we're afraid that maybe there are still many students that chose to remain in distance learning and are still not engaging. Our student support staff has been working hard to get them engaged and we have even used the truancy process to help enforce this engagement. Now that we've had a chance to reflect on the first half of the school year, we must now focus on what happens next and how to recover from the challenges we've had during the past year.
  3. New Business for Consideration and Potential Action
    1. Update of BOE operations during COVID-19
      1. State BOE Action
      2. ESSERF 2
      3. Recovery
    2. Create additional positions of Teacher / Kindergarten & 1st Grade and Aide / ECCAT, Spencer Elementary School, for remainder of 2020-21 school year only and funded by ESSERF 2 Motion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Daris Harper to approve. Motion carried. (7:13 pm)
    3. Personnel Planning for 2021-22
    4. Approval to Submit Application for Funding for a new Spencer Middle School under the 2020-21 School Building Authority Needs CycleMotion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Jeffrey Mace to approve. Motion carried. (8:13 pm)
  4. Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by James Minney and seconded by Eileen Richardson to approve the following consent agenda as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (8:31 pm)
    1. Approval of minutes of regular board meeting on January 7, 2021
    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
    4. Contract(s) / Agreement(s) / Bid(s)
      1. Safe School Entrance Renovations for Spencer Elementary School and Roane County High School Change Order #4 for $1,219.20
      2. Approval for Field Placement of Amber Arko, an education student at WVU-P
      3. Agreement for Caretaker's Residence at RCHS (change in tenant)
    5. Field trip(s)
    6. Volunteer(s)
    7. Student Transfer(s)
      1. 2 student transfers from Clay County Schools
  5. Personnel Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Eileen Richardson and seconded by Gregory Boggs to approve the following personnel items as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (8:32 pm)
    1. Resignation(s)
      1. Mills, Ashley - Coach, Boys Basketball (Walton Elementary / Middle School), effective January 21, 2021
      2. Mills, Jordan - Assistant Coach, Boys Basketball (Walton Elementary / Middle School), effective January 21, 2021
    2. New Employment(s)
      1. Taylor, Christopher - Custodian III (Spencer Middle School), effective January 22, 2021
  6. Reports of Committees
    1. Roane-Jackson Technical Center Administrative Council (1/19/2021) Adult programs resumed last week and high school programs resumed this week. Soon, we expect to receive an interpretation at the state level saying that multi-county centers can operate somewhat independently of their county concerning the color map. This would allow RCHS students to attend RJTC when Jackson County schools are closed. Also, discussing future plans for "recovery," in the past, there was a day where middle school students were taken to RJTC to show them the different programs and options RCTC offers. It gets the students thinking early about their interest in different careers for their future. The water plant project is still pending on design. Hopefully this can be replaced this Summer.
  7. Superintendent's RemarksOn my schedule these weeks, I've attended Bowles Rice training webinars as a refresher for personnel. Mr. Garner, Ms. Cole and I were also able to serve as substitute administrators at SMS this week to keep that school running. I've also worked with our tech team to fix some technology issues. The tech team is now trying to start a new schedule to work at BOE offices during the morning and at the schools in the afternoons. They are also working on laptops for the Tools for Schools grant, which will give every teacher at RCHS, SMS and and full at the other schools, to replace their laptops. Keep an eye on the legal actions with the state. Though we are not directly involved in the legal actions that are taking place, we may be affected.
  8. Adjournment
    1. Adjourn until the next regular meeting, Thursday, February, 11 2021, at 6:00 pm at Roane County High SchoolMotion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Eileen Richardson to approve. Motion carried. (8:52 pm)