Roane County Schools

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

January 20, 2022

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 ChargedWest Virginia's First Lady announced RCHS student, Ava Bratton, to be a finalist to design the sword for the Golden Horseshoe Knighting Ceremony. She will work with a tech center to design and build a sword.
    2. Public Participation
  3. New Business for Consideration and Potential Action
    1. Update on Mitigation Strategies for Communicable Diseases and New State-Level COVID-19 Reporting for Schools
    2. Legislative Update (Day 9 of 60)
    3. Planning for 2022-23
  4. Consent Agenda - (Action) Motion carried. (7:02 pm)
    1. Approval of minutes of Regular Board Meeting on January 6, 2022
    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) / Bid(s) / Agreement(s)
      1. Memorandum of Understanding with the Workforce Development Board of the Mid-Ohio Valley
      2. Agreement with The Thrasher Group for Football Field Turf Engineering and DesignItems 4b and 4c were voted on separately. Motion carried. James Minney opposed. (7:02 pm)
      3. Agreement with FieldTurf for Artificial Turf Installation at County Stadium
    5. Field Trips
      1. Roane County High School Band to Morgantown, WV, for WVU Honor Band (February 10 - 12, 2022)
      2. Roane County High School Choir to Charleston, WV, for All-State Chorus (March 3 - 5, 2022)
    6. Volunteers
    7. Student Transfers
      1. 1 Student transfer from Calhoun County Schools
    8. Clinical Experiences
      1. Field Placement - Madison Rhodes, site(s) TBD (Spring 2022; WVU-P)
  5. Personnel Consent Agenda - (Action)Motion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by James Minney to approve the following personnel items as recommended by Richard Duncan, Superintendent. Motion carried. (7:10 pm)
    1. Resignation(s)
      1. Brohard, Carly - Coach, Softball (Spencer Middle School), effective January 13, 2022
      2. McCune, Austin - Bus Operator (Bus #13) (RCS - Operations), effective January 18, 2022
      3. Hammack, Mary - Counselor (Roane County High School), effective January 20, 2022
    2. Retirement(s)
      1. Hall, Julia - Teacher / Title I (Spencer Elementary School), effective June 30, 2022
    3. New Employment(s)
      1. Williams, Danielle - Teacher / 6th Grade (Spencer Middle School), effective January 21, 2022
      2. Simon, Aaron - Substitute teacher (RCS - Substitutes), effective January 21, 2022
      3. _______________________ - LPN / Aide (Geary Elementary / Middle School), effective January 21, 2022
      4. McCune, Austin - Substitute bus operator (RCS - Substitutes), effective January 21, 2022
      5. Griffiths, Lennie - Substitute secretary (RCS - Substitutes), effective January 21, 2022
    4. Extracurricular(s)
      1. Smelko, Jessalynn - Assistant Coach, Softball (Auxiliary) (Roane County High School), effective January 21, 2022
      2. Miller, Allison - Math Field Day Sponsor (Spencer Elementary School), effective January 21, 2022
  6. Reports of Committees
    1. Roane Jackson Technical Center Administrative Council (1/18/2022)On Tuesday, we discussed lack of continued LPN instructor. A few possible interviews are coming up. Electrical, HVAC, and Dental Assistant are three new programs under consideration. The "legislative ask" will be for WVSBA to provide funding to build those classrooms and purchase equipment since there is a need for these programs. The Council on Occupation Education (COE), a recognized national accrediting agency, has reaccredited the center to make them eligible to offer Pell grants. Also, the welding society, AWS, has accredited them so they can be an advanced testing facility.
  7. Superintendent's RemarksThe legal matter we discussed at a recent board meeting seems to be going well and wrapping up soon. We may see an agenda item to consider at the next board meeting. SES, GEMS and WEMS are part of an EPA program to examine the amount of lead in the drinking water at schools. The water fixtures have been tested at SES, GEMS and WEMS and the results will be posted at https://westvirginia.120wateraudit.com/ and reported to the public. Sixty-five of our fixtures meet the EPA standard of less than fifteen parts per billion, but one fixture at SES tested above that limit. The water fountain has been shut off permanently and fortunately, most water fountains have had little to no use in the past couple of years, especially where this one is located. We will be testing whether it's the old plumbing or the fixture itself. Construction updates: The masonry is up at the safe schools entrance for GEMS. The framing should be completed within the next few weeks. For the safe school entrance at WEMS, they will be moving Mrs. Garner into her office soon so they can start working on the clinic. Both school projects should be proceeding quickly from here. Initial stages of the SMS entrance progress started demolition of tiles and installation of a safety wall this week. The pre-bid for demolition of the old board office was held previously and we will see how these bids go. Finally, there are a thousand open teaching positions across the state. This has been a struggle for some time now. Our universities have not been not producing many candidates so we must lead and innovate through TPG or alternative certification programs. There were announcements by state board to address the teacher shortage and they were not well received by the teaching community due to the focus only on recruitment instead of retention. To be successful, we surely have to focus on both.
  8. Adjournment
    1. Adjourn until the next regular meeting on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 6:00 pm at Roane County High SchoolMotion by Gregory Boggs and seconded by Daris Harper to approve. Motion carried. (7:30 pm)