001e e e good evening welcome to the Jefferson County Board of Education meeting on Monday March 24th 2025 if you'd please join us for the pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America the for it stands one nation God indivisible liy andice all thank you so I believe this evening we're going to start with a couple student recognitions and I know it's more than a couple because I think I got writers cramp this [Music] morning good evening president skanner members of the board and superintendent Bishop tonight we have a lot of incredible students and some incredible staff to recognize as well I would like to share a couple of housekeeping items before we begin to help this go smoothly we will do all of our Arts recognitions and as those students are
002called up by their instructors they'll come forward when the next group is called they'll just kind of move to the left and work their way up that aisle at the end of all the Arts recognitions we'll bring them up Group by group to take the photos and then they'll be dismissed out that way after that we will move on to science fair same process we will have all of the students come forward and then at the end we'll call them up by programmatic level and take all of those group photos at one time following that we will have one student for the Youth Senate program and two staff members from Blue Ridge Elementary students may not have all of their certificates in hand this evening um they are all being distributed at the schools or
003ahead of time tonight first up this evening we have the West Virginia music educators Association or wvmea honors ensembles they bring together the most talented students and musicians from across the state to earn a spot in these prestigious groups students must demonstrate their musical Talent through a rigorous audition process those selected travel to Charleston to rehearse with renowned conductors and perform at the annual wvmea conference earning a spot is a tremendous achievement reflecting both musical excellence and dedication along with individual honors entire ensembles can also earn wvmea honor designations recognizing outstanding musical achievement at the group level tonight we're proud to recognize our outstanding JCS students who have earned these honors I now invite tnah Petri Petri to announce the wvmea middle school allate band [Music] participants good evening and thank you for allowing us
004to recognize our students this evening from Charlestown midds schol we have Remy caring carrian on trombone Jay carrian on the [Applause] clarinet Grayson lazart on percussion and from shepardstown middle school we have Logan Meredith on the tenor saxophone Samuel Cooper on the trumpet and from Wildwood Middle School we have Camden Burke on [Applause] trombone Zachary Jordan on [Applause] trombone Ethan Pearson on tuba [Applause] and we have a two-year member of the All State band Lillian wolf on the [Applause] trumpet and these are all of our Middle School All State band members thank you I now invite Jefferson and High School choir director Hannah Myers to introduce our Jefferson High School wvmea All-Star choir participants All State band participants All State Honor Choir The JHS chamber choir hello we're going to first recognize our All State
005Choir and band members the wmea allate choir and band are the top individual honors a High School Coral and band student can achieve these students prepare for months before the audition in Fe um December and February each student is selected based on individual Merit um and we're going to go through the list we're going to start with our All State Choir at Jefferson High School that is Bri Arts Charlie [Applause] southernland avelyn [Applause] Markin George [Applause] southernland Cayman [Applause] Walker Kyler [Applause] gun Felix Alexander and Grady Markin and our two All State band participants are reys [Applause] graa and Adam [Applause] Thompson I would now like to recognize the wmea honor Ensemble um the honor Ensemble process starts early in the year with repertoire selection and rehearsals where the students and the director prepare three
006selections to be adjudicated by a panel of Judges the JHS chamber choir was SEL Ed as the 2025 wmea Honor Choir and they were invited to perform um on March 6th in Charleston at the annual music educator conference I cannot be more proud of these students for their hard work and dedication to the program the following students are a member of the chamber choir Felix Alexander Bri [Applause] Arts kayen [Applause] Ashman Rebecca Christner Maddie [Applause] kuster Zoe [Applause] deando Kyler gun Miranda Hall CN Heath ariela Leon Alexis Luca castillos McKenzie McBean avelyn Markin Grady Markin Elena Marsh Lucy maker Evelyn Mueller Georgia Parker Isaac Perez Alonzo MAA serich Harris swisser keani Stevens Charlotte southernland George southernland Luke Vines Cayman Walker Maddie wean and Sydney W congratulations to our Jefferson High School WMA All State and
007honor ensemble [Applause] and now invite Washington High School band director Lisa Hazlet and coral director Mr Cooper to introduce our Washington High School groups we have the wvmea All State Choir participants the All State band participants All State Orchestra participants and State honor concert band uh whhs Wind Ensemble and State honor jazz band whhs Jazz Ensemble we're going to do all the art pictures all the Arts pictures of you thank you thank you it's my um privilege and honor to bring up the students that came from Washington High School for the All State Choir this year and they as uh Miss Meyer said it's a long process they start with a school audition to first I have to come up with eight people so we do it at the school level then we do it
008at the level and then they get accepted to the um State Choir chorus so we both our schools had eight students audition and they both had eight make it so we maxed out again this year so I'll call up the names of the students from Washington we have and just hold the Applause till the end I think that'll make it go faster Christine Larson Ashley cochrum Megan Brady Ava chikorii Wyatt Talton pton day Devin Brandon Berg and Adam wus good evening uh thank you to Dr Bishop Mrs Skinner and members of the board for inviting us to recognize our arts program um Lisa hazet I'm the director of bands Washington um the All State band uh members uh prepared and auditioned individually um they're selected at the beginning of December and they performed on March
0098th in Charleston at the state music conference earning a place in any of those Allstate groups is the highest honor that a high school musician can earn we had three students um achieve this distinction this year um Lauren Rossy she plays clarinet and she earned chair in the All State band for the second year in a row [Applause] Lauren Lydia Brown plays flute and she earned a chair at the All State band all four years of high [Applause] school Jonathan Haro plays trombone he earned first chair in the All State band and first chair in the All State Orchestra Jonathan the next group of students is the uh wvmea honor Ensemble um so actually we have a lot of kids who are going to be doubling up here so if the next group can come
010this direction um the honor Ensemble process involves directors selecting and rehearsing literature submitting recordings of three different works and being judged blindly by five judges for the first time at Washington our Wind Ensemble was selected as the wvmea honor concert band we performed on March 7th at the state music conference and a big congratulation to these state champs so I'll follow Mr Cooper's lead and I'll name the students they can come on up and we'll do one big hurah at the end here so on flute we have Lydia Brown Megan Brady and Nia Prevail on clarinet Lauren Rossy Michael Taylor Angie sedlock and Ava gift on base clarinet Reagan Wills on bassoon Dominic day on alto saxs Nick Quaid jolen obber Mueller and Josh pachy on tenor Sachs Cameron Gallas and Marshall Derek can start
011going on this side on Barry Sachs Thor Davis on trumpet Joel Morgan Hudson brumal Victor kek Katie spakman and Parker Hazlet on French horn Gabe Shen n friend Mason Maher and Brendan Owen on trombone Jonathan harzel Holland Rossy and Mason Bennett on baritone Henry fesperman on tuba Chris Aris Dy on upright Bas Carter Bennett on percussion Eli Morgan Emelio Perez digs Lucas fagel Leon Emy reininger and Huck Burns so congratulations to our Wind Ensemble for being named State concert band um the final group I have is uh the honor jazz band so the selection process changed this year um we went from going to our regional festivals to following the exact same process as we did for the Wind Ensemble they performed at the state conference on March 6th in Charleston this was the second
012year our Jazz Ensemble earned the State honor and I couldn't be more proud this is only the fourth time in State history that one high school earned both the concert honor band and the Jazz honor band and if I could brag a little bit on myself I am also the only female High School director to have either of those accolades so we can maybe raise our hands as I call your name uh on our uh saxophone section we have jolen over mu Claire miles come on Claire come on up Lydia Brown Cameron Gallas Marshall Derek and Thor Davis our trumpets are Becky mcgivern Joel Morgan Hudson brumal Victor kek Parker Hazlet Blake Gallas our trombones our Jonathan harzel Holland Rossy nian previl and Mason Bennett and our Rhythm Section was Lucas veel Leon on guitar
013Carter Bennett on Bas Emmy rininger and Lauren Rossy piano and emelo PR digs on drums I also want to thank Mr Shen for making the trip down to see our champion musicians perform it was a Wonder wonderful opportunity to showcase our students and again thank you for having us here tonight [Applause] okay now the pictures will start and we're going to start with our Middle School All State ban okay the next thing I'm going to ask is if you guys can all funnel up that aisle a little bit so that parents can get clear shots of pictures from in the middle here of all of their students [Music] I just have you guys [Music] all right kids just like to class pictures we're going to scrunch in we're going to make two rows kids in
014the back all right thank you very much congratulations [Applause] again next I'm going to call the Jefferson High School All State Choir participants yep yes ma'am all right good everybody you're in another group Next I'm going to call the Jefferson High School All State band participants they're not here okay we have all state Honor Choir JHS chamber choir [Music] just like pictures taller people in the back less tall people in the front if you cannot see the camera the camera cannot see you even if you don't want it to I'm sorry for this evening we're gonna need you to look at it scooch super close and honestly let's go ahead and make another row down here of squatters squatters [Music] you are dismissed next we're going to ask the Washington High School All State Choir
015participants there therey you go all right Lor have you pop to the left a little there you go I rubber bands next I'm going to call the Washington High School All State band participants come hold parents hold on good okay you're good now we need the Washington High School wind on S State honor concert band we may need a right go ahead and plan on three rows need e wait parents thumbs up got a couple more okay thank you and then we need the Washington High School State honor jazz band whs Jazz Ensemble on no parents sit parents okay thank you all right [Music] and Mrs hazelet I'm not I think he's already left already but I just want to do a quick shout out to one of your students who did a huge favor
016for me the other day Henry fesperman was here um during the County Commission planning meeting and the back curtain was open so it looked like we were in a warehouse and I asked him if he knew how to close the back curtain and he said he could do that for me so he said as long as somebody goes up there with me because this entire Auditorium was filled with some very unhappy easy people I'm glad it wasn't my meeting but um he was willing to come up here in front of all those people and do that for us so I appreciated him doing that thank [Music] you our next group of students this evening are our science and engineering Fair students the West Virginia science and engineering Fair gives students a chance to explore Big
017Ideas solve real world problems and share their research competing at the district Regional and state levels these students have shown great curiosity creativity and hard work tonight we are proud to recognize their achievements please welcome our incredible science fair coordinator Jessica rustler who will announce our winners good evening as always this is is one of my most proud moments of the year to culminate our Science Fair competition um I'll be announcing students at all three program programmatic levels this year students who placed first at the county fair were eligible to go to the Regional Fair and students who placed first at the Regional Fair were eligible to go to the State Fair we will be recognizing students who placed at each level of competition in through program program levels Jolene lutman third place at County
018Kara Hayes third place at County as I call your name please move up to the front here Bella Anne third place at County the team of Benjamin Williams and Joel Mesa Lopez third place at County lucella Blanchett third place at County mon Hughes third place at County Nicholas Tano second place at County J Marino second place at County the team of Michael Sweet and Von totle second place at County Myra zapeta second place at County Kate Peterson second place at County Isabelle friend second place at County Henry keesley first place at County second place at Regional Everett Reed green first place at County second place at Regional Cameron Klein first place at County second place at at Regional Melody Southerland first place at County first place at Regional the team of Addison Garrett and Canden
019a jack first place at County first place at Regional and Joyce Southerland first place at County first place at Regional and third place at state that's our Elementary School students at the middle school level we have a team of jet sour and Anthony Moore honorable mention at County we have a team of Olivia Smith Annabelle Woolly and Amilia zanic honorable mention at County Ally Williams third place at County Aurora giberson third place at County Louise Grantham third place at County mateline kleene third place at [Music] County Bastion zero Herrera third place at County Ben joer third place at County Owen twiford third place at County Daniel Healey third place at County Cooper Canada third place at County a team of Isabella Ramirez and Annalie Bush second place at County Brianna portal second place at County
020Angela Mendes second place at County Sam Cooper second place at County a team of McKenna Owen and Jules coar second place at County a team of Vienna folz and anley Woodsman second place at County Piper staler second place at County McKenzie second place at County Andrew Neely second place at County John zanzy second place at County Remy carrian second place at County a team of Porter burs and Jefferson Romero first place at County Elizabeth Bowman first place at County Troy Foltz first place at County Keegan Bower and Millie Stone first place at County second place at Regional resin McCoy first place at County second place at Regional Zack Burkhart first place at County second place at Regional Duke Fleet first place at County first place at Regional Noah Sunday first place at County first place
021at Regional honorable mention at States dapne Stefan first place at County first place at Regional third place at State Gabriela Chang Hernandez first place at County first place at Regional third place at state angsley gray first place at County first place at Regional third place at State Ryder stoper first place at County first place at Regional second place at States that is our Middle School [Music] gr and our High School Division Lindsey how second place at County Liam trainer and Joshua zinc first place at County a team of L de Meritt Taylor Allen and Lincoln schwier first place at County a team of Dawson buyers and James Duncan Peterson first place at County Lillian Riner first place at County third place at Regional Alexa Alexa Rinker first place at County second place at Regional team
022of Louisa pate and Drew ctis first place at County first place at Regional third place at State and the Stockholm Junior water prize the team of Sarah Hall and sevie maaba first place at County first place at Regional first place at State and the team of William gibs and sha B first place at County first place at Regional first place at State and the US Air Force award that's our high school group our students have shown that they are exceptionally talented young people who see a challenge and rise to it they have represented Jefferson County the Eastern Panhandle and the state of West Virginia very well a special thank you to the teachers at the schools and the families behind the scenes who have supported them in their Endeavors Miss Jeff and I are proud
023to have worked with them this year and we can't wait to see what they will do next year only time will tell thank you very much I think you guys can stand in the back on that one all right everybody ready wait for parents wait for parents okay you guys are good thank you do the same thing take a picture po quick spot take a picture I can't see yeah I think we good one two three okay you're okay thank you oops back loua between Miss wrestler Jo wow you guys are tall okay so Dr Bishop I'm gonna have you come forward okay that'll actually you're sticking off the end there can you can you sort of come in between yeah that's good that way [Music] okay our last student recognition this evening is for
024the Youth Senate program and at this time I invite Miss group and Miss biggy to the front to recognize our participant okay your whichever you want thank good evening I'm Mrs grp Jefferson at uh principal at Jefferson High School and I have Miss bigie the counselor at Jefferson High School who has helped this young lady through her Endeavors that we'd like to honor tonight so this particular young lady was selected as the delegate to the United States Senate youth program for West Virginia the program happened this past March 1st through 8 in Washington DC and the program was a comprehensive Public Service leadership and education experience which included speakers from the three branches of the government and the national media this young lady also received a $10,000 scholarship in the name of the United States
025Senate she will also be recognized again at our senior Awards on May 20th so please help me and recognizing and honoring this awesome young lady Louisa Louisa Pate this one's faster you get to go straight on stage up on stage go ahead we're gonna have you guys St off my biggest be and we're look right here it's okay that concludes our student recognitions for this evening we do have two more people to recognize this evening as we continue our all sta Allstar staff recognitions of members of our staff from each school this evening we have with us blidge Elementary School good evening thank you Dr Bishop president Skinner and board for having me here this evening I am excited to recognize my two staff members I'll do my professional staff member first that's Miss Lori
026hzy she is my assistant principal Miss Hy has been this is her 20th year in at in Jefferson County and her first year as an administrator at Blue Ridge I couldn't do what I do every day without her she is an invaluable asset to Blue Ridge she oversees our SAT process she has numerous things that she contributes to she has built strong relationships with Comm with the community with the staff with our students and what we do every day is hard work we're on a campus we have two buildings we go between both buildings back and forth and Miss Hy has never ever ever had an ill word to say about anything that I've ever asked her to do I have learned immensely from her because she has been in Jefferson County for many years
027and she came in to Blue Ridge eager to learn about being an administrator and we have developed such a wonderful working relationship that we work seamlessly she now knows kind of what I'm thinking and I know what she's thinking and it just works out really well so it just goes without without saying how grateful I am to have you and how much easier my job is because I do so for your dedication to our students to our staff to our community I thank you my service staff member is Miss Mrs Karen Hutto Karen is has been at Blue Ridge for 20 years she's coming on up there she is um and in the county for over 30 Miss Hutto um assists she as a special ed Aid that is her actual position but anywhere we
028need her anything we need her to do she will do she has formed such a wonderful relationship with the students everybody knows her the community knows her the staff knows her and and everybody just admires her so much for everything she does she steps in without being asked anytime she is asked to do something there's you always get this smile we enjoy our afternoons calling buses I don't call I stand there and keep her company but but she is an Absolut invaluable member she is retiring this year and I'm a little bit sad about that but she will leave an indelible mark on Blue Ridge Middle Blue Ridge Middle School I came from middle school I'm sorry Blue Ridge Elementary you know it's still it's still working it's still working but it's been a pleasure
029to work with you I I just adore you and everything you've done for our community for our staff for our students it is is just so greatly appreciated thank you so much stage you got to take a picture and go stand right over here again just like the last group did it will take one grp photo for the evening spe just one minute thank you and that concludes our recognitions for the evening thank you not 20 minutes that's the best part though all right next we have the approval of the minutes is there a motion to approve the minutes from the regular board meeting held March 11 2025 and the special board meeting held March 17 2025 thank you Miss Ogden is our second thank you Miss brat any discussion hearing none all in favor
030of the approval of the minutes from the regular board meeting held March 11 2025 and the special board meeting held March 17 2025 say I I I oose all right thank you next up we have no citizens comments so let's move to the consent agenda is there um Miss Lauren good evening there any changes to the consent agenda good evening no there are no changes to the consent agenda that was presented to you this evening all right is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented make a motion thank you Miss Brant your microphone may not be on make a motion sor second second is that you Mr wford okay any discussion yeah I just wanted to know would we be meeting the new principal for North Jefferson at some point at some
031point yes yes we will get her here at some point unable to come tonight yeah okay thank you any other discussion or questions hearing none all in favor of the consent agenda presented say I I I hose all right thank you all right thank you next we have the deputy superintendent of operations update the update on the new Shepherdstown construction good evening Mrs White good evening everyone so we're progressing very nicely with uh Shepherdstown Elementary School it's looking good the Masons are finished their work so if you um come across it you can walk around at 360 and it looks like a school I assure you it's not on the inside but it is looking very good the Masons did an excellent job they're putting doors and windows in the school um I've discussed before
032the fact that they're building this section by section right so um in section c they're painting while the office is untouched as of yet it'll be the last thing to be finished but they have various trades in the building and you can see a picture from the front right of the school as it would face the roadway in this picture they are still not completely around the building with the brick at the time I took the photo a few weeks ago but um the Mason should have now completed their work the second picture just shows how you would enter the school you're looking there at the gym with the entrance to the right of the picture and then uh we're looking back Wing C in the next photo because that illustrates the contrast in the
033brick and on a large building it looks nice to add a little bit of um dark and light brick and then make the oversized brick it just makes the whole building stand out the next picture shows um the entrance into the dining hall you see the stage to the left while the picture following that is the um great amount of light that we have in the building those are the dining hall lights and this school U Mark if you'll Advance one slide this school um has an outdoor dining area so it's going to be nice for students to be able to go outside and enjoy some sunshine um as their teachers choose for them to do so here we're looking at the kitchen the range hood um this kitchen is nice and large like the
034Ranson kitchen and remember it was built so that one day if we want to connect a middle school to it it'll be easy to join those kitchens uh the next photo shows the walk-in freezer and the cooler in there again they're on the inside which doesn't Pro pose a problem since we're Heating and Cooling with geothermal the temperature will be nice for those to be inside and a very nice uh feature for the cooks as well the next photo you can see some finish work starting down um the wing C you see the white uh base they filled in the block with the white and that is the wing that they're painting on and above you see that we have started laying things in the cable trays and that signals uh we're ready to start
035the electricity and it's it's all exciting um and as I said lots of work going on in the school the next picture shows uh a classroom on the left it's kind of panned out on on the right I wanted to highlight the reading Nooks we've put in this school um in this school we have like a little oval that lays a little sideways for the students to enjoy reading Nooks as I've discussed the color palettes are a little bit different in this school they have more uh Tans greens softer colors in the school so it will be a contrast to uh Ranon Elementary which is vibrant and bright the next photo shows um again just panned back in a classroom and how big the classrooms um will be followed by our geothermal room eily similar
036to Ranson Elementary School all of that is um completed on the outside they're piping it on the inside here's the septic field they began work on that roughly a week or so ago so you can see them starting to to break ground and uh get that all prepared and ready the next slide illustrates again the outside and um some of that wonderful brick work that you see and we're looking from the right side Wing D in the foreground and C in the back I think he flip that that's okay I'll look up I won't go by my guide continue on just a rear view of the school I don't think I have any roadway pictures but uh the road is paved uh all the way through and ready so that is good except what you
037see immediately around the school uh they haven't touched the parking lot yet or um the circles the pickup circles the bus Loops that kind of thing here's from the rear of the school and these are just overhead shots if you want to pan through those mark this that's from the dining hall side those the big windows on the left the windows are darkened like the outside of the school but the project is progressing very very nicely um with this steam lab and I think we've spoken about that before there will also be an outdoor component classroom to that as well so they have a couple of outdoor spaces um like Ranson we will be uh fencing the property um this property will also have a little walking trail with it so we're very excited about
038it it's going very well excellent thank you very much you're welcome any questions thank you very much have a good evening next we have um salary and stien evaluation update Dr Bishop we'd like to like to remove that from the agenda this evening because uh there's there's several things going on on one we have a committee that's been working to evaluate the current pay structure uh the local committee has been working on a market analysis that we're sharing with stakeholders and uh we also have a meeting with legal uh Council as well to discuss the analysis in addition uh Senate Bill 506 was introduced uh that uh it's been proposed for differentiated pay uh based on uh the median cost of housing in a particular locality uh as well as uh a market analysis of
039of um salaries so there's still some information to come with that so we anticipate uh that the second meeting in April we will have that available for you all right thank you next we have unfinished business discussion possible action on 2000 program Neola policies yes these were placed out for public comment after the last meeting no public comments were received and we're asking for approval of the first first batch of 2000 series Neola policies this evening I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have all right and that um I just want to make sure I'm going to read the right list here that starts with 2105 correct yes ma'am all right and you're asking us to go ahead and approve yes please all right so is there a motion to approve um the
040Neola policies 21 205 2110 2111 2112 2114 2131 2210 2215 22307 2250 22 60.1 220.03 2261 22 61.1 22612 22 61.0 3 2262 2270 2275 2330 2340 2370 23 7.01 23 7.02 23 7.04 2413 2414 2416 2417 2430 24301 2431 2432 2440 2450 24 60.3 2461 2522 2531 2575 2605 2625 is there a motion to approve those policies Mo thank you Miss Ogden is there a second second thank you Mr wford any discussion I have a couple questions um I'm why is the um required courses of instruction 20 to 307 it is listed and then also it's listed as 2215 yeah 2215 was rescinded and it was written to new policy um 22 22307 so it's just one was rescinded and then the other is the actual revised policy but that's the one of for
041the West Virginia history correct yes and then I had already asked you about the personal finance so haven't gotten that one yet uh Neola as they send us policies and that's when we get them processed uh so haven't seen anything on that one yet but as you know there could be some changes coming with that one as well okay thank you all right so there's a motion in a second to approve the 2000 policies as stated any other discussion hearing none all in favor of those 2,000 policies say I I oppos all right thank you very much next under new business we have review of financial data yes Kristen Cameron is here Chief finan Financial Officer thank you good evening um we have two presentations for you this evening uh both of which are required
042by West Virginia Statute uh the first is our financial overview um just before we start this presentation I just want to um set a disclaimer that this presentation only covers unrestricted funds so this will only cover um our County's unrestricted funds not those funds that are restricted in various projects such as Title One idea Etc so on our first slide uh we will discuss our Revenue so our general fund uh Revenue budget in unrestricted funds is $123 million currently uh to date through February 28th we've received $82 million approximately um of that that is roughly 67% of our Revenue received total for the year uh 50% of that is state revenue 49% is local Revenue 1% represents our other various miscellaneous revenue and currently less than 1% is our federal revenue again that is just
043um unrestricted funds which would only be our Medicaid billing is the only thing that would fall under federal revenue in this um presentation this does align with our historical Trends uh property tax collections are anticipated um in March as our property taxes are due you know generally in March so um those are anticipated to come in as expected um on our next slide we'll see our general fund U expenditures uh these again align with our historical Trends there is a slight increase in our purchase Services um water and sewer in that 6% that's just up slightly from our prior years um just due to increases in those utility costs you know American Water Etc ET we've all seen that increase in our own households I'm sure so we've also seen that um districtwide increase um
044as is clearly Illustrated um in this slide approximately 79% is salary and benefits which is of course the largest of our expenditures as a district um we have to date expended 56% 56 and a half percent roughly um of our annual expenditure budget again this is just through February 28th I just wanted to go into a little more detail on the salaries and benefits uh portion since that is the largest um of the expenditures that's about 55 million of our total expenditures through February uh the benefits cost currently in the current year are approximately 30.8% of a salary so a staff member making $55,000 a year um the actual cost to the district is approximately 72,000 that average benefit cost continues to rise as the cost of PE continues to Rise um our next slide
045we're going to talk a little bit about board designated projects these are projects that in the past the board has chosen to set aside um a portion of our finances to support these individual projects um the first one is our digital onetoone initiative um which has been around for several years uh this um is a cycling of the replacement of computers for both students and staff and so manually we do need to set aside additional if we want to continue that one: one uh ratio for students U the other projects are also you know very similar to that in that the board has designated to set aside U specific dollar amounts in each of those um and we can talk about the specific projects if you would like um this year um HVAC we set
046aside $350,000 it has been used in multiple schools uh including projects here at Washington at Jefferson uh so at right Denny and driwood and other various smaller projects but those have been our largest in the HVAC uh the roof project was used um tremendously on Jefferson High School this year um we replaced approximately half of the roof um of that building with that so you can see that the roof uh project is currently much lower than it was at this point last year because those funds have been either spent or obligated to be spent um in that project same with the vehicles and buses you can see that that balance um is down from the allocation at this time last year uh we currently have an encumbered for the purchase of five new regular transfer
047regular ed student buses and then just our final thoughts um we're the continuation investment um of the Recruitment and Retention plan items such as tuition reimbursement um teacher prep days we're doing a lot of those um continuing a lot of those things um also just continuation of those board designated projects and the amounts that we want to set aside uh in each of those projects those projects are funded through um the collections over our exess Levy call any questions a couple questions sure this the digital one: one initiative is that how much it costs this year that's that is just the remaining balance in the fund okay as of the end of February that is what is currently set aside in that fund how much is needed each year there's there's a cycling of that
048there's a schedule that Mr Muk has put together um to present so we can cycle those um as they reach the end of their useful life we can cycle those out um there is a large portion of that that I believe is needed in the current year that has not yet been encumbered so we will need to just make sure that we're replenishing that um um for uh the the portion benefit costs I'm just wondering and maybe you don't know the answer but say somebody doesn't want the health insurance can they be refunded a percentage a portion if they're not using the benefit because um you know it it seems that it's it's in the it's in the calculation goes from 55,000 if they make 55,000 it becomes 72 so um are you the person
049to ask about that are there they're not it's not budgeted for instance if I do not take the health insurance when we prepare the budget the cost of health insurance for myself and my family is not a part of the budget so there is not additional set aside for those people who have already elected to either have Pei insurance or not there is no additional uh portion that is set aside in the budget for that I think your question is if I choose not to take peia do I get like a stien or do I get that money in salary the answer is no is it possible no because we don't um one it's not budgeted but two it's not possible as a payable benefit or payable salary to the individual correct I do not
050believe that is allowable under C code okay and um is there money available for things like um raising the stien for to you know people that um the the teachers or employees that do extra like um coaching Etc is that where is that in here or is it not in here yeah that that would not that would be a part of the budget discussion that we will have later okay all right all right thank you yes I have one quick question um on the designated project funds cameras is zero did we not put any money in there or we've just depleted that F we did we have just depleted that fund so we set aside $100,000 and that fund and 100,000 was used on cameras at Jefferson High this year okay thank you I just
051know that's an issue with all schools typically so correct yeah we're the goal is to set the money aside and just use it annually as we can um to replace or add those cameras as needed I had a feeling that was the the fact but I just needed to make sure yes so the goal would be uh this budget season cameras are kind of still in that to be for more money to be allocated there is so far use this correct yes just currently in the current year we have expended everything that was set aside in that project we are also chasing grant money for cameras recently we received a $30,000 Grant that's not a huge amount of money for camera installation but for a small elementary school that will take care of it or
052pretty much take care of it so Mr Mook and through ches leadership they're chasing grants every chance they get for additional cameras thank you very much we appreciate your um just the next portion is um regarding our levies um there are three um different types of levies uh the current expense our regular Levy which is set by the state um our bond Levy which was passed by the voters of Jefferson County several years ago and then our excess Levy um the the current expense Levy just to give you a little background again those are set by the legislature the E the current expense Levy um does have an inverse relationship with our state aid funding so as our uh regular Levy increases our state aid decreases so they they allocate the dollar amount for our
053state aid and then they reduce that by the amount that we collect locally that's a part of Step nine of the public school Support Program um currently in FY 26 our projected regular Levy revenue is $27 million just remember that that increase of 2.3 we don't really see that increase that increase reduces our state aid the bond Levy was approved in November of 2020 for $43 million as Joyce was presenting um the information that is building our Shepherdstown um School currently and will work on the Washington auxiliary gym will be used for a portion of that as well uh the excess Levy uh is a part of um supplementing the instructional and operational needs for Jefferson County it has been approved by the voters of Jefferson County since 1946 our current Levy uh still stands
054for next fiscal year so it runs through June 30th of 2026 the voters in November of 2024 um did approve the next five years of Levy but that will not begin until fiscal year 27 and then it will run through fiscal year 31 U that is what this meeting this presentation is designed you know to present that information and then the meeting will need to reconvene per state code on the third Tuesday in April to officially adopt so those proposed Levy rates um the next slide is just uh a reminder for what our EXs Levy call presents um the things this is the same excess Levy calls we've had for the last three years so there's no changes no changes there it will support our WVU uh extension service and 4 local libraries uh the
055health department parks and wreck our instructional U media and Technology school allocations for material and then professional development also um salary assistance this supports things like the 17th plus 20 those additional teacher prep days U matching contributions when the county matches the national board certifications uh those types of things um this next slide just shows a little bit of trend data for what the excess Levy collections have been um over the course of the last several years you can see over the last five years of this Levy call in blue um but if you go back several years you can see that you know we've had an increase over the last five years due to assessed value increases um however if you go back several years you can see in fiscal year 11 we had
056a pretty significant decrease um so we just must remember that there're also you know always the potential for the decrease in those Levy collections So currently we're in a a good place with Levy collections but we want to make sure that we set enough of those aside for those years that we could potentially have a decrease any questions related to that one um I just wanted to thank you for being here and for making simplifying all this information um absolutely enjoyed your presentation thank you I would just say um of just asn't a point of discussion I know that for um designated projects for athletic fields we've been putting money away to replace those fields obviously they cost over a million dollars a piece um but I also think it might behoove us to look
057at because of the other things that we've had to look at in regards to Athletics such as bathrooms um and just projects in general I think that we we really going into budget season need that extreme comprehensive I guess really um organizational athletic facilities period in the county and how much that might amass as far as what are we actually expending I know you know at Jefferson High I don't believe other than the field we have paid for you know any Services if you will like any of those concrete buildings for concession stands or bathrooms or whatever um I pretty pretty sure boosters or whatever they have built them um which is is great that the community has done that but at the same time um you know even though it's very old there's only
058one entrance in so if you're on the baseball or softball field the the main gate for the football field has to be open to be able to to access that it is quite the slope up for handicap accessibility you know there's just a lot of pieces overall um that I think we definitely should look at there's a a crack on the side of the building where you sit up for football um that is your Fieldhouse if you will spot um there's you know there's a large crack there um you you can just obviously see that there's going to be needs there so I think as a whole you know if we know we have X number of years left before we have to put a field in um you know we know that we might
059have other options for putting another field in but if we if we just have that then we can decide do we keep putting all those funds just for Fields or do we also tend to allocate um some monies towards other projects that we know will need to be from the Ling talk we're talking I'm talk the designated fund project funds the project funds in there okay yeah just looking overall at those kind of things as we does that have to do with the love so you're saying instead of athletic fields designated it should be athletic facil fac facilities designated yeah I think it it may you know again knowing the fields are going to be like I said over a million a piece we know we have to get to that number based on the
060years but I think it might help when things like that come up such as the bathrooms um at Washington or the need for handicap accessibility in bathrooms at Jefferson things of those n of that nature would be more helpful I think um to look forward at it if we have a comprehensive plan to actually know what our needs are and I'm sure that our um athletic directors at you know all the schools middle and and hi can let us know that and and give us a whole list of what they think is going to need but it would be helpful to have it yes ma'am thank you so much thank you thank you ma'am all right next up we have discussion and possible action on remaining 2,000 program policies the dispatch of policies are the
061remaining 2000s it was quite a series as you see the request this evening is for these to be placed out for public comment uh and to bring them back before you at the meeting in April all right is there a motion to um put the following Neola policies out for public comments 2120 22.01 2220 2230 22301 22 30.02 22 30.06 2240 2271 2312 2371 2411 2412 24302 2451 2452 2460 2520 2600 2623 and 23.1 is there a motion to put those out for public comment a motion thank you Miss Bratton is our second second thank you Miss Ogden any discussion very none all in favor of putting those remaining 200000 program Nea policies out for public comment say I I I oppose thank you next up we have discussion and possible action on the 5,000
062students Neola policies the same request for the 5,000 series policies that are presented uh this evening we would ask that these be approved to place out for public comment all right is there a motion to put the following policies out for public comment 511 11.02 5112 5114 5130 5131 51 36.1 5140 5215 5223 5 5230 5420 5430 5451 54 6.01 5464 5512 5513 5514 5515 5516 5517 17.3 5605 56 10.02 56 10.04 5630 5710 5724 5771 5820 5830 585 55 5860 5880 5885 and 5895 is there a motion to put those out for public comment Mo thank you Miss Ogden is there a second second thank you Miss Bratton any discussion hearing none all in favor of putting those policies out for public comments say I I iose thank you next up we have discussion
063and possible action on request to go offer bid for maintenance of sewage plantss at blidge elementary and Paige Jackson Elementary good evening once again we have uh several contracts this evening you'll see that are expiring um for requests for proposal proposals because they're over $25,000 one of those is for Blue Ridge and Paige Jackson who have sewage treatment plants and it is time for us to rebid those so I will await your motion all right is there motion to go out for bid for the main of the sewage plants at Blue Elementary and paig Jackson Elementary make a motion thank you Miss way thank you Miss Ogden seconded by Miss Bratton thank you any discussion car none all in favor of going out to bid for maintenance of sewage plants at blidge elementary and PID
064trcks Elementary say I I oppose thank you next up we have discussion possible action request to God forbid for trash and recycling service same thing same thing all right is there a motion to um go out for bid for trash and recycling services motion thank you Miss Bratton there a second second thank you Dr Joy any discussion hearing none all in favor of going out to bid for trash and recycling services say I I iose all right next up we have discussion and possible action on request to go out for bid for dry mop Services is there a motion to um go out to bid for dry mop Services motion thank you Miss Bratton is there a second thank you Miss Ogden any discussion hearing none all in favor of going out to bid for
065dry mop Services say I I I oppose thank you very much if I remember correctly you got a deal last time so we're looking for that in all these Services okay well we'll look for it so thank you well guess I'd like to play Let's Make a Deal too so we'll see what we can do we appreciate your hard work with it sure we'll we'll follow all appropriate uh rules regulations so of course of course but Lois bitter we're looking for you all right next we have um discussion and possible action on request to go out to bid for HVAC Services is there a motion to go out to bid for HVAC Services motion thank you Miss Bratton is there a second second thank you Dr Joy any discussion hearing none all in favor of
066going out to bid for aack services say I I oppose all right thank you and I just want to point out with that one it's a service maintenance contract right not for replacement of equipment just the service cor yes yes got it all right next we have discussion and possible action on request to go out for bid for pest control services is there a motion to go out for bid for pest control services motion thank you Miss Bratton is there a second second thank you Dr Joy any discussion heing none all in favor of going out to bid for pest control services say I I oos thank you next we have discussion possible action request to go forbid for exterior athletic restrooms at Washington High School yes let me just discuss those for a moment
067um you know when we put the gym and we attached it uh there was a need on campus for exterior restrooms there's been a demonstrated need uh because of the location of these facilities um this um this budgetarily oh good okay I'm back um this budgetarily I will say um does not come from Brandon's budget uh this was a pool of money that Washington High had access to Jefferson has had access to some pools of money too it's the the choice and the decision making for how to spend it so this is a fully funded project it will include restrooms a little storage area uh for students to Stow their stuff once they get out in that area so um I just want to give a little background of of how this Project's born and
068I think that will round out this campus's needs um there's always needs athletic wise but you know for for them to have a good experience and people who come and watch them to have a good experience um just while they're back on on the fields that are in the rear of the property so all right is there a motion to go out bid the exterior athletic restrooms at Washington High School Mo thank you Miss Bratton is our second second thank you Dr any discussion all in favor of going out to bid for exterior restrooms at Washington High School say I I oppose all right thank you very much thank you board member comments and committee reports Mrs Ogden it's quick um the only thing I would say is um regarding the salary or the uh
069with the legislature um looking at the salary increases based on locality um I was reading that article and from what I can remember it will cost the state about $183 million um the governor is looking to fill a $40 million budget hole according to the article um but it does affect from what I understood it was it was over 25 counties I think that it would affect so it was better than than the was it 31 counties 26 counties thank you Kelsey for knowing that number um so it obviously does affect a significant amount not just one or two or three I think the argument for that was um that if people are going to teach in one County and they're teaching in another County it's the same job so they should get paid the
070same amount of money which again for the state to to set the salary rates that they do you're right they should get the same but the locality pay as far as what it actually costs to live in your community um and to to pay your bills and actually buy a home there I think is is a fair way to um administer funds in that way um I would like to see if we can uh you know on our website or whatnot put up some some names some phone numbers or something for all of our our local representatives and try to see if we can solicit parents to just flood phone calls um to them from our County um as much as we can to see if it if it somehow can do something um to
071let them know that we're at least paying attention and we do want to have some help please um with some of that locality pay because yes they may give us that pay but then we also have to be understanding that if they give us a certain amount of a bump in pay for some employees any of our employees that are outside the formula then our local funds are going to have to cover so it will be no different than any other raise of very significant local funds money that we will need to then output and which would be part of a budget discussion so um you know while I'm I we really have to have it and we we've got to figure it out um I think it's it's important to think about that whole
072piece so yeah so if we can do that and you know I know HR has worked really hard to try to bring us more into the formula as best we can but some of the stuff is is not realistic the expectation of how you can run a school system um obviously you need more than than they're allowing so anyway that would be my my thoughts and um as we get started with spring Sports I just hope that we have lots of kids that are staying safe out there it's it's a lot of travel and work and I hope we continue to get good weather so thanks for all the coaches and parents who volunteer their time for all this going on thank you Mrs Bratton thank you Miss Ogden I agree with you so thank
073you for that um I would like to um say that or not just to say it but to um put out our condolences to the Newman family we lost a pillar in our community and a family member Alan Newman he didn't work for our school schools but however um he did coach for our jcyfl um football teams um and was a board member for many years and he worked with a lot of our students um some who were here now and some who have gone on um graduated and um but he was always that person who was always there for the children always feeding everybody in the community um just he just had this laugh and this smile that would just light up the room when he came in so um I just want to
074give our condolences to the Newman family thank you thank you Dr Joy uh yeah um aside from encouraging um community members to uh contact legislators about locality pay it's important that our unions support locality pay and um they are a strong voice and or they could be and so people that are members of the unions need to hold your unions accountable because they represent you and um that's where your money goes and until they speak up it it makes it very difficult to get locality pay um I attended the uh parks and wreck meeting um there wasn't much new business uh they did discuss uh moonshine Festival on June 7th um epic meets this week so nothing to report there I believe we don't meet um for a formal board meeting uh until a month
075from now and so because of um spring break so um I want wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and spring break and I think that's everything Miss um Skinner I'm sorry I just want to say that I also attended um JC um excuse me Deon County Parks and R but I couldn't be on there the whole time because I had a schedule conflict so that's why Dr Joy also okay thank you Mrs twiford do you have any comments this evening I do thank you um I just wanted to say that the um WVU extension service is in the process of hiring another agent and that process is going well and I also wanted to uh wish everyone a great spring break because um Dr Joy is right we don't meet again until after that
076and also um in between now and our next meeting I wanted to congratulate all of the Jefferson County students that pleas at Regional math field day and are now headed to West Virginia state math field day including Owen twiford shout out to him all right thank you very much um as far as ramsy goes the job posting for the director principal position has closed and interviews will be taking place soon so hopefully we'll have a new director principal out there Dr Bishop do you have any comments this evening I do know I'm sorry can I just say one more thing because there something important that I forgot so um there was a essay contest um uplifting black voices um I would like to say congratulations to Malik Bratton who won that essay contest all right
077congratulations Dr Bishop I do not have anything this even all right and I do believe we have an executive session this evening for personnel and real estate is that correct that's correct and will will there be action on either of I'm sorry just real estate okay so there is nothing for personnel correct there is one on real estate but no action to be taken is that correct yes all right is there a motion to go into executive session for real estate for West Virginia code 69 A4 B9 thank you Miss Bratton is there a second thank you miss ogon all in favor of going to Executive sessions say I I oppose all right thank you very [Music] much we good Mr Bailey all right is there a motion to return to open session thank you
078Miss Ogden is there a second second thank you Mrs Bratton all right um there's no action from the executive session so is there a motion to recess this meeting till the April 15 2025 meeting when we reconvene the levy meeting thank you Miss Ogden is there a second thank you Mrs Bratton all in favor say I I oppose all right thank you very much meeting adjourned everybody