001Yes, sir. >> Miss Sherlock. >> Yes, sir. >> Car. Yeah. >> Good deal. And it is time to call the August 19th, 2025 War County Board of Education meeting to order. At this time, our first uh item is the pledge of allegiance. And we're going to ask Mr. Lowe to lead us to signal. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. At this time, I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So, >> okay. Uh on the agenda under uh finance payment invoices we have an amount in there of 173,883 under personnel matters under B number one that has been struck from the agenda will come back to us at
002a later date. Number two has been struck from the agenda will come back at a later date and number three has been struck from the agenda and will come back at a later date. On towards the bottom number 12, we have a name for the Cook three. We have a name for the bus aid and we have a name for the athletic trainer for War County middle school. >> Yes. >> Number six. >> Thank you. Also, under number six, there is a name under substitute teacher. And then on the third page under new business, um we have uh the three uh architect engineering firms that were interviewed for our pre-bond services, Mckenley, Pickerton, and Thrasher Group. We're going to leave that. Mr. Macau will make his recommendation when we get to that point. Okay, I
003think that's it. Did I miss anything? Any question on the changes of the agenda? Not changes but uh no. Okay. Hearing none. We have a motion to approve the agenda as presented with the new pieces put in. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. >> Eyes have it. Motion carries. Okay. We're down to information. Number one is uh West Virginia GSA state datim. Mr. Macau. >> So I already gave you this handout and it's the one that looks like this. and color and I had shared with the board um where what our results were during my evaluation executive session and at that time those scores were still embargoed while the state board is met those scores. So that information is available to general public for all 55 counties and I've emailed this
004to you. This is a nice pivot table that you can go back and you can if you click on the top of each one the file that I sent you you can sort it from the highest to the lowest so you can see um this the 55 counties in their ranking for each year in math and reading. So if you look at the front page, this is sorted by the 2024 2025 math scores on the top and as you can see county had the highest scores in the state and county is in the 11th of the state spot. um with Raleigh with Raleigh County, Pocahontas, Tyler, Jackson, Richie Wood, Ohio, Hancock, u Monelia, and Putnham counties um in the top 10 spots in that. And then if you turn the page to the second page,
005this is the same thing except it is ELA scores. And um if you will look about 3/4 of the way down, you will see work. That is the 40th spot. Okay. But I would I would ask you to look at the 201718. We were at 36.8. We were at 38.4 38.9 39.1 42.92. Um year before last year we were at 45%. And if you open the pivot table and you go back and sort on the 2023 2024 year, we were somewhere around I believe 18th. I didn't do that here. So, um you can see that little dip that we took in reading scores from 45% proficient and to 42.1% proficient last year. Um, even though that's not a very high decrease in the percentage, it really threw us down the ranks in reading and we're
006not where we want to be with reading. But I think, as you can see, if you look at all of those years of ELA scores starting back in 2017 and going through this past year, in general, it is trending up and getting better. I'm confident that that uh that when I bring this same thing to you again next year that we are going to see a market improvement in reading. But um likewise, if you can see where we were in math in 2017 and where we are now and where we were in reading then and where we are now, I think you can note the market increase in achievement scores. But again, you can see statewide all 55 counties. Um, I encourage you to open the Excel file and play around with the pivot table
007and sort the different years and you can see where work was ranked in 2017 and then all of the subsequent years through last year. Um, since this is not embargoed, I wanted to come and share this with the board and the public. And in subsequent board meetings, I will be bringing the schools in to discuss their data and the goals that each school has academically for this year and the county strategic plan and the countywide goals that we have for this year. So, but since this is unmbargoed now, I wanted to bring it to you and let you look at it and you can expect to see um in subsequent meetings, schools talking about where they're at and what their plan for improvement is. And I did mention at our opening meeting to all staff
008that I want to challenge the schools um to to not just for reading instruction and teaching the kids to read. that that's very important that the kids learn how to read. But there there's a huge study that I quoted in my opening session that basically says if you take a kid that loves to read and reads on their own time for their enjoyment, that is a bigger indicator than socioeconomic um any other indicator is that the kid likes to read and reads chooses to read on their own time. So, I've challenged the schools um to work on a plan to try to help instill that love of reading because we've done a lot of professional development in in years past with math and reading instruction both. I think that our teachers have a good um
009nuts and bolts understanding of teaching the kid to read, but we've got to go beyond that and do our very best to instill the love of reading um in those kids to where they do read on their own time. I think that's going to pay the greatest dividends in increasing reading scores across the county. So happy to entertain any questions that you have about the state data. >> Mr. Macau, if if any of our community >> would like to see this, where can they find this? >> Um, it is on Zoom. It's not going to look exactly like this, but if you Google WBDE Zoom West Virginia, the state has put all of this data >> um for all of those years on the Zoom West Virginia site and it has you can toggle it
010by county and you can toggle it by school and these scores will populate for any member of the public to see. Um not just work county scores but any school or county in the state. Um WVD Zoom West Virginia is the site. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah. So you said that one of the commonalities with the districts that have higher uh reading proficiency is that those students more of those students are reading for enjoyment. Is that correct? So that wasn't data that was compiled with West Virginia, but that was just a broad study done, multinational study. Yes. >> Okay. So um is there any other usable data from this other than ranking that we can look for commonalities for things that we can uh apply to our students that we can do? So I
011don't know that from from this data I don't believe so >> because some of the things are some of the things are unchangeable >> the soioeconomic status the demographics things like that >> so I would just say um to any parent out there um engage with your kid and read with your kid. I think that's that's so important. I think that if the parents are reading to their kids on a regular basis and um one of the things that I know we're going to do is we're going to make some books available um for kids to take home. So I would say take advantage of that this year and if you can spend more time reading to your children um that's going to be one of the things that we try to increase this year.
012>> Okay. because I'm glad you mentioned that because in every single piece of research that I've come across with uh reading capabilities and reading achievement levels, it seemed that almost always the highest levels were students that had the parents read to them in the homes. Y >> even up until the middle school level. If so, if any parents are listening to this right now, if you want your children to be more proficient in language arts and reading, you must read to the children at home and even up through middle school level. Yeah. >> Lead by example. >> Thank you, sir. Okay. Okay. We're down to the attendance narrative. Uh Mr. Smith. >> Thank you, Mr. Macau. Thank you, Mr. Mets. Um, okay. Start this from the beginning. Okay. First thing, uh, wanted to address was
013the enrollment. Uh, currently at the primary center there's 313 students. At the middle school there's 255 and at the high school is 276 for a total enrollment of8.4. 44 as of Thursday, August 14th. Okay. Um the total enrollment has decreased by 22 students in comparison to the September 2425 attendance report. Work county primary center enrollment decreased by 15 students. Middle school decreased by seven students and high school total enrollment remained the same in comparison. Um, regards to by grade, preK is at 45, kindergarten is at 65, first grade is at 48, second grade is at 51, third grade is at 51, fourth grade is at 53. At the middle school, there's uh 67 in fifth grade, 62 in sixth grade, 54 in 7th, and 72 and 8th. In regards to the high school, there are
01480 in 9th grade, 63 in 10th grade, 63 in 11th grade, and 73 and I'm sorry, 72 and 12. Now, I know those are all numbers and data, but since then, I wanted to give you more information so you could see where the drop offs and such since I gave you this initial report. So, I took a little more time and analyzed it. Um, as far as uh preK, that this is what's unusual. There's a decrease in 20 by 23 students in comparison to September of last year, but we've increased by 22 students in kindergarten, which I thought was kind of interesting. Um, first grade is six less students, second grade is six more students. Uh, third grade is five less students and fourth grade is a nine uh negative nine less students for. So
015that's where the uh total of uh 15 less students comes from. That's the breakdown where the increase and decrease was um at the middle school. Fifth grade has eight more students, sixth grade has four more students, seventh grade has 15 less students, and eighth grade has four less students. At the high school, although their attendance remained the same in comparison to last year, that's why I put that as total enrollment. Of course, fluctuated. Ninth grade is uh 13 more students. 10th grade is two less students. 11th grade is minus5 and 12th grade increased by four. So you can see it's kind of an up and down. There's no real I look for some continuity or consistency. But what I see it's it's changing all over the board. Um and if the biggest uh impact that
016I saw analyzing the decrease of 22 is of course mainly to either kids going enrolling in another school out of county or going to alternative means for education whether it's homeschool you know uh Christian school various other avenues they're taken. So that's that's where the biggest change of 22 students is. And um by the way, the reason why I didn't do the attendance rate, I did wanted to give a true depiction, but this year there's been a lot of students coming in and out, in and out. So like a kid could be absent two or three days and they may be in the process of going to another school and until they ask for a request for records, we can't drop them, for example. So there's a whole process and so in September, I can
017give you a better depiction of the attendance rate, I'll do that as far as that goes. So um does anybody have any questions or concerns? I know I went through that pretty quick, but All right, >> we're only talking about what, three days? >> Yeah, that's what I'm saying. >> Yeah, I did the report on Thursday, so that was literally the first day of school, Brandt. So, even if you went through today, you're only looking at three or four days of school. So, I wanted to give you a true depiction of what Yeah. And of course, to begin school, the kids are, you know, of course, the attendance rate tends to be better the first few days of school till you're figuring out who all is there, but most most the attendance is best at
018that time. So, >> well, I know the last meeting we had uh a lot of kids because they uh have to do it every year, >> right? >> Every But is it hard to distinguish which ones was here before or not or how you get a number on that? >> Now, that I'm going to have to analyze because uh Doy at the high school told me and I have to sit and analyze this too because she said she saw quite a few kids coming back in from homechool. She saw some going out. So, I'm just trying to read all that be be honest with you, Brent. Maybe by next time I can give you a truer reading. Yeah. >> I just know it would be hard to tell, you know. >> Right. And the only
019way I'll be able to do go back and do that is go back into the homeschool hope scholarship app and as soon as we reenroll a kid, then that'll send up a red flag that they're enrolled in public school. So, I'll have to go through and analyze all that data to answer your question, Brent. when I get a chance, I'll have to do that and see. So, it'll red flag it if we're enrolled in public school. So, they previously done something different. So, anybody have any other questions? >> Any other questions? >> Okay. Maintenance report. >> Okay. >> Are were you done with that? >> Oh, yeah. As long as you all didn't have any further questions, I'm fine. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um All right. Uh, of course in the maintenance report I
020gave you the narrative, but uh, Mr. Rutder incorporated jackhammered through the floor and replaced the damaged drainage pipe underneath the prek wing hallway at the primary center. Work county schools maintenance staff replaced the concrete floor and family carpet replaced the VCT tile for the area. I thought it turned out pretty good. I just took a picture of it so you could see how it looked at the finished product. As you recall, we've had some issues at that prek entrance to the playground for some years when it rained very hard. Water was backing up in that drain and coming into the doors. And at the the very end of the school year, we had a a big downpour and it did that. So when we had them come to inspect it, that drain that goes from
021right outside those doors in the picture there um comes underneath the floor there and probably 30 I don't know how old that would be, 30 or 40 years old. Um it had gotten clogged with gravel and dirt and debris and things and so when they scoped it, it was necessary to come in and jackhammer that up and and repair that drain. So hopefully that issue with water coming in those doors will be alleviated now. But I thought the project turned out well. >> Yeah. >> Anyone have any questions concerning that as far as that go? Okay. Okay. Um the work county middle school gym floors logos and floor design were redone and the floor was refinished by Hillyard Incorporated. The change was due to water damage and a need to sand the floor. Approximately twothirds
022of the cost will be paid by the school system insurance provider. Um what we did, we had a leak on an area of the floor close to if you can see down here at this far end where I was taking pictures at the water had dripped in from a drain and uh the floor had actually got warped and there was no way, you know, to fix it correctly without it being a safety hazard. So we thought if you know we were ahead of the cycle, but every like 12 years or so they sand the floor down. we were like in a seventh or eighth year. So, we thought if this is this would be a perfect opportunity to fix the gym gym the way they wanted to look at the middle school. And I I
023really think it looks nice. I don't know how many of you have been over there since they redid it, but I thought they did a pretty good job with it. So, >> yeah, if you look if you look at that, the three-point area on each end is a darker varnish. I think looks very nice with the same dark varnish area around the tiger paw in the middle. And then also they've had some artwork put up. If you look at the the wall there on the top left of that photo, you can see that. Did you take a picture going the other way, Mr. Smith? Yeah. >> By chance? >> Yeah. >> Well, I don't know if that help. I don't know if that was the right direction. You're want Mr. >> Well, no. The show.
024No, I didn't get They've also put works above the opposite wall where the tiger is above the bleachers. Um if you get an opportunity, um stop in there and look at that. It did turn out very nice. >> The gentleman that did that said that was probably one of the nicest looking middle school floors he's done. Period is what he told me. So, >> but >> now Mr. Smith, I it's my understanding that that ceiling is still leaking. That roof is still leaking. >> Well, not where we had the damage, Mr. Mets. There was an issue over there. Now, we're down to where there's an issue there in front of the bleachers. We've been putting tarps there. We've had different people come in and look at the situation. We don't want to run the floor
025as you're asking, Mr. permits, but there was a leak there the other day, but it was unrelated to where it happened the other day where the the serious damage was done. Matter of fact, during that torrential downpour the other day, there was water there, but the tarp caught caught it and they removed it from the area. We're trying to take every step we can to keep from running that floor. Correct. >> Yeah. Because it doesn't matter if it's the old place or a new place, it'll do the same thing if we don't get it fixed. >> Right. And we've had different contractors come in and look to see if they can address the problem, and they've tried different approaches. Luckily, knock on wood, we haven't had any more leaks in that area where it damaged
026the main playing floor. But yeah, so ideally right now, Mr. Mets, if they open the uh bleachers out right now, not that that's okay. It wouldn't be on the floor. It'd be literally hitting in the bleachers, which is bad, too. But >> but it's not okay. >> No, it's not okay, but it's being addressed and looked at is what I'm saying, Mr. Mets. We're trying. But I will tell you that I I was over I don't know several days ago and it truly is probably the nicest middle school gym floor that I've ever seen. It it just is if you haven't seen it, it's worth going and looking at. And >> I was just there today. I didn't notice. >> Oh my. >> Well, I didn't go in the gym. I walked the hallway behind
027it. But >> it's nicer in the high school, >> I think. And actually, I'm glad you said that, Mr. Mets. Okay. When they started to do that, I came to Mr. Macau because the guy that was doing the floor, he said, "I have some concerns, Jeff." I said, "What's your concern?" He said, "That's such a nice looking gym floor. Is the high school principal going to be mad?" I said, "Die, do you care?" And she said, "No, why do I care what their That's great if their gym floor looks that way, but a lot of people would have been upset by that or threatened by that." >> Yeah. And the um the artwork that Mrs. uh Pikmin had had put up is uh just spectacular. It's nice. Our kids our kids have a good facility.
028But I will reiterate again, we need to get those leaks fixed. >> Oh, trust me. Ask Mr. Macau. I've had everybody I can have come in and look at that. But >> we've had trouble every it seems like every year with the roof and is there something that we need to what do we need to redo? Because I can remember clear back when my grandkids was in middle school. There's games that had I mean tournament games had to be stopped and brought over there because the water was coming down, you know. >> Oh, I know. I We're going to continue. We're going to continue to try and find what the issue is. Like I said, we've had contractors in I wish they could come in there when it was pouring the rain so they could
029pinpoint exactly where it's at. But they went up in there in the ceiling. They've done different things and they're they did they tried to fix it thinking maybe it was the membrane roof the other day. They patched that to be safe and then they looked if two drains were separated. They're trying a process to try and get it fixed is all I can say. That's We've had people in here looking at it. So, Mr. Mets is right. We don't want to spend that kind of money on the floor and then it get ruined when it pours of rain again. So, so >> Okay. All right. >> Any other questions? >> Sorry, I didn't went went ahead too. >> Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry, Miss Smith. That's right. Getting you off there. >> That's all right.
030Uh the W County High School custodial staff helped prepare, smooth, and level the VCT flooring in room 404 in Mrs. Star's room. Family carpet installed LBT planking over the V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B V B VCT area in the room. So they've really been impressed with that room. All I've heard is positive remarks from Mrs. Debbie and of course Doy the principal all said they really impressed with how that looks. So they that's been needed and they're really happy with it so far. So, okay. Um, the Work County Schools maintenance staff disassembled the dish machine and the accompanying table in the Work
031County High School kitchen's dishwashing room. Work County High School custodial staff cleaned the walls, removed storage rack, painted the wall, and reattached the rack to the wall. The same area, Hobart Corporation updated the electrical service and family carpet, installed slip resistant corey tile. This is in preparation for the new dish machine and table that was ordered. So, I don't know if you guys saw what it looked like before, but trust me, it looks a lot nicer now with the new Corey tile. Cleaned up the walls, repainted it, and I I'm really think they're proud of how that looks in there now. So, we thought that was a good opportunity since we were getting a new table just to remodel the whole thing and get it to look really nice. So, see how that I think
032or take a lot of pride in that. It looks nice, I think. Okay. Um the work county schools maintenance staff's in the process of removing the old goalpost and replacing with new goalpost at the football field. The new goalpost were purchased from Davis Athletics. Now since I took these pictures today, okay, this is at the far end here and this is at the other end closest to the school. You can see what what they're having to do is these are the new goalpost and they were heavier than what the old ones were. The old ones were aluminum. These are actually steel. Okay, so the gooseeneck and the part that goes across, Tim and him can testify to this. It weighs like 1,500 lb combined. So once they get that set up and they pour concrete,
033the reason they have scaffolding set up there, they tell you to leave it set for 2 or 3 days. And if you put something with hydraulics, it would drain off after two or three days. So once they get that established, we'll get concrete poured and it'll have to stay that way for two or three days to make sure it's stable and in place, level and all those such things. But u I checked today and they've already got the uh one down at the far end close to the I'm sorry, close to the uh bus garage. They've got that was the less difficult one because they were able to place it where the other one's at, not where the other one was at. The other one's going to take more work cuz it's a bigger pad.
034they're going to have to dig it out, pull it out the one closest to the school. So, um, something else we're looking at, and this is something small, but it's a safety thing, and we think it's a good idea. Once they get these goalposts up, I talked to Mr. Macau today about this. We're talking about putting netting behind both of the goalpost because, you know, for years we've had kids or whoever get up on the school and retrieve balls when they kick extra points and so on and so forth. if we get that get that netting, you wouldn't have that issue and you wouldn't have, you know, footballs going down here hitting the buses whenever they kick field goals and such. So, we thought that would be an added addition to that would make it
035look nice as well. So, okay. Anyone have any questions or concern? >> We'll have up to a week from Friday. >> Oh, yeah. I I don't know if you noticed, Brett, people have mentioned that once >> I think there's a middle school game maybe next week, isn't there? No, it's the week after I check. Yeah, but no, I know you're But yeah, they're also going to if you've noticed the fencing down here, they're coming here tomorrow >> maintenance and and I believe Tim, they're working on uh getting the goalpost up as much as they can to where they can pour the concrete. Alco a company supposed to come in and look at the fencing where they had to take the fence down to redo the field. That's the other thing that needs taken care of.
036They're coming in to give us an estimate tomorrow. So, >> and I'll say in that photo, look at that nice green grass. So, how are they going to be able to hold it up and down steady? >> That that's what the scaffling once they get it set and level. They're putting scaffling. That's what I was saying on each side. >> All said is it's enough to hold it up and >> so it won't move during that two or three day period. Correct. >> Yeah, that's a good question, Luke. Okay. >> Any other questions or concern? >> Running downhill this year. >> Yeah. Yeah. There's not going to be a six foot difference from one What? A hundred dump trucks of dirt to remedy that problem. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. And now with these goalpost, you
037won't be able to stand there and hold the crossbar like you could a couple weeks ago, but anyway. Okay. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Thanks. >> The buildings look nice. >> I've walked through all three of them and they look nice. >> Good. >> Thanks. Okay, we're down to recognitions, which we have none, but uh here shortly they should start picking up. We get kids back. Uh no delegations, so we're down to the agenda. Uh the first item is the approval of the minutes. Uh if it is okay with the board, I will take both u both uh actions at as one motion unless somebody wants to take them separate. Okay. Okay. So, need a motion approve the July 31st, 2025 special meeting minutes and the August 5th, 2025 regular meeting mo minutes.
038Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Any corrections, comments, or concerns about either set of mo minutes here? None. We have a motion to approve the minutes of the July 31st, 2025 special meeting and the August 5th, 2025 regular meeting. All in favor say I. >> I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Down to finance. Need a motion approve the payment of invoices in the amount of $173,883. >> So move. >> Mr. Macau. So, we have four runs of expenditures for your consideration this evening. The first on 872025 um totaling $10,000. That is our dental vision insurance premium. The next on 812 2025 totals $1,361.36. This is primarily PECARD travel and fuel expenses. Then the next on 8:15 2025 totaling $30,763 is primarily utilities. And then finally the biggest run has
039a bunch of different things in there on 8/19 2025. It totals $132,439.84 noteworthy in this we have $18,9721 for instructional supplies. We have CDW for $9,172.20 for netbooks. We have Davis Athletics, $11,865 for the aforementioned goalposts that we're putting in. And we have Power School and Schooly um technology subscriptions in the amount of $16,940. All of these expenditures total $173,883. Any questions on invoices? Hear none. We have a motion approve the payment of invoices amount of $17383. I messed that up, but you know what I mean. We have uh all in favor say I. I >> I post say nay. Eyes have it. Lost my way there for a second. Okay, we're down to budget supplements. Need a motion approved budget supplements in the amount of $63,259.25. >> So move. >> So the first in
040the amount of $65,000 is communities in school funds for War County Primary Center, Work County Middle School. And note the second supplement is in the negative $1,740.75. This is a decrease in our communities in school budget for the high school. Um and these two total $63,25925. Any questions here? None. We have a motion to approve the budget supplements in amount of $63,259.25. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Down to budget transfers. Need a motion approve budget transfers an amount of $82,77843. >> Mr. Mac. >> So when Mr. Mess went through the agenda, we have still not been able to find a high school math teacher. So that posting will go back out. But to give the students a live human being certified teacher, we have
041contracted with proximity learning again this year and that provides a certified teacher that is teaching live with the students each period. We still have a substitute in there proctoring that. But this is the contracted service to provide a virtual math teacher for all the algebra 1 and financial algebra courses um that that missing teacher would teach. Any questions here? None. We have a motion approved the budget transfers in the amount of $82,77843. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. 10 to routine business personnel matters. Resonations leave absence. Need a motion to approve the resation of Connie Boyce as Cook 3 War County Primary Center effective August 6th, 2025. >> So moved. >> M. >> So her letter is in your packet. If you recall, she was
042on medical leave, right? >> Um, last year and is tendered a letter of resignation. It is in your packet. >> Any questions? >> Hear none. We'll have a motion to approve the resignation of Connie Boyce as cook 3 at War County Primary Center effective August 6, 2025. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Need a motion to approve the resignation of Jamie Venoi, yearbook sponsor of War County Primary Center, effect of August 8th, 2025. >> So move. >> So I'm going to tell you when I saw um an email from Jamie Venoi that in the title line had resignation, I about stroked out a little bit to tell the truth. And then when I read it, it was um for um position of yearbook sponsor and
043I breathed a big sigh of relief. So um >> happy that she's resigning from that and not um her teaching position >> and my understanding is from her letter that there is somebody else that's in >> correct. Yes, her letter is in your packet and it does say such. >> Any questions? None. We have a motion to accept the resignation of Jamie Venoi as yearbook sponsor for War County Primary School effective August 8th, 2025. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Okay. One, two, and three will come back to us. So, we're down to number four. A motion to approve the employment as a substitute teacher Stephanie Hickman uh for the 2526 school year effect upon completion of her required paperwork. >> So move. >> So her
044application is in your packet. She does have a bachelor's degree and has completely has successfully completed the short-term substitute certification with WBDE. Her certification is in your packet also. >> Any questions? Hear none. We have a motion approve the employment of Stephanie Hickman as substitute teacher for 2526 school year effect upon completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. A motion approve the employment of Kelly White as substitute teacher for 2526 school year effective upon completion of her required paperwork. >> So move. >> M. So, Mrs. White is a fully certified teacher that just retired in Ohio and is wanting to sub in West Virginia. So, her um application information and her certification page um is in your packet. Any questions hearing?
045None. We have a motion to approve the employment of Kelly White as substitute teacher for 2526 school year effect upon completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Okay. And a motion approve the employment of Haley Sams, substitute teacher for 2526 school year effective upon completion of her required paperwork. >> So moved. >> Mr. Macau. >> So as you recall, it wasn't too many years ago that she graduated from War County High School. She has completed a bachelor's degree and um went through with that bachelor's degree and completed the short-term substitute certification um and is fully certified as a substitute teacher. So happy to bring her name back to you tonight. Any questions here? None. We have a motion approve the employment of
046Haley Sams, substitute teacher for 2526 school year effect upon completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I oppose saying nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Okay. We have a motion to approve the employment of Charles Roberts Jr. substitute bus operator for 2526 school year bend in background check and certification and effective upon completion of his required paperwork. >> So moved you get that >> Mr. Stewart. >> Okay. So his application is in your packet. um he and the next person on the agenda have come in to inquire about um being trained as a bus driver. Mr. Smith has been working with them and we're bringing them to you um pending the background check and completion of required paperwork and that they complete all training before we bring them back. Any questions?
047Hear none. We have a motion to approve the employment of Charles Roberts Jr. substitute bus operator for 2526 school year pending background check and certification effect upon completion of required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I oppose saying nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. And need a motion approve the employment of Shawn Martin, substitute bus operator for 2526 school year pending background check and certification effect upon completion of his required paperwork. >> So move Mish McKim. >> So, another War County High School graduate that I had in school years ago and got to see him. I hadn't seen him for several years, but he was in. So, happy to bring his name to you and hopefully get a couple other substitute bus drivers on the roster. >> Any questions? Hear none. We have a
048motion to approve Shawn Martin as substitute bus operator for 2526 school year pending background check and certification effect upon completion of his required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Number nine. Need a motion to approve the employment of Lauren Klene, assistant golf coach at War County High School, effective for 2526 school year and based upon the completion of her required paperwork. >> Miss Mac, >> so she has completed the SSAC coursework and her application for the form 39 with WBDE is pending. There's some kind of hiccup there. It said it wasn't notorized, but we pulled it and it is notorized. So, I'm going to have to call them tomorrow, but everything is in there and it's just pending um processing with WBDE. And if you
049recall, um Lauren is a graduate from two years ago. She was on the golf team and is willing to come back and help coach golf. So, glad to bring her name to you this evening. >> Any questions? Hear none. We have a motion approve the employment of Lauren Klein, assistant golf coach, War County High School, uh, effective uh, for the 2526 school year and based upon completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Uh, down to 10. I need a motion to approve the employment of Francis Eagle cheerle coach Work County Middle School effective for the 2526 school year uh based upon the completion of her required paperwork. >> So move >> so she has completed the SSAC certification and holds a short-term
050substitute um certification so does not need form 39. >> Any questions here? Hear none. We have a motion approve the employment of Francis Seagull as cheerleading coach for War County middle school effective for 2526 school year based upon the completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Need a motion to approve the employment of Janet Frasier as assistant volleyball coach War County middle school effective for 2526 school year based upon completion of her required paperwork. So move. >> So Janet also is certified and hired as a short-term substitute and so does not require form 39. >> Any questions hear? None. We have a motion approve the employment of Janet Frasier as assistant volleyball coach or county middle school effective for 2526 school year based upon completion of her
051required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Need a motion to approve the employment of Norah Kelly as cook three split day at War County Primary Center, War County Middle School, and War County High School effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. >> So move, >> Mr. Macau. So, as you recall, um, a board meeting or so ago, I asked at the bequest of Chris Malonus that you authorize a new position that is Cook half high school, half primary, middle. Um, we actually transferred in Rift transfer season last year, Nora, from the high school to the primary center. Well, Chris thought the high school might need some extra help. You authorized this and now Nora is the successful bidder on that position.
052And later in the agenda, you're abolishing a cook position. That is the vacant one um that's going to be vacated um from this. So, we're not adding an extra cook totally. We're you added this one, we're taking that one away and it's remaining equal to what the total number of cooks was. We're just going to have um instead of one full-time at the primary, that position that Norah bid on is the one you authorize splitting it between the high school and the primary middle. >> Any questions? >> Does that does that allow her to go to wherever the most need is? Well, I think it's got it's the way that it was posted >> has has them at each school during the busiest time that it's there um split between the day. >> Yeah, the
053post didn't have specific times. >> It did. It did have specific times. >> Any other questions? Hear none. We have a motion to approve Norah Kelly as cook three split day War County Primary Center, War County Middle School and War County High School effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. A motion approve the employment of Samantha Delaney bus a districtwide effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. So move Mount. >> So, she is the successful bidder for that candidate. As you recall, we needed an additional bus aid. You authorized it. We posted it. And now I'm bringing the success successful candidate back to you. >> Questions here? None. We have a motion
054to approve Samantha Delaney bus a districtwide effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. I. I oppose saying nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. And need a motion approve the employment of Christy Dye, athletic trainer for work middle school effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. >> So move. >> So as you recall last spring, Mrs. Dy resigned from this position. Her child is now at the high school and wants to spend time there with him. Um but um bless Mrs. D hard. She has seen that we have had that posted all year. We haven't had an applicant. We're likely not going to get an applicant. So she has bid on this and if there are portions of that that she not cannot
055complete, we're going to prorate that out. um portions of this position that she can't do because um she better to have it filled with somebody that can do part of it than it just be posted and remain completely vacant. So I do appreciate Mrs. Dye being willing to do that and to help us out with this position. >> Absolutely. Any questions here? None. We have a motion to approve the employment of Christy Dye, athletic trainer, War County middle school, effective for 2526 school year with completion of her required paperwork. All in favor say I. >> I oppose saying nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. We're down to our new business. Need a motion to approve War County Schools policy J-17, student use of cell phones and personal electronic devices during the school day. Do I
056have a motion? So move, >> Mr. Mac. >> Okay. So, as your agenda says, there were six comments on this. You put it up for comment the last time, and I have given you a handout of what all of those comments say. Um, the first it says, "Sounds like the start of a good policy. I agree that personal electronic devices need to be limited while in school." The next comment to quote my student, "This is the exact same policy that's in place now. It does nothing. It could only work if teachers and administrators take the time to follow the policy universally and unilaterally." And that is true. So, school individual schools have had their own um policy with dealing with cell phones, but the difference is that the state >> um legislature came in and
057mandated that that they follow the state policy and that county boards come up with a new policy that gets in provision with the state policy. Okay, next comment. Um I do not agree with this. I feel that my children should be able to communicate with me throughout the day if needed. My children are never disruptive in class with their phones. And so um I appreciate this comment and I will say that most kids have followed the rules with the phones with but when some have not um it's been problematic and this new state law and u county policy um is mandated by the state that we have to do that. Okay, the next comment, it's rather lengthy. I understand kids not having cell phones out during class time unless allowed by specific teacher or being
058used for an assignment, calculator, etc. I do not think they should be prohibited from use altogether. I mean, they use notebooks with emails, messengers, etc. Also, a lot of kids use their actual cell phone as a tool for schoolwork. For example, Spanish class, you have to take a photo of your assignment and email it to the teacher. There is going to be no way to do that without a phone. There are other classes that cell phones have been utilized. I or call my child while at school unless absolutely necessary. However, there are times that is needed. The office will be bombarded with unnecessary calls, unnecessarily unnecessary discipline because we all know kids will still have their phones. I feel like disciplinary actions and attention could be used elsewhere versus policing cell phone usage if this
059change goes through. I feel this should be for teachers and personnel as well and we should go back to using textbooks and not netbooks. And then the final comment well I guess there's two more. The next comment, students shouldn't need their device. They can use school tech policy should also restrict the use of school bus because of harassment and bullying. So um there are some amendments that I've highlighted in yellow um to the policy pertaining to some of these comments and this is one of them that that we have added. And then finally does this like Also, I think the policy also does address that and there is an additional section in yellow um that speaks to that. So, if you will look to the last handout that I provided you tonight is the policy
060and I've got some highlighting here. Um I did speak to some bus drivers about this policy and they felt the need that we defined the school day is including their time on the bus. So the first area area that I have added or changed would be striking the previous definition of the school day adding in the highlighted um where it's going to include the time that they're on the bus the period of time when the student gets on the school bus to come to school in the morning until the time the student gets off the bus at home in the afternoon. Okay. If you look at letter B on listed things that this is going to include. I did not know that there was such a thing as smart AI prescription glasses. Apparently, this is
061a thing. And so, we I'm including that. I guess we have a student at the high school that has um Rayban Meta AI prescription glasses. So, I hope they're more careful with their glasses than I was as a kid because I don't figure those are cheap. But we have added smart glasses in there in the list of devices. And then finally, if you will look at the last page of the policy um to address teacher usage, um we agree that staff members don't need to be on their phone in the school day doing personal things and social media of that. But Mrs. Smith pointed out and the other principles as well that sometimes um teacher cell phones are used to communicate out information and for instance miss Mrs. Smith specifically said if a group of
062kids are in the auditorium, there's no PA system in the auditorium. So the only way to contact that teacher is by text. So the the highlighted edition says that while we recognize teachers are employees with different freedoms, teachers should not have personal communication devices out while students are in their class. And the highlighted section added says unless it's for school related business. So those I tried to take the comments into consideration to make changes already here. So I'm happy if the board wants to approve this or if the board wants to put it out with these changes for an additional comment. Happy to do whatever the will of the board is. >> I would like to say just to well first off Mr. account. Where did we uh pretty well model our policy off of?
063>> So, the state had a general provision with the policy, but we had a group of teachers and administrators together over the summer, and we modeled our policy closely off of what Canal County's policy was and Wood County Schools policy. kind of a uh it mirrors both of both of their policies, >> which I'm assuming all those stem from the state >> the same state policy. Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah, you can there's things in here that are more restrictive than the state policy, but or more I don't know if they're more restrictive. They're more descriptive. Well, and at the end of the day, I mean, you know, some of the concerns were safety. Um, I would want the adult in the room to have a phone versus the child in the room having a
064phone. I think those are two drastically different things. So, >> yes, they are. >> I honestly thought there would be a lot more comments. I've got a question and uh just inform me of I can't remember how did how are we supposed to do with kids that have cell phones or these devices? Are they to leave them in their vehicle or they property? >> The policy goes into that a little bit. So it either needs to be in their locker um silenced or in their backpack silenced. So, um, they can't have it out and even if they have it in their backpack and the thing is going off, the teach they're going to be in trouble for that. So, it needs to be silenced and put away out of sight. And I I will say
065to address the one comment there, there is a provision in there that if a teacher is doing some sort of project that could potentially use the cell phone for an instructional purpose, legitimate, the teacher has got to run that through the building administration and get that approved in writing before they do that. But there is a provision in this policy if if a teacher has a legitimate classroom use for that phone for an instructional purpose for the teacher to request uh that be approved by the building administrator and then the building administrator would appro approve it or deny it. >> Mr. Macau, I I uh I think under where you put down where under responsibilities be teachers. I I believe that probably should state school personnel. >> Okay. >> Somehow because we have aids and
066I I know our bus drivers already. >> What page? >> It's where you put the extra little piece in. >> Okay. Yep. I can amend that. >> Um because we do have aids in the classroom. We do. I mean, if I went strictly by the policy, if I was an aid, a custodian, secretary, uh a cook, >> that is a very I'm not under that. You would have to >> I'm going to change that to school staff. >> School staff and bus drivers are already there because they have state law already says that they can't have the cell phone out while they're driving and stuff. So, they're they're already covered, but I think we need probably make that a little bit broader. >> Well, and I'm glad we extended that to the day starting when
067they get on the bus as well. >> Yeah. I would like to see a meter about after school's over our cell service if it peaks in the county when school's over. Okay. If >> the graph >> Yeah. How many how many calls go out after school's over? No. >> Any other questions, comments? So the question is for us, we do not have to put this back out. We're not through our policy. it it is a choice of the board uh with these changes. So, uh you know, I'm open to suggestions on that. I I think that um what was been put in here, the only real major change is the is about the uh school bus and I'm not sure it'll garner any comments or whatever, but whatever you guys think. I'm fine with passing
068it tonight personally, but I'm open. Tell me what y'all think >> on changing >> tonight. >> Okay. >> On lengthening the day to the school bus. Has do we talk to the the bus drivers about that? >> That that was one parent comments. >> That was one of the parent comments, but bus drivers have made similar comments to me that they would like to see that included. And I'm sure we'll be coming back because next they'll we'll be implanting something in our in our eyeballs or something to get on to >> I sure hope >> I'm not being that facitious. Okay. >> Oh, sure. I mean, it's already >> we'll probably be coming back and realigning what we mean, but Okay. So, let's go ahead if it's okay. If nobody has a big uh concern
069about it, let's go ahead. We have a motion on the table to approve. >> Um, so let's move forward with that. Any other questions? >> Yeah. So, so just to be clear, the school day and this policy with them not being on their devices when they get on the bus, they can no longer be on their phones texting, doing whatever. uh and then they cannot and while they're on their bus ride home, they can also not be on >> there's crisis. >> Well, and I can think of numerous situations where kids have gotten into mischief andor trouble on the bus. >> Oh, it eliminates that whole problem >> because somebody was video something or texting something and Mr. Smith is here.