The Braxton County Board of Education held their most recent meeting February 27. The meeting was called to order and led by Board Vice President Kevin Gregory. Board President Evelyn Post was available by phone.
The first to speak was Braxton County Middle School Principal Amy Perkins with an update on the school. She discussed the strategic plans, decrease in behavior referrals, increase in proficiency in math and ELA, and decrease in chronic absenteeism.
Superintendent Dr. Donna Burge-Tetrick updated board members on the work at the high school gym. The new bleachers and video wall are going in now. A ribbon cutting ceremony and alumni basketball games will take place March 17 to mark the opening of the new gym. Then on March 23, the Braxton County Rotary will host their annual elimination dinner there.
She discussed a recent positive meeting with administration of Pierpont. Dr. Burge-Tetrick noted once the agreement has been completed she will bring it back to the board. In the agreement, the high school will get access to the facilities. Tentative plans include moving the health program and dual credit classes into that area. With the added space, she is also looking to add cosmetology to the CTE program in the near future. The lack of a proper maintenance agreement was also discussed. She stated that would be part of the agreement with Pierpont for the school system to maintain the facilities once it has usage.
Chris Campbell with ZMM Architects gave another updated on the HVAC replacement at the high school. Currently, Phase 1 and Phase 2 have been approved by the board. He was requesting the approval of a change order to include Phase 3 and Phase 4. The new areas include the administrative area, the second and third floor of the Pierpont area, and heating and ventilation of the remainder of “B” area and the welding. The funds are available as the bids came in way under budget and the additions remain in the scope of the original funding requests. He noted some structural reinforcements may need to take place and the replacement of some ductwork on the roof. Once these units are added, all roof top units will be replaced by the end of the project. The change order for Phase 3 and Phase 4 was approved on a motion by Evelyn Post.
In regular action, the board approved the following consent agenda items on a motion by Evelyn Post: minutes of the February 6 regular meeting; budget transfers and supplements; treasurer’s report; and payment of bills.
The following personnel recommendations were approved on a motion by Lisa Ratliff: resignations of Linda Sears, Director of Teaching and Learning, effective September 30, due to retirement and Drew Taylor, boys basketball coach, BCMS; and employment of Jeff Skidmore, substitute bus operator, Lisa Legg, secretary II/accountant II, BCHS; substitute secretary/accountants-Lisa Legg, Holly Withrow, Heather Johnson, Timber Thebes, Josh Ward, $1 baseball coach, BCHS, Kenneth Young, $1 wrestling coach, BCHS, Kassidy Dobbins, $1 softball coach, BCHS, and Billy McDonald, $1 track coach, BCHS.
Several other items approved by board members on separate motions were the MOU with SESC to hire a Curriculum Assessment Specialist; posting for summer school positions including elementary teachers, middle school teachers, high school teachers for credit recovery, elementary enrichment teachers, middle school enrichment teacher-one position, school cooks and custodians, summer food service coordinator-one position, summer bus operators, summer school assistant coordinator, and one school nurse to check meds and med orders prior to the start of summer learning; posting for one PE/Health PLC facilitator; posting for one assistant track coach, BCHS; approval for Melissa Adkins to attend the National Institute on Legal Issues of Special Education Conference in Savannah, GA, May 5-8; and approval to reschedule the March 5 meeting to March 12 and the March 19 meeting to March 26.
The meeting ended with board members discussing recent and upcoming events.
Lisa Ratliff reminded everyone of the Grandfamilies meeting that is held every Thursday from 12pm to 2pm at the board office. She also mentioned the Mountain Cap Family Support Center that opened in Gassaway.
Larry Hardway stated how important the Grandfamilies program was to the community and will come to meetings to support it.
Dr. Kenna Seal noted the Head Start Policy Council recently held a meeting and are working on ways to increase enrollment.
Kevin Gregory recognized the Knights Basketball team on their hard fought game against Webster.
Evelyn Post also congratulation the Knights on their highly successful season and thanked Principal Amy Perkins for her update on BCMS.
Financial Director Ginger Altizer noted that Linda Sears wanted to make sure the board was invited to the upcoming “Clay2Go” program March 11-15, 10am to 2pm at Days Inn. The elementary schools and middle school will be coming up on different days to participate in the mobile discovery museum presented by the Clay Center.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 pm. The next meeting will be March 12 at 6:00 pm. As always, members of the Braxton County community are encouraged to attend regular board meetings. Anyone wishing to speak as a delegate or with public concerns may do so by signing in up to 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
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