The Braxton County Board of Education conducted their most recent meeting on March 12. Board President Evelyn Post opened the meeting with a moment of silence in memory of Burnsville Elementary Physical Education teacher Kelly Wagoner who recently passed away.
BCHS Principal Lori Stover-Williams was the first to speak to the board. She thanked everyone involved with the new gym project including board members, CTE instructors and students, Mid State Automotive, Braxton County Rotary, and an anonymous donor. The ribbon cutting will be at 1:00 pm on Sunday, March 17 followed by alumni games to welcome the public to the new facility. Students will have their first pep rally before sending off the Eagles Basketball team to the state tournament on March 14.
Barbara Adams, Chairperson for Braxton County Emergency Services, and Melissa Marshall, Executive Assistant at BCMH-WVU Medicine, presented checks to BCHS Head Football Coach Deandre Williams to purchase new helmets for the team. He informed board members he had reached out to various organizations for support in the purchasing. Other organizations that donated to the helmets were Mike Shaffer with the National Wild Turkey Federation, Peoples Bank, and Go-Mart. The costs for helmets are $12,864.95 and he has raised $12,170. He thanked everyone who continues to support the student athletes.
Superintendent Dr. Donna Burge-Tetrick spoke about how excited she was with all of the work going on at the high school. Not only the new gym, but the new student-run café, and updates to the athletic building and football field.
Finance Director Ginger Altizer briefly reviewed the yearly audit completed by Hess, Stewart & Campbell, PLLC for FY23. She noted they did not find any findings of issue and no material weaknesses. The board approved the financial audit on a motion by Kevin Gregory. Dr. Kenna Seal thanked Director Altizer for her work and dedication to Braxton County Schools.
In regular action, the following consent agenda items were approved on a motion made by Kevin Gregory: minutes of the February 27 regular meeting; budget transfers and supplements; and payment of bills.
On action led by Lisa Ratliff, the board approved the following personnel recommendations: resignations for Quincy Potasnik, substitute teacher, Ginger Altizer, Treasurer/Director of Finance, with last working day March 15 and with permission to continue to pay her on a part-time basis at her current salary, prorated for actual hours worked, for financial services until the hiring of her replacement, Lisa Legg, secretary II/accountant II, and Gregory Tennant, substitute custodian; employment of 2024 summer credit recovery teachers, BCHS-Sharon Desper, Susan Kearns, Jami Hefner, 2024 summer elementary teachers-Kelly Houghton, Lindsay Harman, Abigail Long, Faith Harper, Lindsey Morris, Jessica Rose, Jessica Smarr, Forrest Taylor, Carol Young, Laura Allen, Sue Ann White, Dawn James, Kathryn Singleton, Melissa Keener, Jennifer Berry, Carmen Skiles, Heather Arnold, Zachary Cyriacks, Kelsie Tonkin, 2024 summer middle school teachers-Tina Knight, Alice Smith, Jennifer Johnson, summer itinerant elementary enrichment teachers-Ethan Backus, Shawn Crow, Clifton Long, summer middle school enrichment teachers-Anita Lambert and Robert Lloyd, PT 2024 summer learning coordinator, Flora Knight-Cox, 2024 summer learning feeding program coordinator-Angela Snyder, 2024 summer learning cooks-Tamara Miller, Jessica Huffman, Lisa Chenoweth, Donna Morris, Lisa Allen, Cassandra Rose, 2024 summer learning bus operators-Lawrence Shaver, Gregory Mosely, Bonnie Gendreau, Mary Rose, Billy Rose, Iris Fowler, Jeffery Skidmore, Robert Mitchell, Veronica Frame, Steve Brown, Leanna Blankenship, substitute teachers-Kayla Montgomery and Schannon Dennison, Tiffany McCumbers, special education supervisory/instructional/transportation aide, itinerant, Flatwoods, Rebecca Hamrick, special education supervisory/instructional/transportation aide, itinerant, Sutton, Fletcher Kinder, assistant baseball coach, BCMS, Charles “Billy” McDonald, assistant track coach, BCHS, Jacob Wolfe, $1 baseball coach, BCHS; unpaid time off for Angela Snyder retroactive beginning March 1 through March 17; and permission to post and hire assistant track coach, BCMS.
Several more agenda items were approved on separate motions: approval of MOU to procure financial services with Mountain State Education Services Cooperative; permission to post for high school summer school enrichment positions; approval for BCHS HOSA and BCMS Student Council to travel to Kennywood in May; approval of Christina Bailey and Corrine Lynch to travel to Virginia for student matters on March 13; and appointing Melissa Adkins as interim Treasurer until replacement can be hired, effective March 16.
Board members ended the meeting discussing activities going on in the county and with the schools including, BCHS Eagles basketball traveling to Charleston for the state tournament, Math night at Frametown, City National Bank’s Easter Giveaway, the Irish Spring Festival, and the Grandfamilies program, among others.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 pm. The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 26 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.
