The most recent meeting of the Braxton County Board of Education was conducted on July 16 with all board members present except Kevin Gregory.
Superintendent Dr. Donna Burge-Tetrick updated the board on the HVAC project at the high school. The removal of old units and replacement with new ones is going well. The projected completion date is August 1 and will provide time for staff to prep school for the new school year.
She also recognized Kelly Pritt, secretary for BCMS, on the recent announcement of her being one of the top five finalists for Service Personnel of the Year at the state level. All of the board members congratulated Pritt on this special recognition.
Under regular business, the board approved the following consent agenda items on a motion by Lisa Ratliff: meeting minutes for the June 18 regular meeting, the June 27 work session and special meeting, and the July 1 organizational meeting; payment of bills; and budget transfers and supplements.
On a motion by Dr. Kenna Seal, the following personnel recommendations were approved: employment of Leigh Meadows, Head Start/Preschool Coordinator, itinerant, Andrew Wood, Teaching Principal, Alternative Learning Center, Shane Moats, fifth grade teacher, Burnsville, Steve Smith, permanent substitute, BCHS AEP, Chloe Walker, pre-k special needs teacher, Burnsville, Carol Young, itinerant special education teacher, ALC, Britany Conley, fourth grade teacher, Flatwoods, Tabitha Statts, LPN/supervisory/transportation/instruction aide, itinerant, and Timber Thebes, executive secretary, BCS central office; and resignation of Christian Dille, summer mower.
The board approved several items on separate motions. Those included were permission to pay bills before any board meeting that may become delinquent prior to board meeting for the SY 2024-2025; agreement with Kimberly Belletto to provide Certified List of Personnel Training; professional development on Cultural/Relationships in Learning with Larry Bell Multicultural America, Inc. in the amount of $6800 to be paid out of federal funds; contract with Star Weld for SY 2024-2025; and agreements with David McClure with Education Consulting Team, LLC for assistance of financial support services and financial mentoring services for FY 2024-2025.
Also approved on separate motions were the second readings for Revised Policy 3630-Vacation Days and Revised Policy 3000-Job Descriptions. Neither policy had received comments.
The third and final reading of Policy 4111-Kindergarten Early Admittance was approved on a motion by Dr. Kenna Seal. Superintendent Dr. Burge-Tetrick noted there had been no comments on this policy as well and the only changes were to remove specific names in the policy.
The meeting ended with a discussion on the athletic building at the high school.
Board member Larry Hardway asked the superintendent for an update. She stated she was working on getting final sketches that shows the placement of doors and windows to be sent to the building designer by the end of next week in order to get the final blueprints. Once that is completed demo will begin and then quotes will need to be gathered for the concrete floor. Superintendent Dr. Burge-Tetrick stated she was trying to be very economical in the process.
Hardway also asked about having the layout of locker rooms so that the football teams would not cross each other coming on and off of the field. This would be so the Eagles football team could be moved back to the bleacher side of the field.
Dr. Seal also mentioned that Braxton County Middle School student Xander Dennison placed in the top 10 at a recent national middle school FBLA competition.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:37 pm. The next regular meeting is scheduled for August 6 at 6:00 pm. As always, members of the Braxton County community are encouraged to attend regular board meetings. Any parent or concerned community member 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.