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Wood BOE meets Wednesday in early session

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education meets Wednesday to hold an employee hearing and purchase the Fenton Art Glass property in Williamstown.

The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. with an employee hearing at the 13th and Plum Street offices in Parkersburg and is open to the public. The school board moved the meeting to Wednesday after realizing the regular Tuesday meeting would conflict with Parkersburg High School’s graduation ceremony.

The board will hold a hearing for Chris Rusher, a business teacher at Parkersburg South High School whose probationary contract was not renewed for the 2017-18 school year due to a reduction in positions at the school.

The board also will hold several recognitions and presentations and discuss revisions to the recently approved 2017-18 school calendar. Those revisions will be up for approval later in the meeting.

The board will receive information on property purchases in relation to the district’s $41 million facilities bond which was approved by Wood County voters in November.

The bond will be used to build a new Williamstown-Waverly Elementary School in Williamstown, expand Williamstown High School, expand the Wood County Technical Center in south Parkersburg, and complete roof replacements throughout the district.

The Fenton Art Glass plant and surrounding property in Williamstown has been selected as the location of the new elementary school.

The board Wednesday will be asked to approve a Phase 1 purchase agreement for the Fenton Art Glass property at a cost of $1.25 million with a $100 deposit. The board also will be asked to approve a purchase agreement for the adjacent parking lot owned by the Fenton Gift Shop at a cost of $188,000, also with a $100 deposit.

In other business, the board will be asked to approve Jeffrey Hardman, curriculum and instruction assistant principal at VanDevender Middle School, as the new principal of Lubeck Elementary School. The 261-day contract would be effective July 1.

The board also will consider hiring Curtis Garretson as assistant principal at Parkersburg South High School, also effective July 1.

The board Wednesday also will consider the suspension of two employees, one for three days and another for 30 days, both without pay. The names of the employees were not included with the agenda.

The board also will be asked to expel an unnamed student for 365 days for violating the West Virginia Safe Schools Act.

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