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Wood County Board of Education to meet Tuesday

Construction, continuing levy on agenda

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education will meet in regular session Tuesday to receive updates on construction projects, the district’s continuing levy and preparations for the start of the new school year.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the district’s central office at 13th and Plum streets in Parkersburg. The meeting is open to the public, though those wishing to address the board must fill out and submit a comment card prior to the start of the meeting.

Superintendent Will Hosaflook said the main purpose of Tuesday’s meeting will be to approve personnel changes and conduct regular business, with the school year slated to begin Wednesday. Assistant Superintendent Mike Fling, who oversees facilities for Wood County Schools, is scheduled to give an update on summer construction projects.

Hosaflook said he and board President Rick Olcott recently sat down with representatives from Swope Construction, which is the contractor handling the site preparation and construction of the new Williamstown-area elementary school. The school will be located at the former site of the Fenton Art Glass factory in Williamstown.

Officials recently discovered a batch of unfired cullet — glass fragments mixed with powdered metals — underneath a parking lot where one corner of the new school will sit. The board voted to have all of the contaminated soil in that area removed.

“We all sat down and Swope was just as honest as they could be,” Hosaflook said Friday. “They told us what was going on, what they would be doing next. It was good to see the progress.”

Hosaflook said he and Olcott will give more information on that meeting at Tuesday’s board session.

Hosaflook said the board also will vote on the district’s continuing levy, which will be brought to voters for renewal in November.

Officials say the five-year, $18.3 million levy will be voted on Nov. 6 and would be implemented at the start of the fiscal year July 1, 2019, with no new taxes. The levy funds a variety of technology and safety items as well as positions such as school nurses, reading and mathematics resource teachers.

The levy also funds some WVU Extension programs and enrichment programs, as well as some funding for Wood County and Vienna public libraries.

The approved ballot language must be submitted to Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes for ballot preparation Aug. 24.

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