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Wood County BOE hears updates, names candidates for library board

By Douglass Huxley 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Board of Education heard multiple presentations and updates as the start of the new school year gets closer.

The board also announced the candidates they intend to interview for a position on the Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library Board of Trustees.

The board of education narrowed down the 15 total applicants for the position to six: Sonya Ashby, Chad Conley, Richard Hayhurst, Mary Beth Held, Amy Stroble and Meryl Williams Clark. The board will begin the interview process at 4:10 p.m. on Aug. 16.

Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Leadership Justin Hartshorn spoke to the board about the upcoming schedule for open houses at area schools.

"I encourage everyone to take advantage of open house," Hartshorn said. "Get familiar with the building, work out early transportation issues for elementary students, and meet your friends. It's just a really good, fun way to start your school year off."

Hartshorn said open houses for all schools will take place on Aug. 21. They will have a staggered start with the elementary schools going from 4-6 p.m., and high school open house activities starting at 4:45 p.m. and ending at 6:45.

Hartshorn said the first day of school for students will be Aug. 23 and preschool will begin Aug. 28. Board President Justin Raber asked if he would be able to find the orientation date for all incoming high school freshmen as he has personally received a lot of questions about that.

Beverly Shelton and Suzy Howell, coordinators for the Parent Education Resource Center (PERC), along with Holy Yoke, school psychologist and specialist for PERC, talked to the board about the PERC program and the benefit it has to students.

"We work under the umbrella of special education, but we work with all students and all parents," Shelton said. "Educators and parents working together is what makes our students successful in our schools."

Shelton said Wood County's center was the first developed in the state of West Virginia back in 1984. At one point, there were around 33 centers but that is now down to 16.

Shelton said they made 636 "house calls" last year, meeting with students and parents even if they didn't take place in a home. She said they also do a program called Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (S.T.E.P.) that directly provides services to parents and/or caregivers.

She said it was a seven-week course that meets once a week for an hour. If a student completes five of the seven courses they will get a certificate of completion.

"Most of them complete them all," Shelton said.

Board member Judy Johnson said this program brought all of the pieces together for a student to be successful.

"That it does take, the parents with the teacher, with the programs, to make the child supported throughout the school year," Johnson said. "I just want to thank you so much, and we're glad you're there."

Kaleb Lawrence, assistant superintendent of operations spoke to the board about new employee training for service personnel.

"The goal behind this is to equip them with the skills, and the knowledge, and the confidence to do the job, and do the job well," Lawrence said.

He said the orientation will take place over a three-day period. On the first day, service personnel will receive their badges, get all their paperwork done and get set up with the safe schools program. He said the second day will consist of them splitting off with their individual groups to learn more and the last day will be a job shadow of their position.

"We really think that will be beneficial," Lawrence said. "Just to be successful and good employees for Wood County Schools."

The board also recognized teachers and administrations as Impactful Educators for sharing their knowledge with their peers and being presenters at the Teaching and Learning Academy.

The board will have a special meeting at 4 p.m. Aug. 16.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

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Consent agenda approvals:

* Payment application #4 to Phoenix Associates, Inc., in the amount of $100,997.70 for the Refrigeration Warehouse Repairs

* Pay application #7 to Casto Technical Services, Inc., for PHS Fieldhouse HVAC in the amount of $40,320.00

* Payment application #8 to Casto Technical Services., Inc., in the amount of $161,870.00 for the PHS Fieldhouse HVAC Renovations

* Pay application #9 to Murray Sheet Metal for the amount of $339,265.40 for Jefferson Elementary HVAC renovations

* Casto Preventative Maintenance Agreement for one year for preferred maintenance services to inspect, maintain, and repair equipment at Blennerhassett Elementary and Blennerhassett Middle School in the amount of $4,884.00, at Mineral Wells in the amount of $3,612.00, at Martin Elementary in the amount of $1,258.00, and at Parkersburg High School in the amount of $2,424.00 for a total amount of $12,178.00

* Memorandum of Understanding between West Virginia Schools of Diversion and Transition Programs (WVSDT) and Wood County Schools including provision of Wood County Schools' substitute coverage of funds up to $2,500.00

* Contractual agreement between Sorenson Communications, LLC., and Wood County Schools for the purpose of placing licensed interpreters in Wood County Schools from August of 2023, to June of 2024, at the rate of $90.00 an hour for each onsite interpreter and a fee of $187.50 per interpreter dispatched to any onsite location

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Teaching & Learning Academy 2023 – Wood County Schools Presenters

Gregory Merritt

Sarah Robinson

Cherish George

Sara Klesel

Jody Hamilton

Lisa Buckley

Stephen Freshour

Kezia Parsons

Kristen Allodi

Douglas Parks

Lisa Smith

Kent Berry

James Stewart

Eric Murphy

Jessica Espinosa

Jennifer Miller-Busch

Holly Yoke

Allison McMurray

Jessica Linville

Ashlee Beatty

Danielle Taylor

Tammy McKnight

Maria Francisco

Abbie Burge

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Teaching & Learning Volunteer

Shawn Shockey

Starting at /week.