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Wood County Board of Education hears updates at Martin Elementary

By Douglass Huxley 4 min read

PARKERSBURG -- "Greetings, and welcome to Martin Elementary," Martin Elementary Principal Tom Wheeler said Tuesday night as the Wood County Board of Education held its regular meeting at the school.

Wheeler spoke to the board about how a year ago he stood in front of them and said he needed more teachers and interventionists to help with special education.

"All of you at the central office certainly put your money where your mouths were," Wheeler told the board. "You didn't just hear our plea, you acted and came through."

Wheeler said an additional teacher was hired not long after that initial plea and they started using an "inclusion push-in model" of teaching.

"Our special education students were exposed to grade level content in the same classroom with their peers," Wheeler said. "We began to effect real change."

Wheeler said towards the end of the school year Federal Programs Director Tammy McKnight told him to take some of the CSI money given to the school and hire an additional Math intervention teacher. He said that happened over the summer.

"I'm deeply grateful for what you did for us both last year and this year," Wheeler said. "And now I would like to publicly thank you for all that you've done."

Wheeler said because of the changes made over the last four months of the 2022-2023 school year GSA scores showed improvements in English, language arts and math.

"Seventy-five percent of our students met typical growth in the year and 54% made stretch growth," Wheeler said.

Wheeler said they continue to work to improve the culture and climate at the school as well as a teen teaching program they implemented with West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

Board President Justin Raber praised Wheeler for the work the school is doing.

"The blood, sweat and tears you're putting in, and your staff is putting in to the students, is truly showing," Raber said.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation and Wood County Schools was also reached Tuesday night.

Richard Bush, President of Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation, said as they start to put a capstone on some of the projects at the sports facility they are working with Parkersburg South High School Principal Betsy Patterson as they turn things over to the school.

"We've had a little bit of negotiation going on as to how we're going to gracefully exit from the position we've been in for 32 years," Bush said. "Those negotiations have resulted in the document you have in front of you tonight."

Patterson handed out life-time passes to South events to some members of the community for their work over the years at the sports facility.

Ashlee Beatty, director of curriculum and instruction, asked the board to use some ESSER funds for SAT Prep at all of the high schools and tutors for grades 3-8.

"We met with the high school principals and they were so receptive and wonderful," Beatty said.

She said there would be two SAT Prep positions at each high school and that this will take place from January through April.

Beatty said the free tutoring would be offered for grades 3-8 and take place at community based centers. She said this would take place from January through May.

The board approved the extra duty positions during the consent agenda and many asked that Beatty keep track of the cost so that they could find funding to continue this the next school year.

"That's money well spent," board member Ron Tice said. "That's all there is to it."

The next meeting of the Wood County Board of Education will be Dec. 19 at Kanawha Elementary. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

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Items approved during the consent agenda:

* Memorandum of Understanding between WVU-P and WCS

* Up to six extra duty SAT Prep positions with an hourly stipend of $27 per hour through April 30, 2024

* Up to nine extra duty positions for Tutoring at Community Sites with an hourly stipend of $27 per hour through May 30, 2024

* Up to one extra duty position for a Data Monitor of Tutoring at Community Sites with an hourly stipend of $27 per hour through May 30, 2024

* Memorandum of Understanding between Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation and Wood County Schools.

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