Wood County BOE bids farewell to Hendershot
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PARKERSBURG -- Hugs, laughs and tears were shared Wednesday night as the Wood County Board of Education met in special session in the Jefferson Elementary Center auditorium to accept the resignation of board member Debbie Hendershot and to discuss the process for selecting an interim member to fill her seat.
"It is with a heavy heart that I am asking you to accept my resignation," Hendershot said with her voice breaking. "I have been proud to serve as a member of this Wood County Board of Education since 2018."
Hendershot was elected to the board to serve her first four-year term in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
She said she has enjoyed working with the students, parents, educators and service personnel while being a member of the board and that she will greatly miss those interactions.
"But it has been a lifelong dream to be a Wood County Magistrate where the people's court matters," Hendershot said. "Thanks for everyone's support over the years and I hope to have your support as I move forward."
West Virginia Code 18-5-1a states a member of the county board cannot "become a candidate for or hold any other public office, other than to succeed him or herself as a member of a county board." Hendershot applied to run for Wood County Magistrate Division 5 on Jan. 27.
Board President Justin Raber said they now have 45 days to appoint an interim member to fill Hendershot's chair or the State Superintendent will do it for them.
"I think the process we developed for the library board appointee, I think that sets out some excellent groundwork for us," Raber said. "To accept applications, resumes, cover letters, for us to hold interviews and then move forward with an appointment."
Board member Ron Tice said that was an excellent idea and the more transparent the board can be, the better off they'll be for it.
Eric Murphy, technology integration specialist, told the board the application process will be posted to the district's website. He said there will be general questions but that it will ask what district the applicant was from.
"You'll have to make a choice, are you from District A, are you from District C, you must be from those districts," Murphy said.
He said each board member will be notified as soon as an applicant submits their application.
Raber said applications will be accepted from Feb. 1-12 and that the applicants will be named at the Feb. 13 regular meeting. The board elected to begin interviews on Feb. 24 with the new member being announced and sworn in at the Feb. 27 regular meeting.
Raber said applicants will have 20 minutes and will be interviewed in alphabetical order. He said each would be notified of the time of their interview.
Tice suggested the board get together before the interviews begin to go over the questions that will be asked. He said this will make sure they're not asking duplicate questions and that each candidate gets the same questions.
The next regular meeting of the Wood County Board of Education is scheduled for Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. and will be held in the Jefferson Elementary Center auditorium. The meeting is open to the public and will be streamed online.
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com