Parkersburg High School Stadium Committee President Pat McFarland presented the Wood County Board of Education with a donation for a new scoreboard for Parkersburg High School’s Stadium Field during Tuesday’s board meeting. McFarland said the new scoreboard would be state-of-the-art and could be used by other extracurricular activities. Pictured, from left, are McFarland, Superintendent Christie Willis, Stadium Committee board member Tim Kaufman and PHS Principal Jason Potts. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG – The Wood County Board of Education voted Tuesday night to award asbestos abatement and demolition contracts for the VanDevender Middle School building.

Justice Business Services LLC was awarded the abatement contract, while Jimmie Harper Construction Inc. received the demolition contract. The amounts were not immediately available.

Assistant Superintendent of Operations Kaleb Lawrence said that, barring any setbacks, the abatement process would take a couple months to complete and VanDevender would likely be demolished sometime in late October. He said Jimmie Harper Construction would be ready for demolition the same day the abatement ends.

Parkersburg High School Stadium Committee President Pat McFarland announced the committee is in the process of installing a new scoreboard for Stadium Field

“We’re in the process of replacing the old scoreboard at Stadium Field and replacing it with a state-of-the-art digital display scoreboard,” McFarland said. “It’s more than just for the sporting events.”

The board also heard from PHS Principal Jason Potts and Parkersburg South Principal Maria Francisco about High School After School. Both said the program is having a positive impact on students who face a variety of challenges getting their work done during the normal academic day.

“Our goal in this program is to provide intervention, and that intervention piece is very important to help students graduate,” Potts said.

Heather Grant, director of elementary education, and Justin Hartshorn, assistant superintendent of academics and leadership, talked to the board about electronic device restrictions for the district.

“We want to set our students up to be successful when they go to college, when they go to trade school or when they go to a job. We want to get them in the habit that you can check your phone before, at lunch, and after,”Grant said. “So we thought, why not try to start setting them up with those habits now?”

The proposed policy will be up for comment for the public to view on the district’s website.

Look for more from Tuesday’s meeting in the Thursday edition of the News and Sentinel.