From left, Tim Bauman, dean of Summit Success Academy alongside Kathy Frederick, Summit Success Academy counselor and teacher, give updates on the school during Tuesday evening's Wood County Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education approved a $123,012 change order Tuesday for the Parkersburg South High School ball field project after receiving a $30,000 conditional donation from the Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation.

Rick Bush, president of the corporation, told the board the baseball and softball fields have AstroTurf infields and dirt outfields, with plans for grass outfields. He said irrigation was not included after the original project was cut back to match available funds.

“In any event, I am here with a conditional donation of $30,000, a check payable to Wood County Board of Education, on the condition that you pass the change order,” Bush said.

The board moved the item up on the agenda and approved the change order, which includes outfield irrigation systems, electrical conduit boxes and curb remediation. Bush said the project has been an effort by the Erickson All-Sports group and the school community.

“I don’t know if you’ve all been out there or not, but it is gorgeous,” Bush said. “It is going to be a great place.”

Kanawha Elementary School Principal Stephanie Agee discusses the comprehensive support and improvement identification of the school and progress it has made over the past year during Tuesday evening's Wood County Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

The board also heard a progress report from Kanawha Elementary School Principal Stephanie Agee and members of the school’s Local School Improvement Council. Kanawha Elementary is a Comprehensive Support and Improvement school, and Agee said the school was identified again because of its special education subgroup.

Agee said the subgroup improved in reading from 43% proficient in 2022 to 46% in 2025, but math dropped from 49% to 44%. She said that resulted in a 1% decrease overall, keeping the school in comprehensive support.

“We just barely squeaked on the comprehensive school support,” Agee said.

Agee said a state Department of Education team visited the school in February and reviewed leadership, instruction, progress monitoring and support systems. She said the team noted strengths in school leadership, use of CSI funds, intervention work and collaboration between general and special education staff.

She said Kanawha’s overall reading data improved from 28% of students in tier one, which identified students meeting or exceeding expectations, at the start of the year to 62% by the end of the year. The percentage of students in tier three, which identified students 3 or more grade levels behind, dropped from 21% to 10%. In math, Agee said the school began the year with 17% of students proficient and ended with 67%, while tier three dropped from 20% to 7%.

From left, Wood County Schools Superintendent Christie Willis receives a check for $30,000 from Rick Bush on behalf of Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation for a Parkersburg South High School ball field during Tuesday evening's board meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“We had lots of celebrations today,” Agee said.

For next year, Agee said Kanawha plans to focus on “What I Need” time, a systematic phonics program for kindergarten through second grade, word origin instruction for grades three through five and further work with the Ready Math program.

The board also heard an update from Summit Success Academy. The program has 50 slots and had an average weekly enrollment of 43 students this school year, with an average weekly attendance of 31.

Kathy Frederick, a teacher and counselor at the school, said Summit serves students who are often at risk or trauma survivors. She said students earned 185 credits this year, with an average of 4.75 credits. Frederick said 19 current and former Summit students graduated this year, including seven who were attending the academy daily and 12 who had returned to their home schools.

Frederick said her goal next year is to continue building relationships with students and helping them return to their home schools successfully.

Parkersburg High School student Rogan Mincks, right, receives recognition from Wood County Schools Superintendent Christie Willis for being a part of the AAAA Boys Track & Field Team State Champions during Tuesday evening's board meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“My big goal is to continue to do what we’ve done to build those relationships with kids,” Frederick said.

The board also approved adding astronomy as a personalized science credit option for Wood County high school students. Candace Lewis, director of curriculum and instruction, said astronomy has been offered previously as an elective, but did not count toward students’ three required science credits.

“This proposal does not replace any existing science course offerings,” Lewis said. “Instead, it expands opportunities for students by providing an additional personalized science credit option.”

The board approved its consent agenda after pulling Lubeck Elementary Change Order 26, an $11,436 item for steel expansion tracking, for further discussion. Other approved items included a $490,638.39 paving contract with McKee Paving for Jackson Middle School, Greenmont Elementary and Kanawha Elementary; a $9,000 design fee adjustment to Pickering Associates related to adding a road to form a loop around Jackson Middle School to improve traffic flow; a $615,604.37 pay application to Grae-Con Construction Inc. for the Madison addition; and an $849,535.12 pay application for Lubeck Elementary School.

The meeting began with recognitions for state champions and state runners-up from Parkersburg High School and Williamstown High School, as well as students selected to participate in the 2026 Governor’s Schools of West Virginia.