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Wood County Board of Education discusses progress of school construction project

By Sophie Wheeler 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Wood County’s Board of Education met Tuesday for what became a tense look at concerns regarding the school construction project, and discussion of a proposal for construction of the Erickson baseball/softball concession stand. The board also recognized Breena Bond as the recipient of West Virginia Wesleyan College’s 19th West Virginia Scholar award.

Bond is the daughter of Daniel and Brandi Bond. The West Virginia Scholar Program awards a student with full tuition, and room and board, totaling approximately $50,000. Bond is pursuing a career as a pediatrician, and has been active in Key Club, student council, a cappella and chamber choirs, and represented Parkersburg High School at the West Virginia State Science Fair in 2024 while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. The scholarship program is sponsored in part by Wesleyan College through the Marvin Culpepper and Elaine Karnes Culpepper Endowment and multiple community sponsors.

Justin Raber, a trustee at Wesleyan College, closed the recognition with "We are very proud of you and honored to have you join us as a Bobcat, and welcome to your home on the hills next fall. Congratulations."

Rick Bush, president of the Erickson All-Sports Facility Development Corporation, proposed the construction of the Erickson baseball/softball concession stand. Bush projects the construction would cost approximately $150,000, but has received pledges from four contractors to alleviate some cost.

The manager of Carter Lumber has pledged all external materials for the project, "In an effort to be a civic citizen and at the same time advance his son's interest in baseball," said Bush.

A proposed memorandum of understanding has been approved by the legal team of the Wood County Schools, in which the Erickson group is committing to pay for the concession stand construction "100%" Bush said, with Kaleb Lawrence, assistant superintendent of operations, working through the bid process.

Bush concluded "We'd like to have the concession stand open on March 1 when we play our first baseball and/or softball game."

In its consent agenda, the board approved:

The Sorenson Communications contract for referring and placing licensed interpreters with Wood County Schools for the 2026-2027 school year, starting Aug. 19 and ending June 3, 2027 or the last day students are in attendance, at $100 per hour with a total not to exceed $100,000.

The memorandum of understanding between Wood County Schools and West Virginia University Parkersburg to ensure high-quality field placement experiences for pre-service teachers, including year-long residency for the 2026-2027 school year.

The Pre-K Precious Angels partner agreement and Pre-K Little People Place partner agreement for the 2026-2027 school year for $70,717, which includes $40,000 to be applied for teacher and aide salaries/operation of the Pre-K room, and $30,717 budgeted for classroom supplies, curriculum, food, professional development, secretarial and administrative services.

The child nutrition county-wide cafeteria manager position 200-day service personnel contract position with a $3,000 annual salary supplement.

And the after school snack program YMCA memorandum of understanding.

Mitch Leech, overseer of construction administration for the new school project, and Sean Doyle, chief operating officer of McKinley Associates spoke and answered questions concerning erosion and the hold on operations for the Lubeck construction. Board member Debbie Hendershot expressed concerns with the progress on the project and responsibility for oversight of the construction site.

Doyle said "UCCI is responsible for the work that's done on site. Your contractor signed an agreement with Wood County (and) they have an obligation to fulfill the commitments under their contract.”

"Since March, these eight crevices (in the hill side) have never been fixed and until (the state Department of Environmental Protection) shut us down, now they were never fixed from March to July,” Hendershot said.

Leech said after receiving a cease and desist from DEP, UCCI and their subcontractor "did some grading. They threw down seed and straw to get some of those areas stabilized."

Since retrieval of the letter, the management team has worked with UCCI and Cherry River to develop a corrective actions plan and a schedule to regain compliance for the worksite, Leech said. The permit is also being revised by the civil engineer, which should be submitted this week.

Doyle said "This site is difficult. That's not my excuse for the contractor. It's to say that it’s difficult. My assumption would be that (UCCI and Cherry River) thought they were (in compliance). Well they weren't and so it’s been elevated on everybody's radar."

Board member Ron Tice expressed concerns for the stability of the hillside in the future "If something comes up down the road and all of a sudden we start to see erosion, who's going to be held responsible?"

"It would be impossible for us right now to say who would be at fault,” Doyle said. “There would be diligence done, an investigation. I think we have confidence that once things are in place, that should not be an issue."

Board member Simon Hargus asked "How many days has the site actually not been able to have construction because of the issue?"

"Zero," replied Leech.

"It's important that the people know this hasn’t been disrupted, delayed, and caused us a concern over the project getting done." Hargus continued, "There will be no fees or fines paid by Wood County for these issues."

Amid the concerns the McKinley Associates representatives assured the board that the structural integrity of the building has not been compromised and the projects will continue as expected. As of mid-June, the Lincoln school is 30% complete and the Lubeck school is 45% complete with Lubeck approximately $150,000 under bid price and Lincoln approximately $1 million below bid price. With the team continuing additional cost saving measures that will not affect the overall functionality and aesthetic of the school buildings.

Wood County Board of education will next meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 25.

Starting at /week.