By Stephen Smoot
It was done in low key style, as per usual with the Pendleton County Board of Education.
Just as they quietly and without fanfare several meetings ago stated the intention of Charles Hedrick to retire from his role, they announced the hiring of Nicole Hevener as the new superintendent, along with other new hires.
The hiring of the current Pendleton County Middle/High School principal and former assistant superintendent came after the board advertised the position and interviewed several candidates. During the Local School Improvement Council meeting at PCM/HS, faculty praised her leadership and organization, a development that bodes well for when she assumes the leadership role in county schools.
J.D. Wilkins opened the meeting with an invocation, praying, “Bless us with the ability to serve the people.”
First up to present came J. P. Mowery with the treasury report and financial update. He reported that the county school system ended January with a balance of $2,592,855.83 and after a month of paying bills, that number dropped to $2,148,328.08.
Mowery stated that the lull in grant distribution and property tax payments was about to end and that revenues would come in at much faster rates. He stated that the current balance was strong and that “it’s good to have two million instead of $200,000 or $100,000” at this point.
The balance benefited this year by $74,655.11 in interest earned through the end of last month.
He warned that the board and superintendent should continue to monitor developments at both the federal and state level as budgets constrict. The Secure Rural Schools funding remains unpassed, but also not widely opposed. Medicaid changes may also affect funding “not this year, but the year after,” Mowery stated.
Out of a total of $628,846.51 paid out in bills, Mowery, as per usual, provided a few examples of what the taxpayers paid for recently.
First he mentioned that North Fork Elementary School received new roller shades and blinds. As they requested during their LSIC meeting, these will provide security in blocking outside views of children in the school.
Pendleton County Schools also paid $7,870 to maintain their subscription to a program called Edmentum. Board member Sonny O’Neil asked what the program did. Travis Heavner answered “that’s our virtual school.” It was implemented during COVID and used since, but Heavner said that its use would be monitored to see if it remains worth the cost.
Horizon education, a company that runs the high school benchmarking tests, charged $14,500 for their services.
Travis Heavner provided a facilities update. He shared that a representative from the West Virginia State Department of Education would conduct a routine annual facilities inspection and review. This year, he will examine NFES and also PCM/HS. “This is something we do every year,” he noted.
Heavner also discussed the replacement of some old single pane windows at Brandywine Elementary School.
The board then heard the second reading of new and updated policies, which allowed them to go ahead and pass them. Policies have two separate readings to provide the chance for public comment before adoption.
With Carrie Nesselrodt not in attendance, Heavner shared the chronic absence numbers that she provided. He related that she had informed him that sick notes had grown more commonplace, which is to be expected during the recent outbreak of flu and similar illnesses across the region.
As of Day 120, the county had a 13.35 chronic absence rate, BES 7.69, FES 11.65, NFES 10.89, and PCM/HS 16.84.
Hedrick, superintendent, stated that the school system was now into make up days, which would draw first from spring break. He also stated during his update that from his observation, the federal fund worry is less now than before and “next year looks pretty stable for us.”
He then shared that he would meet with the incoming superintendent to develop a transition plan.
