By Stephen Smoot
In an effort to get new policies in place before the new school year, the Pendleton County Board of Education has held special meetings to do legally required readings and reviews. Changes range from simple grammatical fixes and substitution of terms to entire policies mandated by new state law.
J.D. Wilkins opened the meeting with the customary invocation, praying, “We thank You for the guests we have this evening,” referring to the instructors, volunteers, and others who showed to present on Energy Express.
Board members first heard reports from J. P. Mowery about monthly bills paid and other treasury and financial information. Some recent expenditures include $6,285.49 for new tile at Brandywine Elementary School, $9,500 for painting the plethora of exterior doors at Pendleton County Middle/High School, and $4,198.03 for a “long list” of repairs on one of the school buses.
Katie Hott, board member, asked if the repaired bus was one that would be in service for a long time to come. Mowery answered in the affirmative and stated that new buses start at $150,000. Additionally, orders currently take at least a year or more to complete.
Mowery then zeroed in on the repair needs of the Harold K. Michael building. He said that the building is insured up to $70,000 for repairs and the bid from Lantz Construction came in at just over $69,000. Though insurance should cover most costs, he said, “I’m not going to guarantee that we won’t have to put a little local money in it.”
He shared that they expected repairs to conclude in mid-September.
Mowery then went over policies for review, starting with 5460 regarding graduation requirements. “They are largely the same,” he noted, but the number of credits required decreased by one. Additionally, as Nicole Hevener, superintendent, explained about the credit recovery process, “The grade the student earned in the credit recovery course will be transcribed.”
Policy 7540 establishes “an acceptable use policy” that sets expectations for employee use of personal electronic devices. Though “personal use is still allowed,” Mowery explained that “we don’t want to see teachers on phones all the time when kids are restricted.”
Hevener added that “there are times when we need to use our phones for work,” pointing out that the expanse of some school buildings makes use of cell phones for staff and faculty communication convenient. She also later stated that employees “can’t use PEDs while driving a county car.”
Lengthy guidelines also come in this policy regarding use of artificial intelligence. The new policy includes strict prohibitions on student use of AI to complete schoolwork. Several guidelines instruct faculty on acceptable uses of AI by students.
Also, the policy reads, “AI usage by our elementary-age students is not appropriate.”
Mowery said, “We’re not trying to achieve perfection.”
Discussion then centered on the impact of the school discipline act that came from SB 199. All agreed to move forward with current discipline policies until the state provides clarification.
Derek Lambert, the incoming principal of PCM/HS, provided an update on progress over the summer at the school. He shared ideas on better career and technical education experiences for students, a planned open house, and more.
The next special meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. on July 31.
