The Pendleton County Board of Education met in special session last week, spending much of an abbreviated agenda going over topics related to athletics at Pendleton County Middle/High School.
After the Pledge of Allegiance came the invocation, which included a prayer “that You would help us to make the right decision with the right people.”
Much of the first half of the meeting focused on personnel. The board voted to close out itinerant counselor positions at Brandywine and Franklin Elementary schools, but with the aim of creating newly defined positions at both schools that include social work as part of the purview. Board members approved similar moves last year with other schools.
Board members also approved a large slate of new hires. This included Haley Terry as the new PCM/HS varsity volleyball coach. Last year, Terry coached junior varsity volleyball at Highland County, Virginia. She takes over a program that has emerged as a powerhouse in recent years. McKenzie Arbaugh will head up the middle school squad.
Board members then approved a contract with Best Life Therapy, a Clarksburg-based provider of speech pathology and other services. The organization has also provided physical therapy and sign language instruction to students in Pendleton County schools. Another contract to accept funding from the West Virginia School Board Authority to help with HVAC and a new roof at BES was approved as well.
Next, board members approved the full slate of both paid and non paid coaches.
A discussion came next concerning a proposal by Derek Lambert, outgoing PCM/HS principal, to use library space as a new weight room, allowing for the rearrangement of athletic facilities to provide more space. The new weight room was proposed to house exercise equipment donated by Liberty Community Programs from the former Navy Base at Sugar Grove.
It was determined that the time taken to examine and process books in the library space, the amount of work required to ready the different spaces, and the short time frame between the meeting and the opening of school, that PCM/HS would go a different direction.
Instead of transforming the library into a weight room, a former classroom will be adapted to that purpose. Air filters will be installed to counter “the smells” of athletic training. While PCS will take care of some costs, the football team will also be called upon to provide help with the work. During the course of the year, coaches’ input and reports from formed committees will help to guide work going forward.
The next meeting will take place at the permanent new meeting time of 5 p.m. on Aug. 4.
