By Stephen Smoot
“We thank you for the dedication that led to the alternate education building,” prayed J. D. Wilkins, Pendleton County Board of Education president, as he opened the second meeting of May.
Spirits were high due to the official opening that afternoon of the structure, which took several months and overcame a number of unexpected barriers to accomplish.
Board members first gave the floor to Walt Johnson, the executive director of the Pendleton County Library.
Referring in part to the national debt crisis that is forcing federal budget cuts, he opened with “we, as a library, are heading into fraught seas over the next fiscal year.”
Johnson offered “a down to earth discussion about preparing ourselves for what might be coming.” Added to worries about federal level funding cuts, he shared that “the library section of state government will be shifted from the department of arts, culture, and history to the department of tourism.”
“Libraries have been reassured that very little internally will be changed,” he said.
That change will come due to the budget problems inherited by Governor Patrick Morrissey. Part of his plan to address that will come in consolidating state level agencies where possible. Governor Jim Justice had previously expanded their numbers.
Johnson confirmed that “libraries are solid for this fiscal year” because “budgets are already in place. After that, it gets a little cloudier.”
He referred to efforts to cut or eliminate entirely the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency created more than three decades ago. Funding from this agency supports “global services we provide” such as databases, tutoring programs, and more.
Johnson next pivoted into discussing community programming, saying they will “broaden our plans for summer reading this year” and are “expanding our live programs on Wednesdays.”
This will include “six weeks of live presentations planned all along the national theme of ‘Color Our World.'” Poets, musicians, songwriters, and more will take part. Additionally, the library will throw a “big summer party” for kids and others near the end of July.
Johnson touted the “brand new service desk” that shall be “installed by the end of this month.” He also shared that “it will serve folks better and brighten the interior of the library.”
The new service desk resulted in part from a combined funding effort by State Senators Robert Karnes and Bill Hamilton. It also allows for the use of 21st century technology which the former desk struggled to accommodate.
“The ‘times’ may be fraught, but that’s an opportunity to take a more creative approach,” noted Johnson. That approach includes incorporating the basement space more effectively into library programming.
Johnson called the current condition of it “wasted space” and “not a wise use of resources,” but envisions a space suited for music and other performing arts.
He closed with expressions of appreciation for the school board’s support.
After Johnson concluded his presentation, the board moved on to its business.
Charles Hedrick, superintendent, shared how Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, was of assistance during the severe storms and flooding the week prior. He described delays experienced by a bus returning from Washington, D.C., full of middle school students.
He then shared that Gillespie provided an escort to the bus “and got our bus back to the high school.”
Wilkins noted, “That was a scary day.”
J. P. Mowery then provided finance and treasury reports. This started with an overall summary of revenues and expenditures for both fiscal year 24-25 and fiscal year 25-26.
The budget expanded by approximately $600,000. Mowery stated that the 14 percent increase in PEIA premiums “is a large part of that . . . the largest piece by far.” Inflation and energy costs also contributed.
Mowery noted that the permanent improvement fund established six years ago “continues to grow.” It takes in $50,000 per year to serve as a reserve fund for needed improvements should state or other funds not be available.
He indicated that some headwinds may arise on the horizon with the uncertainty of federal sources of funding, but also explained that the budget for next year “is a solid budget. It’s a balanced budget.”
Mowery further shared that he felt more optimistic that Secure Rural Schools funding may get passed by Congress after all. All those considerations, however, now lie in the hands of the U. S. Senate after the House of Representatives passed the budget bill.
“It seemed difficult at one point . . . it has been revived from life support,” Mowery added.
Travis Heavner shared a list of projects that he hopes to have completed during the summer. These include repairs to a floor in a Brandywine Elementary School classroom and carpet replacement at Franklin Elementary School. He related that a compressor failed in the air conditioning at the high school and that crews had repaired it quickly.
“We got the air back up and going by the first of the week,” he said.
On another note, North Fork Elementary School students received permission to use the old Circleville High School gymnasium after damage occurred to theirs.
On the attendance report, Carrie Nesselrodt announced that NFES enjoyed their third day of perfect attendance in this school year, a remarkable achievement. NFES also had the best percentage of attendance with just more than 95 percent.
The individual grade with the best attendance was first grade at BES with a little more than 98 percent, and fifth grade delivered the best county grade level numbers at just under 94 percent.
Nesselrodt explained that strong attendance in recent weeks had helped to mitigate the late winter dip when illnesses afflicted students. Additionally, she did not expect that end of year fatigue and “senioritis” would harm overall numbers much.
“Our schools are doing what they should be doing,” she told the board, then added, “We made so much progress this year that we will still end up in a better place than last year.”
