By Stephen Smoot
The Pendleton County Board of Education held its first meeting of 2026, which was a special legally required meeting to discuss the 2026 and 2027 school year calendar.
After a brief presentation came, the official second meeting of 2026 for the group. J. D. Wilkins, board president, gave the invocation, praying, “We ask for Your blessings for all.”
First, the board approved recent resignations of personnel, including two coaches, Jeremy Bodkin and Chris Wilburn, at Pendleton County Middle/High School. Additionally, it approved naming former Wildcat standout Clayton Kisamore as an unpaid coach, pending him receiving certification.
J. P. Mowery, Pendleton County Schools treasurer, provided the report on budget and finances. He opened by sharing the closing cash balance for December 2025 was $3,164,654.73. Then he pointed out the difference between that and the ending balance from December 2024, which was $2,747,609.00.
Mowery stated that board members should not expect necessarily that the accounts’ balance would remain that far above the previous year, but said, “It’s a good sign that we are holding our own on cash flow.”
Not every county has created for itself the same cushion. Delegate Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock) blasted his home county’s school system for financial mismanagement last week. West Virginia Metro News reports that the financial position of 13 systems in the state have reach precarious points, which has attracted the attention of state officials.
Some of the expenses from December include $852,905.86 in total payroll for the month. A major recent expense lay in a series of what Mowery called “service calls” for repairs of different devices. “We pay a fair amount of money for maintenance,” he stated, adding that as the school system necessarily relies on more electronic technology for security, communication, and other needs, it means more maintenance needs.
He also shared that PCS paid Lost River Meat Company $8,855.23 for school lunch beef and also stated that “we have to get a better handle on energy.” Franklin Elementary School in particular has seen problems with its heating and cooling, leading to higher bills.
Mowery informed the board and Nicole Hevener, superintendent, that Congress renewed the Secure Rural Funding program and that the school system should receive their check within 45 days. Congressional battles kept the renewal on the backburner through most of 2025, preventing payout. He added that advocates are pushing Congress to make the funding, which in some form or another has been in place almost since the start of the 20th century, more permanent in terms of not needing frequent renewals at least.
Next came a discussion of the bus fleet. Mowery showed how strategically planning whether to lease or purchase outright helps to put the school system in a firmer financial position. He then shared the status of a permanent improvement fund established several years ago.
Annually the school system puts in $50,000 for a current total of $300,000 that can be used for important projects, which was “one of Charles’ (Hedrick, retired superintendent of schools) greatest insights,” according to Mowery.
With Travis Heavner on the road coaching the high school girls’ basketball team, Hevener gave the facilities report. She shared that the heat had gone off in the second floor of Franklin Elementary School and that Brandywine Elementary School was experiencing problems as well. “It becomes more and more obvious,” she stated, “that the project at FES must become a priority.”
Hevener then added that Heavner had related that addressing HVAC at FES would help to bring down the power bill, which Mowery had said was not much less than the larger Pendleton County Middle/High School.
Sonny O’Neil, board member, informed attendees that the preservation society overseeing the historic former Circleville High School approved the placement of large stones to protect the music room that had been seriously damaged by a vehicle.
Next came a legally required reading of new policies, many of which came from the state. Amendments were made to policies that had minor errors. One important change regarded weapons in the schools. Board members voted to amend the policy to allow for the potential of shooting sports that use tools sometimes classified as weapons.
O’Neil inquired about the legal boundary of length beyond which a pocketknife could be considered a weapon. Derek Lambert, PCMHS principal, confirmed that was three and a half inches.
A key approval came from the board of education, on the recommendation of Hevener, that the board of education spend $7,800.14 to pay for the replacement of the North Mountain traffic camera. Unlike any county in the state Pendleton County, through its office of emergency management, runs a network of public safety traffic cameras. The county commission normally funds them, but requested some help from the board of education, who graciously proposed to pay the entire bill.
Hevener explained that “it is greatly missed. It cannot be repaired because the company that installed it is no longer in business. The camera needs to be replaced.”
Pendleton County Schools relies on the traffic cameras as part of its decision-making process whether to close school during bad weather. Due to that, it was suggested that the camera be paid for from transportation funds since they seemed the closest category to the need for the purchase, making it “reasonably justified as an expense.”
But that came with some questions before approval. Wilma Pitsenbarger, board member, inquired about who would service the camera. Mowery explained that the Memorandum of Understanding that the board would need to approve only obligated a one-time camera purchase. While the board was not opposed to assist in the future if needed, the MOU strictly relieved it of further obligation beyond a “voluntary donation for public safety.”
Another MOU was approved with Liberty University to facilitate teacher education students who wished to do clinicals in Pendleton County.
In her superintendent’s report, Hevener shared her experience at North Fork Elementary School observing the science and social studies fairs. “It’s obvious that a lot of hard work was put into those projects.” She then shared a letter from Michelle Blatt, state superintendent, that provided welcome news that PCMHS had exceeded graduation standards.
“Everyone’s efforts are appreciated,” Hevener said, also giving credit to rising attendance numbers due in part to the work of Carrie Nesselrodt.
Finally, she spoke of a partly virtual meet and greet between Pendleton County Schools, the board of education, and state elected officials. With State Senator Robbie Morris and others, they “had a great discussion, mostly about school finance.”
