By Stephen Smoot
Last week, the Pendleton County Board of Education held its opening meeting of the month of December. Snowy and dangerous conditions had forced the closing of school that day, then again on Friday and this Monday.
J. D. Wilkins, president of the Pendleton County Board of Education, offered the invocation, praying, “Bless us through this winter . . . bless our meeting tonight.”
To kick off the meeting, Nicole Hevener, Pendleton County superintendent, lauded the success of Pendleton County Middle/High School varsity sports during the fall, including “all three teams advancing to state level competition.” She congratulated their players and coaching staffs.
Additionally, the golf and cross country teams both sent competitors to states, making the fall highly successful for the Wildcats overall.
“Well done!” added Wilkins.
Hevener then recommended approving the posting of open positions for tutoring help at both Brandywine and Franklin elementary schools.
J. P. Mowery delivered the financial update, which included the welcome news that for the “first month ever with over $4 million” in the combined current balances for Pendleton County Schools. He went on to report that the drop in interest rates overall had moved PCS from 14.29 percent to 14.09 percent, but that still left $11,847.63 in interest to PCS for the month of October alone. From the opening of the fiscal year, PCS has earned just under $46,600 in interest benefit.
Mowery then shared highlights from bills charged. One of the biggest came from the Board of Risk, which manages liability insurance for the school system. The quarterly payment made came to $46,292. Mowery stated, “I remember when those payments were about $50,000 per year.”
As he explained in previous months, though Pendleton County had very low exposure to liability issues, the rest of the “pool” in which PCS participates had significant issues. This resulted in “a substantial increase over the last four or five years,” not PCS miscues.
Bus maintenance and reliability woes continue to bedevil area school systems, Pendleton County included. Transmission problems led to a major expense in that department. Mowery noted that “too many buses have that problem.” While repairs are pricey, the state reimburses PCS for 95 percent of the cost.
A new addition to the PCMHS athletic department’s stable of equipment should create some smiles from the outdoor sports squads. Derek Lambert, principal at Pendleton County Middle/High School, discussed the Turf Tank Field Striping device. As he explained, with “ the push of a button,” the robot will line a baseball or softball field or also do the lines and logo for a football game. He said that it takes about three hours for the automated robot to paint the full football field.
Travis Heavner’s facilities report centered on his upcoming trip to a meeting in Charleston to make the case for Pendleton County to receive some help for different needs.
The board then approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Shepherd University similar to one reached recently with Marshall University. Both enable graduates from Pendleton County Schools to gain automatic acceptance and bypass the application process. The MOU was passed unanimously.
Another MOU with Western Governors University created connections between their education program and Pendleton County Schools. Kristy Tritapoe, assistant superintendent, worked out the details of the arrangement that she hopes will “assist us in bringing more educators to Pendleton County Schools.” Tritapoe assured the board that “there are no fees” connected to the program for PCS.
The superintendent also informed the board that in the wake of a Raleigh County ruling in favor of vaccine waivers for religious purposes, that policy 5320, validated by the ruling, will stay in place as is.
Two important updates came in about long-term funding questions from both state and federal sources. In the meeting, Mowery discussed that attendance drops in Pocahontas County had moved them significantly below Pendleton in student population. Until this year, Pendleton had been, as Mowery described, “tethered” to Pocahontas. This enabled each to get the best support from the 1,400 floor that provides extra help to counties with small numbers of students scattered great distances.
Pendleton County’s numbers dipped only slightly, but in relation to the Pocahontas County award, Pendleton will get somewhat less.
Additionally from the federal side, legislation to renew the Secure Rural Schools program finally moved forward after shutdown related delays in consideration and passage. SRS provides assistance to school systems in counties with significant national forest lands.
Toward the end of the meeting came an interesting discussion on the fate of a school constructed long ago, but has been long since out of use. Hevener described how she and John Connor started looking into the building after discovery of an interesting covenant. An agreement dating to 1937 allows PCS to have a single building, this school near Huffman Flats, on national forest property.
Connor and Hevener discussed various opportunities that the site could provide, including serving as a base for various recreational trails. They also discussed if the Pendleton County Historical Society may find use with it.
The board made no decisions at the time, but feared that if the building deteriorated further that it could become a liability.
