By Stephen Smoot
The Pendleton County Board of Education office conference room was a bit more packed for its final regular meeting in April as students earning awards in competition stopped in for well-deserved recognition.
Prior to the opening of the regular meeting, a quirk of the law required that the second meeting of March be noted and concluded after approving levy rates.
J. D. Wilkins, board president, opened the gathering with the customary invocation, praying “thank You for all the extra people who are here.”
The board then approved moving the presentations to the fore of the agenda so that those involved could participate and leave before the business parts of the agenda, if they so chose.
“Thank you to the Pendleton County Board of Education,” stated Shelly Crites, administrative director of South Branch Career and Technical Center. She appreciated that she could share “about South Branch Career and Technical Center and your students.”
Wilkins replied that “we’re glad to have you here and your students here.”
Along with Crites came several students who had earned victories and awards in scholastic and skills competitions. She explained that some students could not make it due to illness or representing Pendleton County in athletic competition.
She shared a report on the school and how it continues to work to fulfill its mission and objectives in terms of educating students and expanding workforce skills to serve the region. This included recognition of their dedicated instructors, including Dave Adams teaching building maintenance, Matthew Alexander welding, Monica Bennett law and public safety, Felicia Cook tourism and marketing/entrepreneurship, Travis Hansrote broadcasting, Candie Kite therapeutic services, Jed Metzler automotive, Jennifer Miller and Julia Miller cosmetology, Leroy Shook with carpentry and computer aided drafting, Heather White middle school career exploration, Holly Alt mathematics, and Aimee Cummings English. The school is working to fill a vacancy in electrical.
Crites then honored those who had earned accolades in Skills USA competition. She stated that “career and technical organization participation is an essential component of CTE instruction.” Much like Future Farmers of America, competition focuses on developing skills applied in the workforce and personal professional development.
SBCTC has the second largest chapter for Skills USA in the state.
“Pendleton County students did very well in local competition,” Crites stated, comparing the hierarchy of competitions to that of the regionals and the state tournament in high school varsity sports.
First place winners at the regional level advanced to state competition at Fairmont State University. These included Barrett Cook in carpentry, Logan Fisher in teamworks, Taylor Forbus for esthetics model, Makinley Hedrick in architectural drafting, Cashton Kisamore in electrical construction, Kaitlyn McQuain with job skills demonstration, Orrin Merrick in basic residential wiring, Jaiden Mitts and Keira Reel in community service, Malcolm Smith in criminal justice, and Alex Tracy and Brennan Wyatt in entry level carpentry.
Local winners who received second place recognition were Madison Simmons for pin design, Jestani Adkins for T-shirt design, Dakota Kimble for criminal justice, and Bryson Fazenbaker for automotive. State and competition for Skills USA includes industry representatives who come to observe. Zander Adams earned an internship.
Mitts, Kiera Reel, and Forbus earned silver for their efforts while McQuain picked up a gold medal and advancement to the nationals in early June in Atlanta.
Outside of competition, but still an announcement, Crites took pride in sharing that Bryn Reel passed her certified nursing assistant examinations last week.
Bethany Whetzel, business teacher for Pendleton County Middle/High School, also came along to support her students who had earned awards in competition under Future Business Leaders of America. She called them “phenomenal” and shared, “I am very proud of these students.”
Shayne Clutter earned seventh place in state level competition in the category of business and marketing concepts. Liam Simmons placed 14th in his division, personal finance. Benjamin Puffenbarger went farther, showing his knowledge and skills in “Introduction to FBLA,” in which he demonstrated “knowledge of the whole history of FBLA.” Puffenbarger will move on to national competition in San Antonio this summer.
Pendleton County performed well despite the relative newness of the club. Derek Lambert, in attendance as PCM/HS principal, stated that “we’re proud of Mrs. Whetzel for growing this program.”
After the presentations, board members approved the plan of J. P. Mowery, chief financial officer, on how to use state aid funding under Step Seven. While allocated for personnel, the state gives substantial flexibility in its use, allowing a portion as determined by the board to go to other purposes for budgetary purposes.
Pendleton County has historically and will for fiscal year 2027 allocate 25 percent toward personnel. Mowery explained that the funds go toward salary payment, rather than cover a specific employee.
Mowery shared that he will have the preliminary budget for the next year prepared prior to the first meeting in May. He provided highlights from that draft of the document. The public may come to the meeting to hear about the budget and also access information via other means During the second meeting for May, the board will have the opportunity to approve it.
Next came a report on an audit of Pendleton County Schools that takes place on the last day, June 30, of every fiscal year. This included details on sources of revenue and “expenditures by function.” In the second category, it stated that 52 percent of the budget goes to instruction, 40 percent for “total supportive services,” seven percent for food, and .6 percent for community services.
Wilkins on the audit’s findings to Mowery said, “Thank you for another clean report.”
Carrie Nesselrodt in the attendance report shared that attendance numbers fell somewhat in the eighth month, chiefly due to a flu bug that swept through the schools for about 15 days. Franklin Elementary School had the best grade with fifth attending at 96.44 percent. FES, as a whole, had 92.39 percent, also best in the county. Fifth grade countywide had the best numbers at just more than 95 percent while overall, county attendance was 91.27 percent.
Nesselrodt has explained during the course of the year that the outstanding opening months of the school year would help to buoy numbers when illnesses hit and also as the year winds down. She stated, “We’re still all right by the end of the year.”
