By Natasha Wilson
Several new policies were reviewed and unanimously approved at the Aug. 16 Pendleton County Board of Education meeting. Among the new policies, security cameras are now required in all special education classrooms, with random reviews by school personnel and right to review by parents.
All board members were present for the meeting, either in person or by tele-conference.
Nicole Hevener, associate superintendent, announced the employment of seven individuals. The board members unanimously approved Christopher Wilburn, elementary health and physical education teacher at Franklin Elementary School; Heidi Davis, third-grade teacher at Brandywine Elementary School; Pat Alt, accountant, secretary and medication administrator at Pendleton County Middle/High School; Trisha Knicely, kindergarten early childhood classroom assistant teacher at BES; Dolly Rexrode, substitute aide, substitute cook and substitute custodian for Pendleton County Schools; Amber Nesselrodt, substitute secretary for PCS; and Vicki Hammer, substitute secretary for PCS.
Hevener also requested and was granted permission to post an extracurricular job exploration coordinator position.
The board approved the purchase of planning contracts presented by Hevener: Corrie Wagoner, mentoring and development of an elementary band program; Sandy Simmons, library manager; and Traci Rightsell, lead SAT Process.
The financial report was presented to the board members by J.P. Mowery, business manager/treasurer. Mowery highlighted the A++Partners in Education, a consortium consisting of Pendleton County Schools and the Pendleton County Library, which received $2.3M in grants specifically focused on broadband connectivity and equipment. This is considered a necessity for the continuing education of students in otherwise unprecedented times.
Travis Heavner provided several updates regarding the county school facilities including mulching at PCM/HS, pouring of concrete for the new PCMHS freezers, the ordering of new fire doors for FES and PCMHS, paving of Wildcat Drive, and painting the first floor at FES. HVAC technicians were onsite to address lingering issues.
Heavner also shared future plans to paint the stairwells and second floor of FES, replace grip tape on PCMHS bleachers, and do new flooring, paint and add partitions in several PCMHS bathrooms.
The first day of school for students K-12 was Aug. 19. Charles Hedrick, Pendleton County Schools superintendent, stated that the first day got off to a really good start, with just a few bumps in the road with evening dismissal. Overall, everything went well and the students and staff were all excited to be back.
The board members unanimously accepted the minutes from the Aug. 2 meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 6 at the North Fork Elementary School.
