By Stephen Smoot
With excited students making their way back to their schools, the Pendleton County Board of Education found much to buoy its spirits as well.
After attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance, J.D. Wilkins, board president, led the invocation, praying, “We thank You for the school year starting.”
- P. Mowery, treasurer and financial officer, shared both the treasurer’s and financial report soon after the opening of the meeting. He concluded that the system sits “in a very good position with a cash balance of more than $2 million.” He said that if the schools went ahead and paid all of its obligations in the near future now, the system would still have more than $1 million available.
Businesses and government entities both tend to not pay bills early to ensure that they collect the best possible return on account interest. Mowery shared that this year, the school system’s account earned more than $100,000 in interest.
In meetings past, however, Mowery stated that a conservative spending policy must remain in place as pandemic era financial support disappears. Though the school system will have less to work with, its frugality has enabled it to stay ahead of some of the financial problems and tough decisions facing other county school systems across the state.
The board has continually supported a restrained policy as regards spending.
One program that could face problems going ahead is Communities in Schools, championed by First Lady Cathy Justice. CIS puts counselors and other support staff in schools to help with the social and family needs of students. It also organizes attendance boosting events and arranges for school and hygiene supplies, as well as food for the weekends to be available for students who need this.
Another benefit lies in CIS workers spending their time dealing with student nonacademic issues so that teachers can focus on learning.
Mowery said that CIS for the current school year is fully funded, but at a 10 percent cut from last year. He speculated that the program could face even more cuts without Governor Jim Justice serving as its champion. Should state funding for CIS diminish or get cut entirely, Mowery stated that “we’ll need a similar sized grant to continue with that.”
Travis Heavner provided the facilities update, saying that workers were “trying to tidy up anything that’s coming to us,” but said that he had no updates on the alternative education building at Pendleton County Middle/High School.
Betty Kimble, school board member, shared that “I’ve been looking at the landscaping around the schools. The bushes at Brandywine (Elementary School) are just dead.”
The summer drought likely helped to take a huge toll on the school’s decorative foliage.
Heavner responded in agreement, saying, “A lot of them just need to be pulled out.”
“I’m thinking mulch and just a few big rocks,” Kimble suggested as an alternative to shrubbery, making the point that staff do not have time to tend to decorative plants, saying that “the custodians have enough to do.” Heavner added that a lot of the landscaping had lived past its prime.
Next, Mowery shared relevant changes to state code concerning the policy manual. Long-term substitutes after a certain threshold of days worked will qualify for pay, sick leave, and benefits enjoyed by full-time faculty.
The goal of the changes lies in getting qualified substitute teachers performing long term work more pay, more quickly.
Additionally, “days set apart by the president or governor as a holiday of special observance” will be considered as a day of employment when it falls within the employment term.
Board members also received strongly positive reports on the progress of the county system and individual schools in state rankings.
