By Stephen Smoot
“Bless us tonight so that we can do good for Pendleton County Schools, said J. D. Wilkins, president of the Pendleton County Board of Education, as the first meeting in April kicked off.
The first order of business lay in a presentation by eighth-grade student Lauren Williams. She won first place honors in the county and regional, then third in state competition.
Her project, “Plantastic Growth,” measured the growth of plants using different types of liquids, including plain water, sugar free soda, and others. Her experiments revealed that the sugar free soda proved best in promoting plant growth and theorized that the carbonation was a factor.
J. P. Mowery provided an update on the school’s financial status, sharing that the system paid out $66,921.01 in bills for the month of March.
He noted that one of the bills, $66,250 to Experience Learning for STEM instruction, was actually a “pass through” for a state grant. Also, a $50,000 safe schools grant applied for by Travis Heavner arrived and will soon be put to use in implementing planned improvements. Mowery predicted that the school system would still have $1.5 to $1.7 million on hand at the end of the school year.
Additionally, Mowery discussed the school lunch program. He explained that Pendleton County remained eligible for providing free school meals to all. “It’s a good thing for the county,” he stated, adding, “We don’t have to chase the money around.” School lunch bill collection has become much more difficult for all systems in recent years as central offices have little leverage to compel payment.
He added that “our participation rates (in the lunch program) have gone up because everyone eats for free.”
Next, Mowery discussed the impact of recent state legislation that bans certain food dyes in the state by 2027 and in the school system next year. “It probably is a good thing that these dyes are not in foods,” he said, then added that some fundraisers may be affected, but the schools can make different purchasing decisions.
“A lot of things are colored so we buy more of them I guess,” he said.
Mowery next shared that the federal E Rate program that provides “heavily discounted internet” for schools and libraries appeared safe from budget cuts. It adds up to $60,000 – $90,000 per year in costs that the school does not have to cover. He then said that in approximately 30 years that the school system received around $1.4 million from E Rate.
Heavner next provided his facilities report. Franklin Elementary School will soon receive repairs on lighting and HVAC. The latter repairs will address areas of different pressurization on campus that has sparked complaints.
He described an issue arising with refueling buses on the North Fork. Bringing buses back and forth over the mountain for refueling is too costly and River Mart, the last gas station in the valley that offers the fuel the buses need, is out of business. Heavner discussed with the board the option of placing storage tanks near North Fork Elementary School and purchasing fuel for them from Southern States in Moorefield.
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the West Virginia Family Nutrition Program. This six-weeks program takes nutrition information and education directly into the classroom for six weeks, focusing on food, nutrition, and physical activity. Pre and post class assessments will measure what the students learned.
Carrie Nesselrodt then shared a program starting up soon that also required an MOU to work with the school system. Home Base Inc, as she stated, provides mental health services to students. Though they prefer working in the home, they also assist clients in school settings or via telehealth as well.
“I’m really excited,” she said, adding that “we struggled for a while to find mental health services.”
Sonny O’Neil, board member, queried whether this would cost the school system money. Nesselrodt answered no, that payment would come from families’ insurance. “It’s not a complete solution,” she said, but it moves the needle in the right direction.”
She then reported that a rash of illnesses in recent weeks had caused attendance to dip somewhat, but not too far.
Finally, Charles Hedrick, superintendent, thanked the Town of Franklin for its $500 donation to school music programs.
Wilkins added, “That was very nice.”
