- The Wood County Schools Board of Education recognized the many resource officers who serve in the schools during the school year at Tuesday’s meeting. Pictured are: Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, new Jackson Middle School resource officer Shawn Sheaves, Williamstown Police Chief Shawn Graham, Williamstown Middle/High School resource officer Jeremy Raymond and Parkersburg Police officer M.W. Eichhorn. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
- Director of Special Education Dr. Yvonne Santin talks to the Wood County Schools Board of Education about special education training Tuesday during the board’s regular meeting. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
- Linda Wilson, who is the buyer/auditor for Wood County Schools, talks to the Wood County Schools Board of Education about the creation of the coordinator of purchasing position. She said this position mirrors hers but is paid more because it requires a college degree. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
- Brian Raitz, director at the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library, told the Wood County Schools Board of Education Tuesday night restricting access to books was a form of censorship and that he, or anyone else, wasn’t qualified to make these decision for everyone else in the community. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Linda Wilson, who is the buyer/auditor for Wood County Schools, talks to the Wood County Schools Board of Education about the creation of the coordinator of purchasing position. She said this position mirrors hers but is paid more because it requires a college degree. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Schools Board of Education met Tuesday in regular session to hear updates, recognize local resource officers, and appoint new positions within the board office.
The board appointed Ashley Brown as director of purchasing; Heather Grant as the new director of elementary education — she will take Justin Hartshorn’s role as he transfers to be assistant superintendent of academics and leadership beginning July 1; and Chad Bloss, with a 3-2 vote, as new director of transportation, replacing Regina Graham who is retiring. Board members Ron Tice and Debbie Hendershot voted no.
The creation of a new position, coordinator of purchasing, was also on the agenda but was later struck by a unanimous vote.
During public comment Linda Wilson, buyer/auditor for Wood County Schools, said she had concerns the creation of a new position would result in the loss of another service personnel position possibly including the buyer/auditor position. She said many service personnel do not have the means to go to college and most get jobs with the school system in hopes of moving up to higher paying positions.
“What we have found is that as people retire, they tend to eliminate those positions and make them professional (positions),” said Wilson, who is Service Personnel Association president. ” … I’m just asking that you consider how detrimental that is to service personnel morale and their livelihood.”
Director of Special Education Dr. Yvonne Santin talks to the Wood County Schools Board of Education about special education training Tuesday during the board’s regular meeting. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Board member Judy Johnson then suggested the superintendent and others should discuss whether the plan could be modified.
The board heard human resource updates from John Merritt, assistant superintendent, and Stephanie Cunningham, teacher certification administrator. They heard about teacher aides in first grade classrooms by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Ashlee Beatty and listened to Director of Special Education Dr. Yvonne Santin about special education updates.
Cunningham told the board all fully certified teachers are back into positions for the next school year and there are 32 new hires so far. She said there are 22 professional retirees; 22 elementary vacancies (17 due to transfers); 27 secondary vacancies (seven due to transfers); and 11 special education vacancies. One teacher has qualified for the state special education bonus.
“I really think these alternative pathway programs are helping our county a lot,” Cunningham said.
Merritt said there are two secretary positions open, one clerk, four custodians and five bus driver positions still available. He said they are starting to see more applicants because of tuition reimbursement and sign-on bonuses for special education.
Brian Raitz, director at the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library, told the Wood County Schools Board of Education Tuesday night restricting access to books was a form of censorship and that he, or anyone else, wasn’t qualified to make these decision for everyone else in the community. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
“That’s been a big, big draw,” Merritt said. “I’ve never seen so many people apply. … It’s amazing how much people are taking advantage of that, and taking classes to be better certified.”
Beatty told the board due to House Bill 3035, which is referred to as the third grade success act, they will have to have teacher aides in every first grade classroom with more than 12 students by the beginning of the school year. She said the following year they will need aides in every second grade classroom and that the year after that they will need aides in every third grade classroom, adding the state is offering funding for this but out of the 44 positions they will need, it will only pay for 38 of those. She said those numbers will remain similar for the next two years.
Beatty said it was the school system’s responsibility to establish the aides’ role and make sure they are supporting literacy and numeracy in the classroom.
“The goal is that they’re supporting the instruction, not just supervising the students,” Beatty told the board.
Santin told the board they do a lot of training in special education and that they have done more this year than they ever have before. She said the majority of training is on deescalating techniques and that there is more training planned for the upcoming year.
The Wood County Schools Board of Education recognized the many resource officers who serve in the schools during the school year at Tuesday’s meeting. Pictured are: Vienna Police Chief Mike Pifer, new Jackson Middle School resource officer Shawn Sheaves, Williamstown Police Chief Shawn Graham, Williamstown Middle/High School resource officer Jeremy Raymond and Parkersburg Police officer M.W. Eichhorn. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The board also showed its appreciation for the school resource officers in middle and high schools in the area. The board approved a memo of understanding with the Vienna, Parkersburg, Williamstown and Wood County Sheriff’s departments for each to provide a school resource officer during the 2023-2024 academic year.
“Safety is the number one priority when it comes to the children, and these people, these police officers, step up and do it each and every day for us. And we just can’t thank them enough,” Tice said during board comments.
During public comment citizens again voiced their concerns about material available to students in the public and school libraries. Tice said he visited Parkersburg High School and spoke to the librarian there.
“She informed me that the book had been checked out four times, but as of Oct. 8, the book was stolen from the library and never replaced,” Tice said.
Jessica Rowley said the book was still available to students at Williamstown and Parkersburg South High Schools and asked the board to look into that. Rowley and others spoke Tuesday to voice her support to appoint Chad Conley to the library board. She said Conley had submitted a letter of interest.
“I have no doubt that after reading this job description that Chad Conley qualifies to fill this appointment,” Rowley said.
The next Wood County Board of Education meeting is scheduled for June 27 at 6 p.m. at the Wood County Schools Central Office at 1210 13th St. in Parkersburg and is open to the public and will be streamed online.
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com
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Wood County BOE hires new positions, postpones creation of another - Parkersburg News
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