By Steve Pendleton
County Board of Education met on Monday, October 21, 2024 at the central office. Present were Dixie Bean, President; Melvin Shook, Vice-president; board members Roy Harper, Douglas Hines;, and Janet Rose; Dr. Sheena VanMeter, Superintendent; Jennifer Strawderman, Assistant Superintendent; Shawn Cullers, Executive Secretary to the Superintendent; Beth Barr, Director of Special Education Services; Jody Shewbridge, Attendance Director; Scott Stutler, Principal of Moorefield Intermediate School (MIS); Rebecca Lewis, Nutrition Director; Jennifer Ours, MIS Cafeteria Manager; and school staff Eileen Rosie Mongold, Bonnie Crites, Carrie Dolan and Susie Dolly.
The meeting opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Student Achievement
MIS students Wyatt Jackson, Riley Keplinger, and Skyler Williams were recognized by the Board for their outstanding art work in oils and watercolors. Principal Scott Stutler and teacher Christian Yeager were on hand to offer their congratulations as well. Dr. VanMeter told the three young artists that their work would be placed on the central office walls.
Presentations
Bonnie Crites provided an update on benchmarks for students in the 5th and 6th grades. Children were recently tested, as is the case early each school year, on what they will eventually learn throughout the next several months. This provides a baseline with which to compare year end test scores. As expected, reading scores were lower than math. The latter has all new content which students have not seen versus the reading curriculum, which is more of a continuation from last year. Attendance is up county wide, but mostly at Moorefield High School (MHS), where principal Amanda Campbell has instituted incentive programs. All schools have incentive initiatives. Crites said that behavioral incidents are down county-wide so far.
Judy Shewbridge gave a report on the attendance. The last report, from two weeks ago, showed Hardy County schools with 93.3 percent attendance. Of the other 6.7 percent, chronic absences account 1 in 5 students. Shewbridge said that the 21 percent chronic absenteeism was inflated due to the limited number of days in the year thus far. She added that the “chronic’ category includes approved and unapproved absences. For example, should a child suffer from a serious illness resulting in extensive absences, it would count as chronic truancy according to the State Department of Education. However, over the course of the school year, the figure should drop. Without improvement, the parents of those children can be charged with truancy at some point in the school year and ordered to appear in Circuit Court. Doug Hines was interested in how surrounding counties are faring with chronic absences. Dr. VanMeter said that data could be obtained. Shewbridge reported that Hardy County currently has 207 students who are home-schooled including 93 in the Moorefield area and 114 in East Hardy.
Consent Items’
The following items were unanimously approved.
– Special Board Minutes from October 7, 2024
– Board Minutes of October 7, 2024
– Bank Reconciliation of September 30, 2024
– Treasurer’s Report on September 30, 2024\
– Budget Journal Entries
– Invoices
Unfinished Business
The Board authorized Critical Need/Shortage/Substitute Teachers Policy, and the Student Publications Policy.
New Business
Jennifer Ours told the Board that when she began working in her current position as cafeteria manager at MIS, her job description stated that the responsibilities were listed as 50 percent manager and 50 percent cook. Now, the portion of her work day officially devoted to managerial duties is twenty-five percent. According to Ms. Ours, this has placed tremendous strain on her, making it impossible to complete management tasks each day. She must spend 75 percent of her work day as a Cook III. She contacted the State Department of Education and was told that the decision to return her to 50 percent was to be made at the county level. Ours and two other kitchen staff prepare breakfast. She must show new workers how to prepare a recipe. There is much pressure on kitchen staff as they are required to watch how food is prepared for certain students as many have allergies. Carb counts must be considered for children who are diabetic, a growing problem across the country. Sometimes the menus they must use show up late. The kitchen is short staffed. It is not uncommon for workers to miss eating lunch and not take scheduled breaks. Some want to quit. Ms. Ours is responsible for arranging pest control services, preparing for health inspections, daily meal recordings, work orders, food orders, end of the month paperwork, working with contractors on broken equipment to mention a few. The process for preparing menus and specific foods is erratic, as there are two different plans, Gordons and Premiro, which are often conflicting. Although her job requires much work at the computer, Ours said that the old system by paper was more efficient and faster.
Moorefield Elementary Autism mentor Carrie Dolan addressed the Board to ask for more help in the classroom with the hiring of additional staff. Although ten students are in the room, there is one teacher and one aide to educate the children while coping with extreme behaviors such biting, hitting, kicking, scratching, spitting, hair pulling. The children pick up one another’s behaviors. Dolan said they are told that one child cannot be disciplined because of safety issues, yet other children must be disciplined for the same behavior. There is no bathroom in the classroom so children with incontinent needs must be walked to the other end of the school. One teacher quit after four weeks into the school year. The Board of Education has provided various people to help out. Dolan said she loves her job working with children who have special needs but the pressure to manage the classroom some days is extremely stressful. She appreciates the support that has been
given but states that another staff person in the classroom every day is a critical need. Dr. VanMeter said she, Mr. Armentrout, and Beth Barr met and devised two plans and different schedules to make things work better. She said the most important thing is getting the substitute and aide positions filled so that four people can be in the classroom and the students can be separated into two groups making it easier to manage behavior.
Elaine Rosie Mongold issued concerns on the behalf of service personnel. Many of the issues arose during a recent meeting of the Hardy County Service Personnel Association. She said that student behavior, including violent incidents are not met with consistent consequences. Actions such as throwing objects, hitting, biting, kicking should not be tolerated. Teachers sometimes must leave their classroom to help another teacher with behaviors. Mongold believes parents are not being held accountable for their children’s behaviors. She suggested that if the county has a behavioral plan, it needs to be followed or revised. She suggested that such behaviors may decrease if students who are consistently restrained are sent home with an unexcused absence. Mongold believes that the hiring of additional substitute teachers is a crucial need, as well as allowing new teachers to job shadow in other classrooms. A service staff member may be offered overtime to help, for example, to help clean a classroom. She pointed out that a legislative measure passed for professional staff to be awarded a $500 bonus for missing under five days of work each year should include service personnel as well. Dr. VanMeter confirmed that the provision has been in place for a number of years for professional staff, but does not include service workers. When classrooms exceed the prescribed student limit, professional staff receive additional money but not service staff. She said efforts to convince the legislature to include service personnel has fallen on deaf ears. Mongold also expressed concern over the sugar content that children are fed at breakfast. In closing, she noted that service personnel have wonderful ideas for change and would like the opportunity to be included in discussions and the decision making process.
Assistant first grade teacher Susie Dolly talked about the mental health, safety, and training of staff. She recapped the presentations of Dolan and Mongold by saying classrooms are becoming more dangerous for staff and children leading to a less productive learning environment. Severe behaviors are seen more in kindergarten, first and second graders who sit in general education classes, not just special education programs. There is inconsistency in response to emergencies. When a teacher calls out for help from colleagues, sometimes help arrives and other times it doesn’t. Dolly said someone should show up every time to assist. She recommended alternative schools for younger students like those in place for older children. She said the need is becoming more evident as time goes on. Cleanliness of the work environment in the second most pressing issue. She isn’t sure what is going on but bathrooms are not being cleaned on a daily basis. The smell of urine is palpable and bathrooms are not be disinfected. With two janitors in schools and 22 bathrooms, she believes it may be too much for them to handle.
Child Nutrition Update
Rebecca Lewis presented a report on child nutrition. She responded to the concern about excessive sugar consumption. Next year, the State Department of Education will mandate
that foods have less sugar. Already, food manufacturers have reduced sugar content. However, Lewis noted that when one ingredient, such as sodium or fat, is removed, something else replaces it. Taking out natural sugar results in added sugars like saccharin being put in. That is what the state is cracking down on in 2025. For breakfast, kitchen staff make some things from scratch such as pumpkin muffin bars, eggs and sausage with cheese, and hash browns. Lewis stated they try to do this as many times each week as possible. Regarding food waste, she said that she has taken photos of trash cans after meals and even had them weighed to determine the amount of uneaten food. If spinach is served, it’s when the child asks for it. So, the amount of spinach made is based on data compiled from what each student eats to date. However, every child must be served three items each meal. A hot dog will count as two items, meat and bread. A vegetable salad counts as three items.
Board Member and Superintendent Discussion
Dr. VanMeter clarified an email that was sent to Board members recently regarding two teaching positions at MHS. A guidance counselor position was eliminated so that a social studies slot could be filled. Openings for two special education teachers have been posted. VanMeter said that there are different levels of behavior with which a student can be assigned. Once a child has been identified as a Level Three student, it lowers the ratio of adult per child in that classroom. As reported earlier in this article, The MES special education class is overloaded with students. Thus far, filling the two teacher vacancies has not been successful. The strategy includes the recent posting of an aide position so that if that vacancy is filled, the hiring of even one teacher will place two more adults in the classroom. A consistent call for substitute teachers has not produced results. VanMeter called the elementary school class an urgent situation. They have used all resources within their control to temporarily make it work including principal Wade Armentrout and assistant principal Shanda Walker spending time in the classroom. The one thing they cannot control is qualified educators applying for the posted positions.
A school bus recently ran off the road after all of the students were dropped off. The driver was unhurt however the bus sustained extensive damage. Per policy, the driver was drug tested and was required to remain off schedule until the results are released. If the test comes back as negative, the driver may return on Tuesday, October 22nd.
Roy Harper reported that on Friday, October 11th, at a bus stop near Valley View golf course, a child exited the bus, began walking toward the opposite side of Route 220 when a driver sped past the bus. The incident was witnessed by a relative of his who was parked on the side of the road to pick up the child. Harper said that the boy normally runs across the road to meet his great aunt but that day, fortunately chose to walk. Otherwise, he would have been struck by the speeding car. School bus cameras are positioned toward both oncoming and passed traffic. Video footage can be frozen frame by frame to capture a license plate number so that the owner of the car can be identified. Harper noted that there is a good 1000 foot of visibility at the stop.
Dixie Bean strongly commented about the unacceptable condition of the MES bathrooms, and noted concerns for possible mold in a storge space. She said 22 bathrooms in one building is a lot to clean but that something must be done to correct the problem.
VanMeter stated that the number of janitors to a building is determined by square footage, student population, and whether the school has athletic programs.
Announcements
The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 4th beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the central office. The fall board budget retreat will take place on Friday, November 22nd.
Mission Statements/Accomplishments
Janet Rose extended condolences to Doug Hines on the passing of his father. Melvin Shook extended his appreciation to staff taking their evening to attend the meeting and share their concerns. He said that should be highly regarded. Rose agreed and noted that the Board can only take action when staff come forward. Bean also praised staff by saying remarks were just factual and not accusatory. VanMeter extended congratulations to MHS for winning the Hardy Bowl football game.
Executive Session
A motion was made and seconded followed by consent to enter into executive session to discuss a student disciplinary issue.
Personnel Actions
Following the executive session, the Board acted on a motion to approve the superintendent’s recommended personnel actions.
With all business being completed, the Board voted to adjourn the meeting
