Karen McCoy Chosen to Replace Sue Hollandsworth on the Pocahontas BOE

At 4 pm on April 7^th, at a special meeting of the Pocahontas BOE, it was announced that Dr. Sue Hollandsworth had submitted a letter of resignation from her board seat due to illness.

As a sad late addition to this, it was just learned that Dr. Sue Hollandsworth passed away from her illness on April 12^th. On Saturday, April 18^th from 6 pm to 8 pm, there will a visitation at the McNeel Gymnasium at the Hillsboro Elementary School, where she had served as Principal for many years.  There will also be a service for her at 2 pm on Sunday, April 19^th at The Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Hillsboro.

During that 4 pm special meeting, the BOE members went into an executive session and conducted interviews with a number of applicants desiring temporary appointment to the board.

Also on April 7^th, at their 6 pm regular session, Board President Emery Grimes announced that while each of the interviewees gave impressive interviews, the board selected Karen McCoy to fill the remaining 3 months of Hollandsworth’s board term, which ends on June 30, 2026.

The following candidates will be running in the May 12^th election for the three seats on the board that are up for election.

• ANDREW “FROSTY” McNABB, from Slatyfork, a Central District seat, currently an incumbent running for reelection.
• KAREN G McCOY, from Hillsboro, currently just appointed to temporarily fill Dr. Hollandsworth’s Southern District seat.
• MORGAN McCOMB from Marlinton, a Southern District seat, currently an incumbent running for reelection.
• FRED KOERBER – from Marlinton, running for a Central District seat.
• EDWINA L GARBER -from Arbovale, running for a Northern District seat.
• REGINA HALL -from Marlinton, running for a Central District seat.
• STEPHEN McCARTY JR. -from Green Bank, running for a Northern District seat.
• CARL V KELK -from Buckeye, running for a Southern District Seat.
• CONNIE ROSE -from Hillsboro, running for a Southern District Seat.

Board of Education seats are non-partisan positions, so these elections are final, with the winning three candidates assuming their seats on July 1, 2026.

Only two candidates from any one of the three districts (Northern, Central and Southern) are allowed to be seated on the board. The two members who are not up for reelection are -Emery Grimes who now occupies one of the Northern District seats; and Sam Gibson who now occupies one of the Central District seats. Only one additional member may be elected from those two districts, and only a maximum of 2 of the 4 candidates running for Southern District seats can be elected.

Also at the regular session:

• The members were presented with two options for a school Calendar, and voted to accept the option #1, in which the employees will start the school year on August 12, 2026; the first term officially begins on August 17^th with 2 Out-Of-School days, and students report on August 19. This choice had been preferred by a vote of school employees and has a projected end of school for June 9^th, 2027. It also offers more protection to Spring break by making those days “Out-of-Calander” days. This board-approved calendar will be forwarded to the state for their approval.
• There was a report of student attendance rates, which shows some improvement over last school year. Superintendent Williams also pointed out a controversial policy change in which if a student is tardy 15 days, their driving privileges will be suspended.
• It was announced that Marlinton Elementary School will be normalizing their daily schedule, including having lunch the same time every day.
• The members voted to obtain estimates for improving the softball and baseball facilities at PCHS, including the bathrooms, concession stands, roads, bleachers and fields there, since 128 kids play in summer youth leagues there.
• They approved the recommended personnel agenda and routine reports, and agreed to advertise for various new positions such as counselors, interventionists, a teacher of college and career readiness at Marlinton Elementary, an Itinerant Counselor at Green Bank Middle school and a Graduation Coach at PCHS, as well as CTE Teachers to support new CTE Programs in Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice, Corrections, Forensic Investigations, Practical Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technicians, and Phlebotomy Technicians.

The meeting ended with a very long and complex presentation by Superintendent Williams to explain the reasons for the personnel changes that are being made. We will include that in the second part of this meeting story.