Pocahontas Board of Education – Discussion of the 2023-2024 School Calendar

Pocahontas County School Superintendent Terrence Beam led a discussion during a public hearing on next school year’s proposed school calendar which was held prior to the Board of Education’s February 14 meeting.

The highlights of that calendar include:

School opens for employees on Thursday August 10, 2023 with that day being a teacher preparation and Faculty Senate Day. Friday the 11^th and Monday the 12^th will be Continuing Education days for employees, and Tuesday, August 13^th will be a professional learning day at the employee’s home school.

Students will begin their first instructional day on Wednesday, August 16^th, although students can request that day be an educational leave day if they are participating at the State Fair.

Schools will be closed Monday, September 4^th for Labor Day, Friday November 10^th for Veterans’ Day, and there will be no school on Thanksgiving week from November 20^th through November 24^th.

The first semester will end on Friday, December 20^th, which will be a Faculty Senate/Professional Learning Day for employees. Students will be off for Christmas break from December 20^th until returning for their 2^nd semester on Wednesday, January 3^rd. Employees will return on January 2^nd for a Professional Meeting Day.

Schools will be closed on Monday January 15, 2024 for the Martin Luther King Holiday, and students will be off on Monday, February 26^th and March 29^th while employees to hold Professional Learning Days.

Unless days need to be made-up due to a work-stoppage or unforeseen catastrophic event. Spring Break will begin for students on Friday, March 29^th, and they will return to class on Monday, April 8^th.

Students will not be in school on Friday, April 26^th, Professional Learning Day for employees.

Unless unforeseen circumstances occur, the last scheduled instructional day for students will be May 23^rd.

Teachers will attend a Continuing Education Day on May 24^th and work through May 28^th, except for May 27^th, which is the Memorial Day holiday. The last scheduled day for employees would be June 7^th, although they could be off after May 28^th for “Out of School Environment Days”.

Beam said the first 5 snow days will not count against the required 180 days of instruction, but any snow closings beyond those will require that students complete and turn-in their take-home snow packets.

There will be a second calendar public hearing scheduled for 5:30 pm prior to the next board meeting on March 7, 2023.

There were no delegations or Informational reports at the regular meeting.

During his report, Beam said they are close to an agreement with the Town of Marlinton regarding the ownership transfer of a lot from the board to the town.

Beam also said he would be meeting with the Teachers at Green Bank Elementary/Middle School later in March to discuss with them why their students were struggling so much with test scores. He said this meeting was not to cast blame, but to listen to the teacher’s solutions.

Additionally at this meeting the board handled the following:

• They approved financial matters and reports
• They Accepted Board Member Morgan McCombs’ resignation from being the board’s representative on the Day Report Committee, and replaced him on that committee with Board Member Becky Campbell.
• They allowed the Johnston Lumber Company to voluntarily use their equipment and time to reclaim the old logging trails at PCHS on behalf of the school’s Forestry Program.
• They authorized Marlinton Elementary School to add a Cookbook Fundraiser, and they approved additional Parent & Community Volunteers for the schools.
• They approved the recommended list of personnel actions, which can be seen by clicking on this link to the official agenda – 2-14-23 BOE Official Agenda

The board went into Executive Session to address some personnel issues prior to adjourning the meeting.