Pocahontas County Board Of Education Receives Good News on Forest and Mineral Money

Marlinton, WV – The Pocahontas County Board of Education will soon receive two checks from the WV State Auditor totaling just under $608,000.00. Board Treasurer Alice Irvine says she received two letters from the auditors’ office – one for forest money, the other for minerals.

The board will receive over $562,000.00 for the federal award for National Forest Land, administered through the US Dept of Agriculture and allocated directly to the board. They’ll also receive just over $45,000.00 for mineral royalties, administered through the U.S. Department of the Interior, and allocated to the Pocahontas County Commission. Irvine says it was a unexpected, but welcome surprise to get the letters.

In other business, the board approved spending over $21,000.00 on school access safety improvements at 4 of the 5 county schools. Green Bank Elementary-Middle School and Marlinton Middle School will each receive $4700.00 for door access control units. Marlinton Elementary School will receive $4,678.00 for doors, hardware and exit signs. Pocahontas County High school will receive $7,349.00 for doors and hardware.

The board also approved the following:

a partnership with Pocahontas Parks and Recreation to construct a wellness center next to Marlinton Elementary school.
A contract with Leslie Goodall for occupational therapy services for county students
A contract with Cletis Daniel McKinney for training of bus mechanics
A contract with Dr. Howard O’Cull to assist in the search for a new school Superintendent
And an extensive list of chaperones for Pocahontas County High School for the remainder of the school year.

In personnel matters, the board approved hiring Terrence C. Beam as the Director of Federal Programs and Instruction. Beam, currently serving as Principal of Hillsboro Elementary School, will remain in that position through the end of the school year. Linda Beverage and Cammy Kesterson are designated as Co-Edge site Coordinators at the high school.

The next meeting of the Pocahontas County Board of Education is Monday, March 22nd.