Principal Anderson Presents to BOE on Marlinton Elementary School

At the October 7^th Pocahontas County Board of Education meeting, Marlinton Elementary School Principal Anderson provided the members with an LSIC/Data Presentation regarding that school.

He said the school has been working with Community in Schools to focus on attendance. They have been concentrating on the new attendance policy, which sets forth 3 tiers of absence. Tier 1, which applies to students with little or no attendance issues, concentrates on rewarding students for perfect attendance by providing things like extra recess, movies, and recognizing their attendance to the whole school. Tier 2 are students who miss 3 to 5 days, action on these ranges from letters to parents to talking to the parents and offering them help such as connecting them with a social worker, depending on each individual case. Tier 3 is for chronically absent students missing 6 or more days and action can include MDT meetings with parents, referrals to hearings or to Juvenile Services depending on the severity. Anderson said the number of chronically absent students which was 25% last year is down to 15.8% at Marlinton elementary School so far this year.

Anderson also addressed disciplinary issues at the school, which can range from minor level 1 to very serious level 4 misbehaviors. He said punishments can range from warnings to detention to  in-school suspension, to out-of-school suspension. He said he strongly encourages teachers to document all misbehaviors, no matter how slight because that allows the school to address the disciplinary problem better. He said last year there were 152 documented disciplinary actions and so far this year there have been 30, but most of those have been fairly minor things like inappropriate language or minor disruptive conduct.

Anderson also said this year the students at Marlinton Elementary are moving in the right direction academically with small improvements in Math and ELA, but the 4^th grade is ahead of the state average in Math and the 5^th grade is almost equal to state average in Math, while the 3^rd and 4^th grades are ahead of the state average in ELA.

Kristi Hamons and Stephanie Burns briefed the members about the 21^st Century Learning Centers FY 2026 Grant award, explaining that the grant will provide $250,000 for each of the first 3 years of the grant and 70 to 80% of that amount in each of the last 2 years of that 5-year grant.  It will be for programs including after-school academic programing. The grant focuses on middle and high school students. They said the goals of the grant are to increase academic achievement as well as to increase family engagement with things like parent-teacher conferences, career, and college nights; family game nights, painting parties, and culinary workshops.

Superintendent Dr. Leatha Williams updated the members on the progress being made to meet the Special Education compliance indicators. She said they are strictly monitoring these by reviewing every IEP (that’s Individual Education Programs,) to ensure everything is being done by the book and documented.  Regarding the progress being made at PCHS on their State of Emergency, Williams said the school needs to have their plans to standardize their attendance- taking procedures in every classroom, complete their student handbooks, and have a plan to fix skills gaps submitted to the state by November 1.

Williams also told the board members that the 833 students attending the county schools this reflects a 60-student decrease from last year.

Additionally at the meeting the Board approved:

• The recommended personnel agenda.
• An overnight trip for 6 students and one homeschooled student to complete observation hours for the Grow Your Own College Program at Marlinton Elementary School; Marlinton Middle School; Green Bank Elementary/Middle School; and PCHS during the current school year.
• The school volunteer list.
• An MOU with SESC for Lydia Young, the Special Education Consultant; and with Ruth Bland, the Special Education Compliance Assistant
• Proposed 1st readings of revisions to Policies 5200;2371; 2451; 5600; and 3120.12
• Permission to post the positions of Homebound Teachers; Mentors; teachers, Coordinators, and a Grant Director for the 21^st Century Learning Centers Grant.
• To move part-time positions in the Alternative Education Program to full-time positions at both Greenbank Elementary Middle School and Marlinton Middle School.
• Permission to start a talent search for a Security Officer at PCHS and at the Green Bank School.
• An out-of-county field trip.
• Proposed fundraisers.