Progress Report Provided to BOE Members at April 1st Meeting

At the April 1^st Pocahontas County Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Diedre Cline, who is serving as both an advisor for the schools regarding the state of emergency, and as a liaison with the State Department of Education, provided the members with a progress report about the status of the school’s improvements so far.

Cline handed out a sheet listing the many improvements made, or being made, towards fixing the issues at PCHS which had caused the WV Department of Education to place the Pocahontas County Schools under a State of emergency.

Cline told the board members that during the past three weeks the school staff has been “working hard both at the Central Office and at PCHS,” and that good things are happening because good people are correcting the errors caused by past mistakes in implementing policies, procedures, and paperwork. She cited leadership and staff in both the high school and central office as central reasons for the improvements. She said she is seeing leadership as well as staff developing an attitude that education here is “child centered, but employee sensitive.”

The progress sheet Cline passed out listed the following progress points.

• PCHS now has completed the SAT testing schedule; the teacher SAT training has been completed, and SAT notice has been sent out to parents.
• At-risk students -those with ’s and/or Fs in required classes on their report cards- have all been personally met with, their parents informed, and intervention offered and provided.
• The transcripts of all seniors have been thoroughly checked and corrected if necessary.
• All seniors and their parents, who need credit recovery to graduate have been met with and provided with expectations and the process for credit recovery. In fact, several seniors in that situation have already completed the credit recovery process and will now graduate.
• Productive communication between the school and family has been promoted, and a communication survey has been sent out as of March 31^st. they have already received over 50 comments back from parents.
• Weekly status update meetings regarding PCHS are being held at the Central Office.
• The PCHS Principal has access to the staff evaluation platforms.
• Graduation planning is underway.
• Senior yard signs have been ordered.
• A goal has been set to grow the CTE program in both student numbers and opportunities, and in furtherance of that a meeting has been set with the WVDE Assistant Superintendent who oversees CTE.
• Student Personal Education Plans are in-process.
• A course catalog and programs of study material is being created.
• Problems with Special Education are being addressed, including Individual Education Plans and 504 Plans,
• A comprehensive school counseling plan is nearing completion.
• Teacher closeout checklists are in-process.
• The principal has collaborated with teachers about next school year’s Bell Schedule, and regarding course offerings.
• The Master Schedule for next school year is in process.

Altogether, Cline says she “feels really good” about the progress already made

In part two of our meeting story, we will tell you about the rest of the meeting.