Water Plant Issues at Marlinton Middle School Discussed at Board of Education Meeting

At the May 22^nd Pocahontas County Board of Education meeting, the Members heard from both John Boyette, the CFO of Pocahontas Memorial Hospital and Mayor Sam Felton of Marlinton about the state of the water system that serves both Pocahontas Memorial and Marlinton Middle School.

Mr. Boyette pointed out that the pipes which serve both the hospital and the school are 30 years old and will likely need some expensive repair in the near future. Repairs could also be necessary on the 64 thousand gallon water tank too. As things stand, the cost of these repairs would have to be shared by both the Hospital and the Board of Education, neither of whom are in a good position to take on such costs. One possible solution would be for the Town of Marlinton to extend municipal water lines and service to the School and the Hospital. Mayor Felton of Marlinton addressed that option. He said that this was considered in the past but just never done due to some local opposition. Felton said it would be a good thing if municipal water service could be extended, but the town would need financial support from both the Hospital and the Board of Education in order to be able to afford such a major water project. Felton also said that such an extension of the water system would require that water rates in the Town of Marlinton would also have to be raised, and he is “not ready” to do that, since those rates are already high. No decisions about this were made during this meeting as this issue was not on the agenda for action, and this discussion appears to be just the opening round in what promises to be an issue that will take a lot more discussion and a long time to resolve.

The Board was also introduced to next school years Student Representatives to the Board of Education. Joe Riley, the Principal of PCHS explained that they had two outstanding candidates and decided to select both of them. Hunter Tankersly will be the Student Representative for the first semester next school year, while Charles Wilfong will serve as the Representative for the second semester. Both students read the letters they had submitted to be considered for the position.

In other actions, they approved the usual and routine financial reports, and also authorized the Central Office to pay bills, accept grant awards, make budget adjustments from May 23^rd through June 30, 2017 prior to Board of Education Approval.

They approved a Retainer Agreement for legal services for the next fiscal year with their attorneys, Dinsmore and Shohl, LLP.

They authorized the raising of the cost of extra milk from 25 cents to 40 cents per carton, and raised the cost of adult meals from $3.25 to $4.25 per meal.

They approved the following curriculums additions for PCHS for next school year:

• Adding two new 2 credit courses, Physical Education/Health and College Algebra/Statistics.
• Establishing standards for the Statistics course offered at PCHS
• Allowing PCHS students to combine Spanish 5 and Spanish 6 as one 2 credit course.
• The offering of the following courses through Marshall University and taught by a Marshall University Teacher at a cost of $75.00 per class taken:
  • Law Enforcement 201
  • Criminal Justice 200
  • General Psychology 200
  • Advanced Psychology 201PERSONNEL AGENDAProfessional and Service PersonnelPocahontas County Schools
  • PERSONNEL
  • May 22, 2017
  • The Board also approved the below listed Personnel Agenda following a short Executive Session with their Attorney.