What Happens at the Pocahontas County Schools When Snow Days Are All Used?

In part one of our story on the January 14^th Pocahontas County Board of Education Meeting, we discussed the possible loss of our SRS Forestry money for this year, the STRIDE assistance from the WV Education Department, the Attendance Record so far this year, and Director Gibson’s report on Maintenance, Transportation and School Safety. Here is what else happened at the meeting.

School Superintendent Lynne Bostic talked about all the weather-related school closings so far this year. Bostic said we have already used 5 days before going into the Snow Packet days. Those 5 days are “Equivalent Days” and do not need to be made up because they were covered by adding additional minutes to each school day.   She said that after January 9^th, there is only one Snow Packet Day left. Snow Packet days are also known as “Non-Traditional Instruction Days.

The next step, after we used the last Snow Packet Day, is to start using OS Days – those are “Outside the School Environment Days” and those are April 21^st, May 30^th, June 2^nd, and June 3^rd. She said, as needed, they will have students attend those OS days in the following order:

1. May 30^th;
2. June 2^nd;
3. June 3^rd;
4. April 21^st, which will be the last one used because many families travel for Easter.

What happens after all of those days are used up? Bostic said we will have to use our “Out of Calander Days,” which are April 14, 15, 16. 17 and 18 – basically spring vacation/Easter holiday days.

So, let’s hope the weather improves this winter.

Also at the meeting, Board Member Morgan McComb talked about the critical problems the lack of Wi FI at the Green Bank Elementary/Middle School due to the Green Bank Observatory’s Quiet Zone restrictions. He said to try and keep the educational levels for Green Bank students up to the same level as the other schools which all have WI Fi, is very expensive, and might not even be entirely successful, since WI Fi has become such an important part of modern education. He made the following suggestions to try to solve this:

1. Ask the Observatory to voluntarily shut their sensitive equipment down from 8 am to 3 pm on days when school is in session.
2. Asking the Observatory and/or the National Science Foundation (which is affiliated with the Green Bank Observatory) to install electronic interference filters on the observatory’s sensitive equipment like so many other radio observatories across the country have done.

Before doing any of the above, the board members seemed to agree we should meet with Chuck Niday, the administrators of the observatory, and possibly County Emergency Management Director Mike O’Brien to discuss this issue and possible solutions.

During the discussion about this, it was also mentioned that neighboring Bath, Highland and possibly Randolph counties are refusing to recognize or follow the Quiet Zone Rules.

Additionally at the meeting, the members approved:

• Routine financial reports.
• For Cindy Solak and Susan Cover to take 20 PCHS students by school bus to WVU Tech in Beckley to tour the school’s forensic lab on January 29^th.
• Changing the travel reimbursement rate from 67 cents per mile to 70 cents per mile, retroactive to January 1, 2025.
• A Memorandum of Approval with the WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Facility’s Pocahontas County Youth Reporting Center.
• Chrissy Hovorka and Joanna Cordell as new parent and community volunteers.
• The recommended personnel actions.