Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
More than thirty individuals – parents, teachers, students and community members – spoke at the March 26 Pocahontas County Board of Education meeting, expressing concerns and opinions regarding the proposed staff cuts at Pocahontas County High School.
The cuts have been the talk of the county – and state – for two weeks, since it was revealed that Pocahontas County Schools Superintendent Lynne Bostic had a private meeting with the math and science teachers at PCHS to discuss the upcoming RIF and transfer season.
Each year, school systems have to look at the budget and estimate how much funding is to be received from federal and state entities. If there are any cuts to funding, then the superintendent is to evaluate the staff and see if there are any cuts or transfers that can be made.
This year, the board was aware that ESSER – Elementary and Second School Emergency Relief Fund – was going to be discontinued at the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The ESSER funding was established to assist schools with funding during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school system is also unsure how much funding it will receive through the Safe Rural School Fund – known locally as the forestry funding. Congress determines the amount paid to counties each year.
Taking both of those funding issues into consideration, Bostic had to make a RIF – Reduction in Force – list. She had meetings with staff members who would be affected. The meetings and RIF notices had to be delivered by April 1.
After her meeting at PCHS on March 15, news spread that the board was planning to cut a math teacher and a science teacher. This led to many letters being sent to the board as well as news entities, with concerns about the loss of the positions and stressing the importance of the STEM program at PCHS.
At the board meeting, which was held at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, the individuals who spoke shared why they were against the proposed cuts and some gave suggestions on how the board could fund the programs and keep the positions.
Since all speakers were signed up under the delegations portion of the agenda, the board could not respond or answer questions at that time. Board members did, however, speak at the end of the meeting about the issue.
Board member Jarrett McLaughlin thanked the community for being respectful during the meeting and handling themselves well as they shared their opinions.
“It could have been very nasty, and I think that everybody handled themselves pretty well,” he said.
Board members Becky Campbell and Sam Gibson shared their displeasure with how things were handled and said they received a lot of calls and messages about something they didn’t know about until after it happened.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation out there, and that’s caused a lot of chaos,” Campbell said. “I know the first time I heard about the cuts, I was sitting in a training class and my phone was blowing up. Sue [Hollands-orth] was sitting beside me. I felt a little embarrassed that the general public knew more about this than I do, and I still feel very embarrassed about that.”
Bostic said the reason she did not share the information with board members at the time the meetings took place was because, from her understanding, state code does not allow that information to be shared with the board until after April 1.
“I think that this is the worst public relations tactical error we have ever had,” Gibson said. “We basically threw all of our public support out the door. This could have been handled so much better.”
Gibson added that he felt Bostic could have come to the board and told them that they were looking at cuts without giving specific names.
Board member Morgan McComb, who was an employee of the school system for decades, said he remembers when the board of education was sued by employees who were cut during RIF/transfer season. The board reached a settlement with the employees because the cuts were discussed beforehand.
When treasurer Sherry Radcliff explained that the ESSER funding was used to hire LPNs, Gibson suggested that the board RIF everyone who was hired with the “COVID” money and then the board would have time to reevaluate the budget.
Since the matter was not on the agenda, Gibson’s suggestion to vote on the issue could not happen.
Radcliff said the majority of the ESSER funding was used to repair HAVAC systems at GBEMS and Marlinton Middle School.
Gibson asked Bostic what the plan was in regard to the next step with the RIF process. Bostic asked if she could answer and McComb advised her against it.
“We have to follow state law,” McComb said. “One thing I’d like to add, Sam, is I hate to see programs leave too, but Lynne inherited this, and she’s fixing it. [Terrence] Beam told us last year that he had to get [a math teacher] back to the high school as a full-time teacher because he had promised them that, and the numbers would not support it.
“When you make that kind of decision, somewhere down the line, when your funding is based on numbers, there has to be a reckoning,” he added.
When looking at the proposed RIFs, Hollandsworth reminded everyone that they are not cuts and there are possibilities to combine classes and/or transfer a teacher to another position to keep them in the system.
“Right now, we have a math teacher teaching wrestling,” she said. “We’re teaching land surveying. We have an applied statistics class with two people in it.”
“The medical terminology course, when I looked at the schedule, they have one person in that class,” Bostic added.
While the board is open to offering AP courses and college courses, it is important to look at the size of classes, as well as what is being offered.
“I’m passionate about college education and degrees and college credit,” McComb said. “My daughter went out of Pocahontas County High School with thirty credits and that was great – if we can afford them. If we can provide that while Green Bank, Marlinton, Hillsboro and the students at Pocahontas County High School that have no intentions of going to college, are getting what they need.
“Do we have students that are not getting what they need because all we’re offering is high level classes?” he continued. “Every parent believes that the board should be looking at and doing what is best for their children, and we’re charged with doing what is best for all the children. We have to consider all the children.”
“I just think there’s options,” Gibson said. “I’m not ready to abandon this, yet.”
“It’s horrible,” McComb responded. “I’ll be the first to admit that, but we have to be realistic, and we have to look at the facts. We can’t let passion override common sense.”
All the RIF/transfer notices have been delivered and the next step is for the board to have hearings with the individuals who received notices and request a hearing to discuss their options.
In financial management, the board approved: payment of vendor listing, payment of local government purchasing card, employee payroll, extra duty pay, bank reconciliations, grant awards, Pocahontas County Schools Summary of Schedule of Revenues and expenditures on a cash basis and budget adjustments.
In miscellaneous management, the board approved the following:
• Out of state trip to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, for a field trip with the Theater Club on April 17. There will be approximately 20 students with chaperones. It will be a one-day event.
• Purchase of a Sterling Acterra 2001 Refrigerator Truck for food services.
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Pocahontas County Board of Education and the Human Resource Development Foundation, Inc. (HRDF) for Youth Health Threat Assessment.
• to include Donkey Basketball to the school-based fundraiser list for Green Bank Elementary-Middle School for the 2023-2024 school year.
In personnel management, the board approved the following:
• Employment of Tina Tracy as teacher of special education/multi-categorical at Hillsboro Elementary School at state minimum salary based on degree and experience plus equity, retroactive to March 21, for 53 days, for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year.
• Employment of Alexander Hummel as teacher of music and band director at Pocahontas County High School and band director at Marlinton Middle School, at state minimum salary based on degree and experience plus equity, effective March 27, for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year.
• Resignation of Daniel J. Ahern as bus driver and substitute teacher for Pocahontas County Schools, retroactive to March 15.
• Employment of Karen Vandevender as substitute teacher for Pocahontas County Schools, at state basic professional salary, based on degree and experience, from the 2023-2024 school year, as needed.
The next board meeting will be Tuesday, April 16, at 6 p.m., at the board office in Buckeye.
