Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Schools Superintendent Dr. Leatha Williams presented the 2026-2027 strategic plan to the Pocahontas County Board of Education August 18. With students and staff returning to school, Williams wanted to share the goals for the new year.
Williams said she worked with the central office directors to create the strategic plan that has three goals on which they want to focus.
“By the end of the 26-27 school year, Pocahontas County Schools will focus on reducing chronic absenteeism by four percent or five students at each school through proactive communication, student and family engagement activities, data monitoring and school specific interventions,” Williams said.
The next goal is that the schools will demonstrate measurable growth in each proficiency category of standardized testing by 10 percent. This includes growth in student achievement in English/language arts and mathematics.
The final goal is increasing family engagement by 20 percent over the prior year levels by establishing at least four active community and parent partnership events that build family and community understanding of academic expectations and standards.
“We’ve done extensive training on what family engagement is versus family involvement,” Williams said.
Williams also gave a report on the balanced score sheet and shared with the board how they can access the information online. The score sheet is broken down by school and shows the percentage of students who exceeded the standard, met the standard, partially met the standard and did not meet the standard on the statewide standardized testing.
For each school, the scorecard is broken down by grade, as well as into categories for socioeconomic standing and children with disabilities.
Williams said the middle school level was selected for targeted support because the upper-level students were scoring so high and the lower level students were scoring so low that there was a gap.
When discussing testing standards, the term “bubble student” is used often and board president Connie Rose asked Williams to explain what that term means.
“One of our things we worked on last year and this year is relationships with each kid,” Williams said. “We find a kid that is within ten or fifteen points of meeting standards. We develop a relationship with that kid, talking to them, trying to get them to school, talking about their performance, looking at their individual assessment results and what they need.
“Then we put them in targeted intervention to move them to the next level,” she continued. “So, we identify how we can increase our overall proficiency by looking at individual kids.”
A bubble student is a student who is on the cusp of going from meets the standards to exceeds the standards on their testing. Those students need an extra push to get over that hump and into the top tier, which will in turn raise the proficiency rate of the school they attend and the county as a whole.
In old business, the board approved:
• making revisions to the Hope Scholarship Policy to place it on the next agenda for approval.
• the WVSBA assistance of the cost of the five-year audit and RFP process.
• re-entry of students who were expelled. They returned to school for the 2026-2027 school year.
In new business, the board approved:
• Policy Review of Regulations for Education Programs, Attendance and Graduation Requirements.
In personnel management, the board approved the following:
• Employment of Ann Marie Thackston as interventionist/MTSS coordinator at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, effective for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Employment of Emily Sharp as long-term substitute teacher of science at Pocahontas County High School, for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Employment of Susan Ray as long-term substitute teacher of science at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Employment of Michelle Wilfong as long-term substitute teacher of special education/multi-categorical/autism at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Employment of Tina Tracy and Jennifer McCarty as teachers of homebound instruction for Pocahontas County Schools, for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Resignation of Stephen Martin as assistant principal/supervisor of CTE at Pocahontas County High School.
• Employment of William Shafer as ECCAT special education/classroom/bus aide at Hillsboro Elementary School, for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Employment of Darlene Arbogast as $1 assistant girls’ soccer coach at Pocahontas County High School.
• Employment of Crystal Keatley as head volleyball coach at Pocahontas County High School.
• Employment of Justin Dilley as $1 assistant boys’ soccer coach at Pocahontas County High School.
• Employment of Nebraska Scotchie as middle school athletic director at Marlinton Middle School.
• Resignation of Corey McNabb as head girls’ basketball coach at Marlinton Middle School, effective August 6.
The next board meeting will be Tuesday, September 1, at 6 p.m., at the board of education conference room in Buckeye.
