State delegates, Marion County School Board to discuss 2024 legislature

Nov. 27—FAIRMONT — After a brief lull for Thanksgiving break, the Marion County Board of Education is resuming its regular meetings this week with two back-to-back sessions on Monday morning and Tuesday evening.

The first, scheduled for Nov. 27 at 10 a.m., will feature a discussion with state delegates and senators whose legislative work stands to affect public education in Marion County and the Mountain State at large.

During the meeting, the Board and community members in attendance can tell the representatives about current needs within Marion County Schools and their hopes for what the West Virginia Legislature will pass in its 2024 session.

Then, on Nov. 28 at 5:30 p.m., the Board will host a regular meeting to review its final agenda items for the month of November.

This includes the potential purchase of interactive display boards for Pleasant Valley Elementary and White Hall Elementary schools, with anticipated costs of just over $11,000 for each school.

During the meeting, Board members will also review several contacts with individuals who provide a range of services to Marion County Schools staff and students alike.

This includes a contract for consulting services for the administration of East Fairmont High for the remainder of the school year, and contracts with three psychological evaluators with experience evaluating students for Autism.

Also, during Monday's meeting the Board will review plans to update the telephone system at Monongah Middle School, which would cost just over $41,000 of the Board's technology budget.

Generally, the Board reviews multiple bids from outside agencies to determine the lowest cost for equipment and services.

But Monongah Middle's new phone system will need to match the current county-wide phone system for Marion County Schools, which means that the Board must continue working with its current provider, Tate Communication, for the purchase.

For staff members, the Board is also reviewing a $42,000 professional development investment in services provided by Reading Horizons, which is an early reading program that supports students through third grade.

Through the program, teachers for Marion County Schools would learn new ways to bolster their students' reading proficiency.

Also on the agenda for Tuesday are several requests for overnight trips for Marion County sports teams, which appear on most agendas for regular meetings. This week, however, two additional field trips will be voted on by the Board, both of which explore fields beyond athletics.

The first is an overnight field trip for North Marion High School's student theatre group, which would allow the group to use a county bus to visit Concord University from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 to participate in the West Virginia Theatre Association's play festival competition.

The Board will also review a request for an overnight commercial carrier to take 38 Marion County students to Charleston, W.Va. for a program created by RAZE WV, a statewide tobacco awareness program. Transportation for the trip would have an anticipated cost of $2,000.

Neither of the Board's two upcoming meetings include Board votes on student expulsions, which means the total number of student expulsions in the current academic year is now lower than the total number of expulsions from the 2022-23 academic year.

Previously, Board members remarked that a rise in instances of student vaping, paired with stricter school disciplinary laws adopted across the state, led to an increase in the number of students under review for expulsion from Marion County Schools.

As long as no student expulsions are added to either agenda, the total number of students expelled from Marion County Schools entering this December would be 19, compared to 21 from last year.

Reach Jack Walker by email at jwalker@timeswv.com.