Preston BOE eager to market Fellowsville school
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KINGWOOD – The Preston County Board of Education is "seeing a light at the end of the tunnel" in their efforts to sell the Fellowsville school building, according to Superintendent of Schools Bradley Martin.
The BOE closed both Fellowsville Elementary and the Rowlesburg School due to decreased enrollment and lack of funding. The closures were part of a five-year plan outlined in the 2020 comprehensive educational facilities plan.
After its closure, the Rowlesburg School become the Rowlesburg Opportunity Center. The center provides an alternative educational program serving at-risk middle school and high school students, and provides a supportive learning environment for students facing truancy, academic challenges, and social and emotional needs.
The BOE voted 3-2 to close Fellowsville School as part of a broader decision to consolidate resources due to declining enrollment and rising costs associated with maintaining the school. Martin said the BOE might be able to market the school in a matter of weeks rather than months.
"There will be a petition that needs to be filed in court," he said. "But I feel better about it than I did a few months ago."
No further action was taken.
During a previous meeting, board members discussed developing a list of personal and/or board goals for the upcoming school year. Some of the ideas brought up included the CTE programs, transparency and gaining public trust, staff training, maintenance and safety plans, and school bus safety. Board President Lucas Tatham said, if something does not absolutely require an executive session, it should be discussed in a public meeting.
Board member Michael Hovatter agreed, saying the guidelines should be explained. He said what is public should be discussed in public, and what isn’t should be discussed during an executive sessions.
"If it’s about a student, then it is automatically an executive session," he said.
Martin said employees are scheduled to return for the beginning off the school year’s professional development on Aug. 18, with additional county and school level processional development through Aug. 20. He said Aug. 21 is the scheduled preparation day with no formal PD meetings to be scheduled. Martin said students from first through 12th grades are set to begin Aug. 24 with Pre-K and Kindergarten students to begin Aug. 27 to allow for needed home and/or classroom visitations to be completed.
He said he recently received notification from the WV Mountain State Educational Service Cooperative related to options for teachers with 15 years of teaching experience at a given programmatic level to pursue coursework to achieve their administrative certification.
Martin said the total cost for participants is $3,000 with most coursework being completed virtually, but with some in-person sessions as well. He said counties are being asked to assess and make determinations on possible candidates for inclusion in the program which begins in September. Martin said eligible employees were notified Monday of their potential eligibility and given options to submit questions about the program and were advised on how to provide notification of interest, which is to be submitted in writing by Aug. 12.
In other business, board members:
— Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Preston County Schools and Kanawha County Schools for virtual education services.
— Approved a MOU between PCS and Best Life Therapy LLC to provide professional development services.
— Approved A MOU between PCS and Kristen Thompson for psycho-educational testing services.
— Approved a MOU between PSC and Lori Bailey for psycho-educational evaluations of students.
— Approved a MOU between PCS and Interim Healthcare of Morgantown for healthcare staffing services
— Approved a MOU between PCS and WVU School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences to provide mobility services to visually impaired students.
The next meeting of the Preston County Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 24.