Breaking News

Education

Parents speak out about pre-K placements

KINGWOOD — Members of the Preston County Board of education heard more questions about placing pre-K students within identified schools of choice. Crystal Nestor told board members she signed her 4-year-old son up for South Preston but was told there was already too many students. “I have two daughters in South Preston. We’ve established roots. Now your asking me to send my 4-year-old son to Fellowsville. South is the best for me and my son. That works better for my family,” she said. Nestor said she wasn’t going to send her 4-year-old son on a bus alone knowing he ...

Phil Faini: ‘The Chief’ knew how to keep the beat

Hail to the Chief. If you want to know the unbridled joy Phil Faini had for the wondrous act of making music, just go to his Facebook page. There, you’ll find a prominent photograph of the former WVU Creative Arts dean in action. He’s not in a tuxedo in a concert hall. Nope. In this candid, the drummer and academician, grinning like a loon, is leading an impromptu percussion concert, smack in the middle of a Taipei restaurant. Let it be known that he’s wielding chopsticks on a beer bottle — the Faini-fashioned instruments at hand. Call it an international ...

Morgantown charter school plans an expansion to Preston

The West Virginia Academy, the state’s first brick-and-mortar charter school, is expanding its Morgantown campus to Preston County. “This is a second campus and not a campus move,” board chairman John Treu said of the project set to begin in 2024. The academy, which just completed ...

SUPCO: Don’t sue the gov. over charter schools

In a question of whether West Virginia’s system for approving charter schools is constitutional, the state Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Jim Justice isn’t the guy who should be sued. The justices concluded that the West Virginia Public Charter Schools Board, which was established by the legislature as a way of approving and assessing the schools, is the entity with the actual authority. “Upon thorough review, we conclude that Respondents lack standing to seek the preliminary injunction at issue against Governor Justice because (1) he does not have the ability to ...

An Avalanche of breakfast and lunch is coming to Mon Schools

A chicken tender can’t take up for itself — but Monongalia County Schools can. Should any freezer across the district begin an unplanned thaw, be it by power failure or a compressor issue, Brian Kiehl’s smartphone will immediately chirp with texts and emails of warning. Which means, he said, an interlocking safety net of technology to keep the tenders, and any other menu item on ice, out of harm’s way. “Whatever works,” said Kiehl, the district's director of child nutrition services. “We just emptied our last freezer last week, so we can clear the ...