The Tyler County Board of Education met in regular session on Monday, September 18, 2023. The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were President Linda Hoover, Vice President Katrina Byers, Curtis Heintzman and Larry Thomas. Superintendent Shane Highley was also present. Scott Strode was not present.
Also attending were Tricia Feldmeier, Director of Human Resources; Jeff Davis, Treasurer; Stacey Roberts, Executive Secretary; Krista DeVaughn, Principal of SES; Paden Morris, Principal of TCHS; Pam Stollings, TCHS Counselor; Shane Bates, Hayden Montgomery and Randy Rutherford with the Tyler Star News.
The Board approved minutes of the September 5, 2023 regular meeting.
First up on the agenda was a presentation by Paden Morris, Principal of Tyler Consolidated High School. Mr. Morris addressed the Board sharing success reached by TCHS during the previous school year. He also outlined some plans to continue improvement in various areas throughout this current year. Principal Morris is especially pleased with the fact that 85 percent of the student body is involved in some kind of extra-curricular activity. His goal is to increase that number to 89 percent. Mr. Morris also pointed out that TCHS now has an outstanding 92% graduation and attendance rate. Hayden Montgomery and Shane Bates, students at TCHS, were present to speak to the Board about student opportunities they have taken advantage of at TCHS during their tenure. They also informed the board of their plans for after graduation.
Pam Stollings, Counselor at TCHS, was present to share the activities that are planned for this school year to help students with college prep, mental health, and life skills that are necessary to succeed in school and after graduation. She also outlined activities planned for the students during their flex time (time not spent in the classroom). Some of the activities included are in August School Spirit Act; September Wellness walks and suicide prevention; October Bulling prevention, kindness, TC shirts for each student, and College fair; November Thankful tree, Blessing box donation, crayons and books for Ronald McDonald House and financial aid night; December Career fair, FAFSA night, student Christmas, and movie with snacks; January life skills fair and motivational speaker. February Healthy relationships and body safety; March mad City Money; April Military Appreciation Month; May Teacher appreciation (students learn to write thank you notes to their teachers), Graduation, and Awards. All of these activities teach the students valuable life lessons that cannot be taught in a classroom.
Next to address the board was Krista DeVaughn, Principal of SES, who addressed the Board sharing many of the wonderful things happening at SES. Principal DeVaughn shared various pictures of the staff and students participating in activities provided by the school. Mrs. DeVaughn touched on test scores and the strategies that they are implementing to improve those scores. She shared she is looking into reading programs that will build better reading skills with each grade level. Mrs. DeVaughn also highlighted some of the valuable lessons her staff learned at the SREB conference this past summer, and they returned with many new ideas. Students and staff have welcomed back their SRO, Brian Owens, installed new room signs to better identify the grades in case of an emergency, upgraded outdoor buildings, cleared off the hillside, paved the entrance road, hosted the Back to School Bash and much more.
Under the Superintendent’s report, Mr. Highley announced that Governor Jim Justice has declared September 22, 2023, as School Service Personnel Day in the Mountain State.
Mr. Highley also shared with the Board that the Open House on Friday, September 15th was a big success. Many community members came out to take advantage of the free meals and facility tours. Mr. Highley discussed the projects taking place throughout the county and gave updates. He also informed the board of the projects that are being planned for the near future.
The board approved the FY 2023 Financial Statement. The board also approved the TCMS 2023-24 girls’ basketball schedule.
The board approved the following trip requests. Amy Yost requested permission to take five business students to attend the Big Workshop at Marietta College on October 2, 2023. Transportation by school van was requested. Jeff Maiden requested permission to take the TCMS Task students to Morgantown to compete in the WVU School of Engineering Pumpkin Drop Contest on October 27, 2023. Bus transportation was also requested. Ashley Cunningham requested permission for the High Needs Special Education students at TCMS to attend the Middle Island Harvest Festival on October 6, 2023. Students will ride their regular bus home from the Harvest Festival. Scott Wall requests permission for the AIB students to attend the Harvest Festival on October 6, 2023. Students will walk down to the grounds as their schedules permit. Krista DeVaughn requested permission for the SES students to attend the Harvest Festival on October 6, 2023. Bus transportation was also requested.
The following other requests were also approved by the board.
Christina Duke asked permission for Riverfront Athletics, Inc. to use the TCHS Football Field/Track Area, Bleachers, Restrooms and Parking Lot for a Flag Football Tournament on October 22, 2023. The Organization will be completely responsible for clean-up.
April and Stevean Torres requested permission for Carmyn Torres and Chloei Torres to continue to cross county lines to attend Tyler County Schools for the 2023-24 school year.
On a motion made by Katrina Byers, seconded by Larry Thomas with a 3-0 vote, with Curtis Heintzman recusing himself from the vote, the Board approved the following employments, transfers and/or rescissions. Employ Caitlin Stewart as Late Bus Duty Teacher at SES, effective immediately. Employ Merritt Grimes as National Honor Society Advisor at TCHS, effective immediately. Employ Myra Boggs-Dill as Substitute Classroom Aide, effective immediately. Employ Tracy Heintzman as Substitute Classroom Aide, effective immediately.
On a motion made by Katrina Byers, seconded by Curtis Heintzman with a 4-0 vote, the Board went into Executive Session at 8:34 p.m. under Item 9, as per the School Laws of WV 6-9A-4 which states “Matters involving or affecting the purchase, sale or lease of property, advance construction planning, the investment of public funds or other matters involving competition which, if made public, might adversely affect the financial or other interest of the state or any political subdivision.” On a motion made by Curtis Heintzman, seconded by Katrina Byers with a 4-0 vote, the Board came out of Executive Session at 9:01 p.m. with no announcement of the discussions.
Two items were requested to be placed on the next meeting agenda. One, Larry Thomas requested an update on the locks on classroom doors, and, two, Curtis Heintzman requested an update on the clean-up of the area in the back of TCHS.
Following the approval to pay the bills the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at the Tyler County Board of Education Office in Middlebourne.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
