Newly elected board members, Leslie Cain, Jan McNeel and Emery Grimes, and new superintendent C.C. Lester took their oaths of office at the board of education meeting July 6.

Once the new members took their places on the board, a president and vice president were selected. Kenneth Vance was elected to serve again as president and Leslie Cain was named vice president.

In other updates:

Lester informed the board that Hillsboro Elementary School and Green Bank Elementary-Middle School will receive 20 netbook stations purchased with leftover Reading First funds. The netbooks will give students access to Writing Roadmap, a computer program which improves reading skills.

Both schools will also receive certificates for logging 300 hours of staff development.

Lester also shared his excitement in the 2009-2010 school year's attendance record. He said that one of the biggest concerns in West Virginia education is attendance and he was pleased to say that all Pocahontas County Schools were above the 90 percent average.

The attendance rates were: HES, 95 percent; GBEMS, 94 percent; Marlinton Elementary School, 93 percent; Marlinton Middle School, 91 percent; and Pocahontas County High School, 93 percent.

In personnel management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Resignation of Devan Simmons as teacher of multi-subjects, half-time, at Hillsboro Elementary School, retroactive to the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

ﾕ Employment of JoAutumn Hill as teacher of preschool special needs/preschool at Marlinton Elementary School, effective for the 2010-2011 school year. Term of employment is 200 days.

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ﾕ Requested transfer of Nathalie K. Richardson from teacher of multi-subjects at Marlinton Elementary School to teacher of early childhood education at Marlinton Elementary School, effective for the 2010-2011 school year.

ﾕ Requested transfer of Frank L. Barrett, Jr. from custodian II at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School/Pocahontas County High School to custodian II at Pocahontas County High School, effective for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Night shift schedule to be determined by the principal.

In miscellaneous management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Travel requests for July 6, 2010.

ﾕ File: IHE, Promotions and Retentions.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and C.C. Lester to provide administrative services to the central office, for eight days not to exceed $2,750, to be worked between June 15, 2010 and June 30, 2010.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and Leslie Goodall to provide occupational therapy services to students enrolled who have an Individualized Education Program, retroactive to July 1, 2010 through July 30, 2010, at a rate of $60 per hour, not to exceed $800.

ﾕContract with School Messenger to provide notification features with massive calling capacity, effective for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, not to exceed $2,250.

ﾕ David Sharpes to review and audit school records for the 2009-2010 fiscal year for the amount of $1,700.

ﾕ Change in textbooks: from Thinking Mathematically to Conceptual Math: A West Virginia Course, Student Education and Workbook Bundle and from Impact Mathematics to Math Connects: Concepts Skills and Problem Solving Courses 1, 2, 3.

ﾕ Adoption of the textbook for Trigonometry: Larson, Trigonometry Seventh Edition.