In attendance director Susan Borrorﾒs end of the year report to the board of education Monday night, she reported attendance and truancy cases were up compared to prior years.

Although attendance rates for all county schools were far above 95 percent ﾖ Hillsboro Elementary School 99.4 percent, Green Bank Elementary-Middle School 98.42 percent, Marlinton Elementary School 97.16 percent, Marlinton Middle School 96.52 percent and Pocahontas County High School 96.8 percent ﾖ Borror said she is still having an issue with truancy cases.

ﾓTruancy cases were up compared to last year,ﾔ she said. ﾓCriminal complaints were filed, and certified letters were sent for meetings with parents. I held 132 meetings with parents.ﾔ

When a student has more than five unexcused absences, Borror files a complaint against the childﾒs parents with magistrate court. Board members asked if taking the cases to magistrate court helps discourage truancy.

ﾓItﾒs not working as well as it should be,ﾔ Borror said. ﾓThere have been a lot of continuances and cases just dismissed which is not good, because it sends the message to our kids that if you skip school, nothing is going to happen to you.ﾔ

Borror said out of the 132 cases, four or five ended with sentencing.

Board members asked Superintendent C.C. Lester to invite the magistrates and Prosecuting Attorney Donna Meadows Price to attend the next board meeting to discuss the matter further.

Borror is also the McKinney-Vento liaison for the schools. The McKinney-Vento Act recognizes homeless students and provides grants to schools with homeless students. According to the act, ﾓhomelessﾔ includes a household with more than one family in residence, living in a shelter, campground or camper or children living in a household without their legal guardians.

ﾓWhen I first became the attendance director, during the school year 2008-2009, we had a total of 17 students who qualified for being homeless,ﾔ Borror said. ﾓBy the end of the year, it had increased to 27. In 2009-2010, it was a total of 77 students and this year we had a total of 122 students. The reasons for this being a lot of families have lost their homes, a lot of families have lost jobs and this has caused the homeless rate to go up.ﾔ

The board thanked Borror for her report and her continued support of the students.

In other updates:

ﾕ Jim Farley of Career Solutions shared information about a grant project he is working on through West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services. Farleyﾒs business offers community-based vocational services for disabled students to prepare them for the workforce. Farley is offering services to a Pocahontas County student and hopes to continue working with the school system.

ﾕ Lester informed the board that PCHS junior Natashia Brewer was mentored by Interim First Lady Joanne Tomblin through the West Virginia eMentoring program. On June 30, Lester accompanied Brewer to Charleston where Tomblin held a special picnic for the eMentoring program.

He added that MMS was selected to receive 30 musical instruments through the VH1 Save the Music program. The school will receive eight flues, 11 clarinets, six trumpets, four trombones, four alto saxophones, a bass drum, snare drum, cymbals and bells.

In financial management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Budget Supplements and Budget Transfers.

ﾕ David Sharpes to review and audit school records for the 2010-2011 fiscal year in the amount of $1,700.

In personnel management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Employment of Teresa W. Barb and LyAnn B. Zelinsky as academic interventionists at Marlinton Elementary School, effective September 6 through April 27, at $20 per hour, three hours per day, as needed, not to exceed $8,400. Schedule to be determined by the principal but cannot be extended beyond April 27. Time and salary is to be divided equally between the two.

ﾕ Medical leave of absence without pay of Kathryn T. Kolonay as teacher of special education at Pocahontas County High School, retroactive to July 1 through November 7.

ﾕ Resignation of Deborah A. McQuain as itinerant teacher of special education for Pocahontas County Schools at Marlinton Elementary School, effective August 16.

ﾕ Abolishment of position itinerant teacher of special education for Pocahontas County Schools at Marlinton Elementary School.

ﾕ Creation of position itinerant teacher of special education/autism for Pocahontas County Schools at Marlinton Elementary School, effective for the 2011-2012 school year.

ﾕ Creation of position teacher, extended school year, for Pocahontas County Schools at Pocahontas County High school, five days per week/three hours per day, effective August 2 through August 16, at $20 per hour.

ﾕ Creation of position teacher, extended school year, for Pocahontas County Schools at Marlinton Middle School, five days per week/three hours per day, effective August 1 through August 16, at $20 per hour.

ﾕ Creation of position aide, extended school year, for Pocahontas County Schools at Pocahontas County High School, five days per week/three hours per day, effective August 2 through August 16, at $12 per hour. Shift: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

ﾕ Creation of position aide, extended school year, for Pocahontas County Schools at Marlinton Middle School, five days per week/three hours per day, effective August 1 through August 16, at $12 per hour. Shift: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

ﾕ Permission to Superintendent of Schools to fill vacancies prior to the opening of the 2011-2012 school year.

In miscellaneous management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Travel requests for July 11.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas Board of Education and Kimberly Robin Groves to provide physical therapy services for a student enrolled at Pocahontas County High School who has an Individualized Education Program, effective August through June 30, 2012, at a rate of $85 per hour, not to exceed $7,000.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and Melanie Mason to provide physical therapy services for a student enrolled at Pocahontas County High School who has an Individualized Education Program, effective August through June 30, 2012, at a rate of $110 per hour, not to exceed $7,000.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and Leslie Goodall to provide occupational therapy services to students enrolled in Pocahontas County Schools who have an Individualized Education Program, effective August 22 through June 30, 2012, at a rate of $60 per hour, not to exceed $19,000.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and Joyce Brown to provide psychological and other evaluation services to students enrolled with Pocahontas County Schools, effective August 21 through June 30, 2012, at a rate of $200 per evaluation for IQ or achievement, $300 for a combination of IQ and achievement evaluations and $60 per hour for consultation with the Board and school teams, not to exceed $12,000.

ﾕ Contract between the Pocahontas County Board of Education and James J. Woodward, to provide psychological and other evaluation services to students enrolled with Pocahontas County Schools, effective August 21 through June 30, 2012, at a rate of $150 per evaluation and $30 per hour for consultation with the Board and school teams, not to exceed $4,000.

ﾕ File: EE-A, Wellness.

ﾕ To adopt the textbook, Larson, Calculus of a Single Variable, Ninth Edition.