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Wood BOE elects titles

Meetings for 2022-2023 school year planned

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education held a statutory meeting Tuesday night where elections were held for president, vice president, and members were appointed to the various boards and committees.

All appointments are for a two-year term.

Justin Raber was unanimously reelected to serve as president of the board. Raber has been serving as president since 2020. Ron Tice was also unanimously reelected as vice president and has also been serving in that position since 2020.

The board assigned members to the various committees and boards.

Raber was automatically assigned to the Scholarship Committee as board president and will also serve on the Calendar Committee. He was exempt from the Audit Committee as the president can not sit on that committee due to check signing.

Judy Johnson was selected to serve on the Audit Committee instead. She will also serve on the Safety Committee.

Tice was selected to serve on the Personal Leave Bank Board and the Wood County Recreation Commission.

Debbie Hendershot was selected to serve on three committees, the Strategic Planning Committee, Stadium Facilities, and the Students Advisory Council.

New board member Sarah Townsend was selected for the Wood County Extension Committee and the Wellness Committee.

The board approved the proposed 2022-2023 Wood County Board of Education meeting schedule and the 2022-2023 free tuition LPN program.

“In the past we’ve always been able to help our students make it less expensive,” said Wood County Technical Center Director Dr. Jason Hughes, “But we’ve never upfront used the word ‘free'”

The one-year practical program prepares students to test for their LPN license and is located at the Wood County Technical Center in south Parkersburg. The Advanced Career Education (ACE) practical nursing program is open to students 18 and older. The free tuition program is only open to West Virginia students but financial aid is available to qualifying students regardless of residency.

To apply for the program, visit https://tinyurl.com/WCTCPracticalNursing or call 1-304-420-9501 to schedule a pre-entrance appointment. Registration is open now.

During board members comments, the board welcomed new Superintendent Christie Willis and new board member Townsend.

“I am really honored to be a member of the school board,” Townsend said. “But I’m also so appreciative of how welcoming you have been. … I’m eager to be a part of this but I have a steep learning curve.”

Willis thanked Michael Fling, assistant superintendent of support services, for his help in catching her up to speed on building and construction, Whitni Kines, director of finance, for her help, Cathy Maas, executive secretary, and Kennith Cook, director of secondary education, for stepping into the role of recently retired Director of Elementary Schools Keith Palmer.

“I just want to thank everybody for helping me out,” Willis said. “And Sarah (Townsend), don’t feel bad because my learning curve is huge too. So we’re in this together.”

The next board meeting is scheduled for July 12 at 6 p.m. in the board room at 13th Street, and is open to the public.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

At a glance:

Proposed 2022 – 2023 Wood County Board of Education

meeting calendar:

2022-

∫July 5

∫July 12

∫July 19

∫July 26

∫August 2

∫August 9

∫August 12 (4:00 p.m.)

∫August 23

∫September 13

∫September 27

∫October 11

∫October 25

∫November 9 – the 8th is ELECTION DAY

∫November 22

∫December 6 (week early due to December calendar)

∫December 20 (week early due to Christmas holiday)

2023-

∫January 10

∫January 24

∫February 14

∫February 28

∫March 14

∫March 28

∫April 11

∫April 18 – Statutory Meeting for Levy Rates

∫April 25

∫May 9

∫May 23

∫June 13

∫June 2

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