LEWISBURG (WVDN) — The Greenbrier County School Board reviewed school achievements, new food policy updates, the upcoming year’s levy budget and heard public feedback at the board meeting. Tuesday, March 8.
Greenbrier East Secondary School student representatives on the council highlighted some of the school’s recent successes. The trio, Tristen Deeds, Ceili Allder and Rylee Norman, pointed out the following:
– The Academic Showdown team that travels to the States after winning the regional contest in Concord.
– Mathematics Field Day participants attended the recent regional competition, where two students placed in the top ten.
– Of the GEHS seniors, 141 are eligible for the PROMISE scholarship, a major grant program available to students in the state of West Virginia.
– Cody Jenkins qualified for the All-Service National Rifle Competition.
– The women’s basketball team will participate in the sectional championships.
– The men’s basketball team participated in the regionals on March 9.
– The acting class placed second in the WYCA Project Against Racism competition.
– Healthcare students participated in epilepsy first aid training.
– The National Honors Society mentored students at Eastern Greenbrier Middle School.
Two of GEHS’ student representatives were also applauded by the board for their individual achievements.
“The Greenbrier County School Board extends a round of applause to West Point appointee Tristan Deeds of Greenbrier East High School!” reads a post from Greenbrier County Schools on Facebook. “We wish Tristan well as he prepares to enter this prestigious American Service Academy in West Point, New York. Congratulations Tristan!”
| Tristan Deeds (center) |
Additionally, student representative Ceili Allder was recently placed in the West Virginia Music Educators Association (WVMEA) All-State Ensembles. For more, see “GEHS Music Program Celebrates All-State Performance and Governor’s Award” on wvdn.com.
In other cases:
– To see students celebrated for their efforts in English classes, see “Spelling bee and WV Young Writers celebrated at BoE” on wvdn.com.
– A new food service policy is expected to be approved after a 30-day public comment period. The policy will include a requirement for a staff member trained in the Heimlich maneuver to be present during the hours when students eat, allowing meal substitutions for students with dietary restrictions, removing the sale of soft drinks in schools secondary, adjusting the management of finances related to lunch debts and assigning tasks to the director of child nutrition.
– The proposed levy rates for the 2023 financial year have been approved. The school’s chief business officer, David McClure, explained, “Overall, the assessments and Greenbrier County are merging at 3.24%, which is typical of what we’ve seen during COVID. . We still rank very favorably with the state, we are 32nd out of 55 [counties], to the extent that local property tax collections are used to support public education. Details are expected to be published in local newspapers shortly after approval.
– While reviewing budget information, Board Chair Jeanie Wyatt celebrated the upcoming end of some of the school system’s obligations, saying, “It’s exciting to think that the major obligation, the obligation that we did on Greenbrier West, Rainelle, Lewisburg, the gymnasium in East [Greenbrier]Smoot, and it will all be paid off in 2024. It’s really exciting, I think.
– A bid to replace the roof at Western Greenbrier Middle School has been approved. The bid, totaling $500,900, was awarded to Five Star Commercial Roofing.
– Lewisburg parent Dorian Swann told the council that on February 23, around noon, she arrived to pick up her child from Lewisburg Elementary School to find “about 60 students to the right of the school”, where she found his child “being beaten by another student. He tries to defend himself and the child continues to hit my child, one punch after another. … Not a single adult has approached them. I parked my car, got out, and ran as fast as I could towards the students. … This is clearly something that happens often. Noting that she was able to approach the children without being approached by a member of the staff, she said, “if you’re going to have 64 students outside, we need to have [a staff member] outside with them, and if we don’t have enough staff, we bring them inside. She also hopes “to offer possible parent workshops, for students and their parents. When a specific student has bigger issues and bullying, we need to understand what their underlying problem is. She also asked if the school could have “counseling sessions for each student monthly, quarterly, or even annually, without specific request. If not, can we?
– Community member Frank Tuckwiller approached the board to look at “a public school exam which I assume has been set up by the Greenbrier County School Board” which relates to “proficiency in math and reading for elementary, middle and high schools.” Tuckwiller said, “I would like to recommend that someone come up with a plan to improve math education in the west. [side of the county].”
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