Marshall BOE Stands Against SB 451
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MOUNDSVILLE -- Even as West Virginia lawmakers continue to craft and debate an education reform bill, Marshall County Board of Education members on Tuesday signed a resolution standing in opposition to Senate Bill 451 after board member Lori Kestner spoke in Charleston on the matter.
Kestner, who also serves as president of the West Virginia State School Boards Association, offered the only comment prior to a vote on the resolution to indicate the board's opposition to SB 451. She said she had attended a public hearing Monday in Charleston to voice her concerns at the state level, where she said she felt most moved by the comments of Vincent Pinti, a Bridgeport High School senior with spinal muscular atrophy. Pinti voiced his concern that enabling charter schools would end up segregating parts of the student population.
"He was in a wheelchair, with a lifelong disability, and spoke on how if charter schools were to come into play … they would not be able to afford his accommodations," Kestner said. "That bill is changing every day. It's a bit of a moving target."
The board unanimously supported the resolution.
Kestner had voiced her own opposition to charter schools at the hearing.
"These schools are not public schools, and can you imagine the administrators of these counties trying very hard to mandate, or oversee, or make sure these students have the education that West Virginia should and does require?" Kestner had asked lawmakers.
After Tuesday's meeting, she lamented the limited amount of time each person was allotted to speak -- about 70 seconds -- as more than 100 people had signed up to offer comment.
Following the meeting, board President John Miller voiced his own opposition to the bill, also focusing on charter schools as a sticking point even in the face of benefits for teachers.
"They're trying to sweeten it with pay raises and things like that, but there are too many things that need taken out before we can swallow the pill," Miller said.
The Ohio County Board of Education on Monday was asked by local teacher and school service personnel representatives to also take a public stand against SB 451. The board chose not to do so, noting the legislation continues to be shaped.
In other matters, a $2.476 million bid was awarded to Dillonvale, Ohio-based Colianni Construction Inc. to conduct Phase Three of the Monarch Stadium restoration project. Facilities director Mike Price said Colianni came in $63,000 under the next-lowest bidder. Also submitting bids were JD&E and Walters Construction, both of Wheeling, and Grae-Con Construction of Steubenville.
Price said the current projected deadline is October, as bad weather had delayed parts of the overall renovation project. Phase Three of the project is to include locker rooms and the field house, and is the final phase of the project.
"Pray for dry weather," Price said, giving his report to the board.
"There's still a lot that goes with this project that has to be accomplished, and the weather is not cooperating at all," Price added later. "Hopefully, we'll get some dry spells. There's nothing new being added, this is just part of the scope."