Community

Brooke BOE Terminates James

WELLSBURG -- On the same day he learned two new felony charges had been filed against him and his cash bail had been doubled, Eric Michael James officially lost his job.

Members of the Brooke County Board of Education voted 4-0 Monday evening to ratify an unpaid suspension and terminate his employment contract as principal of Brooke High School.

After a motion had been made to accept that recommendation from Superintendent Jeffrey Crook, Crook told board members that James had submitted his resignation after the agenda for Monday’s meeting had been released. Dr. Robert Marks, who served as acting president in the absence of board President Antoinette Perkins, did not allow a vote on the resignation and pressed on with the motion to terminate James. Perkins missed the meeting because of a personal issue, Marks explained.

The move came nearly two weeks after James was arrested Sept. 3 and accused of placing cameras in three girls’ locker rooms at the school. After additional charges were announced Monday in Brooke County Magistrates Court, the 53-year-old James now faces three felony counts of intentionally intercepting or attempting to intercept wire, oral or electronic communication and one felony count of breaking and entering a nonresidence, according to online magistrate records.

He is being held in the Northern Regional Jail on a combined cash bail of $200,000.

Numerous individual lawsuits have been filed on behalf of female student-athletes who utilized the girls’ locker rooms at the high school since the start of the new school year.

The complaints, which have been filed in Brooke County Circuit Court, seek monetary damages for the students in an amount to be determined at trial, along with interest, court costs and attorney fees. Plaintiffs include the district, the school board and James.

Around a dozen residents attended Monday’s meeting, but only one -- Megan Rogerson -- addressed the board.

A parent of a female athlete at the school, Rogerson presented the board with a petition containing 397 signatures asking that the next principal the board hires be a qualified educator from within Brooke County.

“I want to start by making one thing very clear: As Bruins, we welcome everyone with open arms. That is who we are,” Rogerson said. “You don’t have to be born here to become part of the Bruin family, and this is not about shutting anyone out. But, sometimes, the person you are searching for is already here.”

She told the board that the names on the petition should mean something.

“Our students need someone they can trust. Our staff deserves someone who understands them. And, our community needs stability, unity and leadership from someone who understands our students, our schools, our traditions and the challenges we have faced and will face,” she said.

Rogerson said the board must make decisions that are in the best interests of the students.

“Our students have been through enough -- they deserve stability. They deserve to feel safe. They deserve leadership they can trust, and they deserve to know that the adults making decisions for them are listening to their voices,” she added.

“The decision you make will send a very strong message to every student, every staff member, every parent and every person in this community about what -- and who -- you value,” Rogerson continued. “And we believe there is something incredibly powerful about giving one of our own the opportunity to lead us forward.

“We are Bruins, and we are stronger together,” she said.

During the comment section near the end of the meeting, Crook said he understands there is a lot of anger in the community, an emotion he shares. He thanked the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department for its investigative work that led to the arrest.

In other business, the board:

-- Approved several overnight or day trips for student activities or employee training;

-- Approved numerous personnel items;

-- Voted to renew the memorandum of understanding between the board and the health science program and Brightwood Health Care facility;

-- Voted to appoint Anthony Capelle, Nicolas Serafine and Colin P. Kelly as the designated asbestos inspectors and asbestos management plan [VERIFY] for the board; and

-- Approved numerous volunteers, parent volunteers and athletic volunteers across the district.

The board’s next meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 28.