Miller, Kestner Sworn In to Marshall BOE
MOUNDSVILLE — Two longtime members of the Marshall County Board of Education were sworn back to their posts Monday night.
John Miller, first elected in 2012, and Lori Kestner, first elected in 2004, return for another four-year term. Miller was re-elected as board president by vote of board members. He had previously served as board president for the last two years. Christie Robison retained her seat as vice-president.
Miller said the COVID-19 pandemic has, obviously, taken precedence over all other academic affairs and hopes for his next few years with the board. He referred to Superintendent Shelby Haines’ “student-based decisions” as being the guiding principle for the school board going forward.
“The most immediate problem is COVID-19. That has to be our number-one concern,” Miller said. “Every decision we make is what is best for our students, and certainly, health is paramount. Every decision we make, we intend for it to be student-based as what’s best for our students, and the two greatest determining factors are the Marshall County Health Department, as they get information from the state and federal levels, and we’d not do anything without their guidance.”
Miller enthusiastically lauded the help of Marshall County Health Administrator Tom Cook, who, along with Threat Preparedness Director Mark Ackermann and other members of the health department, have been familiar faces within school functions and board meetings as the district navigated the tumultuous spring semester, much of which was spent grappling with the public health crisis.
“I’ve told (Cook) to his face and in open meetings, that I wouldn’t want to be where he’s at as he guides us,” he added, and referenced a commercial from the 1970s. “He’s kind of like EF Hutton: when he speaks, people listen. He’s got authority and he’s looking out for the health of our citizenry, and particularly our students.”
Haines added that prior to COVID-19, the school district had been continuously looking to make improvements wherever possible, in curricula and with various levy projects underway around the district. Construction updates given at board meetings in recent months have attested that those projects, such as the renovations to Monarch Stadium, continue to make progress even if COVID has slowed some aspects of work.
Of the construction projects eyed by the board, Miller added that a personal goal of his for the coming years is to see that all schools in the district have a modernized playground. Major improvements over the summer are expected at Central Elementary and Hilltop Elementary, with some work also done at Glen Dale Elementary.
“We’ll cross one bridge at a time. We’re not going to speculate too far ahead,” he said.
In particular, Haines said that efforts to better care for the mental health of stakeholders in the school system have been a high priority, and that the levy has gone to fund several services now available to the district.
“We go back to that levy goal and literally check off what’s next — mental health was huge, and … we’ve had (Local School Improvement Council) meetings, and our last one ended just before schools closed. We did get all of those in, and at every one of those, the principals and LSIC council members spoke with us about mental wellness of our students, our families, our staff.
“We actually sent out a report to all our principals about how we’re tackling that, and a lot of it comes back to the levy,” Haines added. “Increased social work, increased nursing, increased counselors in (every) school. We’re very blessed to be able to tackle that.”
Miller said he was grateful to the voting public for voting to approve the district’s renewal levies over the years, which has allowed them to implement these projects.
“We’re fortunate to have the money to pay for these people — a counselor in every school. A nurse in every school. We’re blessed to have that money. We never want to bite the hand that feeds us, so if we get a chance, we’ll try to lower the levy rate again. But again, we have to meet our needs.”
In April, the board voted unanimously to lower the levy rate from 88% to 86%, reducing the amount paid in taxes by two percent on the assessed value of taxpayer’s property. Each percentage point of the levy rate represents around $360,000 for the district.
Whether the fall semester will consist of in-person classes or remote learning, Haines said the goal is five-day-a-week in-school learning, but student and faculty health must take priority over preference.
“We do know that at any minute, we might have to go remote again for weeks, a month,” she said. “We’re prepping for parents who choose to keep their students at home for a virtual school option because they’re compromised in some way. These are things we can control, so we’re really putting a lot of time into making sure those are solid, so that as soon as we get guidelines for re-entry, we’re ready to go.
“We have to be aware that our parents are anxiously awaiting the re-entry. They have to go to work, they have to find childcare. I understand that they’re waiting very anxiously to see what this looks like. If we would go back, anything less than five days a week, that puts them in a bind, especially with businesses all being open now.
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