Photo by Joselyn King - Ohio County Board of Education President David Croft, left, points out data to Superintendent Kim Miller at the start of Monday’s board of education meeting.

A Wheeling Park High School teacher who separates masked and unmasked students in her classroom defended her actions in a letter to the Ohio County Board of Education Monday night.

Teacher Jackie Shriner’s classroom became the subject of photos, videos and debate last week when students took photos of how they were being seated in her classroom based on whether or not they wore a mask. Shriner was not able to attend Monday’s board of education meeting, but West Virginia Education Association representative Lisa Summers read a letter to board members on her behalf.

“I understand there have been many false accusations that I would like to address,” Shriner stated through Summers. “First, the video was taken secretly, and the students in the video had no idea they were being used in that manner.”

Shriner explained when she moved them across the room, she actually “moved them to be with each other as they sat and conversed with each other in other classes.” She asked the students if they were OK with their seating placement, and they told her they were, according to Shriner.

“Each week she (Shriner) moves the desks as far apart as possible, but each day the students move them closer,” Summers said. “She has explained and asked them not to, but it is an ongoing issue.”

Shriner seats the masked and unmasked students away from each other “per the directive” given teachers at the start of the school year, Summers continued.

“She separates the students in all her classes in that manner, as do other teachers in the building under the same directive,” Summers said.

The reason she does this is that some students live with older residents who have health issues, and they have asked to sit separately.

“She (Shriner) says ‘I move the entire room so as not to single out students, and the majority of (Shriner’s) students are still wearing their masks,'” Summer said.

Shriner termed other remarks made about her classroom “unfactual,” and said she always keeps the interests of her students at heart. She invited those concerned to come have a personal discussion with her.

Board of education president David Croft said the board needs to discuss a policy for mask wearing in the classroom.

“We don’t want any children to feel ostracized, but there is a balance there we need to figure out,” he said.

Prior to the Shriner and Summers comments, parent Laurie Wilhelm spoke about what she said was “disrimination, harassment and segregation in the classroom” with regard to masked and unmasked students.

She said on the first day of school, her 10th grade daughter and her classmates were asked by an unnamed teacher to raise their hand if they were vaccinated.

“They were also told the vaccine ‘was a gift from God,’ and COVID was their generation’s fault,” Wilhelm said.

Wheeling resident Carlee Dittmar also addressed the board regarding a second issue. She said last week she had seen in The Intelligencer an article in which school officials stressed they do not teach critical race theory at WPHS but that the works of Ibram X. Kendi are used in the classroom to promote critical thinking among students.

Dittmar warned against Kendi, and provided writings calling him “a false prophet” who translates critical race theory thought “into media and corporate-friendly narratives.”

In other matters, the board approved a 30-year lease agreement with the Wheeling Park Commission for land being used for WPHS’s new athletic field, the school’s softball field and a section of the cross country course.

Under the agreement, Ohio County Schools will pay the commission $1 per year for the next 30 years. Additionally, the contract provides for two 10-year extensions of the agreement.

The board also approved a third and final lease purchase agreement with CMT, the company that is initiating energy-saving measures in Ohio County Schools as it remodels school facilities.

The lease agreement is for $2,090,000 at 2.15% through WesBanco in Wheeling for a 15-year period.

Croft, also an accountant and attorney, said the figures were on par with the first two rounds of energy savings measures paid for by the school.

He and representatives from McLiney and Co., the company that negotiated the contract, credited WesBanco for stepping up as a local lender and providing a lower interest rate. Croft said he had expected the rate to be closer to 3%.

The front entrance to Wheeling Park High School is expected to be opened today following renovations. Visitors, parent pick-ups and late-arriving students should now report to the new main entrance. All visitors must have a form of identification to enter the building.

Students also will no longer report to their first period class to start the day. Those wishing to eat breakfast should report to The Nest. Those not wanting breakfast may sit in the gym or the Beneke Theater. First period bell will ring at 7:20 a.m. and classes start at 7:25 a.m.