School board honors students and talks contracts
Jun. 23—FAIRMONT — The Marion Board of Education honored student achievements, praised the summer program and discussed a garbage-pickup contract at Tuesday's meeting.
Meeting at the East Fairmont High auditorium, the board held their bi-weekly meeting short a member, as board member James Saunders was out due to health.
A point of discussion throughout the Tuesday's meeting was the board moving to accept the bid from Veritas, who will be working on the addition and renovation at East Dale Elementary.
Due to the volatility of construction and material prices, a concrete number was not shared. As the post-pandemic prices regulate further, the costs will come down to a more suitable number.
"As soon as [Veritas] is approved, they'll start through the next steps with the architect," School Superintendent Randy Farley said. "Hopefully they'll be able to break ground, I hope, sometime this summer."
Toward the end of the meeting, board members praised the Summer SOLE program, the special summer school program that is helping students catch up on credits lost due to the pandemic. After the difficult school year, many students fell behind. With the help of state funding, Marion County Schools put together a multifaceted program to get kids caught up on missed work and also get ahead on work coming next year.
"We've invited into our summer projects not only the things our teachers are doing... but we've extended the summer programming into some programming from the community," Farley said. "NASA has a program going on this week with robotics and different things at Fairmont Senior High."
Board Vice President Donna Costello recently made a hands-on visit at Blackshere Elementary's program, which she praised.
"I've never seen such enthusiasm from the students who are participating and also from the teachers," Costello said. "I think this was probably one of the best things I've been able to see in the classroom. [These teachers] have set the bar so high..."
A matter of a contract regarding the company responsible for picking up the trash at several schools and locations has been brought up at several of the past few meetings by Saunders. In his absence Tuesday evening the concerns were brought up again by Board Member Richard Pellegrin.
The trash collection company Republic won the bid back in October 2020, but the board failed to acquire a second on the motion to accept their bid. At the time, the thought was to give the contract to a more local company.
In the meantime, Republic has been picking up the trash for the schools at a price higher than the original bid.
At Tuesday's meeting a representative from Republic, Jillian Kowcheck, spoke to the board. She eased some of the member's fears about outsourcing trash collection, citing that their facility is in Fairmont.
"Our hauling system is here in Fairmont and we've been here for 25 years," Kowcheck said. "We've been servicing [the school system] for the last 14."
Republic employs 63 people at their Fairmont branch, 35 of which are Marion County residents. Republic offered to honor their original price which was bid in October, saving the school system $1,144 a month.
The board accepted the contract with a vote of 3-1.
Tuesday's meeting was Farley's last meeting as superintendent, each of the board members wished him well in retirement.
Other business covered:
* The board honored the Fairmont Senior High girls lacrosse team, who won the 2021 state championship.
* The board honored Gatorade Player of the Year for Men's Soccer, Jonas Branch of Fairmont Senior High.
* The board honored students who attended Rhododendron Girls State.
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
