Published: June 27, 2008 11:21 am            

Is BOE jumping the gun? Tempers flare as school board members debate hiring PVMS architect

PRINCETON — Tempers flared at Tuesday’s Mercer County Board of Education meeting, as discussion of employing an architect for the proposed PikeView Middle School shifted to talks of the school itself.

The board discussed hiring E.T. Boggess Architects as the official architect for the project, with a provision that work start promptly on the first stage of the Project Development Schedule and keep West Virginia School Building Authority deadlines.

The SBA awarded Mercer County $12.5 million over the next two years to plan, design and construct PikeView Middle School. As part of that award, phase I of the design work must be complete within three months of the grant award.

Though board members didn’t disagree on the architect at hand, member Lynne White objected to choosing an architect when the board has not formally voted on whether to build the school and move middle school students from Athens, Oakvale, Spanishburg and Lashmeet-Matoaka into it.

The members conducted hearings at each of the feeder schools earlier this month and plan more for July.

School Superintendent Dr. Deborah Akers told board members if they vote against the middle school project, they would only be obligated to pay the architect a rate of $100 per hour for services provided before the contract was terminated. She said they estimated it would take 40—50 hours to complete the first part of the project.

Akers told board members a lot of planning is involved in the first steps and the work is not that of a five-day, 40-hour week. She said representatives told her they would be able to meet the August 19 deadline by compacting some projects.

“You can’t have it both ways,” White said, objecting to hiring an architect without formal approval from the board.

White said the input members received at the public hearings was almost exclusively against the proposed middle school. She said couldn’t appear open-minded on the project, but then vote to work on it before they take a vote.

Board President Greg Prudich said some have shown up in favor for the new school and cited the low attendance at some of the public hearings as an indication that not everyone is against the project.

Board member Ted Gillespie interrupted White and said he was tired of being insulted at the public hearings. He said he’d received five phone calls from people in Athens apologizing for things said at their public hearing two weeks ago.

White made a motion to move the vote on securing an architect until after the vote on the school in July. Akers said they wouldn’t be able to meet the milestone required in that time frame. The motion failed 3-2, with White and member Gene Bailey for the delay and the other three members against the measure.

The original motion of hiring the architect then came on the floor, with Prudich, Mary Alice Kaufman and Gillespie voting in its favor. White and Bailey were opposed.

“We’re not debating whether or not we should do it,” Prudich said.

He said he’d rather take a $5,000 hit if the project doesn’t happen than take a $20,000 hit if it does due to a $2,000-a-day penalty for missed deadlines.

Bailey said he felt backed into a corner concerning the proposed school.

“I resent being pressured,” he said. “This is the wrong approach.”

In other action, board members approved changes to the student code of conduct for all students in Mercer County. Kaufman worried that the some of the wording in the code would take power away from administrators.

Prudich said he felt the second offense option wasn’t necessary, but that the original five days out for first offense was too harsh. Gillespie said he worried about a nine-day suspension for students. With the block schedule, that’s one-tenth of their class, he said, and “the kiss of death.”

Special education students were also discussed. By law, those students can only be suspended for 10 days, and anything more than that causes a manifest determination to determine if their disability caused their action/offense.

Board members voted to change the first offense to a three-day suspension instead of five on level III offenses, cut out the second offense entirely and change the third offense to a repeat offense. Students who are repeat offenders receive nine days out for level III violations. They also included a clause stating that administrators can make decisions depending on circumstances.

PikeView Principal Ben Disibbio and Stephanie Stafford, of the PikeView High Foundation, discussed their efforts to get an athletic and fitness center built. Disibbio said it’s a community project, but that’s it’s in limbo due to the uncertainty of the proposed middle school.

If the middle school is built, the athletic and fitness center would be used in combination with both schools. If the middle school isn’t built, then the building would be a stand alone facility at PikeView, Disibbio said.

Stafford said they’d been working on the project and raising money since spring. They’ve raised $30,000 so far. Dr. Philip Branson donated $100,000 in exercise equipment and said he was behind the project. The building would house exercise facilities and changing rooms for the sports, along with an indoor track. She said Concord University may also use the facility if it becomes a reality.

Stafford said she has support from the Hunnicutt Foundation. Prudich said the board would like to see how much PikeView’s foundation can raise, and they would try to work with matching funds.

She said the estimated cost for the building would be $1 million.

Board members discussed and approved paving projects to be completed this summer. Southern West Virginia Paving will complete paving projects at Montcalm High School and the PikeView High School entrance. Virginian Asphalt will complete paving projects at Whitethorn, Melrose, the bus turnaround on Lorton Lick Road and the Anne Hunnicutt Field parking lot.

Board members will be busy in July with another slate of public hearings scheduled for the proposed PikeView Middle School project. The board will vote on the project at their next regular board meeting July 22 at 7 p.m.

Board members approved a multicultural advisory committee who would provide input into a Multicultural Education Plan and support and enhance the academic achievement of all students.

— Contact Mark Blevins at

mblevins@ptonline.net.

        

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