Published: September 05, 2008 12:48 am      

BOE brings meetings to county school sites

FAIRMONT — The Marion County Board of Education is bringing its meetings to your backyard.

Starting this month, the first meeting of each month will be held in a different school.

The three attendance areas are on a rotating schedule, with a meeting in each area every three months. The second meeting of each month will take place at Barnes Alternative Learning Center.

The schedule begins in the North Marion Attendance Area, when the MCBOE meets in regular session at 6 p.m. Monday at Mannington Middle School.

In October, the first regular meeting of the month will be held at Jayenne Elementary on October 6. In November, the board will meet at East Dale Elementary. Regular board meetings all begin at 6 p.m.

MCBOE President Rev. James Saunders said the board has always been in favor of meetings in the communities; it just hasn’t happened much in recent years.

“We’re mixing it up some,” he said. “Sometimes if you always meet at Barnes the folks in the outlying areas don’t get a chance to come.”

Saunders said this also will give the schools an opportunity to showcase an event or project of which they’re especially proud.

Superintendent of Schools James Phares said he’s in favor of moving the meetings around the county. When he served as superintendent of Pocahontas County Schools, the board moved the meetings around frequently.

Each year — usually in November — the board holds a meeting at each of the three high schools to listen to the needs of the Local School Improvement Councils in that attendance area. Those LSIC meetings will still take place as scheduled.

“Hopefully this will help attendance,” Phares said.

That’s Saunders’ hope as well.

“Good things happen at the board of education,” he said. “Folks don’t usually get in to see that.”

E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.