WISE — School calendar adjustments and a discussion on school safety issues will be on tap for the Wise County School Board on Tuesday.
The school calendar is an action item on Tuesday’s agenda. The calendar needs an adjustment to reflect school closures this winter season. The school division has taken around 10 snow closure days so far this season, and a number of partial days as well, due to winter weather. That includes two snow day closures this past week.
The proposed course of action to be deliberated by the School Board on Tuesday is to maintain a full week as previously scheduled for spring break, and move the last day of school to June 5. That option has been programmed into the school division’s plans if snow closure days total fewer than 15 days over the course of the season but the board could choose other options if desired.
A school prayer item is also on Tuesday’s action agenda. School Board member Rocky Cantrell of Pound has asked the board to adopt a prayer at the beginning of each meeting. Currently the School Board opens a meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a period of silent reflection.
Cantrell has said the county Board of Supervisors always opens its meetings with a prayer, and the School Board should, too. The Board of Supervisors typically invites pastors to deliver a spoken prayer before meetings, although some supervisors assume the role if a pastor is unavailable.
Discussion items on the agenda include an update on the ongoing high school construction projects. The school division is building a new high school in each of Big Stone Gap and Wise, and new construction and renovations for the county’s third high school in Coeburn.
The new look Eastside High School in Coeburn is scheduled to open when the 2013-14 school year begins in August. The new Union High School in Big Stone Gap and Central High School in Wise are scheduled to welcome students in January of next year.
Besides the calendar and prayer items on the action agenda, the board will also deliberate a Ballard contract proposal associated with the new high schools in Big Stone Gap and Wise.
The main contractor for both projects, Ballard has asked the board to allow the company to take the lead in all finishing work for both schools, essentially furnishing and equipping the new facilities quicker, cheaper and more efficiently than the school division could manage by herding separate contractors toward completion of the projects.
School safety issues will basically consist of a report from a special committee on how the school division might ensure secure school facilities, including the possibility of finding the funds to provide every school a School Resource Officer.
Currently the school division reimburses the Wise County Sheriff’s Office for three SROs. Each of the three SROs operates out of a high school and is responsible for the middle and primary schools in those attendance areas as well.