[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6256879,"mediaKeyId","3155206-7320b1cb377ae22bf3166468f6578c88","parentId",3155206,"title","Board hearing on purchasing restructure: director’s role proposed for elimination; purchasing staff warn of compliance risks","audioSeconds",2298,"startMs",15413115,"endMs",17711530,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3155206-7320b1cb377ae22bf3166468f6578c88&start=15413&end=17711","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3155206-7320b1cb377ae22bf3166468f6578c88/thumbnail_15413115.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6256879/West-Virginia/Board-hearing-on-purchasing-restructure-directors-role-proposed-for-elimination-purchasing-staff-warn-of-compliance-risks","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6256879-a8d2747880d777c82bf984152976a8c9/orig.mp4?Expires=1770832978&Signature=FzATsNAjm5H~PcrJZ7GVnZBmvuL0AOtoo1mWl7P5EljcELTtbSuGP5i886DC9kxjXjJ5t~l0JyLF8oYTxPhyXOaHLrDhVSkSARf4-W8R-x4dSQtSFrr0JeD31BO9VGt~YbVqZ7MOZwx1K3qhLwMdnro33xDbc9w8FxJQcFuoEE2Vv0wn~mAhgsE5YKB7mP7QQIybVwDOHldnyXoeN6h3DEKSYd~FeGz4gNFGetIS~hb-iZPXEVsjNsBodxAX0UJOwjApFZGaYpcF5QZzxr0fq2RTZ3C2TQgKGMl7z97EDCP-T7x0oNRUBVRxAyz5vsl4hMJ8jKYL1jzQDhjo37lZTQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Berkeley County Schools","date","2025-04-30T08:23:57.407Z","article","Berkeley County Schools administrators told the board at a public hearing that the district plans to eliminate the standalone director of purchasing position and absorb purchasing responsibilities into existing operational and federal-program structures as part of a phase 2 central-office reorganization. The administration said the change is intended to increase efficiency and redirect savings to classrooms.

Administration materials entered as exhibits described a shift that would retain a buyer and a secretary but remove the director-level role. The administration said the restructured model would place procurement oversight inside existing programmatic leadership so that purchases better align with instructional and operational priorities while remaining compliant with purchasing regulations. \"This restructure consolidates purchasing responsibilities into existing district office structures, ensuring more responsive service and greater alignment with instructional and operational priorities while maintaining full compliance with purchasing regulations,\" an administration representative said when entering the draft organizational chart and purchasing rationale into the record.

Purchasing staff and the department’s presenter pushed back at length. The purchasing presenter (addressed in the hearing as \"Mr. Davis\") gave a detailed description of the department’s work, compliance responsibilities and tools and said the department manages roughly $93,000,000 in spend (FY24) and processes about 4,000 purchase orders a year. He described legacy systems that complicate modernization — including the West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS), a mainframe-based system — and urged adoption of an electronic requisition/procure-pay system (referred to as ESM or SoftDocs by the presenter) and an expanded staffing model. \"In my 3 and a half years here, I've always obtained a lower cost getting quotes; competition helps us save money so we can use that other money to help with the students,\" the presenter said, describing examples in which competitive solicitation and co-op use reduced prices. The presenter recommended hiring at least two more buyers and implementing a modern procure-pay system rather than eliminating the director position.

The presenter gave examples of operational savings and risks: centralized purchasing has identified overspends and saved money on commodities (copy paper example and headphone procurement), and the department maintains vendor registrations and federal compliance processes (CFR 2 200 and state procurement requirements were discussed). The presenter also said training 32 schools and dozens of staff to process their own purchase orders would push thousands of purchase-orders back onto the district office and could create processing bottlenecks and compliance exposures.

Board members asked specific questions about who would assume procurement leadership (administration said an existing coordinator would take on oversight, funded in part by federal funds), whether buyers and secretaries would remain in place, and how the district would implement modern electronic requisitioning. Administration said buyer and secretary positions would continue and be relocated to support work with executive directors for elementary and secondary schools; the coordinator with purchasing responsibility would be split-funded between federal and district resources. The administration repeated its estimate that combined central-office restructures will save nearly $1.5 million annually.

The purchasing presenter urged the board to keep the department intact or expand it to at least five staff to handle the existing and projected workload, to implement electronic procurement (ESM), and to preserve the oversight that helps ensure federal and state compliance. The hearing closed with the administration reminding attendees that the board would vote at a later meeting; no vote took place during the hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of Education Special Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","Berkeley County Schools administrators told the board they plan to eliminate the standalone director of purchasing role and fold procurement into existing operational structures; purchasing staff warned the change could raise compliance and service risks and urged retention or expansion of procurement capacity.","taxTitle","BERKELEY COUNTY SCHOOLS, School Districts, West Virginia","taxId",13060,"location","West Virginia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6256884,"Berkeley County Schools to consider eliminating child-nutrition coordinator position; hearing draws staff pleas",2914,12110665,15025585,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3155206-7320b1cb377ae22bf3166468f6578c88&start=12110&end=15025","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3155206-7320b1cb377ae22bf3166468f6578c88/thumbnail_12110665.jpg","/articles/6256884/West-Virginia/Berkeley-County-Schools-to-consider-eliminating-child-nutrition-coordinator-position-hearing-draws-staff-pleas","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6256884-2be52a3f7e0a22caeab877093de584ac/orig.mp4?Expires=1770832978&Signature=Rb-yE8ZTZwwg5dY1v29oei9QRgiZsQqK81lNWL-mf-dPQ9sHRB6VHBB1YL3J727QABDxM12LFBnzKmPmAn~YQXoFLdYWELyJaPl2jOM~BeQk-mCf6l0c2USenF7eYjlN9yVjf6wDbxADUXw4twL~C4R-sOfhdtSmRrCifq8P8dn84ew0Wec0iTgksPhomWQj~1L5dKtleXY7dN7~m789DRtJcjLm20SnBrMkoTuGFM9wm8YqCvJvb0u3vLBs59-N323ccWoYtWGIqLY3jMWDL-UBHnEC3YUnaUZzblKR1NbnVDqDAcXjoXtvfxjvdgAqbdjjRgy3beBcBZmO4sYgNA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Berkeley County Schools administrators presented a proposed reduction in force at a public hearing that would eliminate the child-nutrition system coordinator position held by Lewis Harden, and the board scheduled a vote for April 30.

The administration’s representative said the central-office “phase 2” reorganization is intended to realign people and federal funds “to where they have the greatest impact,” and that the combined phase 1 and 2 restructures would save the district “nearly $1,500,000 annually.” Superintendent Ryan Sachs described the plan as a way to concentrate support at schools. \"We are aligning people, resources as well as our federal funds to where they have the greatest impact and that is at the point of teaching and learning,\" Sachs said.

But Harden and multiple child-nutrition staff told the board the coordinator role includes both technology and operational duties that they said are essential to daily meal service across the county’s 32 schools. \"My technology counts for maybe 15% of my position,\" Lewis Harden said, adding that he administers the district’s point-of-sale and inventory systems, monitors cooler and freezer temperatures remotely, and supports biometric sign-in systems used across schools. \"We miss one day of calculating meals, you lose reimbursement.\"

The hearing drew multiple employees and managers who described frequent instances when Harden remotely restored point-of-sale systems or traveled to schools to replace parts so students could be served without long delays. Charity Boyd, who identified herself as a POS secretary at Orchard View Intermediate School, told the board, \"You cannot put a price tag on someone's knowledge and seasoned experience, and there is nobody else in this county who knows ExpressPoint and Primero as efficiently as Lewis does.\" Jen Miller, the district dietitian and a coordinator, said eliminating Harden's position would force the remaining coordinators to absorb duties they could not realistically manage in a growing district.

Administration and staff differed on whether technology responsibilities could be transferred to the technology department. District officials said Executive Director of Child Nutrition Jennifer Zetney (transcript spelling varied) and Executive Director of Technology Ms. Bass had been consulted and that existing food-service staff and the district TSS (technology system support) personnel would take on many duties. Board members asked for clarification and for staff to explore whether Harden could be reassigned to the technology department; administration said it would look into that before the vote. The administration also reported that because Harden lacks the required state teaching certificate, he cannot be placed on a transfer list for reassignment under the district’s stated policies; administration said if the reduction in force is approved Harden’s contract would terminate on 06/30/2025.

Speakers raised financial and operational risks. Several presenters cited recent meal counts and reimbursement figures to emphasize the program's scale: one manager reported that, in March 2025 serving days counted, the district served 214,315 breakfasts and 236,092 lunches, producing a monthly reimbursement figure cited at $1,272,230.03; another speaker summarized the department’s annual impact as about 3,600,000 meals and roughly $10,200,000 in reimbursements. Child-nutrition staff warned that inadequate support for point-of-sale failures could reduce documented participation and jeopardize reimbursements.

The hearing concluded with the board’s attorney and superintendent reminding attendees that no final vote would occur that night and that the board will take action at an upcoming meeting. Board members and administration said they would consider the technical-certification issue and whether Harden could be reassigned prior to the April 30 vote.

The hearing record will be part of the board’s April 30 deliberations; administrators said the superintendent’s broader reorganization plan and draft organizational charts were entered into the record as exhibits and that the district expects a net reduction of nine central-office positions across the two phases of restructuring.","At a public hearing, administrators said a central-office reorganization would remove Lewis Harden’s child-nutrition coordinator post to save district funds; staff and school employees warned the change could disrupt point-of-sale systems, food delivery and millions in reimbursements. The board will vote April 30.","actionData","errors"]

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Board hearing on purchasing restructure: director’s role proposed for elimination; purchasing staff warn of compliance risks

Berkeley County Schools to consider eliminating child-nutrition coordinator position; hearing draws staff pleas