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Administration proposes purchase‑office restructuring; employee and counsel raise concerns about process
Summary
District administration proposed eliminating the purchasing specialist position and closing a vacant executive director of facilities management role to create a new purchasing director post; the affected employee's attorney questioned whether the change was justified and raised concerns about accommodations following the employee's 2023 stroke.
The Monongalia County Schools administration on April 15 asked the board to approve a staffing restructure in the district’s procurement and facilities oversight that would eliminate the current purchasing specialist position and a vacant executive director of facilities management role and establish a single purchasing director position.
Jennifer Carradine, representing administration, said the change would consolidate procurement oversight as the district faces more than $47 million in construction projects and “demands for compliance oversight.” Carradine said comparable districts employ a purchasing director and that recent state reviews in other counties showed the risk of inadequate purchasing oversight.
Kelly Reed, an attorney speaking on behalf of the affected employee, Nicola Reyes (purchasing specialist), said Reyes has performed the duties listed in the proposed job description and asked why Reyes would be eliminated rather than appointed to the new director role. Reed also outlined Reyes’ employment history and said Reyes suffered a stroke in February 2023, returned to work in September 2023 and was placed on an improvement plan in October 2024 that she successfully completed. Reed argued that the district had not engaged in a meaningful interactive process about reasonable accommodations prior to placing Reyes on an improvement plan.
Carradine and other administration representatives responded that the director role would include additional duties — attending all construction meetings, working directly with vendors, treasurer and counsel on all contracts, and guiding procurement software and inventory work — responsibilities not currently performed by Reyes, they said. Carradine recommended upholding the administration’s personnel recommendation.
The board later approved the regular personnel list and addendum during the same meeting; the personnel list vote was recorded as 4 ayes and 1 nay. The transcript does not show a separate roll‑call vote specific to the purchasing‑office reorganization; the changes discussed were included within the personnel actions approved that evening.
