Ohio County Board approves three personnel hires, accepts Frontier WAN contract and passes consent agenda

The Ohio County Board of Education approved three personnel hires, accepted a contract with Frontier Communications for the districtwide wide area network and passed its consent agenda during its regular meeting.

Staff presented three personnel recommendations that the board approved: Amber George for a central-office professional position effective April 1, 2025; Matthew Hutchinson, a former Wheeling Park High School student, as a 200-day welding teacher effective March 24, 2025; and Patricia Wilkinson as a 220-day secretary at West Liberty Elementary School effective April 21, 2025. A board member moved to accept the personnel slate and, after a second, the board voted in favor and the motion passed.

The board also considered bids to provide a wide area network. Staff recommended accepting Frontier Communications' bid, noting it matched current service speeds. The recommendation cited Frontier's price of $7,140 per month. After questions about price differences and competing local providers that did not bid, the board moved, seconded and voted to accept the staff recommendation.

Members then moved through the consent agenda. Three items (6.3, 6.5 and 6.6) were pulled for discussion; remaining consent items were approved by voice vote. Paid-bill and budget items discussed earlier in the meeting included recurring payments on energy savings loans, a partial payment for Madison Health Clinic renovations (presented as about $175,000 total), purchases of Motorola radios for resource officers, and program charges for mental health and third-grade science trips through the Schroeder Center.

Board members asked staff for clarifications about whether certain charges were grant-funded and how recurring agreements are handled. The board recorded no roll-call tallies in the meeting record; votes were taken by voice and the motions passed as announced by the chair. The meeting adjourned at 6:32 p.m.