Mercer County school board hears public calls for pre‑K transparency, approves routine purchases and personnel moves

The Mercer County Board of Education met Sept. 22 and heard public pleas for greater transparency about district spending on pre‑K daycares and sharp public condemnation of a teacher’s recent social‑media remarks, while staff briefed the board on school‑improvement work and the board approved routine contract and personnel items before moving into executive session to discuss a possible property acquisition.

Katrina Bolin, who identified herself during the public‑comment period, asked the board to place an item on a future agenda to review district spending tied to pre‑K daycares. She asked the board to provide three items: “a listing of all those pre‑K daycares,” the district’s expense total by site for fiscal year 2025, and the board’s policy for pre‑K daycares. Bolin said the requests relate to implementation of Senate Bill 280 and presented a framed copy to the board.

A second commenter, who identified himself as Jeremiah, urged the community to temper punishment with forgiveness after a teacher’s controversial online remarks. “Before we [profanity] this man, let’s show him what a Christian is,” he said, arguing the teacher had apologized and sought to repent.

Dale Lee, co‑president of Education West Virginia and a former county teacher, asked the board to schedule a work session on topics he has raised at recent meetings and requested placement on the next regular agenda if the work session has not been scheduled.

Rick Kendrick, who identified himself during public comment, told the board that celebrating another person’s death is disqualifying conduct for an educator and said the district should consider whether the teacher remains fit to teach.

On staff reports, Superintendent Dr. Atkins briefed the board on the start of the school year and on Continuous School Improvement (CSI) designations. He said the state identified Bluefield Intermediate School and Mountain Valley Elementary for CSI support and that the district will work with each school for three years; Amber Wright will serve as the district’s trained school improvement coach and trainings begin Oct. 7 in Morgantown.

In operations and procurement business under the consent agenda, staff described bids and recommended awards for several routine purchases and contracts. Notable items discussed in the consent agenda included a contract for dishwashing supplies (Ecolab) with reported price increases, a Proximity Learning (virtual coursework) budget estimated at $427,656 to be funded from the excess levy, purchase of an ATI nursing learning platform ($1,700 per student; $40,800 total to be paid from student tuition), and authorization to purchase a used 2024 GMC Sierra for maintenance (price listed in the packet at $59,449 with an estimated $7,000 trade‑in, bringing the net to about $52,449). Facilities staff also described buying a remote‑controlled slope mower to safely mow steep banks at Mountain Valley and other locations.

The board approved several routine items and personnel actions. The minutes from prior meetings were approved, the second reading of the travel policy was adopted with an effective date of Oct. 1, 2025, and the superintendent’s recommendation to post and fill a professional accountant position (to handle invoicing for non‑public students and other financial duties) was authorized.

The board entered executive session to discuss a potential property acquisition and, upon returning, adjourned the meeting.

Votes at a glance - Approval of prior meeting minutes: motion approved (motion and second recorded; president announced the motion carried). - Travel policy (second reading/adoption, effective Oct. 1, 2025): approved after second reading; one public comment requested paper forms in addition to digital. - Consent agenda (contracts, placements, purchases including Proximity Learning and ATI nursing platform): board approved the consent agenda as presented. - Authorization to post/fill professional accountant position: board approved the superintendent’s recommendation to post and fill the position. - Personnel item(s): board took action after noting a member recusal; minutes indicate the motion carried with one member recorded as not voting.

What’s next Several implementation steps were noted by staff: CSI trainings beginning Oct. 7 in Morgantown, further balanced‑scorecard information to be provided at the next board meeting, and follow‑up on the pre‑K daycare information request pending an agenda placement. The board moved into executive session to discuss real‑estate matters and adjourned after the closed‑session discussion.

Attributions: Quotations and attributions in this report come from the board meeting transcript; all quoted speakers are identified in the meeting record.