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Cabell County Schools outlines summer PD, curriculum purchases and launches special-education task force after audit
Summary
The district detailed summer professional development, curriculum and technology contracts — including a $42 five-day rural meal box program and Lightseed filtering/alert metrics — and explained a proposed Education System Solutions–led task force to address inflationary special-education costs.
Cabell County district leaders presented a series of informational items June 2 that covered summer professional development, curriculum and technology contracts, school-meal logistics and a proposed special-education task force to respond to rising costs identified in a recent audit.
Superintendent Hardesty and instructional leaders reviewed the district’s summer PD calendar: July 6–10 for a middle-school math content academy (Carnegie Learning); July 20–24 for grades 6–12 ELA content; a multi-day elementary series including Kickstart (number sense) and UFly (University of Florida Literacy Institute) phonics interventions; and a one-day back-to-school training on Aug. 3 that will include PRISMS VR sessions integrating math and science.
Kristen Giles explained that UFly provides explicit phonics and phonemic-awareness resources aligned to the science of reading and said the district has rolled the product out for K–3 special-education and interventionists. District staff said some PD will be funded by federal funds and by paying teachers a daily rate for participation.
Administrators also addressed contracts and operational items on the agenda. They described a proposed contract with Education System Solutions to moderate a county task force following a special-education audit. Superintendent Hardesty said the district projects special-education costs could be roughly "$10 million more" next year compared with several years earlier and recommended forming a task force consisting of administrators, teachers, aides, transportation and a board representative to meet weekly in July and August and propose 4–5 actionable items.
Technology and safety items included the Lightseed filtering/alert system and Stop It anonymous reporting. Technology staff reported 935 alerts for potential safety concerns in the last three months and said about 2.3 million sites were blocked and 6.2 million searches recorded in that period.
The board also discussed summer meal boxes for rural delivery (five-day boxes with breakfast and lunch) at an expense of $42 per box per student; staff said those sites are eligible for federal reimbursement and are only for designated rural feeding locations. A board member raised concerns about breakfast items and nutrition.
Board members asked clarifying questions about diagnostic and instructional materials—administrators said purchases include K–5 math student materials and K–8 diagnostic tools and noted an itemized student-materials figure of about $356,000 for combined online and print resources across schools.
No formal vote on increased special-education policy or a budgetary appropriation for the task force was recorded; the Education System Solutions contract appeared on the agenda for discussion and potential action but the transcript records only the presentation and plan description at this meeting.
Next steps: administrators plan to convene the proposed special-education task force beginning in July if the contract and logistics are finalized, continue summer PD rollouts and monitor Lightseed alert activity for student safety follow-up.
