BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Board of Education met Monday night to discuss roofing repairs, Response to Intervention and Enrollment numbers.
FCCLA advisor Connie Harless and two of her students, Mikaela Preston and Jade Preece, attended the meeting to present a dish that won an egg-based cooking competition from the Kentucky Poultry Federation at the Kentucky State Fair. The BOE got to sample the dish, BLT egg sliders.
The Board discussed a bid received bids for repairing the roof for the front portion of the Board of Education building.
“For those who have been keeping up with board meetings for the past 10 years, there have been several roof problems,” said board member Mickey McCoy. “Everywhere we go, there’s a roof problem. I think if we just visited Johnson Central and left, there would be a roof problem. It’s very odd.”
The roof needs sections entirely replaced or a painted-on coating to ensure leaks in the building are fixed. The coating is quicker and cheaper, but is not as durable and will need replaced or repaired sooner.
The coating is white, which is more reflective than the current black color of the roof, which would theoretically make energy costs lower during the summer.
The board voted to go with the cheaper option, the waterproof coating.
In response to the pandemic, the board hired a teacher responsible for RTI (Response to Intervention) at each of the elementary schools. These teachers were tasked with focusing on helping students catch up to where they need to be in their educational path.
Students at each of the elementary schools are monitored and given assessments like MAP and STAR to determine where they are vs. where they are expected to be educationally.
Students in the bottom 20th percentile are given further assessment and are placed in an RTI classroom which has only 4-6 students learning at a pace that is tailored to the small group. These students are considered Tier 2.
Students who do not show improvement may be given an individual learning plan and placed in a Tier 3 environment where they work directly with instructors.
Sabrina Hayden and Esther Haley of The Carl D. Perkins Job Corps gave a presentation at the board meeting Monday as well in regards to a memorandum of agreement that would establish a job training program between Martin County Schools and the trade school.
The program would provide low-income individuals aged 16-24 the opportunity to receive an expedited diploma and would allow students who are interested to participate in trade school training through Carl D. Perkins.
The Job Corps provides training and uniforms for a multitude of trades including Homeland Security and Office Administration, which are not covered by the MCHS vocational program.
The final major topic of discussion was enrollment numbers for the 2022-23 school year. The total enrollment for the county this year is 1,647, an increase of 36 students since the start of the 2021-22 school year. While Inez Elementary, Warfield Elementary, Head Start and the Middle School all saw small drops in enrollment, Eden Elementary and Martin County High School saw significant increases.
Superintendent Larry James expressed satisfaction with the overall increase in enrollment despite the pandemic and virtual schooling changes that have taken place since 2020.