Tag: Kanawha County School Board

Kanawha County Teachers Revive Heating, AC Grievance

A group of teachers is moving forward with a grievance filed in August against the Kanawha County school system over cooling and heating issues that the teachers say are still ongoing.

Ben Franklin Career Center teacher Julie Wiles tells The Charleston Gazette-Mail that teachers had thought in September that the issues had been fixed, but they didn’t cancel the grievance because they wanted to make sure the problems didn’t continue.

On Tuesday, a group of teachers told school system maintenance officials and system General Counsel Jim Withrow that they are still having problems. Some teachers say they haven’t had air conditioning for months.

Kanawha schools Superintendent Ron Duerring has said the county has old air-conditioning systems and not enough money to replace them or make major upgrades.

Kanawha County School Board Lands $1.5M Flood Grant

A West Virginia county school board has landed a $1.5 million federal grant for flood recovery efforts.

On Friday, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced the grant for the Kanawha County Board of Education.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will help the board address flood-related issues in Kanawha County schools.

Five schools across the state, including two in Kanawha County, are being rebuilt because of extensive flood damage.

The June 23 floods killed 23 people and devastated homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Kanawha School Board Strengthens LGBT Protections

The Kanawha County school board has approved policy changes meant to protect prospective and current lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees from discrimination.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the board approved the changes at a meeting Thursday. Among the changes was adding “ancestry and sexual orientation” to the equal opportunity section of the school system’s cultural diversity and human relations policy.

The change adds a definition of sexual orientation: “actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or gender identity or expression of an individual, with or without regard to the individual’s assigned sex at birth.”

The revision also crosses out the phrase “any other status protected by federal, state or local law,” which was part of the list of classes protected from discrimination. There is no federal or state law banning discrimination against LGBT individuals.

Extended School Bus Stop Signs Not Deterring Drivers

Six-foot-long stop arms on school buses haven’t deterred some drivers from trying to illegally pass.

Kanawha County Schools executive transportation director Brette Farley tells The Charleston Gazette-Mail that the new stop arms have been hit six times since the school year began in August.

In Cabell County, schools transportation director Joe Meadows says one driver hit an arm.

Cabell, Kanawha and Greenbrier counties participated in a pilot study of the extended arms in August. North Carolina-based Bus Safety Solutions donated 10 arms to each county.

Despite the hits, Farley and Meadows say the extended arms have reduced illegal passing of school buses.

A recent survey by a national transportation directors association says more than 78,000 vehicles illegally passed school buses in 26 states on a single day.

Kanawha County School Board Settles Lawsuit

 The Kanawha County Board of Education is settling a lawsuit filed by a teacher who was fired in 2005.

The board agreed Monday to pay $149,000 in back wages to Nitro High School history teacher Robert Fulmer.

Fulmer was fired in 2005 after a former student accused him of sexually assaulting her. She later recanted the allegations and Fulmer was rehired in 2008. He filed the lawsuit in 2009.

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