By CharLy Markwart

Princeton Times

PRINCETON — Mother Nature was once again the talk of the Mercer County Board of Education this week as Superintendent Deborah Akers and her colleagues mulled over plans to make up for some of the instructional time lost during 22 school days missed due to inclement weather this year.

At Tuesday's MCBOE meeting, the Board unanimously approved a calendar alteration that would change April 2 and June 8 into regular instruction days, rather than Instructional Support days. Typically, by state department of education regulations, Instructional Support days can be used only for teacher training and other faculty activities. A new interpretation of that rule by State Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine, however, has allowed those days to be used for regular student instruction this year, as long as two hours are still set aside for faculty support. The MCBOE's motion calls for a two-hour early dismissal on both of the previously scheduled IS days, saving the latter part of the day for instruction support and the remainder of the school day for regular instruction. The plan now must be submitted to the State Board of Education for approval.

Also Tuesday, Akers introduced a plan to host a non-mandatory spring academy during spring break this year, to allow students the opportunity to make up for lost hours in the classroom. If there is adequate interest in such a program, Akers said, the five-day academy would be held during regular school hours at each of the county's campuses.

“Of course this would not be mandatory for any child or teacher, and it wouldn't be designed to move into any new concepts,” she explained. “It would be a more relaxed atmosphere, and it would emphasize skill building. I just think it's important that we offer this opportunity with as much time as we've missed. A lot of teachers are very, very concerned with their students being behind, and I think this would take away some of the pressure they're feeling.”

The academy, Akers noted, would focus on reading, language arts, and math at the elementary and middle school levels, and English, math, science and social studies at the high school level. Busses would run on main roads, and hot breakfast and lunch would be served. The program would be paid for by some of the state funds currently set aside for a critical skills summer academy, which would still be held but to a lesser degree.

While the Board did not vote on the matter Tuesday, members seemed to give their unanimous support to the plan, and Akers said a survey to gauge parent interest in the idea would be prepared for mail-out by early next week.

“This would just give students the opportunity to do some extra work during that week off, and I think it's something we need to do to show that we're trying to help students make-up that time,” she added.

The Board, itself, made up for some lost time Tuesday, doing double time during the regular recognition portion of their meeting. With January recognitions postponed due to bad weather, Board members showed their appreciation to both January and February 110 Percent Club honorees this week. The select club is designed to honor volunteers as well as service and professional personnel nominated by someone within the school community for above and beyond commitment to Mercer Schools. January honorees included Whitethorn Primary School teachers Stephanie Kopp-Adkins, Rebecca Peery and Cindy Stonestreet, and Career Connections volunteer Karen Browning.

“The not-so-secret secret within a school system is that we cannot work without volunteers,” noted Board President Greg Prudich, as he presented Browning with her certificate.

February 110 Percent Club honorees included Athens School teacher Michael Jones, Brushfork School Aide LaTonya Akers and Glenwood School volunteer Tracy Cutlip, a parent who donates materials and time from his personal landscaping business to improve school grounds.

“He continues to go above and beyond what is expected of a parent, and in addition to all of the landscaping he provides to us that saves the school so much money, he is also a member of the local school improvement council and he provides a class picnic for us every spring,” read Cutlip's nomination.

The recognition that garnered the most rousing round of applause from the meeting's audience members Tuesday was perhaps the most deserving, as well. Bluefield Intermediate School Early and Middle Childhood Literacy teacher Mary K. Merriman was honored for her recent achievement of national board certification in reading and language arts. The achievement, according to Prudich, is a difficult one to reach.

“I know that this took so much effort and time out of your life, in addition to all of the time it takes just to be a teacher,” he said. “That teachers like you put in all of this work just to improve themselves and to be better educated speaks so highly of the profession, and it speaks so highly of you. I just want to let you know that we really do appreciate you.”

Also especially recognized this week was PikeView High School student Andrew Hill, who is a finalist for the prestigious national merit scholarship.

In other matters of business, the Board discussed a possible change to the county's tobacco control policy which would make completion of the Mercer County Substance Abuse Early Intervention Program a viable alternative to the school system's own tobacco education program for students caught abusing tobacco products. While the issue was not up for vote yet, the matter sparked considerable conversation amongst Board members.

“I wish there was some way to tell the public how hard it is to keep young people from using tobacco, especially when they walk out the door of the school and see people lighting up,” said Gene Bailey. “We need more education for these people, to let them know what their smoking is doing to the students and to us, as educators, but mainly it's what it's doing to the students. I don't know what we need to do; it's very hard to enforce even if it is illegal.”

Prudich agreed.

“You know it's going on in the bathrooms and at the ball games, but it's hard to stop it,” he said. “It's just so hard to enforce.”

The next MCBOE meeting will be held March 9, at 7 p.m. in the Mercer County Technical Education Center's Seminar Center.

— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.