The Ohio County Board of Education this week approved the use of county school buses and drivers to transport students and parents to the H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine clinic slated for Saturday at Wheeling Middle School and future clinics.
Flyers outlining the clinics and transportation measures have been sent home to parents. The next H1N1 clinic is set for 3:30-8 p.m. Friday at Wheeling Middle School. Students at Ritchie Elementary and Wheeling Middle School and their parents can walk to the school for the clinic, while students and their parents from Bethlehem and Madison elementary schools can utilize the school bus transportation.
Parents and students needing the transportation can report to their home schools - Madison and Bethlehem this week - and the buses will take them to and from the clinic.
Article Photos
Photo by Scott McCloskey
School buses from this fleet in Ohio County will be used to transport students and their parents to swine flu vaccination clinics offered at local schools.
A parent or guardian must accompany students to the clinic. Principals at the schools are coordinating the transportation issues with the transportation department and parents.
In other business this week, the board heard a presentation by Howard M. O'Cull, West Virginia School Board Association executive director/facilitator, concerning the latest in procedures for superintendent evaluations. He said yearly evaluations must be conducted by the board and can only be completed in a closed-door meeting.
O'Cull said state statute established after the No Child Left Behind Initiative requires boards to evaluate the performance of the county superintendent.
And the evaluation process to be used must be authorized by the state board
The local board already has established a template to use in completing its evaluation that was approved by the state in 2000.
O'Cull said evaluations should focus on the "mutually written goals or objectives" of the board and superintendent and whether the superintendent is successful in improving student achievement. Additional suggested areas of evaluation include community relations, school finance, personnel relations, curricular standards and programs, overall leadership of the school district, other duties outlined in state law and informational leadership.
After an evaluation is completed, the board can release its findings to the public. "You could, with mutual agreement as a board, release a statement to the public," O'Cull said.
The superintendent's evaluation can be used to determine whether to extend his or her contract, whether to offer the superintendent a new contract and determine compensation or benefits to be offered to the superintendent in any new or extended contract.
O'Cull cautioned the board against trying to "micro-manage" the school district.
"Board members micro-manage when they don't have good information. You get out of your role and try to take charge of the situation," O'Cull noted. "You have to trust your administration. ... Your role is not to solve problems, but have good information to have an intervention."
Board President Thomas Innocenti said he believes the board "knows its role and abides by a strong organizational chart."