KINGWOOD — Preston County Board of Education members went into executive session once more Tuesday evening to discuss character education curriculum.
This is the second meeting that the topic has been addressed. Several parents met with board members during the executive session to discuss their concerns about the education program, which covers the process by which humans learn to interact with society through core values.
Preston School Superintendent Steve Wotring said West Virginia Department of Education Policy 4373, Expected Behavior in Safe and Supportive Schools, defines the program being used by county schools.
According to 4373, “This new comprehensive policy will provide school employees, students, and parents with one policy that includes all aspects of what is expected regarding student behavior, and what is expected from school systems, in order to create safe and supportive schools. This will be a positive change from the existing structure that fragments the issue among five different policies.”
“We have to look at the standards of character education,” Wotring said. “I don’t think our job is to single out any one group. I believe it’s about making sure it is not about any one group of students.”
Board Member Pam Feathers said she believed the board should set a standard, so parents can educate themselves on what will be taught in the classrooms.
“It’s been hit and miss on what each one is teaching, so we are going to standardize it,” Wotring said.
No further action was taken.
In other business, nine Preston High students — William Byrd IV, Margot Cerbone, Kiley Christopher, Lowell Cerbone, Emma Wilson, Raegan Knotts, McKayla Lambert, Chyna Ward, Alauna Wilson, Kaylan Phillips, Sophie Taylor, and Lydia Schmidl — received the Rosemary Houser Spirit of Education Award.
A discussion about graduation and the number of tickets each student would need for parents attending the function was tabled for the next meeting.
Board President Jack Keim said putting graduation on the next agenda gives all parties involved time to research ticket needs and get an exact figure of how many people will attend.
“We’ll work on it and hopefully come up with a solution,” he said.
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