Nicholas County Schools

During this holiday season, let us all be thankful for the blessings that we all enjoy and the country in which we live. Life has many ups and downs, and we all have something going on in our personal lives or with our family or friends that makes us all less joyful and less thankful than we should be. Just look at the world around us. Life has a way of beating us down. But thank God for the blessings that we do have! So, during this most wonderful time of the year, let us take a moment and remember the reason for the season, enjoy or family and friends, and work together for the sake of ourselves and our children. If we as adults feel defeated or act defeated, that rubs off on the people around us. Let us build each other up, say kind things to each other, and accept the differences that we all have. I wish you the best during not only the holiday season, but always. Terrence Beam, Superintendent

Attention Bus Announcement! Please expect some bus delays this morning due to a traffic issue on Rt. 39. This may impact Ward Road, Groves Road, Groves Ford Road, and other stops in the Canvas area, specifically Bus 139 and Bus 123.

Summersville middle will host “Christmas Around the world” at SMS tonight from 5-7 pm. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there and cookies and hot cocoa will be served! Please come and walk the halls to learn about customs and traditions from around the world’!

Today is Friday, December 6 and unfortunately, we had to cancel school due to continued icy side roads. Side road issues account for the majority of days that we must cancel school. Many of our students live on side roads that sometimes are not cleared as quickly as the main highways. We are allowed to miss 10 days of school before we must make them up, according to state code. As of today, we have missed 4 days....3 due to weather and one due to a day in September we had to close because of safety threats to our students. We do not have to make up delays or early dismissals. Rarely, do we miss more than 1-2 days before January, but this year it is different. If we keep school is session when the roads are a little messy, we are criticized and even cussed for "putting kids out on the roads." If we do cancel, we get calls asking if they can still have practices or ball games. It is an impossible situation to deal with during the winter months. Each weather pattern is different and has to be addressed on its own circumstances. When we cancel school, we run the risk of adding more days to the calendar at the end of May or early June which make everyone unhappy. We have 3-hour delays to give the roads more time to thaw or get cleared or for the temperature to go up. Some love it, some hate it. We don't serve breakfast on 3-hour delays because the cooks don't have time to fix and serve breakfast and then lunch an hour later. Most parents can feed their children breakfast on delay days. Delays also are an inconvenience for working parents who must be at work on time. They must adjust childcare arrangements. Early dismissals cause the same problems, but sometimes we have to get the kids home while we can. Our rule of thumb for cold temperatures, if the temperatures during the school day are at 10 degrees or lower or the wind chill is below 10, we either delay or cancel. Understand that some parts of our county get colder than others and we can't delay or cancel because one area is 8 degrees while the rest of the county is above 10. We have variances of temps and snowfall totals throughout our county. Richwood and Zela weather is greatly different, for example. This post is designed to better inform the public all of the things that must be considered when making these decisions to delay or call off school. Our hands are tied when it comes to laws passed by the legislature. We have to be in school 180 days regardless. We are working on a plan to use snow routes to be able to have school on days that the main roads are safe, but the side roads are dicey. That would involve buses only picking up students that live on the main roads and parents who live on side roads would need to get their children to the bus stop to catch the bus. I know that will frustrate some people also, but that is the best way for us to stay in session. We are permitted to grant an EXCUSED absence for students whose bus does not run on a particular day, and they cannot get to the bus on the main roads. Many counties use this practice. Our buses have chains but having school on days where they would have to used would be heavily criticized. Please understand that we try to make the best decision based upon the information we get on nightly updates from the weather service. Mr. Stump and I talk almost every night and every morning before 5:00 a.m. to decide what we need to do. Sometimes we get it wrong, but not because of neglect. We talk to other counties and even citizens around our county to see what the roads are like in different areas of the county. For example, we were not expecting more snow this morning, but we have seen pockets of snow all morning. WV weather is challenging to predict and difficult to navigate with large school buses. To answer topics about today, we will allow voluntary practices today and will allow the annual Craft Fair at NCHS to go on as scheduled. I hope that this helps everyone better understand the process of dealing with winter weather in Nicholas County. Terrence Beam, Superintendent

Nicholas County Schools are closed today, Friday, December 6 2024.

Nicholas County Schools will be operating on a 3 hour delay Friday December 6, 2024. There is no breakfast served on 3 hour delay schedule. Faculty reports on a 2 hour delay.

Nicholas County Schools are closed today, Thursday, December 5, 2024.

Nicholas County Schools are closed today Friday November 22, 2024.

Nicholas County Schools will be operating on a 3 hour delay Friday November 22, 2024. Reminder, breakfast is not served on a 3 hour delay schedule.

Due to the forecasted inclement weather, Nicholas County Schools will be dismissing 3 hours early. Extra curricular activities for this evening have been canceled.

After meeting with the National weather service, Nicholas County Schools will operate on a regular schedule tomorrow November 21, 2024. We will be observing the weather and adjust the school schedule according to how the weather moves in. At this point in time there is a chance we will be releasing 3 hours early. Please plan accordingly in the event we must do that. By attending a school on a normal schedule we will not have to use one of our bank time days.

Do you understand the risks of letting your child play seemingly benign games like Roblox? Did you know your children are at risk of being charged with creating, possessing and trafficking child pornography because of photos they could be taking, sending, and receiving on their smartphones? If you are surprised or confused by these statements, or just want to learn more about the cyber world in which our children are living, please attend nationally recognized speaker Jesse Wineberger's session tonight at the Summersville Arena and Conference Center @ 6 PM. This is a free event and encourage you to come and bring as many families as possible!

Mt. Nebo Elementary will be dismissing students at 9 am today, due to having no power. The estimated return of power is 2 pm today. If you are a parent that picks up your student, you may pick them up any time.

Reminder you can view live board meetings here: https://boe.nich.k12.wv.us/documents/board-members/meeting-links/698146

There will be a set price auction for items that are left in Cherry River Elementary on Wednesday November 6, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm. Items must be taken the same day. Payments will be cash or check. Must load your own purchases.

Lunches are available at Cherry River Elementary today for those students. Parents may pick those up from the school at 1:30 pm.

In response to concerns brought to the Nicholas County Board of Education about health and safety issues at the Cherry River School, there was special meeting held on October 10, 2024 starting 8:30 a.m. At this meeting there were reports given by the Nicholas County Health Department, Nicholas County Division of Homeland Security, and the State Fire Marshal. All 3 of these agencies stated that there were corrective actions that needed to be completed before the school continued occupancy. The Nicholas County Board of Education believes ensuring their students and staff have a safe and healthy environment is their primary responsibility. To ensure both safe and healthy environment for both staff and students the board unanimously voted to temporarily relocate the students from the Cherry River Facility to Panther Creek Elementary until the end of the 2024-2025 school year. At Panther Creek Elementary both schools will operate under 2 separate entities. After school activities will continue. Starting tomorrow Friday October 11, 2024, Cherry River students will remain home to allow for school contents to be moved, and to prepare the Panther Creek facility to facilitate Cherry River Elementary. The Cherry River students will start attending the Panther Creek site on Friday October 18, 2024. If you have an questions regarding this, please contact the Nicholas County Board of Education 304-872-3611 ext 1225 or ext 1234. Please find copies of the recorded meetings on our website under the board members tab. https://boe.nich.k12.wv.us/documents/board-members/minutes%2C-recordings%2C-and-agendas/2024-2025-meeting-recordings/713499

This morning, the State Department of Education received the County Approval Status and Accountability Report 2024 at their regular meeting. For your convenience, I have attached of copy of the report. Twenty-one districts “Met All Requirements” under the County Operational Effectiveness Efficiency Indicator. Congratulations goes out to the following districts: Cabell County Schools Doddridge County Schools Fayette County Schools Gilmer County Schools Hardy County Schools Harrison County Schools Jackson County Schools Marion County Schools Marshall County Schools Nicholas County Schools Pendleton County Schools Pleasants County Schools Preston County Schools Putnam County Schools Raleigh County Schools Randolph County Schools Ritchie County Schools Tucker County Schools Tyler County Schools Webster County Schools Wetzel County Schools Something we should celebrate!

Reminder you can find Nicholas County Board of Education live meeting links here: https://boe.nich.k12.wv.us/documents/board-members/meeting-links/698146 Next meeting is October 10, 2024

Notice of Board Meeting