An official from a literacy group used the example of a high school athlete who could not read his own nickname to impress upon the Kanawha County school board the need for a partnership between their organizations.
Tim McClung, vice president of the Literacy Board of Volunteers who also serves as a tutor, addressed the Kanawha County Board of Education at its regular session meeting on Thursday.
"Recently I was assigned to a 2015 high school graduate of Kanawha County who cannot read," he said. The graduate is also an athlete who can't decipher the letters spelling the nickname his teammates bestowed on him.
Through her research, Emily Goodman, a member of the Literacy Board, said one out of five residents in Kanawha County cannot read above a fourth grade level. To combat the issue, she and McClung suggested a partnership be formed between their organization and the board of education.
Sitting as a quorum, the Kanawha County Board of Education ran its meeting without board member Ryan White, who is out of the country.
Though technically present, board member Becky Jordon joined the meeting via telephone.
In other business, the board approved the dismissal and immediate termination of Eric Brewer who was a janitor at Riverside High School. No other information regarding his dismissal was available.
The board also approved a temporary construction easement off of Loudon Heights Road where the department will relocate a manhole in their relocation of a sewer line project.
Contact writer Megan Kennedy at 304-348-4886 or megan.kennedy@dailymailwv.com. Follow her at www.twitter.com/wvschools.