Kanawha County's school board on Thursday approved the job description for a new position that will, the description says, "account for and manage the financial aspect of the school demolition and school construction projects" associated with the June 2016 flood.
The description says the "financial project manager" job will end upon completion of the projects. Two Kanawha public schools, Clendenin Elementary and Herbert Hoover High, had their buildings closed following the floods.
The listed job duties include overseeing and managing budgets for the demolition and construction projects.
Briana Warner, the school system's communications director, wrote in an email that the position will be funded like any other Federal Emergency Management Agency expense. So far, FEMA is expected to fund 75 percent of the cost for flood recovery projects while the state pays the rest.
The new hire's pay will follow the school system's salary schedule for directors.
Directors start at a $70,332 annual salary. Their salaries hit $73,145 in the second year of service, then $75,959 the next, $78,772 the next, $81,583 the next, and then stay at $84,397 for the sixth year of service through the 21st.
Charles Wilson, the school system's executive director of facilities planning, said in the fall that building a new school typically takes about three years, although working with FEMA might extend the timeline. The school system has proposed building a new Hoover High and a consolidated elementary school to combine Clendenin Elementary with Bridge Elementary, which didn't close following the flood.
The board also approved a Wide Area Network Service contract with Suddenlink that will cost roughly $493,200 annually. A document in Thursday's board meeting packet said Lumos also submitted a bid to provide the service, but for about $7,500 more annually.
Leah Sparks, the school system's technology executive director, said every county public school system in the state gets its internet service through WVNET. But she said the Kanawha school system must provide the "pipeline" to connect all of its locations to the West Virginia Department of Education headquarters in the Capitol Complex in Charleston.
She said the contract with Suddenlink is for three years with possible extensions. She said she thinks either 70 percent or 80 percent of the cost is funded by federal E-rate dollars.
"Basically they, you know, maintain the lines, keep everything up, they put equipment in our schools, Suddenlink, so that we can connect," Sparks said.
The votes on the new job description and the internet contract were both 4-0, with only Becky Jordon absent for those votes after her teleconference line cut off.
Also Thursday, the board recognized South Charleston High senior Joseph Clark for having perfect attendance from kindergarten through 12th grade. He also has his school's highest weighted grade point average, at 4.83.
The board also recognized Sissonville High Curriculum Assistant Principal Melanie White for being named the assistant principal of the year by the West Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals.
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