Upshur BOE fires principal
By Gary Mallonee, Staff WriterAfter weeks of suspensions and speculation, the Upshur County Board of Education voted Tuesday morning to fire Dr. Brenda Wells from her position as principal at Buckhannon-Upshur High School.
On July 8, Wells told The Inter-Mountain that Superintendent of Schools Scott Lampinen had fired her two days before and that the board would later vote on his recommendation.
During the meeting Tuesday, board members went into an executive session to discuss the issue. Lampinen's recommendation was to suspended Wells without pay July 6 through July 21 and to terminate her contract on July 21. After a short discussion, the board voted unanimously for the superintendent's recommendation.
Wells had been suspended in May for 10 days until the board could make its decision. The day before graduation, she was suspended for five more days without pay.
Wells told The Inter-Mountain that the incident that led to her suspension involved a fight in the cafeteria where several students were in "a dog pile."
"While attempting to stop the food fight, I observed two boys fighting and I went over in an attempt to break up the fight," Wells said. "I saw everyone was laughing and to relieve the tension I jumped on. I didn't get 2 inches off the floor, and I probably looked like a huge beach ball and I was down and up before you could say one."
In other action, the board also hired Bill Struble as the new head football coach at Buckhannon-Upshur High School. Struble had resigned after last season at West Virginia Wesleyan College where he had been the head coach for more than 20 years. Struble replaces Dave Chipps, who resigned last month.
In other action the Board:
Announced the Pro Officers Grant to place a Deputy Sheriff at the High School has been approved by the grant committee, however the money has not been released as of yet. According to Lampinen it is hopeful that the money will be released prior to the start of the new year. The officer has already received some training for the job.
Approved an agreement with West Virginia Wesleyan College for an Athletic Trainer at B-UHS.
Approved the third and final reading of the revised section IV.2 of the Utilization of Building and Grounds Policy.
Approved a request from the B-UHS Athletic Hall of Fame for financial assistance. The board approved $2,000.
Announced the receipt of a grant from the School Building Authority of West Virginia for $180,097 with a local contribution of $60,033 to replace the roof at Washington District Elementary School.
The board accepted the following resignations:
Dorothy Jane Byrd Carson as assistant principal at B-UMS.
Marsha Channell, Title I teacher at Buckhannon Academy Elementary School
Joseph W. Broalawsky as Industrial Arts teacher and assistant boys basketball coach at B-UMS.
Tom Hasbrouck as Boys soccer coach at B-UHS.
Pamela B. martin as B-UMS head cross country coach
Kathleen Daugherty as assistant cross country coach, senior advisory and social studies teacher at B-UHS.
Andrea Ryan as teacher at B-UHS.
Approved the following employment:
Alice Cutright as head cross country coach at B-UMS.
Jon Gay as substitute bus operator.
Charlea Florence as math teacher at B-UHS
Michael Renee Thomas as Title I teacher at French Creek Elementary.
Melissa Drost as substitute teacher
Mandi Neely as substitute teacher
Lynda Morris as substitute
Renea McDaniel as substitute teacher
Hattie Ruth Nice as substitute teacher
Abbie Blake as substitute teacher
Connie Townsend as substitute teacher
Eric Mohan as volunteer girls soccer citizen coach at B-UHS
Michael Donato as head boys soccer coach at B-UHS
Bill Struble as head football coach and substitute teacher at B-UHS
Nikki L. Rutan as Industrial arts teacher at B-UMS
Todd Davis as head boys soccer coach at B-UMS
Ann Livesay as substitute
Jason Westfall as assistant boys basketball coach at B-UMS
Brad Ling as head volleyball coach at B-UMS
Sheena Westfall as assistant volleyball coach at B-UMS.
