Officials from Cabell County Schools ride down 5th Avenue inside a new electric school bus after announcing a partnership with GreenPower Motor Company during a press conference on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in Huntington.
Officials from Cabell County Schools ride down 5th Avenue inside a new electric school bus after announcing a partnership with GreenPower Motor Company during a press conference on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The Cabell County Board of Education will host a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to address proposed levy rates for the 2025-26 school year.
A schedule of the proposed levy rates for the Cabell County Board of Education for FY 2026.
PDF courtesy of Cabell County Schools
The meeting will be hosted in the Board Office Meeting Room at 2850 5th Ave.
According to the meeting agenda, the proposed levy rates will be presented to the board for authorization in order to submit them to the West Virginia Department of Education and the West Virginia AuditorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office for approval.
The regular levy rate for Fiscal Year 2025-26 is as determined by the legislature per WV Code .
The special levy, or excess levy rates, will be a renewal of the levy approved by voters on Nov. 5, effective for the fiscal years ending June 30 of each year from 2026-30.
This is also the fifth year for the bond levy rates, which began Dec. 29, 2020. The bond issue will continue through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2036.
A full schedule of the levy rates that will be presented to the board Tuesday is available on the Cabell County Schools website under
The board will also have its regular meeting Tuesday immediately following the special meeting.
During the regular meeting, the board will consider approving a sub-agreement to accept six full-size electric buses through the EPA Clean School Bus Grant.
According to Deputy Superintendent Justin Boggs, if the board decides to accept the six buses that were awarded through the grant, the county wouldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be able to expect them until around December or January 2026.
Boggs said while there are some startup costs paid for through the grant for charging stations for the buses, the county would need to purchase infrastructure and install around eight charging stations.
This is because the county already has one nano, or small electric bus, but it has a slow charger, and the county is expecting another bus around December or January 2026 to be funded through a state grant. He said the county would likely want to install the infrastructure for updated or ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œlevel threeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ chargers for all of the buses at once.
Treasurer Drew Rottgen said the state formula allows funding to be provided based on the value of the districtÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s bus fleet. This means, because electric buses cost three times the amount of a diesel bus, state aid would increase significantly.
Rottgen estimated the switch to electric for just those six buses could improve the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s financial position by about $100,000 a year.
Rottgen also said the reimbursement rate for transportation expenses in Cabell County from the state is 87.5%.
Boggs said another positive of having electric buses is that the county would no longer have to change the oil in those buses. But the buses would only have a range of about 150 miles in optimal conditions, meaning they couldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be used for field trips out of the county where charging stations couldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be guaranteed.
As part of the grant, Boggs said the county would need to dispose of six of its diesel buses within two years.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a lot of factors to really look at because youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve got your current diesel prices, youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re got your current electrical prices per kilowatt hours, and all that stuff can fluctuate from day to day and year to year,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Boggs said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œJust weighing the pros and cons of each of those is just really important so when we present this, we just want to make sure that we do whatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s in the best interest of the district and the students of Cabell County.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Superintendent Tim Hardesty will recommend the approval of a contract with Premier Energy Systems to evaluate the HVAC systems and automated controls. The contract would cost $18,000 to be paid for through the general current expense fund.
Hardesty will also recommend approval of a district-wide software contract with Follett LLC for a library host renewal to cost about $24,117 annually from the general current expense fund.
Several policy updates and school trips and eight student expulsions will also be up for the boardÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s review.
Rottgen will give a treasurerÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s report for February.
During special celebrations, Spring Hill Elementary School student Isaiah Sarver will be recognized by the board for his art submission, which was selected for the WomanÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Club of HuntingtonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Annual Young PeopleÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Concert.
SarverÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s art, a rendition of Poco the penguin, a conductor and mascot for the concert, was featured on the cover of the concert programs.
The board will also recognize students in the district who participated in winter sports and recently competed for the title of county champion.
In boys basketball, the board will recognize Huntington Middle SchoolÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s team and coaches Mike Thomas and Kevin Pennington. In girls basketball, the board will recognize Milton Middle SchoolÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s team and coach Emily Sergent.
In wrestling, the board will recognize Huntington Middle SchoolÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s team and coaches Blaine Crabtree, Nathan Austrian, Chris Morgan and Sam St. Clair.
The complete agenda can be found on the Cabell County Schools .
Katelyn Aluise is an education and court reporter.
