Election Meeting Minutes
Attendance: Heather Holbert – Principal, Mark Jones – Assistant Principal, Bethany Kulchock – JES Teacher, Jessica Wagner – JES Teacher, Gretchen Kessler – JES Service Personnel, Amber Duncil – JES Service Personnel, Lauren Moore – LSIC President, Hannah Francis – LSIC Secretary, Maria Seamon, Marteney Hanson, Gina Lutyens, Amanda Thompson, Jessica Kelly, Amy Hall, JoAnna Kirk, Amanda Morrow
The meeting was called to order at 1501.
A motion was made to approve the April meeting minutes by JoAnna Kirk. Jessica Wagner seconded the motion. All approved, none opposed - the motion carried.
Principal Heather Holbert introduced herself and went over the role of LSIC. The training video was watched by all those present. The WVDE Documents and West Virginia State Code were also reviewed.
The LSIC vacancies were reviewed by Chair, Lauren Moore. Hannah Francis made a motion to nominate Amy Hall for the Parent Member vacancy. Bethany Kulchock seconded the motion. All voting members approved the motion and no one opposed. The motion carried for Amy Hall to become the Parent Member. The open At-Large member is TBD at this time.
The Principal’s Report was also given by Mrs. Holbert. After the April 2025 LSIC meeting, it was unanimously agreed upon by the committee to approach the City of Bridgeport about getting a second crossing guard to assist Jack Waggamon (our current crossing guard) with the heavy AM drop off and PM pickup traffic. A second guard WAS APPROVED by the city and the job is currently posted.
We next discussed enrollment. Johnson Elementary is the largest Elementary School in the county and the fourth largest school overall. There are currently 97 Staff members and 850 people in the building on any given day. At this time, there are three overage grades (Kindergarten, First Grade, and Fourth Grade). To give an example of the size of JES compared to other schools in the county – the entirety of Lost Creek Elementary School is the size of JUST THE FIFTH GRADE at Johnson. Pay rates for staff do not take school size into consideration.
JES currently has 120 Special Education students, 15 EL students, 3 homeless students, 93 Low Socioeconomic Status students, 6 students who left for homeschool and 22 students who un-enrolled and now receive the HOPE Scholarship. County enrollment is continuing to decline due to school choice.
We also discussed the student transfer process. For in-county transfers, BOTH principals have to sign. Johnson and Simpson Elementary Schools were previously closed for enrollment due. Now, there is almost always an opening due to overage classrooms. Transfer forms only need to be filled out ONE time in your public school career (not every year) as long as you remain at the current transfer school.
During open enrollment (March), anyone (out of county) may enroll but transportation will not be provided if the students live outside of the bus routes. For middle schools and high schools, there is no max class size – the Fire Marshal determines the maximum building capacity. Square footage of the ENTIRE building is used to determine capacity – including hallways, stairwells, kitchens, etc.
School choice has caused public education to take a hit. Overage classes will likely remain going forward.
Johnson Elementary School was built with the capability to add a story to part of the school, adding four more classrooms. The LGI rooms and many offices/storage rooms have been sacrificed to become classrooms. Previously, if a grade was full at Johnson, students would be enrolled at Simpson Elementary and vice versa. If both schools were full, students would be placed at Norwood Elementary (being a Bridgeport feeder school). With Norwood now closed, there is little option, other than the students attending a school completely outside of their district.
There continues to be new housing and new developments being built all over Bridgeport. These students are typically in the Johnson district, but if not Johnson, the Simpson district. With overage classrooms already in effect in SEVERAL grades, a contingency plan is going to have to be made.
Finally, we briefly discussed the implementation of WVEIS 2.0, which is replacing Schoology. This decision came from the state, not the county.
The LSIC Stakeholder meeting has been scheduled for October 20, 2025.
The meeting was adjourned at 1617.