Community service requirement for P.H.S. students changed

POMEROY–The Pomeroy School District (PSD) board voted to change students’ community service requirements at their meeting on June 28. Students are now required to accumulate 40 hours of service between their freshman and senior years, with a minimum of five and a maximum of 15 hours per year.

The earlier requirements were 60 hours, with 10 required their freshman and sophomore years and 20 required their junior and senior years. The PSD board also set parameters for qualifying work, to avoid confusion. Superintendent Rachel Gwinn expressed the driving force behind the change as a need to help students understand what community service truly is. “There will be fewer hours,” Gwinn said. “But those hours should be more valuable.”

Sherry Johnson, a parent of PSD students, presented the board with her apprehensions about the proposed Making Healthy Choices curriculum. She expressed concern that the curriculum is not using medically accurate information, and that it is agenda driven. She asked that the board consider it very carefully before adopting it for teaching. The PSD board decided to delay action on the curriculum to allow further review.

The State-required Academic and Student Well-being Recovery Plan that was approved at the previous board meeting on May 24 has been accepted and the state has released a third round of Covid-19 relief funds that were dependent on the plan. The recovery plan outlines how Pomeroy High School and Elementary School will support their students coming out of the Covid-19 structure. Specific plan details were not given.

The resignation of Tom Ruchert as Pomeroy’s golf coach was accepted.