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The Harlan County Board of Education held their first meeting of 2025 recently, kicking the year off by administering the oath of office to several members of the board, including two returning members and one new addition to the panel.

Board members Gary Farmer, Hiam Fields, and new board member Keri Stevens took the oath of office before the meeting began.

Shortly after calling the meeting to order, Superintendent Brent Roark opened the floor to nomination for board chairman.

“We have to do this each year,” Roark said. “The floor is open for nominations for board chairman.

Previous chairman Gary Farmer was nominated by board member Wallace Napier and seconded by board member Scott Sherman. No other nominations were made.

“I’ll proceed to the vote for Gary Farmer for Board Chairman,” Roark stated.

The board voted unanimously in favor of Farmer serving another term as chairman of the Harlan County Board of Education. Farmer abstained from the vote.

Following the vote for board chairman, Farmer asked for nominations for vice chairman. Sherman was nominated for the position by Napier, seconded by board member Hiram Fields.

The board voted unanimously in favor of Sherman serving as vice-chairman. There were no other nominations made for the position.

Roark later gave his report to the board, including an update on a build project for a Child Development Center.

“The Child Development Center, I couldn’t be more pleased about where we’re at,” Roark said. “I laid a timeline out for that back in August, we are right on that timeline right now. I’m looking to have the room painted and the cabinets refinished hopefully this coming week. We’ve got our furniture order ready to go. I’m hoping by the next board meeting in February I’ll be able to take you all over there and show you a finished product. That may be a little ambitious, but we’ll definitely have it ready by March.”

Roark also asked the board for permission to negotiate with Garland Roofing, a roofing company out of Ohio, for work on the Cawood Elementary School and the Central Administrative Office building roofs.

“We were just introduced to them last week,” Roark said. “We were impressed with them, and I’ve got to get a roof on Cawood Elementary.”

Roark asked the board for permission to talk with the company and secure bids for the roof work.

Following further discussion, the board passed a motion to allow Roark to begin negotiations with Garland Roofing for work on the Cawood Elementary School and the Central Administrative Office building roofs. The motion passed with no objections.