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Wheeling resident set to rejoin West Virginia BOE

WHEELING — Robert Dunlevy will return to the West Virginia Board of Education this week following a four-year hiatus, giving the Ohio Valley two voices on the state board.

Dunlevy, of Wheeling, will be sworn into office prior to the board’s scheduled meeting today in Charleston. He will join Dr. James S. Wilson, of Glen Dale, on the 12-member state Board of Education.

Gov. Jim Justice appointed Dunlevy to fill the spot left vacant by Frank Vitale, whose term expired last month. Board members are appointed to nine-year terms.

This is the second time Dunlevy has been appointed to the board. Then-Gov. Joe Manchin appointed him in 2005. He served until 2014.

“I left four years ago after I fulfilled my nine-year term, and Jim Wilson took my place,” Dunlevy said. “But a couple of weeks ago, they (officials with the governor’s office) called me and asked if I would consider returning to the board.

“I’m retired now, and I told them I would give it another shot,” he said. “It’s something for me to do.”

Dunlevy worked more than 30 years as a business manufacturing sales manager at Lincoln Manufacturing, and at Wheeling Machine. He is the board chairman for The Health Plan of the Upper Ohio Valley.

He was elected to the Ohio County Board of Education in 1985, and served there until his first move to the state board in 2005.

“I’ve always been interested in education. That’s what my degree is in,” Dunlevy said. “I like working with kids and school systems. I like seeing them going in the right direction, and I like to be involved with it.”

Dunlevy recently helped Ohio County Schools with its passage of a $42.2 million bond levy during the spring. The school district is seeking an additional $27 million for property improvements from the West Virginia School Building Authority.

A vote by the state board regarding the first $9 million in SBA money for Ohio County Schools is set for next month, but Dunlevy said he will recuse himself because of his involvement with the bond’s passage.

“It’s pretty much already agreed upon, but the board has to vote on it,” he said.

The state board meets once a month, with meetings typically lasting two days. In addition to Dunlevy and Wilson, other members of the board include president David G. Perry, of Oak Hill; Miller L. Hall, of Beckley; Thomas W. Campbell, of Lewisburg; F. Scott Rotruck, of Morgantown; Debra K. Sullivan, of Charleston; Joseph A. Wallace, of Elkins; and Nancy J. White, of Berkeley Springs.

Non-voting members include Carolyn Long, interim chancellor, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission; Sarah Tucker, chancellor, West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education; and Steven L. Paine, state superintendent of schools.

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