CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Starting next fall, children in all West Virginia pre-kindergarten programs will receive one meal each day, as part of policy changes approved by the state Board of Education Thursday.

Clayton Burch, coordinator for early childhood in the state Department of Education's Office of Special Programs, said the reason behind the change is that counties have a lot of flexibility in designing their pre-kindergarten programs.

At some programs, children stay for three hours a day, while others last seven hours a day.

"It will be an obstacle for some programs," Burch said. "It shouldn't be that bad." 

Both school-based pre-kindergarten programs and those at churches or day-care centers will be required to offer either breakfast or lunch next fall.

The church and day-care programs will need to collaborate with their local school boards to set up meal costs. All students who would receive free and reduced-price meals in elementary or middle school would also get free and reduced meals in pre-kindergarten, Burch said.

"It doesn't matter where these children physically sit," Burch said, explaining that students at churches or day cares would be treated the same as those in a school-based program, like at Ruffner or Belle elementary schools.              

Also Thursday, state board members Wade Linger and Lowell Johnson said that about 60 schools in 30 counties have shown interest in becoming an innovation zone.

Innovation zones will allow waivers to many state laws and policies -- such as flexibility in the school calendar -- and also allow teachers to try out new, creative strategies to improve student learning.

The deadline to apply is Dec. 29, and the state will divvy up $500,000 to help educators at local schools plan their strategies. Locally, principals at Piedmont Elementary and the unfinished West Side Elementary hope to win some of the planning money.

Also Thursday, state board members:

| Signed off on Kanawha County's decision last month to close Bonham Elementary, which has led the Kanawha school officials to propose building renovations and add about 50 more students to Flinn Elementary and add a fifth-grade wing to Sissonville Middle.

| Heard from Mingo County Superintendent Dwight Dials, who showed pictures of the construction underway at the new Mingo County High School, which sits on an 85-acre tract of land. The school is expected to open in the fall of 2011, he said.

| Talked with Ben Adams, a Capital High School student and the student representative on the state Board of Education, who surveyed 16 of his peers and asked about why students would or would not want to become a teacher.

Some students are deterred by salary and a lack of respect for the teaching profession, as well as the bad behavior and lack of discipline some students show in the classroom. Some teenagers, however, say if school systems gave out extra money to pursue advanced master's and professional degrees, it would give them more incentive to teach.

Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.