CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Six schools in Putnam County will be the first to have access to wireless Internet, the Putnam Board of Education decided Monday, in an effort to equip all county schools with the technology by fall.

George Washington Elementary, George Washington Middle, Hurricane High and Hurricane Middle, Mountain View Elementary and Winfield High schools will be the first to have the new technology installed, Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said.

"We hope, quite frankly, that all of our schools will be wireless by this fall," Hatfield said Tuesday. "The age of technology is certainly upon us, and in order for our kids to have access to the programs they need, and to develop skills they need for the future, we must upgrade our technology."

Installing the wireless equipment in the six schools will cost about $400,000, Hatfield said.

When the new Buffalo High School opens in the fall it will be equipped with wireless capabilities. School officials are trying to develop a policy to allow students to bring their own wireless devices. The project at Buffalo will serve as a pilot program for the rest of the county.

"It's got to be a policy and procedure that wouldn't have full access to any and all sites - some would have to be restricted," Hatfield said. "We're trying to work out the bugs to see if it's something we could go countywide with."

Also at the meeting on Monday, Christopher A. Coyner, a maintenance employee with Putnam schools, was placed on an involuntary medical leave of absence, Hatfield said.

Coyner, the son of school board member Jack Coyner, was arrested on Feb. 13, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam Circuit Court.

Police said Christopher Coyner he sold a handgun to a pawnshop illegally. He is not allowed to possess a firearm, according to the complaint, because he was a patient at Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital, a psychiatric treatment facility.

Also at Monday meeting, Hatfield said, the board suspended Gary Bowles, a school bus driver, for 10 days without pay for "insubordination and deliberate violation of the employee code of conduct." Hatfield said he could not comment on Bowles' suspension.

Reach Kate White at kate.wh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.