CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill pending in the state Senate would eliminate all eight Regional Education Service Agencies in West Virginia.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Trump (R-Morgan, 15) introduced the bill (SB 181) which, he said, would abolish those agencies to give the program to local county school boards.
“Within those RESAs we have a whole layer of bureaucracy of government employees that, quite frankly, I think we cannot afford right now,” Trump said on last week’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Governor Jim Justice proposed cutting $3.7 million for RESAs to fill the state’s projected $500 million shortfall.
The state has RESA offices in Beckley, Huntington, Dunbar, Summersville, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Clarksburg and Martinsburg. Offices have been around since the 1970’s.
RESAs were formed to help county school districts save money through specialized services. According to the RESA 5 website, the agencies “provide high quality, cost effective services and life-long education programs to school systems and communities, while saving taxpayer’s money.”
Trump said he understands how valuable the agencies are to the state.
“I’ll concede. The RESAs in the various regions of the state do a lot of valuable things. Many of those things will continue even if RESAs are eliminated,” he said.
If passed, the offices will be handed down to the county school boards or, perhaps, the state Board of Education, Trump said.
“I want there not to be cuts that are going to hit the front lines of the classroom. That’s where we have to make sure we get the resources allocated,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso (D-Marion, 13) said he thinks all spending cut options need to be on the table.
“When you cut those services or move the services to the state Board of Education or the local county boards you also encumber some additional staff that has to go,” Prezioso said. “You have to look at the economic side of it too.”
“We need to find a way to say ‘what are the most valuable things that they do and can we find a way to deliver those services at less cost without the bureaucracy?'” Trump said.
RESAs are currently governed under the state Board of Education.
The bill is before the Senate Education Committee.
The 2017 Regular Legislative Session continues through Apr. 8.