CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dave Perry, the President of the West Virginia Board of Education, hopes the board’s listening tour to six locations in the state will be a time for productive exchanges.
The first stop on the tour will be Oct.7 at Mingo Central High School in Delbarton and will feature staff from the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) and external stakeholders.
“We want to hear positive recommendations about improving the quality of education for students in the state of West Virginia as well as improving the ability for teachers to perform without so much paperwork and so much bureaucracy,” Perry said.
A board of education (WVBE) release said the purpose of the tour is to provide an opportunity for members of the public to inform the work, processes, and policies of the WVBE that support high-quality learning.
Perry said topics discussed include but not limited to will be curriculum, credits, standards, teacher preparation programs, recruit and retention, family engagement, local school improvement councils, which is the venue through which parents can access schools.
He envisions the first half of the meetings, open to the public, will be open dialogue and in large groups. The second half of the meetings are planned to address those individual topics in smaller groups.
“We hope that people are very comfortable in presenting their opinions and their ideas about education and the future of education,” Perry said. “We think it is very important to continue this kind of dialogue as we would develop policy and a legislative agenda for January. That’s why these are being done at this time.”
Two meetings will be held in each Congressional district during October.
Dates and locations are as follows:
October 7 Mingo Central High School, Delbarton, WV
October 9 Monongalia Technical Education Center, Morgantown, WV
October 23 Greenbrier West High School, Charmco, WV
October 24 James Rumsey Technical Institute, Martinsburg, WV
October 29 Putnam Career and Technical Center, Eleanor, WV
October 30 John Marshall High School, Glen Dale, WV
A release said a summary report of insights gained will be generated by December 1. Each meeting begins at 6 p.m. and concludes by 8 p.m. Pre-registration is requested, but not required and can be completed by visiting: https://wvde.us/education-public-forum/.