HAMLIN, W.Va. — The new superintendent of Lincoln County Schools finds his first days on the job are uncharted waters for everybody.
Former St. Albans High School Principal Jeff Kelley took over the reins of the school system July 1 and is now trying to navigate his staff and faculty through the difficult task of crafting a reopening plan, without any real guidance on the best way to do it.
“There’s no playbook available for this thing and there’s a lot of moving pieces and you’ve got to try to get all of your people involved, then try to break it down and build it back up,” Kelley told MetroNews Thursday.
He’s not unlike 54 other county school superintendents in West Virginia trying to figure out the best way forward. Their reentry plans are due to the state Department of Education Aug. 14.
Kelley said there are a number of components his staff is working through and situations they are trying to address. The biggest hurdle for Lincoln County is what to do if they are forced into another extended period of distance learning. Much of Lincoln County struggles with adequate technology to provide reliable internet service for students.
“The instruction piece and not having the ability to go one to one and the access issues are probably going to be our biggest hurdles, but those are not things that are insurmountable,” Kelley explained.
Kelley said in fact a lot of people both inside and outside the school system are working to address access issues for students. Many in the private sector are coming forward with ideas to help create the right scenario to keep kids engaged in the learning process even if they are forced out of the classroom again.
“It’s easy to get caught up with all of the problems and issues and you get bogged down talking about those things instead of focusing on finding solutions. We’ve got a lot of people stepping up on that front and trying to help us put the best plan in place,” he said.
Like most schools, Lincoln County is crafting a plan using the recommended guidelines from the state Department of Education’s tool kit. Kelley said they’ll have a plan ready for the statewide school start-up date of Sept. 8, but whether it survives until Sept. 9 remains unknown.
“I think that’s literally the way we operate as school systems across the state and the country. We’re going to have to make the best decisions we can and get better every day of handling whatever is thrown at us,” he said.