MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County Board of Education has received an application for a proposed charter school in the county.
The board will review the application for the West Virginia Academy, which would be open to students in Monongalia, Marion and Preston counties.
West Virginia law allows three charter schools in the state, but boards of education must authorize each facility.
“We have noticed some ways in which the public schools could really benefit from a different approach,” said John Treu, president of West Virginia Academy’s board.
“We’ve also noticed some individual’s needs are really not being met within the current public school system, which we believe is a great system for most students but not necessarily the right system for everyone.”
Treu on “MetroNews Talkline” cited a survey in which less than 50% of Monongalia County parents said they were highly satisfied with public schools.
“We have a very high graduation rate, which is to be commended, but our student outcomes are not necessarily where they should be, we aren’t meeting a lot of the academic standards and expectations that have been for public schools,” he said. “That’s true in Mon County, even though Mon County is perhaps the best among all counties.”
Treu said organizational changes will encourage learning at a high level while providing a framework for monitoring academic performance.
“The problem with using student outcomes is actually in the ways they’ve been utilized, not that student outcomes should be used at all,” he added. “For us, we would like to make sure teacher assessments are properly aligned with the goals of the school, and student outcomes are front and center of those assessments.”
Monongalia County Schools officials have to submit a notice of deficiencies to the West Virginia Academy on Oct. 31, which academy officials will have to address by Nov. 16.