CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Department of Education’s Accountability Office has marked programs in nine county school districts in West Virginia that need assistance.
The state Board of Education approved the Annual County Board of Education Accountability Report at its meeting last week.
According to Accountability Services Director Matt Hicks, the reviews found Calhoun and Wyoming counties need assistance in the area of finance; Cabell, Fayette, Hampshire, Jefferson and Kanawha counties in the area of special education; and Calhoun, Hancock and Wood counties in the area of Universal Pre-K readiness.
Hicks said his office reviews information submitted by each county school district through 11 indicators.
State Board of Education President Miller Hall said the Accountability Report is not punitive but a way to help counties improve.
“This is not an ‘I gotcha moment. I’m catching you doing something bad.’ These things are to help our counties to improve and to help our young people with their academics, behavior and finances. We want to offer support,” Hall said.
Hicks said each county has been informed.
“The superintendents of each of these counties have been notified on their ratings and the offices within the department are ready to support these counties in developing an action plan to address those deficiencies,” Hicks told the state Board of Education.
State School Superintendent Clayton Burch told the board its important to keep in mind the accountability reports do not include Balanced Scorecard results because of the ongoing pandemic.
“We know that we don’t have Balanced Scorecard results and we all know that we are going to have to eventually establish a new baseline because it’s making it harder and harder, even for our accountability system, to dig in and look at these efficiencies especially if we don’t have that student achievement data,” Burch said.