CHARLESTON, W.Va. — New Upshur County School Superintendent Christy Miller told the state Board of Education Wednesday she and others remain in the “discovery phase” in the state’s takeover of the system over concerns about how some federal pandemic relief money was spent.
Miller, a veteran superintendent who last served in Taylor County, began a two-year contract on July 1. She told the state board she is learning more each day.
“We’re finding almost $1.2 million in overtime that has been spent for employees, multitude numbers of hours that folks are working,” Miller said. “There’s not a set number of hours for service personnel in the various classifications or your professional personnel.”
The state BOE voted on June 15 to seize control of the system. Upshur County received $16.1 million in federal pandemic funds over three years. According to a Special Circumstances Review by the state Department of Education, the money was spent on things like pool passes and bed and breakfast retreats.
The audit found Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus, the superintendent of Upshur County Schools at the time, received additional compensation, but it was not authorized by the board.
Lewis-Stankus was hired by former state School Superintendent David Roach to be the state deputy superintendent. Roach ran afoul with the state board after a delay in telling members of the spending concerns. He retired at the end of June.
The state board initially appointed former Preston County School Superintendent Steve Wotring for two weeks until Miller came on board. Wotring reflected on that first meeting with Upshur County Central Office staff at Wednesday’s state board meeting.
“I felt my initial role was to try to calm the people that were there. There were lots of tears, lots of anxiety, lots of fear, lots of people wondering if they still had a job and what this meant down the road,” Wotring said.
Miller told the board it’s going to take a while to assess the issues and to begin turning things around. She said they are looking at federal programs to make sure expenditures were appropriate along with leadership and organizational issues. She described the policies of the school system as being a “mess.”
“It runs the gamut. This was just the tip of the iceberg,” she said.
Miller attended her first meeting with the Upshur County Board of Education this week. The local board has limited powers with the state takeover. Miller said the meeting only lasted eight minutes.
Miller said improving academic achievement has to be the priority.
“We are not achieving at levels that are acceptable by any means,” she said. “We need to ensure that that is the number one focus as we are dealing with finances.”
Miller said it may appear dark now but brighter days are ahead for the Upshur County system.
“We’ve planted the seed. Now we have to cultivate it through fertilizer, sun, rain and we can come out of this much stronger. I know Upshur County can then become that system where everybody can hold up and say ‘job well done,'” Miller said.
There’s also a federal criminal investigation underway in connection with how the federal money was spent.