CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Logan County school officials and the West Virginia Board of Education met in Charleston last week to make sure the county is still making the right strides ever since the shakeup last year.
Logan County Superintendent Jeff Huffman provided the board with an update on July 12, regarding the deficiencies found in the Logan County Schools Special Circumstance Review Report.
The state Department of Education took over the Logan County school system back in October. They determined then that it was necessary to address areas of non-compliance found in the Special Circumstance Review.
Huffman was appointed to be superintendent position last fall after an investigation found a number of problems in the district. The system was becoming faulty due to a lack of transparency on county board actions, lack of oversight with spending, and mutliple reports of a toxic work culture. Huffman explained that they’ve been looking at highlighted areas of need in the county and improving on those areas specifically.
“There is no doubt that expectations are increasing. We have to ask more of ourselves if we expect more of our students,” said Huffman. “We are dedicated to the hard work to address the areas of non-compliance and the findings because our children deserve our best every single day.”
Of the detailed findings in the report, Huffman said they identified 54 seperate tasks to work on with 36 tasks currently undergoing a process of improvement, five completed, and 13 to be addressed soon.
In a release from the state board of education, these are some of the key improved processes that have been implemented in Logan County, from Superintendent Huffman:
- Tools in place to help measure student progress in English and mathematics
- Safeguards to ensure the virtual learning program is meeting all requirements and providing proper support for students
- Improvement of the overall culture and climate of the school district
- County board meetings and discussions are more open and board members are provided information about processes, protocols and procedures
- Training and guidance on required administrative and financial practices to ensure the county meets state and federal requirements
Paul Hardesty State BOE President Paul Hardesty, a former three-term member of the Logan County school board, applauded Huffman for the progress the district has made thus far. So too did Jeffrey Kelley, who gave a rundown on how things have been shaping up with Huffman in Logan County during last weeks meeting.
“They’ve increased focus on teaching of the standards, and they’ve energized efforts to improve culture and climate, which I know remains a top priority for Mr. Huffman,” Kelley said.
Kelley joined the state Department of Education earlier this year. He was previously at St. Albans High School in Kanawha County as their principal and Lincoln County superintendent in May 2020.
“A lot of the language in the February report was about central office processes and things that were getting cleaned up there,” said Kelley.
Back when the state board and Huffman met in February, the Logan County Superintendent told them the new focus for the schools would be safety, learning, facility improvements and leadership development.
“I think you’ll see, everything that we’re doing on a day-to-day basis, is to support that focus and those efforts,” Huffman told the board earlier this year.