WHEELING, W.Va. — A group representing West Virginia school administrators is calling for more accountability be required for those students who are homeschooled.
Ohio County School Superintendent Kimberly Miller, the president of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators, said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline” that if school districts are going to continue to be held accountable for all students then they need to have annual contact with students.
“If we are being held accountable and we want to keep all of our children safe then we need a way, a tool, a mechanism, that we can make sure that we are least keeping eyes on kids,” Miller said.
Right now homeschool assessments are due when a student completes the third, fifth, eighth and eleventh grades. If the reports aren’t handed in the school district is required to follow-up but that’s not happening in all counties.
Miller said she knows the request for more accountability sounds ambitious but it’s needed.
“If we’re held accountable and we want to keep children safe we need to at least put our eyes on those kids once a year,” Miller said.
Tracking homeschool students has come into the forefront in recent months following the April death of Kyneddi Miller. The 14-year-old Boone County girl died from starvation. Her mother and grandparents were indicted this week on various criminal charges. Miller was taken out of the public school system to be homeschooled after covid pandemic but her mother never submitted a required assessment.
Superintendent Miller (no relation to Kyneddi Miller) said help cannot come from the school system if things stay the same.
“If we do not put our eyes on kids more often than once every few years we have no way of knowing what’s going on and being able to provide help,” Miller said.
State education officials reported last week that for third graders, submissions of academic assessments are at 71 percent.
For fifth graders, the submissions are at 69 percent.
For eighth graders, it’s 65 percent.
And for 11th graders it is 36 percent.
State School Superintendent Michele Blatt expressed concern about the numbers as students get older.
“I think a lot can be said about third grade and the seriousness that we’re taking that, but there is a lot of concern when we look at 11th grade and only 36 percent are submitting their assessments. The concern there is, are we losing students by the time they get to 11th grade to homeschool for the wrong reasons. Because if they were there to be educated, we would think that we would see those assessment results,” Blatt told the state Board of Education last week.
Miller said safety is a big issue. She said during Tuesday’s “Talkline” appearance that school provides much more these days than academics. She said it’s a place where kids get food, medical care and some cases clothing.
“I feel that the school is now all-encompassing, we are taking care of the whole child not just academics and if we’re not seeing kids in our communities then we cannot provide that assistance at all,” Miller said.
MetroNews Statewide Correspondent Brad McElhinny contributed to this story.