POCAHONTAS COUNTY, W.Va. –Pocahontas County Schools have been put under a state of emergency after operation issues were found within one of their schools.
On Wednesday, Alexandria Criner director of the WVDE Office of Accountability presented the offices findings from Pocahontas County High School to the state Board of Education.
Criner’s office was initially brought in to perform a Special Circumstance Review after the schools superintendent Lynne Bostic contacted the WVDE and asked them for assistance in reviewing the school’s master schedule to inform staffing decisions in the spring of 2024. When Office of PK-12 Academic Support Personnel did initial training sessions nothing was ever found, however additional training revealed significant problems with the school’s master schedule, grade transcription processes and counseling program.
Criner said that they were just supposed to be looking at some smaller issues.
“To look at some of the issues with transcribing of grades and the practices and procedures at the school surrounding counseling services, transcribing, scheduling at the high school,” Criner said during her presentation.
She said that while they made their first visit in October 2024, there were additional issues that they uncovered.
Along with the counseling services, transcribing and scheduling issues, they found issues revolving around leadership, positive and safe school environment and special education.
Some of their key findings were, there was no process to develop student personal education plans (PEPs), the students schedules were not prepared ahead of time for the 2024-2025 school year, there was no understanding and necessary access to the WV Education Information System (WVEIS) to transcribe grades for the students and complete other important tasks, the new principal did not have the proper support or mentorship to assist with their transition into the new role, there were insufficient security measures which led to inadequate safety supports, and some the policies and procedures for special education did not meet state or federal standards and or requirements.
Criner said that they have already started working on correcting some of the issues.
“Some of the items that we uncovered, we have been working with the district to address prior to you receiving this report because delaying action on those issues would impact students negatively and we wanted to get the ball rolling on those necessary supports as soon as possible,” she said.
She didn’t say which issues they started working on fixing.
After Criner gave her presentation, the board went into executive session to discuss what to do with the schools.
After that session, Michele Blatt, deputy state superintendent, presented what they recommended to do regarding the school.
“I would like the board to establish a six-month period for Pocahontas County Schools to correct identified deficiency’s with prioritize support from the WVDE,” Blatt said.
She also presented the specific support that the schools would be receiving while they work to correct these issues. WVDE Office of Special Education will be conducting comprehensive monitoring and review to ensure policies comply with state and federal regulations, as well as support with leadership and financial support.
She said the report of how the school is doing should be completed for their meeting in August 2025, so they can further discuss what needs to be done.
“And take action based on the report including but not limited to, an extension of the state of emergency or immediate intervention in the operation of the Pocahontas County School system,” Blatt said.