Some county education systems under state control could be placed under consolidated operations under a bill advanced by the House Education Committee.
HB3387 was first discussed by committee members a few days ago. The bill advanced by the committee today reflects some changes.
The pilot program, overseen by the state Board of Education, would consolidate up to three contiguous counties under emergency control — or that are anticipated to be placed under state control. The bill includes a reporting requirement and a study resolution to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
Some delegates worried that the bill does not include an end date that could eventually return control to the counties.
“This doesn’t have a sunset date does it?” asked Delegate Adam Vance, R-Wyoming. “So they could just continue to go on forever.”
Others suggested the study resolution could make recommendations about whether the consolidation has been effective and whether local control should resume.
Last week, the state Board of Education placed Mingo County under state control. Logan County has been under state control for several years.
Neighboring Boone County has had recent problems, particularly a former maintenance director facing federal charges over allegations that he defrauded the county board of education out of $3.4 million.
“I’ve always been someone who generally supports local control, but local control also must come with local responsibility,” said Delegate Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha.
“And I think in the situation in which we are discussing with these three particular counties, I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say that the responsibility element, to put it nicely, is lacking.”
Delegate Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, argued against the bill and said the state already has the power to take over school systems that are on the wrong track.
“I realize that we’re talking about three contiguous counties that may be going under the state school board authority. However, they already have that relief. They can go in and the department can go in and take over and tell the school board what to do,” Kimball said.
Delegate Trenton Barnhart, a Republican whose district includes Pleasants, Tyler and Ritchie counties, expressed concern that the bill could set a precedent.
“I think about my counties, I come from three rural counties. You know, right now, we’re pretty blessed. We’re well off. We’ve got the oil and gas money. We’ve got excess levies. Our counties are in good shape,” he said.
“But some day, if this were to be the case and I was in one of those counties, I would be livid with the idea of losing the ability of education to be local.”
Delegate Buck Jennings, R-Preston, made a case in favor of the bill.
“The only thing we’re trying to do here is to see if there’s options that we might be able to come up with that will make our school boards more efficient. This is an opportunity. This is not a prolonged ‘This is how we’re going to do it,'” he said.
“We’re looking for answers. We have an opportunity here to try something,” Jennings said.