The state school board declared a state of emergency for Wyoming County, moved ahead with a correction plan for Marion County and heard an update on Logan County, which continues to face challenges after a state takeover.
All three occurred during a state Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.
Superintendent Michele Blatt recommended a 30-day plan for correction in Wyoming County with prioritized support from the West Virginia Department of Education, additional training for board members and a liaison to address leadership issues.
The state board will review progress in December. Action then could include an extension of the state of emergency or immediate intervention in the operation of the Wyoming County school system.
Wyoming County Schools faced issues with board governance, leadership, personnel practices and financial management, according to a report to the state board.
Alexandra Criner, director of the Office of Accountability for the West Virginia Department of Education, described the findings from a June special circumstance review of Wyoming County Schools.
“The review yielded concerns with board governance, including issues with transparency, meeting management, and public confidence, including failure to post agendas in advance, public disputes during meetings, irregularities in meeting recordings, vague agendas, and outdated superintendent evaluation information on the district website,” she said.
“Additionally, executive sessions were inconsistently documented and conducted without clear procedures.”
There were other concerns too. For example, “The district exceeded funded positions in fiscal year 25 and 26 with reports of unilateral staffing decisions made by the superintendent.”
For Marion County, the board agreed to Blatt’s proposal to assign a liaison to ensure a corrective action plan is carried out by the superintendent and the local board of education members.
This past February, the Office of Accountability started receiving correspondence from interested people in Marion County after a controversy surrounding the local board’s decision not to renew the superintendent’s contract.
While the superintendent was ultimately renewed for an additional year, state accountability officials decided conduct an on-site review of Marion County Schools based on the nature of the concerns that had arisen.
The Office of Accountability made visits to Marion County Schools to interview county board members along with some central office staff and school principals. That resulted in a report outlining findings and requiring a corrective action plan to be developed collaboratively.
That plan was submitted to the Office of Accountability by Marion County Schools and was approved. But then additional developments prompted the state board to add an agenda item focusing on what’s going on in Marion County.
Because of the nature of the issues, much of that discussion by the state board occurred in an executive session that lasted about an hour.
Logan County is still formally under intervention, but because it’s been able to demonstrate progress — especially in governance, policy, budgeting, and federal program planning — the state board today returned federal programs management and already restored policy authority.
Logan has continued to grapple with declining enrollment, school closures and recovery from a fire that occurred in February at Logan Elementary.
“This fire caused significant damage to the building and its contents,” said Sonya White, who was appointed superintendent following the Logan County takeover.
“The fire brought together a community and state. The outpouring of support from everyone, from buying food for the teachers to books for the students, was amazing and truly demonstrated the type of generosity and caring only found in the people of West Virginia.”
Three schools in Logan County — Hugh Dingess, South Man and Justice elementaries — are being prepared for closure. Each has had fewer than 100 students for the past four years, and the buildings are among the oldest in the county
Overall, the county has experienced a severe enrollment decline, down about 312 students down this year with the loss of students reducing funding by at least $2 million annually.
“Closing multiple schools is not something I wanted to do in my first year, but we cannot continue to ignore the writing on the wall when it comes to being financially responsible with the dwindling funds we have,” White said.
But there are some bits of good news. White said after painful cuts and departures, White said, “We are no longer in danger of going off the fiscal cliff when it comes to personnel.”
Meanwhile, fewer students are being taught by long‑term substitutes. And Logan High School will have all certified math teachers for the first time in several years.
““This is the first year in several years that Logan High School will have all certified math teachers. We’ve had none for several years.”