Randolph County Fails at Edumacationz

[Ritterin Sophia]

WEST UNION — West Virginia Board of Education members blasted the leadership of the Randolph County school system Wednesday during a meeting at Doddridge County High School, saying many of the school’s problems started from a lack of attention at the top.

An Office of Education Performance Audit revealed several serious shortcomings in the operation of the county schools, ranging from personnel certification to financial policies to filthy schools.

“The accountability has to go back to the superintendent of the (county) board,” said Kenna Seal, the director of the OEPA.

State Superintendent Steven Payne said the local Board of Education also must be held accountable for the findings in the report. He said he was bothered by the county board’s “unwillingness to step up and lead ... and I’m not sure they understand that.”

The state Board of Education initially wanted to give the Randolph County system a non-approval vote. That action would have triggered an emergency being declared in the system and would have prompted an improvement team to visit the school system. This team would be required to make recommendations back to the WVBOE within 60 days outlining necessary improvements. The school system would then have six months in order to comply with recommendations as well as address recommendations found in the OEPA report. Randolph currently has full approval.

The state board instead opted to have Payne meet with Randolph County School Superintendent Sue Hinzman and the local Board of Education and have a report prepared within the next three months. The state Board of Education strongly urged every Randolph County board member to attend that meeting.

State board member Lowell Johnson said the first step toward correcting these problems is to ensure the Randolph County school leaders begin following state law. He threatened harsh action in the future for any possible violations.

“They need to be told immediately that they will follow state law,” he said. “It’s time they get their act together, or we’ll do it for them.”

Jenny Phillips, who represents the Randolph County area on the West Virginia Board of Education, said the local school system is hindering growth for the area.

“Randolph County is a poor county, and one of the greatest economic development tools is a strong educational system,” Phillips said. “We have trouble attracting doctors because of our school system. We have trouble attracting business because of our school system. It appears it is because of the problems at the (Randolph County) central office.”

The probe into the Randolph County school system began after the county failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards for five consecutive years. The audit report revealed that college entrance tests scores had fallen during the same five-year period, and that Advanced Placement courses were only available to students at Elkins High School and not Pickens, Tygarts Valley or Harman. Transportation for students from those schools wanting to take AP courses was not available. Classroom instructional materials were also said to be lacking, and technology at schools outside of Elkins was not current.

Seal also said the report showed that the county’s five-year Strategic Plan was not being followed, and that professional development for the teachers was not addressing the need for improvement in mathematics.

Seal said that there were several noncompliance issues regarding personnel, including the use of noncertified teachers in certain subjects such as mathematics and foreign languages. He said the school system was “pretty weak” when it came to certification matters.

The financial shortcomings were “bothersome,” Seal said, including problems with purchasing procedures when it came to the use of credit cards or in the competitive bidding policies.

“They are taking a pro-active approach,” he said. “But at a lot of places, it is a struggle.”

The report also found that several school facilities are in need of repair, and Seal said it “appears they have their work cut out for them for the next 10 years.”

Phillips said the finding of having dirty schools was inexcusable to her. She criticized the school administration for failing to take action after learning the state team was heading to Randolph County. She said it was not a surprise inspection, and that the county adminstration had at least five days prior notice.

“And we still had dirty schools,” Phillips said. “There is no excuse for a dirty school. We pay maintenance people to clean the schools.”

Hinzman said many of the flaws revealed by the audit report have been addressed. She said some of the certification problems were the result of improper coding, though state officials quickly pointed out that there were 27 remaining issues even after the county leaders had been given the chance to correct the paperwork.

“I believe we are doing a good job with our personnel,” Hinzman said, adding she thought grievances would be filed if the school system had not gone through proper channels. “I would like to have a (full-time) personnel director, but the board won’t support that.”

Hinzman blamed the facility faults on having old school buildings and not having a levy approved by county voters for more than 20 years. A levy aimed at facility improvements was shot down Tuesday night, and Hinzman said the Board of Education will try again in November.

“We’ve not had the support of the community to address these problems, nor the funds,” she said.

“If we give you a non-approval status, it’s not going to help you with your levy,” said state board member Barbara Fish. “The taxpayers are not going to put money into a situation they don’t believe in.”

And people wonder why the dropout rate is so high.