School Board Association outlines training, digital handbook and member services to Senate education committee

Jim Brown, executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association, told the West Virginia Senate Education Committee on March 16 that the association provides technical assistance, training and administrative services to all 55 county boards of education and has launched a digital handbook and a new training-reporting portal.

Why it matters: the association helps county boards meet mandatory orientation and annual training requirements and supports implementation of changes proposed in related bills the committee was considering, including expansion of training topics and standards-review membership.

Brown said the association, incorporated in 1954, now counts "all 55 county boards of education" as members. "We created a digital digital handbook," he said, adding that the handbook contains roughly 20 linked chapters covering fiduciary responsibilities, meeting rules and ethics and that items are linked to legislative changes in real time. Brown told the committee the handbook replaces a large hard-copy manual that became out of date quickly.

He described a new training-reporting portal the association developed with a contractor so county boards can report required training hours more reliably. Brown said the platform allows the association to "pull reports by county board member, county boards, by year" and to print a comprehensive report for all 55 counties.

Brown gave the committee recent participation figures: 169 board members (61%) have completed more than 12 hours of training so far this year; 76 members (28%) have completed more than 18 hours; 15 members have completed more than 25 hours; 10 have completed more than 30 hours; and the association has recorded a total of 4,008 training hours to date.

The association also assists counties with superintendent searches by facilitating postings, screening applications and preparing profile reports, Brown said, and it contracts with Bowles Rice for legal counsel and to help provide training content.

Brown described the Training Standards Review Committee, noting its current composition includes two State Board of Education members and four county board members, each serving two-year terms. He said language in the committee's packet (Senate Bill 284, lines 84–85) would add the Senate and House education committee chairs or their designees to that committee as nonvoting members; Brown said the association "would really welcome" that input.

During a question-and-answer period, Senator from Taylor asked why West Virginia remains low on national measures and what could be done to improve results. Brown cautioned against overreliance on a single metric and cited workforce shortages, multi-generational poverty, and turnover in state leadership as factors. "Until we can rebuild our workforce in public education, it's gonna be a continued challenge," he said.

Board president Dan Metz of Wirt County attended and was identified by Brown as present; Brown also said the association provides in-person and virtual training options and will hold conferences in different regions to increase accessibility.

Brown closed by reminding committee members that the association is a service organization and does not exercise statutory authority over county boards: "I do not have any statutory authority over our members. We are a service agency." He left his contact information with the committee and answered follow-up questions from members.

The committee thanked Brown for the presentation and proceeded to the bills on its agenda.

Ending: The association's digital materials and portal are positioned to support expanded training requirements the committee discussed in related bills; Brown said the association will continue to work with the State Board and county boards on implementation and reporting.