Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Intervention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Upshur County board presses WVDE for written, measurable criteria to regain local control
Summary
Board members at an Upshur County Board of Education meeting pressed the West Virginia Department of Education for clear, written criteria they can meet to regain partial or full local control after nearly three years of state intervention; WVDE said it monitors several areas and will report back at the six-month review.
Board members at a meeting of the Upshur County Board of Education sharply questioned the West Virginia Department of Education about when and how local control of the district could be returned.
At the meeting Jeff Kelly, a WVDE representative, described the department’s monitoring work and said recommendations about returning autonomy depend on progress across three broad categories: sustained organizational capacity, effective board function, and maintaining teaching and learning as the top priority. “Those criteria … serve as the rubric for determining whether we’re going to recommend any form of return of autonomy,” Kelly told the board.
Several board members said that explanation was not specific enough. “Without objective measurable criteria for the board members … I have yet to see written criteria,” said Willie Parker, a current board member, pressing WVDE to provide a plan similar to an employee improvement plan so the local board can know when it is meeting expectations.
Kelly replied that the department works with the superintendent to identify needs, that the process is often fluid and adapts to items discovered after the intervention began, and that the department will report back to the State Board of Education at the six‑month mark with an update on progress.
A figure cited in the discussion placed the average length of similar interventions at multiple years; WVDE said timelines vary and that decisions about returning authority depend on whether the department is comfortable recommending a change.
The board also asked whether WVDE or the state could provide a written, measurable plan specifically for board actions. Kelly said he would take the question back to his team for consideration.
Votes at a glance: The board approved multiple sets of minutes (special meetings of Feb. 2 and Feb. 24, the regular meeting of Feb. 24, and two unapproved minutes from the prior fiscal year) by voice vote: four in favor, one opposed.
The next procedural step flagged in the meeting was WVDE’s upcoming six‑month report to the State Board of Education, which board members said they expect will better define the benchmarks that must be met before local authority is returned.
