West Virginia Department of Education announces partial state intervention in Harrison County Schools

Alexandra Criner, director of the West Virginia Department of Education Office of Accountability, told the Harrison County Board of Education on July 21 that on-site monitoring identified systemic concerns in governance, financial management and staffing and a need for a targeted review of special education, and that those findings led the West Virginia Board of Education to authorize a partial state intervention.

"The purpose of the intervention is to improve governance and operational practices, ensure compliance with state and federal requirements, and establish a pathway toward local control through demonstrated progress," Criner said. She emphasized the reviews are intended to identify conditions that affect the district’s ability to provide a thorough and efficient education and to connect the district with supports rather than to "assign blame."

Criner and other WVDE staff outlined a near-term schedule: the WVDE will conduct additional on-site reviews over the next three months, the superintendent and the board president will meet with WVDE staff in November to review progress, and the West Virginia Board of Education is tentatively scheduled to hear an update in December. Criner said monitoring and training would continue on an approximately six-month cycle while the department works with local leadership to address findings.

WVDE staff also described how specific agenda items will be handled during the partial intervention. Items the state superintendent preapproves will be grouped in a separate section of the board agenda; many day-to-day items will proceed as usual but any personnel or other matters that exceed locally authorized thresholds (for example, positions that are 200-plus days) will require WVDE preapproval, Criner said. Jeff Kelly of the WVDE added that the district’s official student enrollment count will be taken on Oct. 1 and overage calculations typically come later in the year.

Board members asked questions about staffing and organization. Board member Doug Ho said Harrison County is large and suggested the absence of an assistant superintendent may have contributed to local administrative strain; he asked whether the superintendent could appoint an assistant. "I just feel like, a county this big ... it's foolish for us not to have an assistant superintendent," Ho said. WVDE representatives said they would examine the district’s organizational structure and weigh the financing and staffing implications of creating positions before recommending changes.

Criner closed by stressing the department will work collaboratively with county leadership, administer training and technical assistance, monitor progress, and communicate with district staff. She said the goal is to return more authority to local control as progress is demonstrated.

The board received the update; the WVDE authorization of the partial intervention was described as an administrative action by the state agency and not a local vote on the board’s part during the meeting. The department’s stated next step is the series of on-site reviews and a November meeting with district leadership, followed by a WVBE update in December.