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Citing extraordinary circumstances, the West Virginia Board of Education approved a partial state intervention of Harrison County Schools.
At its regular meeting Wednesday, the board heard that recent site visits found several systemic concerns, including overreach by county Board of Education members into administration.
“…including reported interference in staffing, scheduling, and discipline, advocacy for specific schools, programs, or individuals, undermining of the superintendent’s authority and bypassing the established chain of command,” Alexandra Criner, director of the Office of Accountability for the West Virginia Department of Education said.
Despite declining enrollment, officials for the the Office of Accountability reported the county employs 239 people over the state funding formula, approximately 150 funded by the county’s excess levy.
“While enrollment has decreased steadily since 2019 the per pupil expenditure and personnel in excess of the funding formula have continued to increase,” Criner said.
Newly re-elected board president Paul Hardesty called the situation “pathetic” and “a disregard for the public’s money.” He noted that four of the county board members are former educators, and that the board is meant to only have oversight over one employee: the superintendent.
“Nobody wants to RIF (reduction in force) their friends, but you know what? You have what’s called a fiduciary responsibility to manage the taxpayers’ funds in an appropriate manner to offer the best opportunities for the children of Harrison County,” Hardesty said. “I’ve read this report three times, and I get more aggravated each time I read it. It says that basically that certain employees are off-limits because of certain board members. That don’t work, can’t work. I’m anxious to hear what the recommendation is to the department, but I think the good Lord told Hezekiah, you got to get your house in order, Harrison County, you better get your house in order.”
Hardesty conceded that the overstaffing issue is not unique to Harrison County and has become a recurring theme in the close to a dozen interventions the board has approved in recent years.
“We have to do and be good stewards of the people’s dollars, and they’ve just not done that. And it seems like it’s becoming more commonplace,” he said. “How many counties now we up to? Yeah, it’s almost 20% of the counties in this state. Do what the taxpayers elected you to do and get your financial house in order.”
Other Interventions
The board also voted to extend a state of emergency for Roane County schools until January but released Randolph County schools from its state of emergency after one year.
Roane County Superintendent Michelle Stellato told the board that over the past year the county has significantly reduced its deficit in part by cutting staff and consolidating schools. However, she also reported the county is set to incur a close to $1.5 million penalty for not maintaining a 91% professional to instructional ration, something she categorized as a flaw in the state funding formula.
“For a small rural community without an excess levy, maintaining that ratio is nearly impossible,” she said. “Ironically, the only way to avoid this penalty under that code would be to add back 18 professional positions, effectively undoing all of the decision making that led us to this point, and also the need to allow us to have reduced state intervention.”
Hardesty pointed to the financial penalty as a perfect example of the overcomplicated school regulations he has been railing against since last October. Hardesty started that meeting by discussing the limitations imposed by state code on the board’s and county’s abilities to address larger systemic issues such as declining enrollment and the need for school closures and consolidations.
“I hate overreach, I hate policies, but the problem is we have a flawed code system,” Hardesty said Wednesday. “It’s not intentional, it just happens, and you’re being caught up in one of the fatal flaws in this. It’s no one’s fault. The funding formula, as archaic as it is, 1982 when it was implemented, we have lost 31,000 students…in the last 10 years.”
In recent weeks Hardesty has spoken publicly about the statewide danger posed by inaction on school funding reform and warned many school districts are on the brink of financial collapse.
“The administration and the legislature is kind of like a fireman. We’ve rang the bell and said the house is on fire. You didn’t cause the fire, but guess what? You have an obligation to come help put it out,” he said. “That’s about as simple as I know how to put it. Now, they can hate on me all they want, I could care less. I’ve got big shoulders, that’s okay. We’ve got a problem. It’s been decades in the making. We’ve all got to come together and find collaborative, effective ways to fix it.”
The next meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education is scheduled for Aug. 12, 2026. The board also announced it will be changing its schedule starting in October to meet every other month.