Board of Education Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

State Board Of Education Discusses Effects Of Recent Legislation

Education leaders are taking stock of what the state legislature did and didn’t do for schools in the regular session.

Fred Albert, president of American Federation of Teachers-WV, expressed his concern over the passage of House Bill 5105 to the West Virginia Board of Education Wednesday morning. The bill removes private, parochial and virtual schools from state vaccine requirements.

“I’m all for people having freedom and choice, that’s the American way of life, but when someone’s freedom then infringes upon the safety of others, I think we have a real concern,” he said. “Why would we want to go back to the days of measles and mumps and rubella? Chickenpox, polio?”

Albert said he is signing a public letter to Gov. Jim Justice urging him to veto the bill, and asked board members and listeners to contact the governor in opposition as well.

“I have a colleague that told me in Florida in one elementary classroom, they’ve had six cases of measles in one elementary classroom,” he said. “In Ohio, there are outbreaks of measles. Why would we want to go there? I just don’t understand it.”

Albert also expressed regret that Senate Bill 614, which would have allowed elementary teachers to remove disruptive students from their classroom, did not pass and told the board school discipline issues must be addressed.

“It was not a perfect deal. It had things in there that I didn’t like, but I think it was a start,” he said. “We’ve talked about the cry of our educators needing help with discipline in the classroom. So while that bill wasn’t perfect, it maybe was a beginning. But this looks like we educators have just been shut out, they’re not being heard.”

Policy Changes

The WVBE also approved withdrawing Policy 2322 from public comment. The policy was originally amended to clarify language related to the identification of school districts in need of support for student academic achievement and success and the required actions of the districts based on the level of support needed. In addition, the responsibilities of county board members and the requirements for each level of support were clarified.

Two bills passed during the regular session of the state legislature that ended Saturday make changes to the code the policy refers to, and are currently awaiting Gov. Jim Justice’s signature. Senate Bill 172 revises requirements of local school improvement councils, while House Bill 5514 enhances training requirements for county boards of education members. This requires the policy be withdrawn, revised and presented for placement on public comment at a future board meeting, inclusive of legislative amendments.

Meeting Date Change

The next regularly scheduled WVBE meeting was changed. It will be held on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 9 a.m.

School Board Accountability, Gender Identity And Campus Hunger Focus Of Education Committees

The education committees of both chambers started the week off by advancing bills to improve management of local school districts, as well as bills on gender identity instruction and hunger on college campuses.

West Virginia code tends to favor local control of schools via county boards of education. But in recent years, the state Board of Education has deemed it necessary to step in to address financial and administrative issues in several counties.

House Bill 5514 would enhance the training requirements for county boards of education members from the current seven to 12 hours.

The bill’s sponsor Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, told the House Education Committee Monday afternoon that more training should better prepare elected board of education members to hold administrators accountable and reduce the need for state intervention.

“They run for the school boards, and they believe they have a good handle on it,” he said. “And trust me, I served 10 years, until you’re actually sitting in that seat and start taking on these things, you really do not have a good understanding. And sometimes after that you still don’t have a good understanding.”

The bill was advanced to the full House for its consideration.

The House Education Committee also discussed:

H. B. 4709, relating to vocational and technical education programs.
H. B. 5021, relating to cardiac response plans.
H. B. 5175, eliminate funding for the Center for Nursing and transfer its duties and authorities to the Higher Education Policy Commission.

In The Senate

Another House bill aimed at improving county board of education accountability was taken up by the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning.

House Bill 4832, which has already passed the House, requires the state superintendent to make an annual report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability regarding the finances of each school district. A similar report is currently made to the governor and the legislature broadly. Any school district that fails to report its finances to the state superintendent may be subject to a reduction of its state funding.

The state Board of Education took emergency control of Upshur County Schools last year after financial misappropriation, including tens of thousands of dollars in misspent federal funds, was discovered in a routine review.

House Bill 4832 now goes to the full Senate for its consideration.

The Senate Education Committee also considered Senate Bill 515, which prohibits public schools from requiring students to participate in sexual orientation instruction. It requires public schools to give advance written notification of any instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity and of a guardians’ right to exempt the child from participation.

However, as Senate Education counsel Amy Osgood explained to the committee, the bill has further requirements regarding students’ gender identity.

“It also provides to the public school and county board employees that are assigned to the school may not knowingly give false information or misleading information to the parent, custodian or guardian of the student regarding the student’s gender identity, or their intent to transition to a gender that is different than the sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate or a certificate that is issued upon adoption,” she said.

The bill also allows for parents and guardians to bring civil action against the public school if affected by a violation of the new law.

The bill was advanced without discussion or comment, with a reference to the Judiciary Committee.

Hunger-Free Campus

Senate Education also considered Senate Bill 292. Titled the Hunger-Free Campus Act, the law would require the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) to establish a grant program to address food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education.

Colleges and universities working toward a hunger-free designation would need to establish a Campus Hunger Task Force, provide at least one food pantry on campus, provide options to use SNAP benefits – colloquially referred to as food stamps – at campus stores, and several other requirements.

The committee heard from student advocates on the need for more food support on the state’s college campuses.

Madison Santmyer, West Virginia University (WVU) student body president, told the committee that on-campus food banks have seen an increase in use over three years.

“For June 2020 to 2021… 77 visits and then jump to June 2023, we’re at 428,” she said. “Over four times the amount of students are visiting these food pantries on our campus. The need, whether that’s they know more about it now, but the need is obviously there. Some of the visits go to the thousands for some of the months.”

Several senators pointed out how much the cost of attending college has increased since their time.

“Now I went to WVU and then to Glenville State where I graduated but that was back in the 70s,” said Sen. David Stover, R – Wyoming. “And I remember I could get my room, board, tuition and fees for $600. Don’t you wish?”

Stover asked Santmyer how that compared to the cost of just a meal plan today.

“I don’t know the exact number off the top of my head, but I know for WVU, I believe it’s a few thousand dollars, between two and four,” she said.

WVU’s least expensive on-campus meal plan is $2,634 per semester.

Sen. Michael Azinger, R-Wood, was the sole dissenting voice. He spoke against the bill, calling it “nanny state stuff.”

“My first year of college, I lost 20 pounds,” he said. ”I think what we’re doing here, probably unintentionally, but we’re creating a victim group, I think, of people who are just experiencing the normal hardships of life. You know, you go to college, sometimes don’t have food, sometimes you get hungry. It’s life. It builds character.”

The bill was recommended to the full Senate.

A similar bill last year failed to make it out of the Senate Finance Committee. Committee Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, said that should not be an issue this year.

“We have requested for the finance chairman to waive the second reference and he has agreed so that should be done on the floor,” she said.

Senate Bill Aims To Keep Children Safe From Sextortion

Today the Senate passed a bill aimed at helping children stay safer from internet predators and cyberbullies.

Senate Bill 466 would require the West Virginia Board of Education to create an annual safety course curriculum about accessing technology for children and teenagers. The program would be in collaboration with law enforcement and criminal justice agencies and other organizations that deal with human trafficking and child online safety issues.

The program would focus on safe and responsible use of social networking including online messaging, the risks of transmitting personal information online, copyright laws, the importance of establishing open communication with adults like school counselors and teachers, and how to recognize and avoid suspicious or dangerous online communication or activities with cyberbullies and predators.

Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, said the bill is in place to protect children from things like sextortion. That is when a minor communicates with a predator in an elicit or sexual manner and then is later extorted. She said the bill is also to open pathways of communication between minors and resources to help them if they have been a victim of online predation or cyberbullying.

“This bill addresses online bullying, it addresses Human Trafficking Awareness, addresses child pornography dissemination,” Chapman said, “Because oftentimes children don’t realize when they take a nude photo of themselves, and then send it to a love interest, that they are actually committing dissemination of child pornography.”

She said this bill will help children know what to look out for if somebody’s trying to exploit them. She said keeping children safe online and having resources available for them if they are exploited can be a matter of life or death.

“I recently came across an issue where children would send nude photos to someone that they thought was a love interest and ended up being somebody who just wanted to extort them,” Chapman said. “Oftentimes those children commit suicide.”

Chapman said that children, their parents and teachers need to be aware of these risks and be able to recognize signs that a child is facing harm on the internet. She said it’s also important children know they have resources available to them in their communities if they do fall victim to cyber bullying or sexual exploitation.

Parents will have the option to opt children out of this training.

The bill now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.

Middle School Career And Technical Training Hopes To Improve Student Engagement, Employment

“I’ve seen kids go to college and have no idea what they want to be and go get a political science degree, then they can’t get a job,” Hardesty said. “I am sick and tired of a counselor telling a kid in the welding program ‘You don’t want to be a welder’ when he can go out and make $40 an hour and get hired today.”

Career and technical education (CTE) programs for middle schoolers are growing across the state, and educators say they’re improving academic outcomes.

Passed in 2020, House Bill 4790 allowed career and technical education to be taught in middle school. Programs range from the “Discover Your Future” program – which introduces middle schoolers to future career opportunities across 16 career clusters – to the “Empowerment Collaborative” which focuses on content and career exploration through community-based, student-driven projects.

Clinton Burch, technical education officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, told the state Board of Education Wednesday that 56 percent of the state’s middle school population have participated in a career exploration course.

“We have a lot of stuff going on with CTE, a lot of expansion happening with your support, a lot of classes offering,” he said. “Currently you have 30,786 students that have participated in a career exploration course.”

Board President Paul Hardesty thanked Burch for his work, and expressed his frustration at hearing of students being guided away from trades and towards college.

Burch highlighted the importance of showing students and their families the variety of opportunities available to them early so that they stay motivated and engaged in their education.

“It’s this idea of actually educating parents as early as elementary school on the benefits of career technical education, how it aligns very robustly with academics and by students exploring various careers at an early age, how it’s going to set them up for that success, so that you don’t have students who are just looking at college as the only option,” he said.

In response to a question from board member Debra Sullivan about the promotion of teaching as a career option, Burch highlighted the work of the new Grow Your Own program, but also stressed the need for service personnel in schools across the state.

“We did a survey a few years ago, and you’ve heard me say this before, the majority of kids, over 98 percent of them, actually did not want to move more than 50 miles from their hometown,” he said. “Who’s the largest employer in most of our hometowns? It’s our Board of Education and they’re always looking just as we are short on teachers that are always looking for service personnel.”

Senate Passes Bill To Provide Feminine Hygiene Products In Schools

On Wednesday, the West Virginia Senate passed a bill that would require the boards of education of each county to provide free feminine hygiene products to grades three through 12.

On Wednesday, the West Virginia Senate passed a bill that would require the boards of education in each county to provide free feminine hygiene products to grades three through 12.

The local boards are also required to develop a plan to make the products available so the student can obtain them discreetly.

A 2021 study conducted by U from Kotex, the founding sponsor of Alliance for Period Supplies, found that two in five people have struggled to purchase period products, a problem the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded.

If the House of Delegates approves Senate Bill 489 and it is signed by the governor, West Virginia would join 16 other states in requiring period products in schools.

The bill now goes to the House for their consideration.

State BOE Adjusts Teacher Licensing Requirements, Lifts Lincoln State Of Emergency

The West Virginia Board of Education (BOE) waived some of the minimum professional licensing requirements for prospective teachers Wednesday to help them eventually become fully licensed and enter the workforce.

The waivers adjust some of the minimum requirements in current BOE policy – specifically with regards to Policy 5202, which outlines said requirements for licensure, and Policy 5100, which outlines the process for educator preparation program approval.

It allows student and resident teachers who haven’t scored high enough on their content praxis exams to work in a supervised placement. The teachers must still maintain a minimum grade point average and attempt the exam at least twice.

Office of Certification director Robert Hagerman says the idea is to allow those who might be struggling with the exams more time.

“We’re giving these individuals the ability to be in the classroom while they’re honing their skills, to be able to acquire additional skills to be successful in completing those requirements, or demonstrate those requirements in a different way with those multiple measures,” Hagerman said.

If they’re unable to pass the content exam during the placement, teachers can still work under a temporary license. They would have to pass either the exam or their teacher performance assessment by the end of the year to make it permanent.

Also addressed during the meeting was the state of Lincoln County Schools, with the BOE moving to remove the state of emergency in the county.

The board initially issued a state of emergency in November 2020, and has extended it three times, most recently in July of 2022. An initial review found students were below average in math and reading.

The state of emergency was lifted after a progress report and recommendation from Matt Hicks, the West Virginia Department of Education’s Director of Accountability.

“It’s not time to get complacent for Lincoln County,” Hicks said. “The focus on academic achievement still needs to be at the forefront of all decision making in Lincoln County Schools. They’ve been doing a nice job addressing academic achievement but they still have a very long way to go. I don’t want this presentation to state that they are exactly where they need to be.”

He cited the creation of a curriculum team and instructional coach positions, protocols for new Individualized Education Programs, addressing short-term facilities needs like the replacement of HVAC systems, and long-term projects like the construction of a new school in the Duval area as reasons for the status to be lifted.

Alongside the Lincoln County update, the BOE also heard a report on the Clay County Board of Education. This followed a special circumstance review of the agency after the contract with the county’s former superintendent was terminated. Nine findings and three noncompliances were discovered, according to the report.