Clayton Burch Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Clayton Burch To Serve As New Superintendent Of W.Va. Schools For Deaf, Blind

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch is now the new superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, after stepping aside as the chief of the state's school system.

At the August meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education, board members, including newly appointed Board President Paul Hardesty, voted unanimously to approve Burch’s request to become the new superintendent of the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Romney.

There was no discussion following the vote.

Burch released a statement, however, later in the day, outlining his 13 years working in the Department of Education, his more than two years as state superintendent, and a vision for the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind:

“One project stands out as especially dear to me. The students of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB) and the work of that venerable institution are always at the forefront of my mind. I have developed a special connection with the school. From the beginning of my administration until this very moment, I have made the WVSDB a priority. My team and I have been a consistent presence on campus to work through the challenges that exist – from facilities to services and instruction and more, we continue to give the WVSDB a level of support it has not had in many years.

I have a vision of what the WVSDB can become as a resource to serve children and families of our state, region, and beyond. All of the foundational elements have been laid, but they need the commitment of a full-time leader and visionary to solidify the work and see it to completion. I believe that the totality of my career, and my close ties to the Hampshire County community, including my personal residence there, have made me uniquely qualified to lead the school into the future.”

Burch’s full statement can be read on the West Virginia Department of Education’s (WVDE) website.

Burch will receive an annual salary of more than $142,000 in the new role, which is a pay cut from his current salary at around $230,000.

Last year, the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind came under scrutiny for several areas of non-compliance, including student care, instruction, and finances. Burch has been a longtime advocate for improving the schools.

In February, a historic administrative building on the campus was destroyed in a fire. While the building was unoccupied, it housed the technology servers that powered the campus internet, phones and surveillance system.

Burch and other state officials traveled to the site and worked, with support from Gov. Jim Justice and Frontier Communications, to get a temporary fix in place so students could continue with classroom instruction.

Burch has served as West Virginia Superintendent of Schools since February 2020.

David Roach, executive director of the West Virginia School Building Authority, will take on the state superintendent role. No plans for a superintendent search were announced.

In a news release from the WVDE, Roach said he is honored to be the next state superintendent.

“I want to thank President Hardesty and the board members for their confidence in me,” Roach said. “I look forward to working with him, the board, and the staff at the West Virginia Department of Education. With the exception of student safety, student achievement has always been at the forefront of every position I have held. As a lifelong educator, I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to starting this new position.”

Roach is a graduate of Marshall University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Master of Administration in School Administration.

He will be the 33rd West Virginia Superintendent of Schools.

‘Grow Your Own’ Teaching Pathway Tour To Make Stops Through May 16

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch is leading a tour over the next several weeks to inspire more students to become teachers. The state is currently about 1,000 teachers short, according to state officials.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch is leading a tour over the next several weeks to inspire more students to become teachers.

The state is currently about 1,000 teachers short, according to state officials.

Burch kicked off the tour in Kanawha County last week. It’s aimed at educating more young people about the state’s new Grow Your Own Pathways to Teaching Initiative.

“Our tour began with visits to more than 70 students in Kanawha County, and they were eager to learn about this opportunity,” Burch said. “This initiative offers students a roadmap to teaching that addresses a critical need while providing high-caliber enrichment and preparation.”

Grow Your Own was officially announced in February and will kick off in the fall. It will provide high school students who are interested in becoming teachers opportunities to get a headstart on their teaching degrees before graduation.

Twenty-nine counties are participating in the Grow Your Own pilot project, which is one of several TeachWV initiatives.

The West Virginia Department of Education recently revamped the website, teachwv.com, to offer detailed information about alternative pathways to teaching, teacher preparation programs, and testimonials from college students and classroom teachers.

The counties in Grow Your Own will work with partnering higher education institutions.

By the time students graduate high school, they can earn up to 30 college credits through the program and complete a year of college at significantly reduced cost.

According to a news release, this gives them an advanced position in college to finish course requirements, begin their teacher residency, and earn their bachelor’s degree within three years.

Next stops on the tour include Mingo, Upshur, Braxton, Monroe, Mercer, Summers, Ohio, Marshall, Tyler and Pocahontas counties.

Students can begin the program next school year.

W.Va. Legislature Moves To Strip Board Of Education Authority; Officials Speak Out

West Virginia leaders in K-12 education are speaking out against a resolution approved by the West Virginia Legislature. The resolution, if approved by voters this fall, would allow the legislature to take rule-making authority from the West Virginia Board of Education.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch and Board of Education President Miller Hall issued a joint statement at Wednesday’s board meeting speaking in opposition to House Joint Resolution 102.

The resolution was approved by both the House and the Senate and will now be placed before voters in the upcoming November general election. That vote will determine whether the board of education will continue to make education decisions or if those decisions will fall to the legislature.

“The board of education has maintained steady and consistent leadership of the public school system during these incredibly uncertain times,” Hall said. “We are now moving into a post-pandemic model where we must address the extenuating circumstances and lingering effects of COVID-19 on learning and development. It will be crucial that we support our students with the continuity of balance the board requires and provides.”

“We often talk about the need to pivot to meet the escalating and changing needs of our education community,” Burch said. “The board has the flexibility to move nimbly and efficiently to support our children, educators and staff in the face of change. For example, we have met with minimal notice to issue waivers. The Board has also traveled and held meetings around the state to be accessible to communities and to hear citizens’ concerns.”

The joint statement said the board is non-partisan and made up of members with diverse educational backgrounds who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, also issued a statement in response. He called the board of education an “unelected fourth branch of government” that does not want to be held accountable.

“The legislature has 134 elected members, which makes all of them directly accountable to the people they serve,” Blair said. “Through the legislative rulemaking processes, the legislature reviews and implements hundreds of rules from nearly all state agencies each year. The state board of education should not be exempt from that process.”

This marks the second time that the West Virginia Legislature has attempted to change the state board’s role in setting policy, according to a news release from the department of education.

West Virginia Launches New Online Database To Help Students Find Careers

West Virginia’s K-12 and higher education leaders launched a new resource this week that will assist students by helping them find college and career options that meet their specific interests and needs after high school.

The “Classroom 2 Career Navigator” is an online storage hub found on the West Virginia Department of Education’s website. It’s full of information for school counselors, students, families and the public.

“The Navigator represents our efforts to support students throughout their academic and employment journey to ensure they can readily access resources and information at any time,” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch in a news release. “We hope everyone uses the information to learn more about the classroom to career pipeline.”

Education leaders describe the database as “vast” and a “one-stop-shop” for information on college and military opportunities, entrepreneurships, career pathways and on-the-job training available within the state.

Users will be able to sift through the database and generate results based on interests identified by the student — helping them pinpoint what they might like to do after they graduate high school.

“We are working diligently to make the transition to post-secondary an informed and seamless process,” said Sarah Armstrong Tucker, chancellor of the West Virginia Community and Technical College System and Higher Education Policy Commission. “The Navigator is one of our many joint efforts to eliminate silos and use our collective resources to support student success.”

The online tool was announced at the October West Virginia Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.

It’s a result of the Students’ Right-to-Know Act (SB 303) that passed during the 2020 West Virginia Legislative session.

Senate Education Chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, spearheaded the effort that year. In an op-ed for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel regarding the bill, she wrote, “it’s time to stop leaving students in the dark about their options for the future. We must start providing them with the facts they need to make a well-informed decision that is best for themselves, for their families and for their futures.”

She describes how millions of Americans are taking on more and more college debt every year. She hopes through the law that students and families will understand “the real-life consequences of their educational decisions.”

W.Va. Students Fell Behind During Pandemic, But Officials Say Scores Will Help Tackle Gaps

State officials released student testing data for 2021 this week. Scores in math, science and English language dropped during the pandemic.

Students in grades 3 to 11 were tested this year.

Overall, 40 percent of West Virginia students were proficient in English language arts, down 6 percentage points from 2019. In science, 27 percent were found to be proficient — also down 6 points.

But math saw the greatest drop — down 11 percentage points from 2019 — showing a 28 percent proficiency rate.

The overall 2021 test results are a combination of three assessments: West Virginia General Summative Assessment in grades 3-8, the SAT School Day in grade 11 and the West Virginia Alternate Summative Assessment in grades 3-8 and 11.

Results are based on students who were enrolled full-time and in school for at least 135 days during the academic year.

Students were not tested in 2020 when the pandemic began.

This latest news adds to previous concerns about sagging achievement in the Mountain State. Prior to the pandemic, West Virginia students were already below the national average in all three subjects. That’s according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. These tests are often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card.

State Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch urged caution on making any direct comparisons between the pandemic year and previous years, saying the declines are not unique to the Mountain State.

“It’s going to be nationwide. It’s not going to be just here in West Virginia,” Burch said in the West Virginia Board of Education’s August meeting. “I mean, we continue to say we had nearly 50,000 children that were not in a brick-and-mortar school for nearly 18 months.”

Burch said test scores from this year will be used strictly to focus on COVID-19 recovery efforts and address individual student needs going forward.

State school board member Debra Sullivan agreed with Burch, saying the scores from 2021 are not the whole picture.

“A test is but a snapshot of a moment in time,” Sullivan said. “It’s not the whole child. It’s not the whole academic, intellectual capability or reflection of the whole child. It is a snapshot.”

Much of the dip in student performance was a result of participation rates, back-and-forth between remote and in-person classes, and learning disruptions over the past year-and-a-half, officials said.

This summer, thousands of students in West Virginia took part in a robust, summer school program called SOLE. More than $30 million was divided up among West Virginia counties. The program’s aim was to accelerate academic progress and address social-emotional and developmental losses.

“The journey through recovery will address the needs of the whole child – academics, well-being and developmental growth,” said Burch in a press release. “Districts are encouraged to look at the 2021 assessment results with an emphasis on individual student performance and use the information to construct the larger story of what is needed for meaningful recovery and growth.”

Additionally Wednesday, state school board members approved a limited waiver for this fall that allows all students for the first nine weeks of school access to extracurricular activities like sports, band and theater — regardless of GPA. Typically, a student must have at least a 2.0 to be eligible.

State school board members say the policy is to enable students who struggled to keep their grades up during the pandemic time to catch up.

“We do not see this limited waiver as an excuse for low academic performance, but instead an avenue for students to re-establish consistent engagement with their schools and benefit from the social-emotional, academic and extracurricular supports schools offer,” said WVBOE President Miller Hall in a statement. “These children have had so much taken away from them, and it is important that we look for ways to keep them connected so they can learn and thrive.”

W.Va. School Officials Say Masking This Fall Will Be Left Up To Local Districts

This week in our summer education radio series “Closing the COVID Gap,” we spotlight the latest news for K-12 schools in West Virginia.

State officials announced Wednesday that there will not be a statewide mask mandate for schools this fall — even as the Delta variant of COVID-19 surges throughout the country. Local school districts will make their own rules on masks.

The announcement was made at a much-anticipated press conference with Gov. Jim Justice and state Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch.

The governor made it clear — a mask mandate will not be issued for K-12 schools in West Virginia — at this time.

“I am not ready whatsoever to issue a mandate,” said Justice. “But absolutely, I’m gonna leave a tremendous amount of that decision to the locals.”

Justice said this could change, depending on COVID-19 case numbers. But as of now, masks are optional for schools.

Burch agreed with Justice, noting that it should be left up to school districts.

“If there’s any changes in that, of course, we would work with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to implement [a mask mandate], if they decide on their end there is a health need,” Burch said.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance for K-12 schools across the nation. Given the nature of the much more contagious Delta variant, the CDC recommends “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of [COVID-19] vaccination status.”

Even though Burch took no statewide stance on a mask requirement, the West Virginia Department of Education did issue back-to-school guidelines Wednesday for all 55 school districts.

The guidelines call on local superintendents to continue working closely with their local health departments to make decisions that work best with their counties.

Burch said districts should monitor outbreaks, DHHR’s COVID-19 risk map and continue with all mitigation strategies such as social distancing, contact tracing and heightened cleaning efforts.

“[Districts] have learned so much about how to deal with this virus over the last year that we really want them to be in a position to make those decisions locally, of what they need, and be prepared to pivot and respond if we see an increase,” said Burch.

He acknowledged masks are important, however, and the superintendent recommends mask-wearing for children who are not yet able to be vaccinated.

He also encouraged anyone 12 and older who has not yet gotten the COVID-19 vaccine to do so.

Virtual schooling this fall is also changing.

All 55 counties will open to full, in-person learning. But virtual options will be available for all middle and high schools. Elementary schools, however, will not be required to have virtual options available.

Burch said elementary-aged students last year did the poorest in the state with virtual and remote learning. Additionally, he said 52,000 students in West Virginia did not attend any in-person school in the 2020/2021 school year.

“Many of those children have not been in a brick-and-mortar school since March of the beginning of the pandemic,” Burch said. “So that means if you teach first grade, you potentially will have children coming into your classroom in first grade who have never stepped foot into a school before.”

The social-emotional toll on children this past year was also substantial, and it’s for this reason state officials say in-person schooling is the best option for children, especially those in elementary school.

West Virginia’s chapter of the American Federation of Teachers President Fred Albert agreed that in-person is where kids need to be.

“We know that what works best is face-to-face instruction,” Albert said in a Skype interview. “Having the children in brick-and-mortar buildings, being there with their friends, being there face-to-face with their teachers. It’s just a much better situation for learning.”

Albert, however, cautioned that following the CDC’s guidelines, which encourages mask-wearing for all K-12 students and staff, ought to be considered on a statewide level.

Student testing data will also be available soon, according to state education officials.

Next week, the West Virginia Board of Education is expected to release grades and standardized testing data from the spring at its monthly meeting on Aug. 11.

In fall 2020, one-third of all K-12 students in West Virginia failed at least one core subject, according to the WVDE.

Schools in the state are set to return to in-person classrooms as early as next week, according to Burch, with all 55 counties back in classrooms by Aug. 28.

This episode of “Closing the COVID Gap” originally aired on West Virginia Morning on Aug. 5, 2021.