COVID-19 Funds Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Homeschooling, Child Care Possible Targets Of Legislation As Justice Administration Nears End

The role of home schooling in the neglectful death of a 14-year-old continues to draw questions and concerns.

Gov. Jim Justice was asked at his regular briefing Tuesday if he believes there needs to be more oversight of home schooling in West Virginia following the death of Kyneddi Miller in April.

He estimated there are about 27,000 students being home schooled in the state.

“If we don’t watch out, a lot of these kids are just going to fall through the cracks and everything,” Justice said. “We’ve got to have a little oversight.”

Justice said his time left in office is short, but that he will “run through the finish line” on any issue relating to children.

“Nobody wants to infringe upon our freedom, I am absolutely standing on top of the mountain to say I don’t want that,” he said. “Do you understand me? I don’t want us to infringe upon our freedoms in this country. I mean, my God, what’s going on with the Biden administration today, they’re trying to absolutely just take everything.”

He said everyone involved in the Miller case dropped the ball, but touted the strides the state has made towards improving its Child Protective Services, including response times and placements with relatives

Child Care

Justice was also asked about the state of child care in the state and the possibility of legislative action to address a $23 million shortfall in the industry. The governor expressed a desire for a child care tax break to be on the agenda ahead of the May special session, but no such bill was taken up by either chamber.

“We sent up a tax cut in regard to childcare, and just got blown off,” Justice said.”We need to face that.”

Justice said child care is an “off the charts” important issue for attracting a workforce to the state, and said those running child care centers are “caught in a pickle.”

“Rules in COVID put some real money there. The rules change. We all know that, and now the money’s dried up,” he said. “On the other hand, what you’ve got is families that are paying for child care that is astronomical. It’s just unbelievable how much they’re paying, and we need to address it.”

Justice said the state cannot move forward without proper child care and that he would do his best to address the issue.

Former DHHR Official Pleads Guilty In COVID Test Fraud Case

A West Virginia man pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal investigators while he was an official with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Timothy Priddy, 49, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to making a false statement. Priddy admitted that he lied to federal investigators about the verification of invoices for COVID-19 testing that he certified while an official with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).

According to court documents and statements made in court, Priddy was interviewed by federal agents on Aug. 2, 2022 while he was the director of the DHHR’s Center for Threat Preparedness.

In his previous position as Deputy Director, his duties included reviewing and verifying the accuracy of certain invoices submitted to the DHHR by vendors supplying COVID-19 testing and mitigation services before certifying the invoices for payment.

The agents asked Priddy about invoices submitted by a particular vendor that had billed the state of West Virginia tens of millions of dollars for COVID-19 testing and related services.

One series of invoices of interest to the federal investigation related to a COVID-19 testing program for K-12 students, faculty and staff returning to school after the winter holiday break.

Priddy certified the K-12 testing program invoices without making any effort to verify their accuracy. Priddy falsely told the agents that he certified the invoices only after two individuals working with the K-12 testing program verified the invoices involved.

Priddy admitted that he knew that statement was false.

William Thompson, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, said this case is unique in COVID-19 fraud cases he is trying in that Priddy stood nothing to gain financially in committing his crimes.

“He just basically cost the state quite a bit of money by not doing his job and not following through on it,” Thompson said.

Priddy is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua Hanks and Holly Wilson are prosecuting the case.

Priddy-Plea Download

Priddy-Indictment Download

Audit Reveals Millions In Misspent COVID-19 Relief Funds By W.Va. School Districts

Auditors, working for the legislature, with the Performance Evaluation and Research Division (PERD), identified numerous violations of multiple school districts making unallowable expenditures and improper purchasing procedures with federal emergency relief funding.

Auditors working for the legislature with the Performance Evaluation and Research Division (PERD), identified numerous violations of multiple school districts making unallowable expenditures and improper purchasing procedures with federal emergency relief funding.

The auditors presented the findings Monday to lawmakers gathered in Wheeling for interim meetings.

Beginning in March 2020, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) distributed more than $1.2 billion for COVID-19 pandemic support. Brandon Burton, the research manager for PERD, presented the audit. He detailed the limited alleged oversight by the WVDE regarding the spending of funds.

“Of the 54 LEAs’ (Local Education Agencies) reviewed, 37 were deemed non-compliant for either improper purchasing procedures, expenditures on allowable activities, and/or exceeding the indirect cost,” Burton said.

He said with some of the school districts, the WVDE found compliant with relief fund spending, the audit showed otherwise.

“Collectively, the seven LEA samples in question contain improperly documented purchases totaling over $285,000,” Burton said.

The audit found school districts had overused the pandemic provision of using unregistered vendors, a use he said could lead to using fraudulent vendors. Burton said most of the unregistered vendors were from out of state, some from foreign countries.

West Virginia had already taken control of the Logan and Upshur school districts with issues that include misspending of the funds.

The state has a September 2024 deadline to spend more than $476 million remaining in federal funds. The audit recommends the WVDE increase its oversight of school districts’ spending by adding staff. Burton said the WVDE seems unlikely to make that happen.

“The WVDE indicated that it has no intention of increasing capacity since the deadline to spend the funds is 10 months away,” Burton said.

Burton said the WVDE’s relief fund monitoring system was flawed on many fronts.

“The fiscal monitoring system lacks appropriate risk assessment,” he said. “The frequency of improper purchasing procedures and other grant violations warranted a reassessment risk and adjustment to the system’s capacity and structure. The current monitoring process lacks appropriate structure and due to a lack of written policies and procedures.”

Melanie Purkey, the WVDE senior officer for Federal Programs, told lawmakers the height of the pandemic prompted rash decisions among school districts.

“I think school systems were in a panic of, we found a vendor who can supply this, we’re gonna buy it,” Purkey said. “People all over the country were having trouble buying masks, hand sanitizers, even computers in the first round.”

Purkey said some of the school district spending did not happen in real time, but at the end of a fiscal period.

“The monitoring doesn’t occur until the fiscal year ends, which means you don’t catch it as it’s happening,” Purkey said.

Purkey said while the WVDE is working on updating internal policies to emergency purchasing procedures, state reviews will continue on how school boards spent pandemic relief funds.