The finance director of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind will serve as the school’s administrator until a new superintendent is hired.
Superintendent Lynn Boyer will retire on June 30.
The Charleston Daily Mail reports that Boyer told theWest Virginia Board of Education last week that finance director Mark Gandolfi will assume administrative duties until she is replaced.
The board is reviewing applications for the superintendent’s position.
Boyer has served as superintendent of the institution in Romney since 2011.
The superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind is stepping down.
Lynn Boyer notified the West Virginia Board of Education last week that she will retire on June 30.
The board appointed Boyer in 2011 to lead the Romney schools following a 2010 audit that found deficiencies in leadership, curriculum, safety and technology.
During her tenure, Boyer has pushed for funding to renovate the schools’ aging buildings. The schools also implemented a policy requiring all staff to be able to communicate with deaf students through sign language.
Boyer says in a letter to staff that she’s confident the schools are stronger now.
The state Board of Education heard from child care workers at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Wednesday morning about an upcoming change in their job requirements. The board decided in March those workers will now be required to obtain an associates degree.
The 35 workers who currently hold positions at the Romney schools have until 2018 to obtain a degree, but there’s no guarantee even then that they will keep their jobs.
Child care workers and parents of children that attend the schools told board members at their Charleston meeting they feel the new requirements are unnecessary.
“I don’t think that I need an education to be a mother,” Susie Fields told the board. She’s been working at the schools for more than 30 years.
“I have proved that I’m a mother and that I am a good mother.”
SusieFields.mp3
Listen to Susie Fields' emotional testimony before the state Board of Education.
Parent Lucy Kimble said the child care workers are there to teach the children life skills, like how to cook and clean for themselves, not guiding their education.
The school’s Superintendent Lynn Boyer said there have been some changes to the new hiring policy after negotiating with the workers and the West Virginia Education Association.
Previous work experience and whether or not a candidate has started taking classes for the degree, she said, will be given strong consideration moving forward.
Boyer added, however, that both she and the WVEA understand the board is trying to improve the quality of the workforce by requiring the degree. She added she has visited similar schools in other states that have even higher standards for these types of positions.