Two people from the crash were life-flighted by air ambulance to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. No word yet on the extent of the crash victims’ injuries.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
West Virginia State Police are investigating a helicopter crash Friday in Preston County.
Preston County Emergency Management confirms two people from the crash were life-flighted by air ambulance to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. No word yet on the extent of the crash victims’ injuries.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, “a Bell 206B helicopter crashed near Veterans Memorial Highway in Terra Alta, West Virginia, around 11:40 a.m. local time on Friday, July 21. Two people were on board. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.”
The helicopter crew members involved in the accident were contracted by FirstEnergy from the GeoDigital company for utility work.
FirstEnergy released this statement:
“The helicopter crew members involved in today’s accident were contracted by FirstEnergy to complete inspections of the company’s transmission lines. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured and their families.”
On Saturday, July 22, West Virginia State Police released the following statement:
“On 7/21/23 at approximately 11:20 am, Troopers were notified by Preston County 911 of a helicopter crash. The crash occurred in the area of Caddell Mountain, near Terra Alta, WV. Troopers were the first to arrive on-scene and began extricating the two occupants. One of the individuals could not be extricated. Troopers remained with the second occupant until additional help arrived and the other individual could be safely removed. The occupants were then transported to Ruby Memorial and treated for minor injuries. Troopers were unable to determine why the 1979, Bell helicopter, crashed. Troopers secured the scene until the FAA arrived and assumed control of the scene. Further investigation will be conducted by the FAA.”
The foundation will handle 72.5 percent of the state’s settlement funds, while 24.5 percent will go to local governments. The remaining three percent will be held by the state in escrow to cover any outstanding attorney’s fees.
Through settlements from various lawsuits with opioid manufacturers and distributors, West Virginia stands to gain about $1 billion over the next 10 to 15 years.
The money should be used for recovery and prevention programs. To make sure it is spent correctly, the West Virginia Legislature created the West Virginia First Foundation to distribute those settlement funds in the 2023 regular session. Senate Bill 674 legally recognizes the creation of the foundation. It was signed into law on March 11.
The board includes 11 members, six selected by the counties and five appointed by the governor. All six regions elected their representatives this week via a quorum of elected officials from the towns, cities and counties of each region.
The foundation will handle 72.5 percent of the state’s settlement funds, while 24.5 percent will go to local governments. The remaining three percent will be held by the state in escrow to cover any outstanding attorney’s fees.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey addressed the vital need for fiscal responsibility in distributing these funds, noting the time it could take to receive all abatement funding.
“Some of our settlements, we negotiated upfront one-year flat fee, but many others were two years, five years, 10, 15 years, and it goes out over a period of time,” Morrisey said. “That’s why it’s really important that financial management is part of this process as well, so that the money doesn’t get squandered, and that there’s a lot of planning for the future.”
The board members will make decisions about how the funds will be distributed. An “expert panel” will be formed after the board is seated to advise in these funding decisions.
Dr. Michael “Tony” Kelly of Raleigh County was the first board member selected on July 5 to represent Region 6. Kelly was joined July 12 by Berkeley County Community Corrections Director Timothy Czaja and Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce, selected to represent Region 2 and Region 3 respectively.
Per the memorandum of understanding that frames the settlement distribution, board members will serve staggered terms of three years. An Executive Director will be appointed by the Attorney General and approved by the board.
At the Region 5 West Virginia First Foundation Regional Selection Meeting, Dr. Matthew Christiansen was elected to represent Cabell, Clay, Boone, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, Mason, Mingo and Wayne Counties.
Christiansen is also West Virginia’s State Medical Director and the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Public Health.
“These dollars in the foundation are state dollars, but my appointment on this board is through Region Five. If there is a potential conflict of interest there, I could recuse myself from those votes,” Christiansen said. “But I think the importance here is transparency and accountability around where the money is going so that everyone can see that that there are no nefarious issues that are happening that that would account for that. But as it currently stands, I don’t see any necessary areas of overlap where that might be an issue.”
At the meeting members of the Kanawha County Commission also voted to require board meetings of the foundation be conducted in compliance with the West Virginia Open Meetings Act.
While Morrisey highlighted the need for transparency, he also said many questions won’t be answered until the board is seated.
“I think that as time goes forward, once that board gets constituted, I think they will be setting up a lot of the rules of the road in terms of how there’ll be interactions and I encourage, strongly encourage public processes where people get to participate,” Morrisey said. “So, I think that’s important. I think the goal of this was to have an open, transparent process, but also be able to bring experts together and to allow for some expertise and deliberation as well.”
Region 4 elected Marion County businessman Jonathan Board to represent them on the board Thursday. The region covers 13 counties including Monongalia, Marion, Preston, Taylor, Doddridge, Harrison, Barbour, Tucker, Gilmer, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur and Randolph.
Board says West Virginia has a unique opportunity to address the issues opioids have caused and stop the destruction.
“The question is what happens to the next generation, we are teetering on complete catastrophe,” Board said. “That’s why this is a beautiful thing where we can step in and say, we’re going to stem the tide. We’re going to fill the gap. And we’re going to find solutions. But we have to do it now.”
He acknowledged that although every community represented by the board is facing the same issue, each community will require a different approach to a solution.
“I think that’s what’s so special about this opportunity,” Board said. “Our needs in Elkins and in Fairmont, and in Morgantown and in Harrison County, they’re all different. We’re dealing with the same challenge. But it needs different solutions. And that’s why this is really valuable.”
Board also said there will need to be a robust vetting process to ensure the money is spent correctly and with communities’ best interests in mind.
This is not the first time the state has received a large amount of money to address chronic issues. At Thursday’s meeting David Street, a member of the Barbour County Commission and director of an hospital emergency department, brought up the issue of trying to administer federal broadband money appropriately.
“I live in this world every day, and every night at the commission meetings,” Street said. “My observation is this: in both worlds, I’m seeing 501(C)3s and groups pop up like a plague. It disgusts me.”
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom, who led the Region 4 meeting, thanked Street for his comment.
“First it was broadband, now its opioid funding,” Bloom said. “All county commissions are dealing with that. I think that’s a concern that you brought up and I’m sure, you can look at several of the other commissioners shaking their heads. ”
After the meeting, Bloom echoed Morrisey and said electing the board is only the first step.
“There’s an expertise committee, and another regional committee, which we have no idea how to set that up yet or what we’re doing,” Bloom said. “I am just glad that this is over.”
On the agenda for Thursday’s meeting was also a discussion regarding best practices for the board. As in Region Five the previous day, the elected officials voted unanimously to require that the by-laws of the West Virginia First Foundation require all board meetings be conducted in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.
“We made it very clear that Region Five, Region Four are adamant, unanimously that these meetings need to be open, so everyone understands how the process is, where the money’s going, and how it’s going to be spent,” Bloom said. “We’re very worried. We don’t want to see a continuance of what happened with the tobacco, we don’t want to continue to what’s going on with broadband.”
Bloom says the region will submit the names of the other candidates to Gov. Jim Justice to be considered for his five appointments to the board.
No selections have been made by the executive office, according to the latest report from Justice’s office. It is not clear what will happen if Justice’s selections are not made clear by the Monday, July 17 deadline. The governor’s selections are subject to confirmation by the Senate.
According to Morrisey’s Press Secretary, John Mangalonzo, the regional selections still have to be certified.
“Keep in mind that an accounting firm has seven days from the date of the election to certify the votes and submit the certified results to the AG’s and governor’s offices,” Mangalonzo said in an email.
Region 1: Steven Corder
Region 2: Tim Czaja
Region 3: Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce
Region 4: Jonathan Board
Region 5: Dr. Matthew Christiansen
Region 6: Dr. Tony Kelly
Justice’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
A mobile lung cancer screening unit that offers service to West Virginia counties without easy access to screenings will be visiting three counties next week.
A mobile lung cancer screening unit that offers service to West Virginia counties without easy access to screenings will be visiting three counties next week.
The unit known as LUCAS will visit Preston, Taylor and Marion counties. The unit is operated by WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals and the WVU Cancer Institute.
Screenings will be offered on June 7 at West Preston Primary Care in Reedsville, call (304) 594-4705 for an appointment; on June 8 at Grafton-Taylor Health Department, (304) 233-0830; and on June 10 at Monongahela Valley Association Clinic in Fairmont, (304) 367-8736.
Private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare will be billed for the screenings. Uninsured West Virginia residents who meet the criteria can receive screenings through grant funding and donations, WVU Medicine said in a news release.
During its Nov. 10 meeting, the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board approved the first three brick-and-mortar public charter schools in the state’s history.
The schools will be located in the Eastern Panhandle, the Morgantown area and in Nitro in Kanawha County.
Eastern Panhandle Preparatory Academy will be based in Charles Town and serve children from kindergarten to 10th grade in Jefferson and Berkeley counties. It will be overseen by an education service provider called ACCEL Schools based in Ohio.
Nitro Preparatory Academy will also be run by ACCEL Schools and will be based in Nitro. It will serve children from kindergarten to 8th grade in Kanawha and Putnam counties.
“We congratulate the school boards of Eastern Panhandle Prep and Nitro Prep on the approval of their applications today,” said Chad Carr, executive vice president of ACCEL Schools. “We look forward to working with them and with both communities to begin serving students in fall 2022.”
Both schools expect a max enrollment of about 600 students.
In north central West Virginia, West Virginia Academy will be based in Morgantown and serve children in Monongalia and Preston counties. The school is expected to enroll a little more than 1,300 students and offer kindergarten through 12th grade.
“We are very excited about our approval and we are pressing forward to be ready for opening day this next fall,” said West Virginia Academy President John Treu. “Our approval along with two other schools is a major victory for West Virginia students and families who want a meaningful choice in public education … We will also raise the bar for the local school districts and improve education systems.”
In contrast, representatives from the state’s two largest teacher unions said they were not pleased with the news.
West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said he’s “disappointed” and feels the move by the state’s charter school board goes against a decision made last year by two county school boards that denied the creation of a charter school.
“When [the West Virginia Legislature] couldn’t get the [Monongalia and Preston county school boards] to authorize [West Virginia Academy], the legislature went back and created a board that essentially is made up of charter advocates, so I’m not surprised at all that they would authorize three schools,” said Lee. “What worries me is the money they will take away from our [traditional] public schools.”
American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia President Fred Albert argued the schools are not being set up in areas of critical need in West Virginia.
“The three new charter schools will be opened in areas of the state with exceptional existing public schools and a higher socioeconomic population compared to most communities in West Virginia,” said Albert. “If charter schools are really designed to improve education, why are they being opened in affluent, well-performing school districts instead of in poverty-stricken, disadvantaged communities?”
Chairman of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board Adam Kissel said the new schools will provide more options for West Virginians.
“This is a great day for West Virginia’s children and families,” Kissel said. “Each school is unique, and each child is unique. When families have more education choices, more kids will be in schools that fit their needs the best.”
The West Virginia Professional Charter School Board is expected to meet again on Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. to discuss three proposed statewide virtual charter schools.
“All three [virtual school] applications are excellent,” said Kissel. “So the board will need to distinguish the relative demonstrated merit using objective criteria within the board’s discretion.”
Kissel said during Wednesday’s board meeting that they are still seeking an executive director.
West Virginia passed its first charter school legislation in 2019. In 2021, the law was revised by the legislature to allow up to 10 brick-and-mortar public charter schools to be approved within a three-year period. The law also permits virtual public charter schools, and it created the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board.
In 2018 and 2019, West Virginia public school teachers went on a statewide strike to demand better pay, health benefits and to speak out against the creation of charter schools in West Virginia.
A lawsuit remains pending in Kanawha County Circuit Court claiming the state’s charter law is unconstitutional, because it allows for charters to open without approval from local voters.
On Monday, two county school boards struck down the state’s first application to establish a public charter school. The proposed program, dubbed West Virginia Academy, would have been located in Morgantown and served Mongonalia and Preston counties, focusing on academic achievement across K-12 classrooms, including an International Baccalaureate curriculum.
School boards in Monongalia and Preston counties, however, unanimously rejected the charter proposal, saying the application did not meet 7 out of the 10 evaluation criteria required in the proposal process.
Board members pointed to a lack of demand and support from local families based on a social media survey West Virginia Academy conducted that found less than 1 percent of families in the two counties supported establishing a charter school. They also said the goal and vision for the proposed charter is a mission already being met by traditional public schools in the area. Board members said West Virginia Academy provided an unclear outline of operations, governance, a financial model, and how specifically curriculum would be taught, among other concerns. They pointed to a lack of wraparound services identified for students and no clear explanation of what digital devices, such as iPads or Chromebooks, would be available to students.
Overall, board members turned the proposal down due to a lack of clear, detailed strategies and timelines of how the school would be run and how funding would be distributed.
“There were just a lot of holes for me in this application as to how all those needs were going to be met,” said Monongalia County Board President Nancy Walker. “Over the years, as board members, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the different learning methods needed to connect with different students, and this seems to rely basically on one delivery model, and I was very concerned about that.”
In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, West Virginia Academy President John Treu expressed disappointment in the decision by the two boards and said his proposal was “based on applications from schools that went on to become some of the top public schools in the country.”
He also claims that, under state law, the application has already been deemed approved because of a period of inaction by the combined boards of Monongalia and Preston counties. In an email, however, from the West Virginia Department of Education, the WVDE told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the two boards had until Nov. 30 to make a decision on the charter school proposal, which they met.
Treu said he plans to contact the WVDE about his concerns over the application process. He said he thinks “the decision for whether a charter school opens should be up to the parents in [that] community as opposed to a panel of district-level bureaucrats.”
A spokesperson from the state department of education said decisions by the county boards are “final.”
How Did We Get Here?
After years of heated debate, in 2019, Gov. Jim Justice signed the state’s first public charter school law, following in the footsteps of 44 other states nationwide and the District of Columbia, according to the National Charter School Resource Center.
West Virginia’s law works this way: up to three public charter schools can be established between now and 2023 with an opportunity for more after that.
Proposals first start at the county board of education level, which act as that proposed charter school’s authorizer, and then the proposal moves on to the West Virginia Department of Education for consideration.
To be approved, charters must meet requirements laid out by the West Virginia Board of Education Policy 3300 and follow the West Virginia Standard Public Charter School Application process.
What Is West Virginia Academy?
John Treu moved to Morgantown with his family about five years ago. He and his wife Heidi were originally from Utah and Nevada respectively, but they moved around — New York, Washington D.C., Maryland and now West Virginia. Both are educators.
Heidi taught middle school science and health in traditional public schools and one charter school. She now homeschools their six children. John teaches accounting at West Virginia University.
“We’ve experienced a lot of different school systems,” John Treu said. “And [we’ve] seen some of the strengths and weaknesses of those individual systems.”
Listen to the original story, which aired ahead of the vote on Nov. 30, 2020.
Listen to the original story, which aired ahead of the vote on Nov. 30, 2020.
The Treus hoped to open the state’s first public charter school in Morgantown, called West Virginia Academy. Most charter schools, according to the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, are nonprofits. Treu’s school would be the same. Under the West Virginia law, it would have a governing board made up of local parents and residents with expertise in primary, secondary, and higher education as well as finance, law and accounting.
All charter schools are public schools that aim to offer teachers flexibility in how curriculum is delivered. Oftentimes charters emphasize certain fields like engineering or performing arts.
Treu said he wanted to establish a charter school in West Virginia for two reasons: he thinks the current public model in the state gives too much money to administrators as opposed to student resources and teachers, and he wants to improve student achievement.
“We have extremely high graduation rates, but really low student outcomes,” he said. “Which suggests that not very much is being expected of our students. We believe that students will respond to greater rigor and higher expectations.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education, West Virginia’s graduation rate was at least 90 percent or higher in 2018 — above the national average, which was 85 percent. According to federal data from 2019, West Virginia’s 8th graders ranked below average on math and reading scores. The last available reading and math score data from the Nation’s Report Card for 12th graders in West Virginia was available in 2013. Both scores from that year were also below the national average.
The state’s overall ACT test scores for the class of 2020, however, were just above the national average but fell short in the mathematics score.
In a release from the West Virginia Department of Education last year, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission reported 52.6 percent of West Virginia students enrolled in in-state institutions of higher education in fall 2018. That same year, 41 percent of students continued their education to achieve advanced credentials or certifications, joined the workforce or enrolled in the military upon graduation.
Treu is hoping West Virginia Academy can tackle some of the issues seen in West Virginia’s K-12 education system. His school would be open to any student who applied, and after it reaches capacity, future applications would be placed into a lottery system. In the first year, the school would offer grades kindergarten through 8th grade with the goal of expanding to K-12 over a five-year period and max capacity of 1,420 students.
“That’s really the allure to it,” he said. “We have the flexibility to maximize student outcomes and pursue optimizing student outcomes in a way that we believe is appropriate, and that the data suggests is superior to the way it’s being done currently in public schools.”
The primary school, Treu said, would offer a curriculum called Core Knowledge. His goal is to focus on bolstering foundational knowledge in core subjects, including language arts, history and geography, and science.
According to the creators of the program, “the Core Knowledge approach puts knowledge at the heart of schooling and details to teachers a clear grade-by-grade sequence of what students need to know in each grade.”
For the middle school years, West Virginia Academy would offer the International Baccalaureate Middle Years program, called IB. For the high school years, the school would follow the IB Diploma program, which is academically rigorous and internationally recognized by higher education institutions worldwide.
The school would be subject to the same regulations as traditional public schools in West Virginia specifically as it relates to safety and needs for students with disabilities, Treu said. But otherwise, administrative costs, salaries and how they deliver content is up to the governing board to decide.
If student achievement doesn’t show improvement, charter schools, unlike traditional public schools that are rarely closed over low achievement, are given a warning to fix it or face closure.
Since West Virginia Academy would be designated as a public charter school, it would be funded by public, or state, dollars.
But it’s that issue that’s drawn the most concern from those in opposition.
Charters Versus Traditional Public Schools
In October, Treu held a public forum in Morgantown on his proposed charter school, and he was met with a rally against it. Morgantown High School art teacher Sam Brunett was there.
“When the governor called that special session [to consider charter school legislation] after two strikes against charter schools, I think we all knew in Monongalia County, this would be one of the first places they attempted a charter school, and lo and behold, here we are tonight,” Brunett said from behind a podium outside University High School.
Brunett is also the president of the American Federation of Teachers chapter in Monongalia County.
Like many teacher union supporters around the nation, Brunett is staunchly opposed to charter schools and argues they would take money away from traditional public schools instead of focusing more resources on improving the state’s current education system, which he describes as deprived and struggling.
“[This is] funneling away money from an already deprived education system and giving it to basically a private institution,” he said. “We’re adamantly against that type of procedure. We’re looking at upwards of $11 million to be siphoned from Monongalia County Schools after this [charter] school is established all the way. What happens to our existing schools when those types of things happen? We see programs like art, band, our physical education, sports, all those things are just the first thing to go.”
Brunett is not alone in his concerns. Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association filed an “intent to sue” after the legislation to allow charters was signed by the governor.
Lee said the state constitution demands that every child, no matter their background, be given the right to a free, public education. He’s concerned charters would “cherry pick” students.
“If you allow me to handpick the students that I want to teach in my school, knowing that I don’t have to take any of the special needs kids, any discipline problems and kids without good parental support, I’m going to show much bigger gains than a public school where we take and educate everyone,” Lee said. “We believe that our Constitution is clear that you provide a free, thorough, efficient public education for every child, not just a select few.”
West Virginia Academy, however, according to John Treu, would admit anyone. But Lee said that even still, he doesn’t approve of charters because as he sees it, designating them as “public” is just a way to make sure they get public dollars, taking away from traditional public schools that he thinks need more support.
This concern is not unfounded.
Would Charter Schools Work In West Virginia?
Mark Berends directs the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity at the University of Notre Dame and has done extensive research into charter schools. He said that yes, public charters would in effect take away, or reroute, funding from traditional public schools, but he said if the feeling among the public is to establish a charter, then it should be up to the public.
“I think it is public money,” Berends said. “If there’s schooling options put in place that are really effective, and those happen to be charter schools, then parents should have the right to be able to choose those schools for their children.”
It’s unclear, though, if a charter school would be effective in West Virginia. Berends said there hasn’t been enough research to determine if charters are effective in rural areas — and West Virginia is a mostly rural state.
Berends said there is research though that shows virtual charter schools, which are seeing a recent boom due to the coronavirus pandemic, do poorly in rural areas.
“Looking at achievement results, virtual charter schools in Indiana, after switching from a public school into a virtual charter school, loses about 16 percentile points in mathematics and also significant losses in reading,” he said.
Most research finds that charter schools improve student learning greatest in elementary and middle school, but he said little research supports positive impacts in high school.
Berends also said there’s research to support that charter schools don’t serve special education students well.
Because West Virginia’s charter school law limits the number of public charter schools, Berends said the state is in a unique position to perfect a model and get it right, if such schools are something state residents support.
“We have learned a lot about charter schools over the last three decades, and Americans love choices. They love choices at the grocery store, and they like choices for the schools that their children attend,” he said. “I don’t really see [charters] going away, despite opposition, but I think it would behoove the people that are going to be running these charter schools to get it right.”
Physician Harriet Jones was born in Pennsylvania on June 3, 1856, but grew up at Terra Alta in Preston County.
After attending Wheeling Female College, she graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Baltimore.
In 1886, Jones opened a private practice in Wheeling, becoming the first woman licensed to practice medicine in West Virginia. Her specialties were gynecology and abdominal surgery.
In 1888, she became assistant superintendent of what would become the Weston State Hospital. She stepped down four years later to start a women’s hospital in Wheeling. A public health crusader, Jones was secretary of the state Anti-Tuberculosis League and campaigned to establish the state Children’s Home in Elkins, the state Industrial Home for Girls at Salem, and Hopemont Sanitarium, which opened near Terra Alta in 1913.
A staunch women’s rights advocate, Jones was active in the state Federation of Women’s Clubs, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and state Equal Suffrage Association. In 1924, she was elected to the House of Delegates as a Republican from Marshall County, making her one of the first women to serve in the legislature.
