Educational leaders have expressed concern about a legislative change to school discipline that makes it easier to suspend a student.
Educational leaders have expressed concern about a legislative change to school discipline that makes it easier to suspend a student.
At the Wednesday meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education, Board President Paul Hardesty called a new requirement introduced by House Bill 2890 a “train wreck waiting to happen.”
The bill was written to give school teachers and administrators more leeway in school discipline, but the statute mandates that students be suspended if removed from a classroom three times in one month.
Hardesty said he’s concerned the law doesn’t define why a student would be removed, and that inexperienced teachers might remove students without cause.
“We have special needs teachers that have specializations, that have training to know what to look for in this child with this type of deficiencies and behavioral patterns,” he said. “We take a long term sub and put them in a classroom that has no training. Now we give them the capacity to become arbitrary and capricious in their actions for a child to get a finite result of being kicked out of school. It may be well intended but you’re not hitting what you’re shooting at.”
School discipline data presented by the West Virginia Department of Education to the board earlier this year showed that the state’s students already lose a collective 178,000 instructional days to suspensions.
Drew McClanahan, director of leadership development for the state Department of Education, presented the board with an update to the Student Behavior Response Plan that resulted from the May study. He identified three areas that comprise the focus of the plan: training and support, accountability and policy.
“With the training support piece, I am excited to announce that we’ve been looking at data practices for school administrators,” McClanahan said. “Root cause analyses have been a part of supports and trainings that we provided throughout the summer. We’ve had some best practices related to classroom management, engagement and structural quality.”
McClanahan also reported his office is working with the Behavior Technical Assistance Center at Marshall University to expand training and support for educators. He also announced that the public, statewide dashboard announced at the May board meeting and meant to promote transparency and accountability around school discipline is ready.
“We believe that it will give the public an opportunity to see what types of discipline are being used at a school,” McClanahan said. “We hope that that gives the community an active opportunity to have meaningful conversations with school administrators on what’s being used at their school.”
The discipline dashboard can be found in the state’s ZoomWV information portal.
Things grew contentious on the Senate floor Friday morning as one Senator demanded to be recognized on the chamber floor.
Things grew contentious on the Senate floor Friday morning as one Senator demanded to be recognized on the chamber floor.
Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, demanded the attention of Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, as soon as the first bill was up for consideration on the Senate floor Friday morning.
“Mr. President, I demand that this bill be read. Mr. President, I demand the bill be read as Constitutionally required,” Karnes yelled as his colleagues voted on the bill.
Karnes said he was concerned a Constitutional rule that each bill be read fully and distinctly three times was being ignored. As the day’s business progressed, he continued to demand recognition with almost every bill that came up.
The continued outbursts ultimately forced a short recess. When the Senators returned, President Pro Tempore Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, formally requested Karnes be removed from the chamber.
“I request, pursuant to the powers granted to the presiding officer by Senate Rule 51, that you order the Sergeant at Arms to remove the Senator from Randolph from the chamber,” Boley said.
Afterwards, outside the Senate chambers, Karnes said he was fed up with how the Senate President Craig Blair has conducted the body’s business this year.
“Over the course of the session, I’ve tried to correct things internally, I think that’s the best way to go,” Karnes said. “I think that at a certain point, and as we’ve seen this continued push to violate the rules and the norms of the Senate, it was necessary to maybe be a little bit more bold in making a statement. And so that’s what I’ve done today.”
Karnes also questioned the legitimacy of the bills that were passed by the Senate during his removal.
“I believe right now, every bill that’s passing on the floor in there is a bill that’s being passed with me being denied my constitutional right to cast a vote on those bills,” he said. “I think every bill that passes while I’m out here, not allowed in there, is constitutionally in jeopardy.”
Before Friday’s floor session, Karnes sent a letter to Blair outlining his concerns.
“As a result of seeing a variety of amendments lost by staff in your committees, particularly the Committee on the Judiciary, over the course of the 2023 session as well as other oddities in the manner in which bills have been reported from committee, I have become concerned that bills, as recorded in the Chamber Automation System, do not necessarily reflect the work of your committees or the bodies,” the letter begins.
The letter goes on to state that large, complex amendments have been introduced on the Senate floor at the last minute, leaving Senators unable to properly review the issues on which they are voting.
“As a result, I feel it is necessary to move and demand that ALL (sic) engrossed bills, or bills on third reading, be fully and distinctly read, as is my right as a member of the West Virginia State Senate under Article VI, Section 29 of the West Virginia State Constitution,” the letter concludes.
The Senate returned from another recess just before 3 p.m., and Sen. Karnes was still absent from the floor.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a motion for a stay against a preliminary injunction on the Hope Scholarship with the state’s new Intermediate Court of Appeals.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a motion for a stay against a preliminary injunction on the Hope Scholarship with the state’s new Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Two weeks ago, Judge Joanna Tabit issued an injunction in Kanawha Circuit Court blocking the Hope Scholarship program. Morrisey is asking the court to allow the program to move forward, pending an appeal of the case on its merits.
“The lower court’s ruling undermining parents’ freedom to choose how they educate their children is legally wrong and deeply disappointing, and we are ready to appeal as soon as the lower court issues its written order confirming its ruling from nearly two weeks ago,” Morrisey said.
The Hope Scholarship provides parents with about $4,300 per child to educate their children however they choose. The state board of education and some parents argued the program was unconstitutional because it undermines the state’s financial obligation to provide a free education for residents.
In a statement, Morrisey said he asked for the stay to allow parents to receive the money they expected from the program, citing school’s start time in just a few weeks.
The legislature passed and the governor signed the Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021.
Morrisey wrote in the motion that “absent a stay, the state and its families will suffer irreparable harm: a validly enacted law will stand mute because the Legislature’s policy judgments ‘troubled’ a single judge, and students across the state will be stripped of educational opportunities for at least a year.”
There was no immediate statement from the Intermediate Court of Appeals on when it would take up the request for a stay. The court just began operations on July 1.
Next year, West Virginia will have the last two greyhound racing tracks in the United States. The state government is bound by law to support the greyhound racing operations at two casinos – in Wheeling and Cross Lanes.
Next year, West Virginia will have the last two greyhound racing tracks in the United States. The state government is bound by law to support the greyhound racing operations at two casinos — in Wheeling and Cross Lanes.
In this four-part radio series, West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) goes inside West Virginia’s dog racing world and examines the economic, humane and legal elements that make this sport unique and controversial.
Part one takes us to the track, where wagering patrons and a staff of greyhound handlers keep the tote boards lit up and the dogs running.
The Country’s Last Two Dog Tracks
It’s 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon at the Wheeling Island Casino and Track in Ohio County. Long-time greyhound racing fan Michael Palmer is one of about 50 patrons watching today’s races.
“We’re mostly retired,” Palmer said. “This is all we’ve got to do is come here and watch the races and make a little bit of money. Hopefully we win.”
Across the country, greyhound racing is on a rapid decline. By 2023, this track, along with one other in West Virginia, will be the last two remaining greyhound racing tracks in the nation.
Some want the sport to continue in West Virginia. But a future for greyhound racing in the state is not guaranteed. To understand why, you have to understand its relationship to casinos.
The Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Cross Lanes, Kanawha County hosts West Virginia’s other greyhound track. That’s where you’ll find Greg Conliffe betting on the dogs. He watches the races, not trackside, but on a big screen monitor near the slot machines and the cashier’s window.
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Greg Conliffe is a greyhound betting regular at Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Cross Lanes.
“It’s just like an athlete,” Conliffe said. “You find out who the best athletes are out there and that’s the one that you stay with all the time.”
Some, like Mardi Gras racing bettors Matt and Judy Blowers, hope West Virginia becomes the focal point for greyhound enthusiasts around the country. Judy said it’s too bad that states like Florida, Iowa and Arkansas have lost out on the sport.
“I think it’s a shame because, especially since COVID, people need a way to relax and have fun,” Judy Blowers said. “My mortgage is already paid. I’m not here to pay my mortgage off. We needed a couple of days off just to relax.”
Down on the track, eight more dogs have come from the kennel and are heading to the starting block for the fifth of the day’s 15 races.
Dogs have raced at Mardi Gras since 1985. Wheeling Island transitioned from horse to greyhound racing in 1976. There’s a reason why the sport persists today. In 2007, state legislation established exclusive rights and requirements that all state casino table games and video lottery machines can only operate where there is also horse and dog racing.
Randy Yohe
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia casinos can’t have games like these without dog or horse racing on-site.
“Racing, either thoroughbred or greyhound, is integrally tied to their license to operate, and they have to continue live racing in order to keep the casinos going,” Del. Matt Rohrbach, R-Cabell, said.
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, supports the state’s greyhound industry. The owner of an adopted greyhound, he said it’s a humane sport that provides hundreds of jobs and makes the state a profit.
“Greyhound racing is a pretty lucrative financial benefit to the state,” Weld said. “And so that is important to me. Because if we’re going to have it, it has to be able to generate revenue, and we must have it for a reason.”
But not everyone is in favor of racing in West Virginia, including the owner of the state’s two tracks.
Delaware North owns and operates casinos around the country including both the Cross Lanes and Wheeling facilities.
In a statement, Delaware North spokesperson Glen White said greyhound racing is losing money and public interest. White said the industry is seeing, “fewer patrons, an older customer base and declining revenue overall.”
Over the past five years, he said the number of patrons at Wheeling Island has dropped by 60 percent, and by 40percent at Mardi Gras.
Delaware North supports the national trend to uncouple state government and greyhound racing. White said, “We would support it if West Virginia legislation passed that would allow us to operate the casinos without operating racing.”
But not everyone wants to see the uncoupling of racing and casinos.
Greyhound breeder Steve Sarras is president of the West Virginia Kennel Owners Association. Sarras said live dog racing fuels casino table games and video lottery activity. He said the state should double up when the two West Virginia tracks become America’s dog racing mecca.
“If we went as a group to the track, some people might say, ‘hey, I’m gonna play blackjack, I’m gonna go play poker. I’m gonna go play the dogs, I’m gonna go play horses,’” Sarras said. “So usually, when they race live, casino play goes up. And all of that stuff, it benefits the state, the state gets extra money. When Arkansas and Iowa close, it’s only gonna go up from there.”
Delaware North said its top priority in operating racing is doing so to the highest standards for the safety and well-being of the greyhounds.
Randy Yohe
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
All greyhounds are weighed before every race.
Last year, West Virginia records for the two tracks showed more than 600 greyhounds were injured, nearly 200 suffered broken bones and ten dogs died.
Dr. Mark Webster, Mardi Gras track veterinarian since 2002, said challenges in pandemic staffing contributed to the medical problems.
“They had to streamline all the employees and everything just to make things go,” Webster said. “We weren’t able to retain some of the more experienced people that can solve some of these problems.”
Webster also said these greyhounds are athletes, born and bred to run.
Listen to West Virginia Morning for part two of “Greyhound Racing In W.Va. – Last Of A Dying Breed.” In our next story, Morgantown reporter Chris Schulz will talk with greyhound breeders, greyhound protection activists, lawmakers and dog track staff.
West Virginia lawmakers are considering a proposal that would allow people to make liquor at home for themselves and for family members.
According to West Virginia state law, it is already legal for people to make beer and wine at home.
House Bill 2972 would allow people over the age of 21 to make up to 50 gallons of liquor at home in a year. If there are two or more people over 21 living in a household, families can make up to 100 gallons of liquor per year.
The proposal bans the sale of any liquor made at home. It passed the West Virginia House of Delegates on Monday and is now headed to the state Senate. A similar piece of legislation was introduced last year during the state’s legislative session, but it failed. It passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
West Virginia is a step closer to letting Uber and similar companies offer rides in the state.
The bill passed the House of Delegates by a 95-2 margin Monday. It next moves to the Senate.
The proposal would apply to Uber, Lyft and similar companies.
It would require companies to have a nondiscrimination policy and comply with nondiscrimination laws.
The bill would require companies to have a Division of Motor Vehicles permit, car insurance, underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage, a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy, and driver background checks.
“Number one is that it’s safe, reliable transportation. West Virginia should join the 300 cities and 27 other states that allow business travelers and tourists options like Uber and Lyft. But secondly, employment and jobs; the TNCs provide additional opportunities for employment for seniors, young students, veterans, but third is DUI reductions; there’s been a market reduction in DUIs in cities where Uber has been allowed.” – House Majority Leader Daryl Cowles, R – Morgan County. Lead Sponsor of HB 4228.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has introduced a similar bill.
One of the main issues discussed in committee regarding House Bill 4228 was insurance. This bill would require $50,000 dollars in a death or injury per person, $100,000 dollar coverage per incident, and a $25,000 dollar property coverage. In addition, the transportation network company or TNC, like Uber, would have an overriding million dollar liability policy, and if the driver doesn’t have that, the TNC would be required to provide that.
An Uber push in the GOP-led Legislature died last year. Among other issues, a pocket of House delegates opposed a provision to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender riders from discrimination.
