Some West Virginia district school systems have been removed from the “On Watch” list | News, sports, jobs

(Artwork by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — A new report from the West Virginia Department of Education shows some counties are emerging from a crisis “on guard” Category for failure to meet student achievement and success indicators. The Department of Education’s Office of Accountability released its annual report on the district’s licensing status and accreditation and presented it to the state Board of Education on Wednesday. The Office of Accountability reviews all districts annually, examining the balanced scorecards and efficiency indicators for the operational effectiveness of the district’s school system.
“As a state, our mission is to provide a thorough and efficient education for our children in West Virginia, and these two data sets provide county-level information related to both of these standards, thoroughness and efficiency.” said Alexandra Criner, director of the Office of Accountability. Last year, 49 out of 55 districts were included “on guard” for failure to meet one or more standards in the following areas: English Language Arts (ELA) achievement and program, mathematics achievement and progress, English learner progress, attendance, behavior, four- and five-year graduation rates, students on track for graduation and post-secondary services. This year’s report takes the number of counties into account “on guard” fell to 41 counties. There are 11 counties under observation for failing to meet ELA performance standards and 17 counties are under observation for failing to meet math performance standards. However, Criner said the challenge facing most of the counties monitored is school attendance, defined as the percentage of students missing more than 10% of the school year. Criner said there have been some improvements compared to the last school year report, but attendance remains an issue. According to the report, 22 counties are on attendance control and another 20 are considered in need of assistance, meaning the counties have failed to meet attendance standards for two years in a row. According to Criner, 91% of counties under observation last year saw a decrease in chronic absenteeism in 2024. No counties in need were listed “intensive care” for failing to meet attendance standards, meaning the district has now failed three years in a row.
“Attendance was one of our key indicators from last year that showed there was a problem with chronic absenteeism that really needed to be addressed.” Criner said. “When we look at the number of districts that are either receiving support or paying attention, it is clear that many of our efforts in this area have paid off.”
Criner said all counties have been named “Support” for the last year and have achieved a reduction in their chronic absenteeism rate. They maintain their support rather than not being downgraded to not “on guard” Counties.
“The reason they don’t transition back into wakefulness or get fully approved despite progress is because once you’re in a designation and you work out a plan to meet the requirements of that designation, you stay there until They partially meet the standard for this indicator. Criner said. “As long as this improvement works, we will not increase the level in this regard. We will give districts time to implement these plans and make improvements with the expectation that they will report better data each year.”
No counties were designated “Support” or “intensive care” in ELA success. When it comes to math achievement, 65% of counties on the watch list last year made progress this year, and 22% of designated counties did “Support” Last year I made progress in my math achievement. But seven counties made no progress in math and received the distinction “ “Intensive care.”
County operational effectiveness examines 11 indicators in a county, including career and technical education, child nutrition, county educational agency effectiveness, facilities, federal programs, finance, human resources, special education, state mandated data collection, transportation, and general pre-kindergarten readiness. Thirty-five of 55 counties were identified as needing assistance with one or more county operational effectiveness indicators. Three districts need support in general preparation for preschool children. Three counties need support for their career and technical training. Two counties need support for the effectiveness of their members on the county board of education. Eight counties require financial support. Five counties require assistance from federal programs. Counties that are permanently named in the “Needs help” Category for the operational effectiveness of the district or the “Support” And “intensive care” Indicators receive greater support from the Ministry of Education, including action plans to make necessary improvements. The state education agency can also order the department to intervene directly in the counties, as was the case in Logan and Upshur counties. Most counties fell under a “Needs help” Special education and staffing category, with 21 counties requiring special education support and 15 counties requiring staffing support. However, Criner said the staffing data depends on information that counties feed into the state’s Education Information System (WVEIS).
“They reflect the number of teachers enrolled in a core course – math, science, language arts, social studies – and certified in that area. It relies heavily on accurate data entry.” Criner said. Just because we have a district that is currently identified as needing staff support does not necessarily mean that they have non-certified teachers in those positions. It may be a case of incorrect coding in the WVEIS system.” But Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, told members of the State Board of Education on Wednesday that the county’s school systems are in desperate need of teachers and staff.
“We have a shortage of teachers, support staff, bus drivers, cooks and carers. You name it, we have these shortages.” Lee said. “We don’t have enough advisors. We don’t have enough social workers in our schools.”
Micky Blackwell, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Principals, criticized the West Virginia Legislature’s recent special session, which seized over $500 million in excess tax revenue and passed a 2% personal income tax cut, partially funded by $27 million was paid for through savings from the division of the former Ministry of Health and Human Resources. Blackwell said if there is additional money, it should be put toward education.
“If they take that $20 million and put it into schools, into government and into counselors, we would be serving the children of West Virginia who will grow up to be our future taxpayers.” Blackwell said. “So please, let’s all get together. We know January is approaching, and let us begin making plans now to support our school leaders and each other as well, and to support our legislators to help them recognize what our schools need.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at [email protected]