CHARLESTON (AP) — The state Board of Education
issued its long-awaited response Wednesday to a statewide audit of
public schools, suggesting immediate action in critical areas such as
teacher recruitment and retention, boosting the use of technology and
improving efficiency in numerous departments, including reorganizing the
Department of Education.
The board released the 130-page response
to the wide-ranging audit that was commissioned last year by Gov. Earl
Ray Tomblin and criticized the school system as being too bogged down in
state-level bureaucracy.
"We are not satisfied with our current
levels of performance and progress," board President Wade Linger said in
prepared remarks in the response. "The Board has begun the process of
establishing measurable objectives that challenge all schools to improve
student learning. We are developing initiatives on the use of time,
teaching, technology, operational and management efficiency, raising
educational quality statewide and accreditation restructuring — the game
changers that will move the system forward more quickly.
He said
the board didn't expect a single audit to act as its blueprint for the
future, but it was a good start to learn what areas need the most
improvement.
The response noted the Legislature must amend state
law to address many recommendations, and some suggestions also involve
federal funding.
The audit has said the recommendations could save
about $90 million a year. While potential savings could be realized,
the board said "there is a great need to reallocate this money, where
possible, to be better applied in meeting the challenges raised in the
audit."
The board mostly agreed with 16 specific recommendations
on professional development for educators, including establishing
state-level leadership that "has become fragmented" by an erosion of
powers and responsibilities allowed in the state constitution. It also
supported calls in the audit addressing teacher recruitment and hiring.
The
board rejected an audit recommendation to mandate 180 days of
instructional time. Instead the board said the department is exploring a
year-round calendar "which spreads the required days throughout the
year to avoid student regression of learning."
"Quality of
instruction is not about time spent in seats, but engagement of students
resulting in increased academic achievement," the report said.
The board's response also:
—
advanced a call in the audit seeking high-speed broadband access in all
schools and providing students the mobile devices to access the
Internet. It also agreed to work toward replacing textbooks with digital
content and suggests requiring every middle and high school student to
take at least one online course.
— opposed the audit's
recommendation to require school health centers to perform the duties of
a school nurse, free of charge, as payment for the use of school
facilities.
— agreed with calls for collaboration between public and higher education and workforce and economic development.
—
agreed with recommendations to eliminate 10 upper-level administrative
positions in the Department of Education and make ongoing changes to
reduce duplication in cross-department initiatives.
— agreed to review the state's Regional Education Service Agencies.
"This is not the end-all document," board member Michael Green said. "This is the beginning."
Wednesday's
meeting came the same day that the parents of a special-needs child
asked the state Supreme Court to void the board's 5-2 vote last week to
fire Schools Superintendent Jorea Marple.
Before the board
discussed the audit, two speakers asked the board to reconsider Marple's
firing and reveal the reasons behind the move.
"The public
deserves to know specifically what led to this sudden turnabout,"
Charleston parent Karan Ireland said. "The loss of Dr. Marple's
leadership is a loss borne by the children of West Virginia."
Board
members Jenny Phillips and Priscilla Haden had voted against the
recommendation to fire Marple and vowed to resign Dec. 31 in protest.
Ireland and another speaker asked Phillips and Haden to reconsider their
decisions.
Linger thanked the speakers but didn't address their questions.
The
board will meet again Nov. 29 to vote on Marple's firing because of
concerns that it may have violated the open-meetings law when it ousted
her Nov. 15.
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