Challenge West Virginia

By Ron Gregory of the The Lincoln Journal

The state Board of Education has assumed control of the Preston County school system and a second county system is not renewing its superintendent’s contract, according to official sources.

Both the takeover in Preston County and the failure to renew Superintendent Ed Toman’s contract in Gilmer County have caused concern from Challenge West Virginia, the small schools advocacy group headed by Harts resident Thomas Ramey, Jr.

The state board cited poor financial conditions, and facility, curriculum and leadership problems in taking over the Preston system.

Ramey said the reasons given by the state board for assuming control in counties generally sounds the same.

“In Lincoln County, it was poor test results, hiring practices and facilities,” said Ramey. “Most of it is subjective, not objective.”

The state took control of Lincoln County schools in 2000. It has been in charge since, although plans have been announced to return this county system to state control by July. In all, the state has assumed control of five local systems. The vote last week to take over in Preston County was unanimous.

“It looks bleak and we think things are getting worse and not better (in Preston County),” said Office of Education Performance Audits (OEPA) Director Kenna Seal.

Seal is well known around the state, particularly for comments attributed to him which were critical of Lincoln Countians. Those comments caused statewide headlines when Seal referred to Lincoln residents as “beer-drinking, four-wheel-riding rednecks.” Lincoln County’s elected school board demanded an apology from Seal at the time. While coming short of apologizing, Seal basically said the comments were taken out of context.

In Preston County’s case, State Superintendent Steve Paine announced that Preston Superintendent John Lofink had retired last week. He said he was appointing Gus Penix to serve as interim superintendent through the end of the 2008-09 school term. Larry Parsons of Mason County is expected to become superintendent in July, according to Preston County sources.

The board’s decision in Preston County allows the state board to control finances and staff, just as it did in Lincoln, according to Ramey.

The move also allows Paine to implement consolidation plans.

Preston County businesswoman Jana Freeman, a Challenge West Virginia member, is concerned that consolidation is among the state’s plans.

While Freeman conceded there are “serious problems” in Preston County’s school system and the public has “lost confidence in the local board,” she said consolidation is not the answer.

Both Ramey and Freeman were critical of consolidation that has already taken place in Preston. Ramey noted that problems exist in Preston County. “However, closing additional schools as a remedy will only make things worse,” he said. “People all over Preston County have sacrificed with the closing of their nine county high schools to consolidate into one at Kingwood. They were promised better curriculum and cost savings. This simply never happened. Student achievement has not improved.”

Ramey said the student dropout rate in Preston County has also risen since consolidation. “Consolida-tion of the high schools has not been positive for the students in Preston County,” he said. “I urge the state school board, if they really want to improve things, to work closely with the people of Preston County. They need to remember government is of the people, by the people and for the people. They need to work with the people of Preston County in solving the problems there.”

Freeman agreed, saying she hopes the state takeover will have positive results. “I hope the state will come in here and listen to the people. The people of Preston County do not want our middle schools consolidated into one.”

Freeman said when a local bond issue was defeated recently, elected board members warned the state would “come in and consolidate us down to one middle school at Kingwood. Nobody wants that.”

Freeman noted that proceeds from an excess levy were not used for the purposes set out by the elected board. “Most of that money is still sitting in the bank, unused,” she said. “How silly is that?”
Ramey said Preston County students already face travel times among the longest in the state.
Freeman said some Preston High School students take bus rides of two hours or more, one way.
Meanwhile, in Gilmer County, consolidation became an issue in renewing the contract of Toman, according to Ramey.

“Superintendent Toman supported closing three of the county’s four elementary schools,” said Ramey. “That is a philosophical problem for a local school support whose majority does not support consolidation. Challenge West Virginia supports the majority of the board that stood up against consolidation and did not renew the superintendent’s contract.”

Toman had advocated closing Normantown, Sand Fork and Troy elementaries and consolidating them to Glenville, the county seat where the consolidated Gilmer County High is located.

Members voted 3-2 not to renew the contract. Those opposed to Toman’s rehiring were President Phyllis Starkey, Alton Skinner II and Misty Pritt.

The decision not to renew Toman’s contract caused controversy and one previous board meeting was adjourned when Starkey said decorum could not be maintained. Petitions from about 500 county residents supporting Toman’s continuation as superintendent were presented, according to published accounts of the board’s meeting.

Ramey called the battle over consolidation “far from over in West Virginia.” He noted that Governor Joe Manchin has declared that high school consolidations are virtually complete and his wife, First Lady Gayle Manchin, a member of the state board, spoke against consolidation in Preston County.

“But there are officials who are still determined not to rest until every small school in the state is eliminated,” Ramey said.

For more information on the small school group, go to www.challengewv.org