Following a decision by the West Virginia Board of Education Friday morning, the operations of Hancock County Schools are now under the oversight of the state of West Virginia. (Photo by Warren Scott)
CHARLESTON – Hancock County Schools is now under the control of the West Virginia Department of Education.
The decision came during an emergency meeting of the state Board of Education Friday morning in Charleston, with unanimous approval by the members participating.
“We don’t like to sit here and be the bad guys,” explained state board President L. Paul Hardesty, noting the difficult decision placed on them Friday. “This board has to make some very tough decisions. But we must operate within code while also protecting the children and taxpayers of our state. We have told our counties for several years that using one-time Covid money for personnel would lead to a day of reckoning. That day has come in Hancock County.”
As part of the decision, Superintendent Dan Enich and Assistant Superintendent Dave Smith were ordered to vacate their positions, effective at 4 p.m. Friday, along with any positions serving at the will and pleasure of the superintendent.
In addition, the authorities of the Hancock County Board of Education are being limited, including in the expenditure of funds for purchases, the establishment of instructional programs, operation of federal programs, operation of special education, establishment of policies, and conducting of real estate transactions.
The resolution accepted by the board, as recommended by state Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt, included 20 points.
In addition to vacating the superintendent and assistant superintendent positions, the state has assigned non-approval status to Hancock County Schools and declared a state of emergency for the system, vacated the positions of personnel who serve “at the will and pleasure” of the county superintendent, that additional support be provided to “assist the Superintendent of Hancock County Schools and staff to address the deficiencies in the operation of the school system,” delegate the state superintendent authority to fill positions of administrators and principals “with individuals determined by the State Superintendent to be the most qualified for the positions,” grant the state superintendent authority to replace administrators and principals in low performing schools and transfer them to alternate professional positions within the county, develop and present to the state board a set of standards or strategic plan to be implemented in order for the Hancock County Board of Education to regain control of the school system, and for the state board to receive progress reports through the process.
Walter Saunders, director of federal programs and assessment for Ohio County Schools, has been appointed by the state to serve as the new Hancock County superintendent.
The decision follows months of concerns over the local district’s financial status, first made public in October, and culminating in a letter, released last week, in which the school system requested assistance to meet payroll.
Those financial issues, state officials note, are connected, in part, to personnel overages of approximately 140 positions beyond the state aid formula, at a cost of approximately $10 million, and the use of general fund revenue to support sports-related projects, including the construction of new baseball and softball fields and the expansion of a physical education area at Weir High School, and improvements to existing fields at Oak Glen High.
Speaking to the state school board via Zoom Friday, Enich requested the state keep the local administration in place, noting they had been working with Jeff Kelly, assistant state superintendent, and Uriah Cummings, school financial operations officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, to get the district back on track.
“I’m well aware that this has happened under my watch, but would like to add that, what I estimate as a decades-long problem was identified and eliminated under my watch and want to be the first to fix it with help and assistance from the (state) board of education and any assistance that was provided our way.”
Cummings indicated he was first contacted by Hancock County Schools in September over concerns of meeting payroll at that time, which Enich reported also was his first time receiving any information of a problem.
“We were receiving data and financial information that did not depict the dire situation that Mr. Cummings spoke about,” Enich said. “We felt it was a systematic failure.”
At the time, a decision was made to transfer some of the county’s Career and Technical Education funding to the general fund to cover the payroll, with Cummings indicating those funds since have been paid back.
Enich noted the school district, since October, also has been working with Educational Consultants LLC and began using other tools available, including the West Virginia Educational Information System. Prior to those moves, the district terminated the employment of its finance officer.
Enich officially stepped into the role of superintendent July 1, 2023, and had one more year under his contract. He succeeded Dawn Petrovich in the position.
“I’m very proud to have worked in the Hancock County School System for the past 35 years. I have always strived to do the right thing and make the hard decisions. I want to thank all of the students and staffs for many years of excellence,” Enich said.
Hardesty wanted to assure educators and service personnel in the county there would be no danger of them not receiving their salaries going forward.
“I’ve received a lot of calls because the teachers and staff are scared about not getting paid,” Hardesty said. “Nothing is further from the truth. You will get your pay,”
According to reports from Mountain State Spotlight, the West Virginia Board of Education, prior to Friday’s decision, already had taken over operations of six of the state’s county school systems in recent years, with Mingo County being taken over in September and joining systems in Upshur, Logan, Tyler, Nicholas, and Boone counties. Officials have cited both financial and administrative concerns in their decisions.