— Lawmakers took a giant step forward in approving a measure to allow West Virginia’s counties to set their school calendars.
That makes sense. County school superintendents know the lay of the land, literally, in their counties, and working in tandem with transportation directors, should be able to make the best calls in terms of school cancellations.
Laying out a school calendar that’s written in stone is impossible in a state where topography and weather conditions are so divergent.
But now, a bill passed 83-12 by the House of Delegates would reserve seats on “calendar committees” for teachers, administrators and school workers. The county’s superintendent would select the chair.
The proposed legislation calls for each committee to propose at least two calendar plans annually. Any new calendar must survive a vote of the county’s school employees. A committee must start over if either the county or the state board then rejects its plan.
The bill has gone to the Senate, where a similar measure had been introduced.
Again, legislation requested by Gov. Joe Manchin and passed earlier this session allows counties to set when their school years start and end. It aims to ensure the state’s policy goal of 180 days of instruction, while also requiring counties to account for icy conditions and emergencies when crafting their calendars.
It’s still not clear to us why oversight committees are needed.
Why should we appoint more people to supervise the work of school officials we deem to be capable of doing the jobs they’re paid to do? We don’t see the need for all the extra time, energy and effort that would have to go into that oversight process.
There are far too many education issues to be addressed to tie up school officials in what appears to be one more unnecessary layer of administration.
