The Register-Herald
BECKLEY — Dwight Dials has taken a positive first step in his new role as the state-appointed superintendent of the Fayette County school system.
Dials, of course, is the former Raleigh County superintendent who was named to the Fayette post last month when the state school board voted to take over control of the Fayette system. The veteran educator held his first meeting with the Fayette board Monday night.
While the elected Fayette board remains intact, its decision-making role has been significantly diminished by the state takeover. It is Dials’ job to make recommendations to the state board to turn the troubled Fayette system around.
But he is reaching out to the local board for input on ideas. He wants the members to be involved in the decisions he and the state board will ultimately make.
“I’m not coming in here with a mindset to accomplish any specific thing other than what’s fair, reasonable and in the best interest of our children,” he said. “And all of us can have input into what that translates into.”
As we said at the time the state takeover was announced, changes are coming in Fayette County. The state doesn’t intervene in county school systems to leave things the way they are. Test scores are too low, the number of schools the county operates and maintains is too high, etc., etc.
In short, the county has stubbornly tried to cling to the past while other systems have embraced modern facilities and challenging curricula designed to give every student the opportunity to succeed in the 21st century.
The process to put Fayette County back on track will not be quick or easy. But Dials has set the right tone — with the ultimate goal of giving children the education they deserve and are constitutionally guaranteed.
“We’re going to be very deliberate and analytical and try to do the right thing,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “Bottom line is what’s best for our children and being sensitive to that and getting people to work together.”
That’s a refreshing approach.
Fayette County has resisted change for years. Now, Dials and the state are giving the local school board and the county’s citizens one last chance to work with them, end the resistance and accept the changes that will be necessary to move the county forward.
For the sake of the children, we hope the county seizes this opportunity. There’s no turning back now. The train toward better days for the Fayette school system is leaving the station, and it’s time for everyone to get on board.
