Published: November 09, 2009 10:39 pm      

State takes over Grant County schools

CHARLESTON — The state Board of Education unanimously voted Monday to takeover Grant County’s school system after an audit showed students were being deprived of a constitutionally mandated thorough and efficient education.

“It looks bleak and we think things are getting worse and not better,” Kenna Seal, executive director of the Office of Education Performance Audits, said in a statement.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro said the county is suffering from a leadership breakdown involving the local school board. The breakdown is filtering down to the county’s school personnel and to the students.

State schools Superintendent Steve Paine warned in September that Grant County was ripe for a takeover if the situation did not improve. Last year, the state took over the county’s technical center.

The state audit was authorized after county superintendent Tina Edwards left after serving less than three months on the job. Edwards took the job July 1 after the county school board refused to renew the prior superintendent’s contract. Edwards left Sept. 30.

Interim Superintendent Sharon Harman was in Charleston on Monday and could not immediately be reached for comment. Cordeiro said Harman will remain as the county’s assistant superintendent. Ted Mattern will become superintendent on Monday.

Auditors from Seal’s office traveled to the county twice in October to meet with teachers, school board members, parents and others. The audit found the county had failed to make annual progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law for math and reading. Other educational indicators, like ACT and SAT scores, also showed declines.

It also revealed that the county’s policies were not up-to-date, teachers were not properly trained or informed prior to program changes, several teachers lacked lesson plans for their courses and school buildings lacked equipment or needed to be upgraded. Also, the county’s personnel director position was vacant, affecting personnel procedures and hiring practices.

“The county office leadership and the Grant County Board of Education has been in a tumultuous state since at least October 2008. Consequently, central office staff, schools, and the community at large are affected by the actions and/or inactions of the local board of education and the county office leadership,” the audit said.

While under state control, the local board’s decision-making abilities will be limited and decisions regarding personnel, expenses, school consolidations and education programs will be shifted to the state schools superintendent.

The state has intervened in several other counties in recent years, including Hampshire, McDowell, Mingo and Lincoln. It most recently seized control of Preston County schools in March after an audit in that county said the situation for students was getting worse.