MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County Board of Education (BOE) has reached out to state legislatures to discuss their priorities heading into 2025.
Less than two months away from the 2024 general election and less than a month from the start of the special session in Charleston, representatives from the West Virginia House of Delegates, the State Senate, and two candidates running for local offices were in attendance for a special legislative with members of the BOE. County School Superintendent Eddie Campbell felt the conversations, which included State Senators Charles Clements and Mike Oliverio, Delegates Evan Hansen, Anitra Hamilton, and Joe Statler, as well as delegate candidates Summer Hartley and Diane Market Gaston, were very productive for both legislatures and the board.
“I was very pleased with the way that it went, the conversations were very rich and very deep,” said Campbell after the meeting with the legislatures.
In the list of priorities given to state leaders and candidates on the campaign trail, goals such as exploring opportunities to recruit and retain teachers and administrators, continued funding for student learning programs, expanded student safety measures, and accountability for alternative schooling options (i.e., homeschooling, alternate education opportunities) were given by the BOE. For members of both the State Senate and the House of Delegates, supporting funding avenues to promote student safety as well as teacher and administrator retention will be some of the easier goals to achieve in Charleston. State Senator Mike Oliverio, who is on the Senate Education Committee, expressed support for considering an expansion on funding formula parameters, which could be an easy sell to representatives in Charleston.
“One of the things they want is more flexibility in the state funding, and that’s something that we can look into,” said Oliverio. “We can adjust that school aid formula to allow for funding for school resource officers or more counselors for mental health issues,” he said.
Members of the BOE also emphasized a need for increased accountability on a state level regarding homeschool students alongside student safety. While opportunities to explore the statewide funding formula in regards to employing student resource officers are considered a priority in Charleston, ways to properly grade for homeschool students in Monongalia County are expected to be tougher with debates on how those students are accounted for statewide currently taking place ahead of the special session at the end of September. While it’s an issue that’s not expected to be solved at a fast pace, the potential effect it has on over 300 students in the county who participate in that type of education is expected to at least be brought up by state legislatures.
“Some of that (how homeschool students are assessed) we got to look at,” said Delegate Joe Statler, who is Co-Chair of the House Education Committee. “Who is at fault and where does the fault lie? Are they doing their job and we’re not doing ours, or are we doing ours and we aren’t doing theirs? So I think those are the issues that we’re going to look at,” he said.
With the special session less than thirty days away and the general election taking place not long after, both the BOE and the half dozen representatives in attendance felt they came away with a lot more clarity on how to support education in Monongalia County. This not only included the clear expression of goals to improve the county school system but also clarity on both a state and local level to address local accountability for homeschooled students. While nothing was formerly guaranteed on a state level from the representatives in attendance, the BOE felt like their concerns would at least be put under consideration when legislatures meet again in Charleston.
“I truly believe that our legislatures that were here and the folks running for office (that were here) are sincerely committed to our kids, especially in Monongalia County,” said Campbell.
The special legislative session is scheduled to begin on September 30.