WVDE places Pocahontas County Schools under a state of emergency after deficiencies found at high school

By Autumn Shelton, RealWV

The West Virginia Department of Education held their monthly meeting on Feb. 12, where they announced that Pocahontas County Schools would be placed under a state of emergency following a special circumstances review at Pocahontas County High School. 

According to information found in the Special Circumstances On-Site Review Report, Superintendent Lynne Bostic had initially reached out to the WVDE in spring 2024 for assistance with reviewing the school’s master schedule and “to inform staffing decisions.” 

However, “subsequent training sessions and discussions with school staff and county leadership revealed significant concerns with the school’s master schedule, grade transcription processes, and counseling program,” the report states. 

In October, a 10-member team began an on-site review, which resulted in several key findings: 

• The comprehensive school counseling program plan was not current at the time of the review, and Pocahontas County High School did not have a certified counselor. 
• Evidence from the review team suggested that a student had been transcribed inaccurate transfer credits as an intentional act, instead of a clerical error. Also, the review committee found a lack of expertise in procedures for transcribing grades and scheduling. 
• There is a lack of leadership expertise and communication to support capacity building. 
• The committee found areas lacking in school discipline and school safety
• Special education services lacked correctly completed notification paperwork and issues with no access by the principal to review camera footage from self-contained classrooms. 

Following an executive session to discuss the issues at Pocahontas County High School, which serves about 275 students, the WVDE board established a six-month period for the Pocahontas County school system to “correct identified deficiencies.” The WVDE will provide additional support to the county and the WVDE Office of Special Education will conduct a “comprehensive monitoring and review to ensure all policies and procedures regarding the provision of special education services comply with state and federal regulations.” 

The first focus area for Pocahontas County, according to the on-site review report, is the Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP). 

“After the previous counselor’s retirement, the position was advertised multiple times, but no qualified candidate was found,” the report states. “WVDE personnel suggested creating a Dean of Students position to assist with transcription, scheduling, and personalized student planning.” 

As a result of the lack of a certified counselor, homeroom teachers have been responsible for assisting students “set educational and career goals, select programs of study, and make course choices,” the report continues. Additionally, “at the time of the review, a process to develop student PEPs was not in place. PEPs are an essential component of developing a student-driven master schedule.”

The second focus area for Pocahontas County Schools surrounds grading, transcribing, and scheduling.  

“Evidence indicates a student was transcribed inaccurate transfer credits. Interview comments and documentation suggest this may have been done intentionally and not as the result of a data entry error,” according to the report. 

To remedy this, Pocahontas County Schools must continue to investigate the incorrect transcription of grades and credits and take personnel action as needed. 

Also, throughout the review process, other transcript errors were discovered. A lack of expertise in the correct use of the WVEIS platform to transcribe grades was evident,” the report notes. 

The school’s principal did not have access to WVEIS, and was unable to release transcripts for graduates, and “no school policy exists for grade changes and one staff member informally made grade changes in the past based upon informal verbal or e-mail requests by administrators,” the report continues. 

The third area of focus is on leadership. 

“Teachers consistently expressed confidence in the new principal. Even those who were dissatisfied with circumstances, such as the school schedule, did not assign blame to the principal and were complimentary of her efforts to begin establishing high expectations,” the report states. “Central office support for the principal has been inadequate to meet the needs of a beginning school leader and to ensure the overall success of the school. The principal requested a mentor and was provided with contact information for a consultant whose expertise does not align with the areas of support requested.” 

The report indicates that the county lacks a comprehensive scheduling procedure, resulting in having no master schedule ready prior to the start of the school year.”

“The team discovered that district leaders do not visit schools on a regular basis. No evidence of instructional support and walkthrough visits was provided,” according to the report. “Directors articulated multiple areas of responsibility and stated duties have been redistributed over the years as the number of central office leadership positions has been reduced. Several staff members shared concerns about retaliation and hostility from the central office in the past and many expressed feeling unsupported in their efforts to present scheduling options at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. After presenting scheduling options, teachers recalled receiving little additional communication from the central office and were eventually instructed to stop working on the schedule.”

The fourth focus area is creating a safe and positive school environment. 

According to the report, the team witnessed “positive interactions between students and staff members,” but noted that “implementation of the school’s disciplinary protocols is not consistent schoolwide and may not provide appropriate interventions to support a positive and safe school environment.”

Additionally, during the on-site review, the principal made attempts to be granted access to review the cameras in the special education classroom, but with no success. 

“The principal stated she had made central office staff aware that she needed access to the system, which is kept under lock and key,” the report states. “The team mentioned this to the superintendent during the visit to the central office the following day and advised her to immediately reach out to the camera company to ensure the principal can comply with the requirements of policy and code. When the team returned nearly three weeks later, the principal still did not have access to the camera.” 

The team also noted that “the school secretary’s computer was accessible to others during the school day. The secretary’s WVEIS password was saved on the computer. This permitted anyone who entered the office the ability to access student records using the secretary’s credentials.” 

The final focus area is on special education.

“The OSE completed IEP file reviews for five randomly selected students,” the report states. “The review identified systemic findings with less than 80% compliance and provided individual student corrections. It was discovered that IEPs are not being reviewed within 365 days of the previous IEP, and parents and students are not informed of the transfer of educational rights by the student’s 17th birthday.” 

Other findings show “that student IEPs are not tailored to individual student needs,” that  “students with IEPs are all placed in the same math course”, that staff members did not know which students had 504 plans, that the school “did not have a Student Assistance Team (SAT) established,” and that “no procedures are in place for transfer students, and they are not tagged in WVEIS.” 

Following the six-month period to correct the identified deficiencies, Pocahontas County Schools must provide a comprehensive report to the WVDE during their Aug. 25 meeting. At that time, the WVDE will determine if the state of emergency should be extended or if immediate intervention is needed.