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By: Jake Jarvis, WV News
CLAY — Gov. Jim Justice told a group of students at Clay County High School Wednesday morning that he would probably be running for a second term in 2020.
Justice, speaking at an event with the British ambassador to the United States, said he would decide for sure in a “little while.”
“I really felt like I was here to serve, and I didn’t know if there would be enough challenges to motivate me to be able to stay,” Justice said, remembering when he...
By Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Lawmakers have passed several far-reaching laws affecting prekindergarten-12th grade education over the past four years, and tried — but failed — to pass other significant legislation.
Half of the seats in the state Senate, and all House of Delegates seats, are up for grabs in Tuesday’s election. Senate terms are for four years, and delegate terms are for two years.
Teachers, bus drivers and others chanted “Remember in November”...
By: Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
In a holding pattern while waiting for recommendations from the PEIA Task Force, the PEIA Finance Board on Wednesday announced that it is canceling the board’s Nov. 15 meeting, and pushing a series of statewide public hearings on its proposed 2019-20 benefits plan back to mid-December.
The meeting and public hearings have been delayed on the apparent expectation...
By: Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
A group chosen by state education leaders has recommended giving county boards of education, and perhaps even individual principals, freedom to label student offenses currently considered less serious as more serious.
This would allow schools to newly punish such offenses with out-of-school suspensions without having it held against them.
The recommendation, which would have to be approved by the West Virginia Board of Education to...
By: Shauna Johnson, WV MetroNews
West Virginia’s public school enrollment is down by 4,858 students this school year, a decline that Dr. Steven Paine, state superintendent of schools, is partly attributing to changes in the enrollment cutoff date for pre-kindergarten.
Without those delayed from entering pre-kindergarten, “We’re probably more like 2,800 kids down,” Paine said.
He called that number similar or a “tad higher” than enrollment declines in previous years....
By: Jake Zuckerman, Charleston Gazette-Mail
A Public Employees Insurance Agency Task Force subcommittee inched closer to a final proposal Thursday regarding how much members should pay for care received outside state lines.
Though the Coverage and Plan Subcommittee did not approve a final plan, PEIA Director Ted Cheatham did offer concrete numbers for members to consider.
He said increasing the state’s coverage share for care received out-of-state from 70 percent to 80...
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia Education Department says digital items that were going into state surplus are instead being rebuilt, refurbished and placed in schools and libraries across the state.
It's part of an initiative called SecondLaunchWV. The state says private organizations such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mountaineer Gas and the West Virginia Air National Guard have also recently donated equipment for the program.
Unused equipment is donated to the...
By: Pete Davis, WV MetroNews
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — A member of the House of Delegates representing southern West Virginia is expressing concern about the future of the state’s Public Employee Insurance Agency, as an important deadline approaches.
Del. Jeff Campbell, D-Greenbrier, spoke with MetroNews affiliate WJLS about the sequence of events that have occurred since the creation of the PEIA Task Force in February.
Campbell, a classroom teacher, said he’s...
As new Senate majority leader, Takubo pledges to reach out to Democrats
Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
As the newly appointed majority leader of the West Virginia Senate, Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, said Monday he wants to bring more bipartisan cooperation to the Legislature’s upper house.
“I think I have a pretty good relationship with Democratic colleagues,” Takubo said. “What I’d like to see is a lot less bickering.”
Senate President Mitch...
A West Virginia Board of Education committee on school finance and funding has formally approved recommendations for changes to the state School Aid funding formula.
Board member and committee chairman, Tom Campbell, says they have to look at the long-term cost to the state, and the cost of children who aren't successful. The Board of Education will take up recommendations at its meeting Dec. 12. They'll include increasing pay and the number of positions for teachers and school...
BY: Eddie Trizzino, Times West Virginian
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