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Starting Tuesday, a controversial law will allow some teachers in Florida to carry guns inside the classroom. The bill was initially passed in response to the Parkland school shooting last...
October 2019
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October 3, 2019
By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Finding enough certified teachers ready to teach subjects including math and science in area schools is still a challenging task for southern West Virginia’s school districts, local administrators said Wednesday.
The personnel agenda presented during the Sept. 24 Mercer County Board of Education meeting showed approximately 31 teaching positions to be filled; this figure included 11 special education teachers. There were...
October 7, 2019
Charleston Gazette-Mail
The West Virginia Board of Education is, starting Monday, traveling far from its usual Charleston meeting place to hear from the public, according to a news release.
The listening tour will also include an online survey, and it will all lead to a report by Dec. 1, the release said.
State school board members’ tour will begin Monday at Mingo Central High, 6-8 p.m. The next meeting will be 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Monongalia County...
October 8, 2019
By Jeff Jenkins, WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Public Employees Insurance Agency Executive Director Ted Cheatham says Charleston Area Medical Center’s decision to terminate its contract with The Health Plan won’t have a major impact on the state-run health insurance program.
“We looked at CAMC data with The Health Plan and I think less than a thousand people got admitted to the hospital at CAMC over the last 12 months,” Cheatham told MetroNews. “The...
October 9, 2019
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Hats off, to Kenna Elementary School, for exceeding West Virginia state standards in every category by which the school is measured. Congratulations also, to Evans Elementary, in Jackson County, which exceeded in every category but one.
In a state where education has been a leaning Jenga tower, with standards adopted then jettisoned, sweeping policy changes frequently proposed and, in some cases, enacted, and public school teachers...
October 10, 2019
By Jeff Jenkins, WV MetroNews
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — State School Superintendent Dr. Steve Paine decided to pull the plug on plans to release a draft of the proposed policy for public charter schools at Wednesday’s state Board of Education meeting in Clarksburg.
“I put a halt on the policy because I’m not comfortable with it coming forward yet,” Paine told board members. “We’ve done a lot of work. They’ve done a tremendous amount of work and good quality work but...
October 11, 2019
By Brad McElhinny, WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than half of West Virginia teachers missed more than 10 days of school last year, according to research by the state Department of Education.
Across the state, 52.75 percent of teachers missed more than 10 days, according to the research.
The prior year’s number was 52.46.
The year before that it was 51.44.
And in 2016 it was 50.83.
“The impact is that kids need to be in their...
October 14, 2019
By Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that new school buses have seat belts. It notes that, without them, rollover crashes can kill kids.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also backs bus seat belts.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head Mark Rosekind said in 2015 that, “I want us to concentrate on this simple, basic statement: School buses should have seat belts. Period.”
Rosekind left the NHTSA...
October 15, 2019
By Jeff Jenkins, WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The president of a West Virginia teachers union is defending educators who use days off that they’ve earned.
“Teachers get sick too,” West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said during a Monday appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Lee said those teachers have responsibilities at home like other residents.
“Many of them have aging parents they are caring for. They (WV teachers) are 70...
October 21, 2019
By Sonya Ashby
It’s that time of year again — election season, also known as teacher-bashing season. Have you noticed that in the last few years every time an election is pending teachers are once again painted as villains and leeches of the public coffers? This cycle has happened with such predictability that one wonders what the powers that be are trying to divert the public attention from. (cough PEIA cough)
So, what have teachers done now? We have committed the unpardonable...
October 22, 2019
Isn’t it obvious that seat belts are needed in school buses? Yet, there are no state or federal regulations mandating them. And the West Virginia Department of Education doesn’t require them on newly purchased buses. What’s up? The issue is more complex than it seems. Here’s my take.
The loss or serious injury of any child is too great of a cost. That’s a given. I’m familiar with it. My adult stepdaughter was killed in a one-car rollover accident while not wearing a seat belt. Had she...
October 24, 2019
By Jordan Nelson, The Register-Herald
With over 700 teacher vacancies in West Virginia, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is looking for ways to not only recruit teachers, but also retain them and keep them in the field.
The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE), along with WVDE officials, made a pit stop in Greenbrier County Wednesday night as part of a listening tour, where they listened to attendees voices their opinions and concerns on the state of...