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Tomblin says school calendar bill appears to take state “backwards”
By Jeff Jenkins, MetroNews
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says a bill that would change the public school calendar process “kind of takes us back a little bit.”
Tomblin will make a decision on the measure (HB 4171) by the end of the day Friday. April 1 is the deadline for the governor to sign or veto bills passed in the final hours of the 60-day legislative session.
The bill allows for...
PEIA board tries to bring ‘certainty’ to budget impasse
By Jeff Jenkins, WV MetroNews
The state PEIA Finance Board voted Wednesday afternoon to re-approve $120 million in benefit reductions for next fiscal year for the state workers’ health insurance plan.
The board also approved a plan that would soften the changes by using $43.5 million in new cash proposed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The status of that proposal remains up in the air as the impasse...
Two important education bills still sitting on Gov. Tomblin’s desk
By Matt Maccaro, WV MetroNews
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has about two days to make two big decisions on whether to sign a pair of bills that will affect education in West Virginia.
One bill would alter teaching standards now referred to as College and Career Readiness Standards, while the other would allow the use of banked time to count toward making up days lost due to inclement weather and...
Kanawha supervisor: Bus passing law will hold people accountable
By Carrie Hodousek, WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Vehicle owners will now be held responsible for illegally passing a stopped school bus in West Virginia.
“We have videos on our buses on the side that get the people running the lights that we can identify the license plate number,” said Jimmy Lacy, supervisor of transportation at Kanawha County Schools.
Lacy said on Monday’s...
Commentary: Tomblin faces decision on 180 days
By Hoppy Kercheval, WV MetroNews
For years, the goal of 180 days of instruction for public school children in West Virginia was taken lightly. Arbitrary start and end dates to the school year, combined with snow days, contributed to many counties consistently failing to meet the standard.
That changed in 2013 when the legislature passed Governor Tomblin’s comprehensive education reform bill, which opened the...