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By Hoppy Kercheval in Hoppy's Commentary | August 13, 2014 at 12:42AM
One of the more significant shortcomings of West Virginia’s public school system historically has been the erosion of actual days of instruction. Rules concerning when school could start and had to end, employment contracts, snow days, holidays, spring break and deer season all conspired to cut into school time.
The supposed goal was always 180 days of instruction, but nearly every year most counties had...
By Shauna Johnson in News |
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – The superintendent of West Virginia’s second largest county school system says the school calendar has not changed that much in Berkeley County this year, even with a new mandate for 180 days of instructional time for students.
“Last year was such an unusual year for snow days and we’ve always been right around the 180 (requirement) in previous years,” Superintendent Manny Arvon said. “I think we might have started a day sooner...
By Mackenzie Mays, Staff writer
In 2012, at least 1,850 teachers retired in West Virginia —about 230 more than the state saw in 2008, according to the state Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
Those numbers don’t include members of the Teachers Defined Contribution Retirement System, which has a smaller membership than the state’s Teachers Retirement System and was closed to new members in 2005.
Last year, in Kanawha County — the state’s largest school district...
By Samuel Speciale
Charleston Daily Mail Staff
Despite flashing lights and stop signs warning drivers to keep a distance, about 500 motorists illegally pass school buses each day in West Virginia, a survey conducted by the state Department of Education has found.
While that number seems high to Jimmy Lacy, transportation safety director for Kanawha County, he said illegal passing happens every day.
“I don’t know if people are in a hurry or they’re distracted,” he...
By Phil Kabler
The Charleston Gazette
With the state’s economy growing at a slower rate than hoped, revenue collections for the first month of the new budget year came in about $17.4 million below projections, Department of Revenue officials said Monday.
Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said the state’s economy needs to grow by about 4 percent in 2014-15 in order to balance the state budget, and the July figures instead showed sluggish growth, with the two biggest...