Poor management puts West Virginia district in "state of emergency"

Poor administration, financial management and hiring practices have sent theRandolph County (W.Va.) school system into a state of emergency, the state Board of Education has concluded. The state board has placed the school system on "nonapproval status" after auditors found a laundry list of problems and little effort by the county to fix them. The county has until fall 2009 to turn things around before the state considers whether or not to take over the Randolph County schools. The board's Office of Education Performance Audits cited several problems last spring in Randolph County, including poor financial oversight, a school board president who tries to micromanage the system, and deteriorating conditions at school facilities. To read The Charleston Daily Mail article, click here. FROM NOVEMBER 2008: The state of West Virginia may consider a takeover of the Randolph County school system after an audit found numerous problems. They include the county's decision to keep several hundred thousand dollars in an uninsured account, its persistently low test scores, its non-compliant hiring practices and a school board president attempting to micromanage the system. To read The Charleston Daily Mail article, click here.