[NFBWV-Talk] FW: Article from Hampshire Review News Section 2021 08 18

[Sheri Koch]

Thank you Karen for sharing that article. It was definitely informative… As
far as it could go. I guess we shall all wait and see

Sheri

On Wed, Aug 18, 2021 at 12:28 PM Karen Swauger via NFBWV-Talk <
nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
> karen
>
> Original Message:
> From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online <publications at nfbnewsline.net>
> To: Karen Swauger <karen at pmpmail.com>
> Subject: Article from Hampshire Review News Section 2021 08 18
> Date:
> 18 Aug 2021 10:24:15 -0500
>
> Hoping for the best at WVSDB. Clayton Burch has a big job ahead of him
> and maybe, just maybe, he has more skin in the game than previous state
> superintendents Jorea Marple, Steve Paine (twice), Jim Phares and Michael
> Martirano had over the last 10 or 15 years.
>
> Burch is heading the State Department of Educations intervention at the
> West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
>
> That process was initiated in June after an office of his department
> conducted a Special Circumstance Review in late April. The 44-page report
> that came out of that review found inadequacies in every area of the
> schools operation, from bookkeeping to admissions to resident care to
> classroom instruction.
>
> There are some hopeful signs.
>
> Burch and Company have come to Romney 2 or 3 times. They are promising to
> be here a week each month for the coming year.
>
> One of those visits, on July 31, was to show off the new Technical
> Assistance Center being established in what locals know as the
> Instructional Resource Center on the campuss northwest corner. Its
> heartening that a crew here will be a vital hub for the state.
>
> We are also happy to see Burch talking with stakeholders, selected
> representatives from Romney and the county government, along with some of
> the Charleston crowd, to talk about what can be done with the many
> buildings the state is prepared to abandon, apparently for good.
>
> And, maybe most of all, we are heartened to hear that Burch isnt camping
> out at the Koolwink (not that its not a grand place) when he visits.
>
> No, Clayton Burch is staying with his parents, who have lived for the
> last couple of years on Lake Ferndale east of Springfield. Maybe they hear
> things in the county that Charleston doesnt. Maybe thats his extra stake.
>
> Burch needs all the traction and ground game he can get because a lot of
> whats going on feels like it has gone on before.
>
> Lets pause to make a couple of important points.
>
> First, the Special Circumstance Reviews that result in interventions were
> designed to let the state poke into one of the 55 county school systems and
> take control if necessary, sort of like the state takeover of Hampshire
> County schools back in 2006.
>
> But theres no local board or local bad hirings to blame here.
>
> WVSDB is under the direct control of the State Board of Education, set in
> code since 1870, and operated under the auspices of the state
> superintendent  in this case, Mr. Burch  and his department.
>
> If WVSDB has spectacular failures that require drastic and fast overhaul,
> they are squarely the fault of the State Board and the State Department of
> Education in Charleston.
>
> You see, this isnt the 1st time Charleston has reared its head and made
> decisions for the Romney school, only to turn its back until the next
> crisis.
>
> Back in 2010 the equivalent of the Special Circumstance Review at WVSDB
> led to a 51-page report, the return of some 50 students to their home
> counties and the ousting of the superintendent.
>
> In the 11 years since then, West Virginia has gone through 5 state
> superintendents and a nearly complete changeover of the State Board of
> Education in 2017. WVSDB is on its 4th superintendent in the last 4 years.
>
> Of course, WVSDBs leadership turmoil rests squarely in Charleston as
> well.
>
> The State Board of Education made a big deal of a nationwide search for a
> new superintendent in 2015 and finally decided on Martin Keller, who became
> the 1st deaf educator to lead the facility. It was a groundbreaking choice.
>
>
> Only Charleston didnt do such a good job of checking Kellers references
> and resume. When irregularities came to light in late 2017, he was out
> fast.
>
> As a stopgap, the state named 2 people already in place here  Finance
> Director Mark Gandolfi and WVSB Principal Jamie Vittorio  to sort of split
> the job in the short term. Gandolfi was dubbed administrative
> superintendent and Vittorio became the chief academic officer because
> Gandolfi didnt have the education credentials needed to be superintendent
> outright. It was a reasonable interim move.
>
> But Charleston took the easy way out 4 months later. The State Board
> quietly voted to drop the interim from their titles. Gandolfi and Vittorio
> led the school until May 2020, when Gandolfi left.
>
> For whatever job Gandolfi and Vittorio did, placeholders werent the right
> choice by the State Board. They might have been convenient for Charleston,
> but where was the focus on whats best for the students?
>
> The search for a new superintendent turned up a guy who didnt really want
> it. He quit 3 days after he was chosen, never actually setting foot in the
> office, and retired state Special Education Director Pat Homberg came to
> campus as the new interim.
>
> Within a year Homberg was leading an effort to make sweeping changes that
> are being superseded by the intervention.
>
> The State Board of Education in March approved a long list of layoffs for
> the coming school year and elimination of positions that Homberg initiated.
>
>
> A month later, it was the 10-year Comprehensive Educational Facilities
> Plan that the State Board OKd. That plan called for splitting the schools
> not by vision and hearing, but by grade level. It laid out moving
> administration to Seaton Hall, moving resident students to Keller Hall and
> renovating the historic Blue-Gold Caf.
>
> And in the 2 months since the Special Circumstance Review was made
> public, many of the changes begun before it have been upended.
>
> The administration is moving out of its century-old home into the school
> building that folks here know as the School for the Deaf. Only this year it
> will simply be the school. All grades of both the School for the Deaf and
> the School for the Blind will be taught in that building.
>
> So here we sit in mid-August with school about to begin. We cant report
> much more than this because for some reason, the Department of Education
> doesnt want to talk about what its doing and wont allow anyone at WVSDB to
> talk either.
>
> So, Clayton Burch, State Board President Miller Hall and the rest of the
> Charleston crowd, we hope youre going to fix things right this time.
>
> Were a hopeful community. Were eager to see where reform leads.
>
> The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind are a beloved local
> institution, a vital piece of life here and, we think, an important asset
> to the State of West Virginia.
>
> WVSDBs campus is drenched in history, its staff is hard working and
> caring, and its students are worthy of the best.
>
> Give us your best  and this time, dont go away and forget us.
>
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>
> The NFB-NEWSLINE? Team.
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