By Stephen Smoot
Last week, the first part of this piece laid out problems at several West Virginia county school districts, as well as individual schools. These were detailed in the Cardinal Institute’s “Special Circumstance Reviews as Diagnostic for System Failure” report on serious challenges facing the public education system from the State level down to individual schools.
The report broke down the issues into two major categories. One dealt with county systems in significant financial trouble while the second examined the classroom environment.
“Overall, public education funding in West Virginia has increased in each of the past five years, yet academic outcomes have remained at or declined,” the report shared, pointing out that spending more at the statewide level would not address the problems that led some systems into trouble in the first place. It added later that Mississippi spends much less than West Virginia but, after academic reforms were passed by their state legislature, outcomes improved.
One system not mentioned in the report, but underwent a takeover by the state this month, was Hancock County Schools. Alleged misuse of federal COVID funding likely lies at the center of that system’s collapse. The report does highlight Upshur County Schools’ abuse of funding for local recreational purposes rather than recommended applications.
As J. P. Mowery, Pendleton County Schools treasurer, has stated in a recent meeting, most county systems have been, or tried to be, responsible and disciplined stewards of education funding. That said, several have earned headlines with poor decision-making.
The report stated, “The central problem is not insufficient revenue but weak financial discipline, poor strategic forecasting, and spending decisions that are disconnected from student outcomes.” In every “takeover” district highlighted, plus Hancock whose state involvement took place after the completion of the report, “the same financial pathologies recur.”
These include overspending despite declining enrollment, growth in administrative and non-instructional staffing during declining enrollment, short-term budget practices that do not take declining enrollments and “birth rate collapse” into account, decision-making in some districts that leaves both residents and “even board members confused,” irresponsible financial commitments, and “minimal linkage between spending decisions and academic performance data.”
COVID funding exposed poor financial practices in several districts. Federal funding largesse came with admonitions from the state to only use for one-time expenses. “Many nevertheless did so, stated the report, “expanding payrolls with obligations that extended beyond the life of the funding.” Hancock and others found themselves plummeting off fiscal cliffs of their own making.
The report also stated that declining enrollment has evolved from a problem faced by West Virginia and a handful of states into a national one with 29 states reporting the same. The Social Security board of trustees last summer reported that the birthrate in the United States fell to 1.9 births per woman, two tenths of a percentage point below the population replacement rate.
The Mountain State may well lead the nation in student population decline during the next few years with “an estimated 18 percent reduction by 2030, equivalent to approximately 45,000 students.”
The report targeted the “takeover” districts for recommendations on what the state should do upon acquiring control over them. Forensic auditing by a national firm, to be completed within 90 days of takeover, was recommended. The audit should come with recommendations, each of which the state would be mandated to respond to in writing.
After takeover the state should, according to recommendations in the report, examine carefully budget proposals from that system. First, it advocated that spending “be tied to clearly defined academic indicators, including proficiency rates, chronic absenteeism, and graduation outcomes.” It also suggested annual reviews of previously made “investments” as well as “state-level approval for any budget line item above a designated monetary threshold or representing a new programmatic obligation that cannot demonstrate alignment with academic improvement goals.”
Financial commitments of more than a year or more would require the signature of the state superintendent. Only those vital to operations should be entertained.
The report also argues for staffing reforms that would “align staffing with enrollment.” Indeed, the state school aid funding formula since 2019 incentivizes thriftiness in staffing by funding an objective number of staff per thousand students. More sparsely populated counties get recognition for extra challenges presented by remote areas.
Counties such as Pendleton gain when they employ “under the formula,” by having fewer employees than funded by the state. Mowery said of Pendleton County Schools that despite their strong financial condition, employing “under the formula” helps to ensure enough funding for operations.
Other requirements suggested of “takeover” districts include three-to-five-year financial planning, including models that take into account continued enrollment decline, as well as three board meetings per month, required financial and other trainings, and also a “stick” to use against struggling districts.
A bill introduced into the House of Delegates last month proposed consolidating the number of school districts in West Virginia from 55 to 29. That in itself is likely a non starter, but the report suggests that the ultimate fate of districts that cannot diminish dysfunction lies in dissolution.
If found to be structurally insolvent, the report recommends that “the state shall initiate an administrative review to determine whether absorption into a neighboring district is necessary, with full state coordination and public notice. If a district’s per-pupil spending exceeds the statewide mean by 10-15 percent without corresponding academic improvement over a defined period, the district shall be subject to automatic review for potential consolidation.”
Next week, part three will conclude the report, detailing recommendations on academics and discipline in the classroom.
