Randolph Superintendent Dilly speaks with Rotary
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ELKINS -- Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly recently spoke with the Rotary Club of Elkins, outlining his vision for the local school system.
Dilly has served a variety of West Virginia school systems for more than 22 years. Most recently, however, he spent the past three years in Abu Dhabi serving as Director General of the Emirates National Schools. Dilly was sworn in as Randolph County superintendent and began his tenure the first week of July of this year.
According to Dilly, over the past eight years, Randolph County Schools has experienced a decline of 516 students over the entire district. For every 13.25 students lost, the school system loses the funding for one teacher which translates to a loss of 39 teachers in the system; the same applies to service personnel.
"We've lost funding for a little over 70 employees in the past eight years. That's a tremendous challenge to have to try to continue to operate and looking at our current number, we are down about 93 students from last year," said Dilly.
Dilly's vision includes doing some things differently than in the past to deal with the current situation.
"We need to rethink how we are configured, how we are delivering things for our students and those are some of the conversations we are having," stated Dilly.
In school year 2022-2023, Randolph County Schools spent $12,848 per student while the state-wide average was $14,559. Some of the factors contributing to Randolph County's lesser spending include the lack of levy funding which many other counties have, and because of the number of schools in the county.
On a per-school basis, Pickens is the most expensive school to operate, spending $22,000 per student, with Elkins High School being the least expensive school to operate, spending only $10,857.
"These things don't tell us the complete picture, but these are the types of tools I look at to distinguish where there are needs, where changes are needed," commented Dilly. "Some demands and unique aspects fluctuate among schools but you should not see a $12,000 gap between schools."
Another factor playing into Dilly's plan for the school system revolves around classroom numbers. County schools currently have small student-to-teacher ratios, but the current numbers are no longer financially sustainable.
Most districts where Dilly has worked operated in the 20-to-one ratio and the school district in Abu Dhabi where Dilly most recently worked operated on a 15-to-one ratio. Most schools in Randolph County are operating at a lower ratio.
"The class size reduction research has been clear that unless you're getting above 20 students in a classroom, you're not really making much difference in student outcomes. Not that I want to see all of our classrooms at 20, but we need to get them closer on average to 20 students or more to make ourselves in a sustainable way," said Dilly.
The Randolph County Schools budget for school year 2024-2025 is approximately $38 million. Of that amount, 82% is taken for salaries and benefits. Four percent is dedicated to utility costs, 3% is allocated to maintenance and construction, 2.5% for transportation, child nutrition 3% and textbooks and copies 1.24% for a total of approximately 95% of the budget.
"We have very little room to change things or do a lot of additional things related to services we'd love to bring to the table. There are so many things that could benefit our students if we had freed-up resources. What's hindering us is how we're configured as a system," stated Dilly. "We are spread too thin as a system and it's costing us extra staff to cover those positions. Another problem we are trying to navigate is filling our vacancies."
Randolph County Schools is currently 34 staff members over in the student funding formula dictated by the State of West Virginia, and projecting 50 for next year if things don't change.
"That's a lot of staff to not have a budget to be in place for. Currently, the district is living off of what's called carry-over or basically its savings account. How often can we use carry-over? One time, and then we're out," said Dilly.
To help address these issues, Dilly has developed a theme of Leading with Purpose.
"I value the thought of purpose. I think schools in some ways have forgotten what our roll is – it's not a test score, it's not college preparedness, it's making sure kids are ready for society. That is our primary function and it has been since the invention of education," said Dilly. "Why are we here? What are we trying to do with our kids? That are the questions I've been raising and working with our principals."
Dilly authored a book, "Schools for This Century and Beyond," that focuses on future-ready competencies. Those competencies are the basic needs for all professions and occupations across all sectors. Dilly believes those competencies can be taught in all schools.
"When we're talking about social intelligence, emotional intelligence, soft skills, we should be teaching our students those things," commented Dilly.
Dilly uses three major focal points when developing his overall plan and vision for the school system: Organizational Wellness, Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency, and Preparing Future-Ready Students.
Organizational Wellness revolves around the atmosphere and environment within the organization.
"We know that our morale is very low in our system, and we know we are facing a lot of challenges. One of the predominant issues with our wellness is the fact that we're not communicating well both internally and externally. Part of my desire today is sharing more information with you as a community and community leadership, and helping people understand why we need to make some of the changes and differences as we move forward," commented Dilly,
Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency revolves around looking at processes and determining places that could be made more effective and more financially efficient.
"We're limited in a lot of ways because we're told by the legislature what to do and how to do it. I like to be creative when possible," said Dilly.
Dilly believes that Preparing Future-Ready Students is possibly the most difficult item to address.
"We do not do a good job using the data we have to inform the direction and decisions we are making. We are working on the non-negotiables, what we should be seeing in every single classroom in Randolph County Schools," concluded Dilly. "I will be doing weekly walkthroughs at the schools. I want to be in the classrooms and understand what the academic direction and future of Randolph County Schools should be."
More information about Randolph County Schools can be found at its website, www.boe.rand.K12.w.us or at its Facebook page (Randolph County Schools).
Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change -- across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves. Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club's Facebook page -- Rotary Club of Elkins -- or contact club president Tammie Rizzio at tammierizzio@gmail.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.