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ELKINS -- Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly has found it difficult to get students and teachers alike on board with the change from block scheduling to period scheduling at Elkins High School.
The change, which was put in place by Dilly to help the county meet some of the budget requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, has been challenged numerous times during the public comment section of previous Randolph County Board of Education meetings.
One regular proponent of the move is Randolph County Technical Center teacher Robin Davis, who has been a teacher in the county the past 35 years. Davis made another appearance at Tuesday's regular meeting and said things were not going as planned.
"Right now we are trying to schedule our kids and it's a disaster," said Davis. "We could have run block scheduling, even with what has happened with all the staffing. If you don't believe me, call Carla Lambert (EHS Principal) and ask her if she could have done it."
Davis said the biggest issue is that a change has been made to the period scheduling to where students will now only get seven classes instead of eight.
"He (Dilly) promised you that our students were going to have eight classes and teachers would have a 45-minute planning period, he told you that," Davis said. "Guess what? Students only have seven core classes. Every student lost one elective, every single one. In four years, that's four electives. That means our kids who are going to college are losing four higher-level classes."
Davis said he devised a scheduling plan that would have worked at EHS and students would have been able to still get eight classes.
"I supported him (Dilly) in closing the schools, and I supported him and gave him an alternative method (scheduling)," Davis said. "If he would have listened to me and not blown it off, there were two ways where we would have had eight classes and a 45-minute plan…He did get a 45-minute plan for the teachers, he got that, but the students lost a class…He's not fluent and flexible and won't listen to other people…He's not using staff to come up with the best solutions … There's times when we have to do what we have to do and make those hard decisions, but if somebody is inflexible and does not get input from those trying to make it better for the kids, I don't know what you're going to do … We have brilliant people here and we could have worked it out where we could have kept the block scheduling in."
Davis asked if the Board of Education members had any questions for him and Dilly replied, "I would like to ask some questions. Have you ever developed a high school or CT schedule?"
Davis said, "I knew you would try and put me on the spot, but let me explain something to you, I have a masters in curriculum, but you haven't used that have you? You're not going to intimidate me."
"You've been disrespectful to me, so I'm just asking some questions to clarify my understanding of the process of scheduling," Dilly said. "So have you ever worked with this?"
Davis said, "In 35 years, yes, at Elkins High School I was part of it, at Elkins Middle School I was part of it. And let me tell you why I was part of it, because they included their staff, you did not. So you want to cut me off and make me look like I'm not smart."
Dilly replied, "I'm not suggesting you're not smart, I'm just suggesting since you've been disrespectful to me and this forum, I'm just clarifying some questions and my questions are if you've ever scheduled and you've indicated that you have. Are you familiar with Policy 2510?"
"I believe we have used 2510 and I was part of pulling that up," said Davis. "If you want to say I don't know what I'm talking about, you brought one that wasn't even close to working. So if you want to talk about me, let's talk about you."
Policy 2510 focuses on improving the quality of edition by ensuring rigorous standards, engaging instruction, and equal educational opportunity for all students. It sets regulations for all educational programs, covering areas like content standards, instructional strategies, and student-centered learning.
Davis told the Board members if they think there's not a problem with having seven periods instead of eight, to ask the Superintendent why he had a meeting with EHS staff members last Friday trying to get the eight-period schedule.
"I'm not clarifying what you are talking about and I'm not clear what you are talking about," Dilly said. "This isn't an opportunity to have an argument and you are being disrespectful and I'd be glad to have this discussion with you. Schedule a time to have that, but ultimately you're misleading this board and what occurred on Friday."
Dilly said that the seven-period schedule was a decision made by the personnel at Elkins High School.
"When I discussed this with the leadership staff at the high school, why they chose to go to a seven period day, they told me it was because they were struggling to get everything in during the time requirements under Policy 2510…I did not influence them to choose and do a seven period day. I've shared my cautions from the beginning because Mr. Davis is correct in the sense that it does limit options, but they are also working to try and to create a number of opportunities to avoid those implications while still achieving the requirements by the board and our policy."
After Board of Education President Rachel Anger shared some of her thoughts on the scheduling, Dilly told her that EHS administrators were willing to come to a future meeting and have a discussion with the board.
Davis attempted to comment and Dilly said, "You are out of order at this point."
Davis asked the Superintendent, "Are you the President? She (Anger) can call me out of order."
Anger asked Davis to wrap things up and he finished by saying, "I advise that each of you (board members) to call the administrators in question and ask them in confidentiality to get their side of this situation."
Anger requested that Dilly have EHS administrators to present at a future meeting.