Criner

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Department of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to officially place Randolph County Schools in a state of emergency.

The state of emergency will remain in place for six months, with the state Department of Education working with the Randolph County Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly during that time on various issues, including creating a balanced budget.

In December, the state Department of Education will receive a progress update, and the state BOE will decide on extending the state of emergency for Randolph County Schools, or intervening in the operation of the school system.

The decision came after a presentation Wednesday by Alexandra Criner, Office of Accountability director for the state Department of Education. Criner conducted interviews with Randolph County Board of Education members in late April.

Criner’s interviews with the Randolph BOE members were conducted “in response to a request by Superintendent Shawn Dilly to provide support to Randolph County Schools,” the agenda for Wednesday’s state BOE meeting in Charleston stated.

“We were asked to go and interview board members,” Criner said during Wednesday’s meeting. “Just to sort of ascertain what’s going on with some of the decisions and what’s the plan with some of the challenges they were facing in Randolph County. In response to that request to provide support, we conducted interviews with the board members. And we really just wanted to ascertain the rational for some recent board decisions and identify the board members’ plan to address some of the operational challenges they are facing.”

Criner said some of the issues she discussed with the board members included enrollment, failure to approve a consolidation plan, personnel overages, and a projected budget shortfall. 

   “In the fall of 2024, the superintendent of Randolph County Schools proposed a plan to close Harman School, which is a K-12 school with an enrollment of 103 students, and Pickens School, which is a K-12 school with an enrollment of 29 students,” Criner said. “When the Board voted against the closure of Harman School in January 2025, the Superintendent withdrew his recommendation to close Pickens.”

“Randolph County Schools is currently staffed beyond the state aid formula for professional, support and service personnel,” she noted.

According to the Office of Accountability, Randolph County Schools is over by 4.51 for student support personnel, 12.06 over for professional educators, and 16.57 over for total professional personnel.

“In April, the superintendent recommended significant staffing cuts and transfers,” Criner said. “While the Board approved some of the superintendent’s recommendations, others were not approved. This resulted in some grievance filings from affected employees.”

Criner said that in May, the Randolph County BOE reported during a meeting that it had a projected budget shortfall of $2.8 million for the upcoming fiscal year. She said at the same meeting board members voted to rescind some of the previous personnel actions, which eliminated approximately $1.6 million in potential savings generated by those staffing cuts.

“During interviews, board members acknowledged the need to consolidate schools, but stated they voted against the proposed plan due to the challenges associated with the transportation of those students in those rural schools,” Criner said. “Some members reported voting against the superintendent’s personnel proposal because they did not have an adequate understanding of the rationale behind which positions were eliminated.

“Board members expressed that communication with the superintendent has been a barrier to collaboration. And although members expressed concern about the future of Randolph County Schools, no member of the local board articulated a clear path forward in the wake of the current challenges.”

The West Virginia Board of Education members then went into executive session for more than an hour Wednesday. Upon returning to the meeting, state Superintendent of Schools Michelle L. Blatt offered her recommendations.

“We have heard the report from Director Criner and I would like to recommend to the Board that we declare that a state of emergency exists in Randolph County Schools, under West Virginia code 182E5M2, to establish a six-month period,” Blatt said.

“During this time, Randolph County Board of Education members and the superintendent, with targeted assistance for the WVDE, will create a comprehensive plan to correct and identify deficiencies, including a viable proposal for a balanced budget. The WVDE will receive an update on progress at the December 2025 meeting and take action based on that update, including but not limited to an extension of the state of emergency, or immediate intervention in the operation of Randolph County Schools.”

Neither Dilly nor any Randolph BOE members were present in Charleston for Wednesday’s meeting.

At a special meeting in May, the Randolph BOE voted unanimously to approve a budget for the next school year including a “negative contingency” of $434,388.

Earlier in May, the BOE had decided to report to the state that the county school system will not be able to balance its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.