ELKINS — Kump Education Center will host Randolph County native Seth DiStefano as the speaker for First Friday Focus on Education on Friday, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.

He works with the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy in a coalition of concerned citizens called “Together for Public Education.”

DiStefano will present information on the West Virginia school funding formula and help our group understand what Randolph County Schools will need to do to survive and improve during these difficult times when our county school system is ranked 55th among the 55 counties in West Virgiia.

This is a time when everyone who wants to see progress in Elkins and Randolph County, needs to recognize that we cannot expect to attract and keep young families unless we have a credible school system.

The West Virginia Board of Education has issued a state of emergency designation for Randolph County, and the State will take over the management of our county schools unless our Board of Education has a plan to improve the financial situation by December.

“We need to remember that our empty classrooms are the result of demographic changes and many of our academic problems have to do with changes in technology,” said Dr. Heather Biola of the Kump Education Center. “Our schools were built to serve the Baby Boomer generation, and we have not been willing to give up the buildings that serve smaller populations now in remote areas.

“This demographic decline is happening all over the world, but the local decline is exacerbated by a loss of employment opportunities, illegal drug use, and the rapid desertion of public schools with ‘Hope Scholarship’ funding.

“Randolph County Schools were slow to buy new computers during the pandemic, and we did not have the internet services in place to support online learning at the level that was needed to keep kids actively learning at a normal pace,” Biola said. “Teachers also had to stretch to become proficient in teaching with technology. If we invest now in better access to technology and help students in remote areas to get the internet they need at home, we should see progress on test scores.

“It goes without saying that many families are going to have some inconvenience with school consolidation faculties need to protect the instructional time from too many days out of school for teachers’ meetings, and we need to help working parents with child care before and after school.

“Land owners and business owners must step up to pass a tax levy and give schools the financial support they need,” Biola said. “If our schools are recognized as inadequate, people will not want to move to Randolph County, and the population will continue to decline.”

Come to First Friday Focus on Education at Kump Education Center Friday at 5 p.m. to learn what other West Virginia counties are doing to improve their schools.