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Leadership

State board members need to take action

Authority over public schools in West Virginia rests with the state Board of Education and state superintendent of schools. Many county school superintendents look to them for leadership in regard to the ongoing strike by teachers and school service personnel.

When it comes, as it should, that leadership needs to be tempered with realism.

It caught some school officials by surprise when leaders of the three unions announced Friday their members would continue a work stoppage Monday. It had been hoped the unions would allow their members to go back to work today.

It is no secret that some county superintendents have cooperated with union leaders, in efforts to ensure school personnel who stayed off the job Thursday and Friday did not lose any pay. That was accomplished by declaring schools throughout West Virginia closed for those two days.

But the longer schools remain closed, the more the education process is disrupted. The longer it persists, the more problems there are for working parents and students who normally rely on school breakfasts and lunches for nutritional meals.

So the announcement the strike would continue Monday posed a serious problem for county superintendents. Many were unprepared with contingency plans to reopen.

State Superintendent Steve Paine and county-level school officials participated in a conference call on Saturday. But Paine issued no statewide mandate, one way or the other.

A state Board of Education meeting is scheduled for today. Board members should take some action regarding the strike — perhaps ordering that public schools not remain closed later this week.

If that happens, school officials in the counties simply must be given reasonable discretion on whether to require students to attend. It would be irresponsible to require anyone to take chances with the safety of children. For example, unless school systems can ensure that small children waiting for buses in the morning will be picked up, no one should count them absent for not being in class.

Paine and the state board have a responsibility to exercise leadership in this situation. However, the safety of our children absolutely must be the top priority.

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