Morgan County School Board members voted 4-1 to approve partnership with the company Instructional Empowerment at a total cost of $95,449 to conduct onsite assessments at Berkeley Springs High School and Warm Springs Middle School and a district-level workshop with American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding.

The vote took place at their January 23 meeting. Board member John Rowland voted against the measure.

Instructional Empowerment is a private company based in Blairsville, Pa. that has worked with over 200 school districts, according to the company’s website.

Rowland read a letter that expressed his concerns about the partnership, saying that the school system had recently implemented Capturing Kids Hearts, a character-based curriculum, and worked with  John SanGiovanni in specialized curriculum areas and Weston Kieschnick, who emphasizes teachers having strong relationships with students.

Rowland said he had no problems with the goals of any of these programs and that their success “depended on the commitment of the teachers to implement the components and all administrators to support and monitor this.”

He feels the programs need more time for teachers to become comfortable with them and for full implementation to occur.

Under consideration was using the company Instructional Empowerment for two under-performing schools, which Rowland thinks is premature.

The initial cost for the assessments at Berkeley Springs High School and Warm Springs Middle School and a District Level workshop is  $95,449 and may be covered by ARP funding, but the first year costs of $695,000 and the second year costs may not be.

The total cost could easily reach $1 million, he noted.

Rowland said they could have local costs from the state requirement of having third graders be readers by the end of third grade.  He wondered if they could predict revenue and guarantee they’ll have the necessary funds to pay for this and all normally expected expenses.  Rowland felt a cautious approach toward their healthy reserve balance and spending is still best.

Rowland said this system implementation must have strong support from teachers, staff and administrators.

He’s heard multiple times that teachers are “new program weary.”

“I am concerned that the staff will not have the enthusiasm or energy to take on another program,” he said.

Because of these and other concerns, Rowland said “I feel I would be doing a disservice to Morgan County Schools by voting for this expenditure.”

Coaching needed

School Superintendent Kristen Tuttle told the board she feels the  coaching is needed.    They only have secondary academic coach and technology coach Robert Dugan and he’s just one person.

“We have to focus on instruction and don’t have the resources for the secondary level,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle talked with Wyoming County who went with Instructional Empowerment for all their schools last year.  They are very happy with the results.

Board president Aaron Close said he believed their staff needs some coaching.

“We need to raise the bar of what our kids can do,” Close said.

Rowland said he sees the need, too.

Board member Laura Smith asked if they could just do the assessment and see what the company recommends.

Tuttle said the board could choose to hire their coaches for 40 days instead of 60 days or look elsewhere  for the coaching.

Tuttle noted that she got an email from the state late that day that guaranteed that they could use 100% of their ARP funding to fund this specifically for next year.

School strategic updates

Superintendent Tuttle said she talked to all the principals about whether they wanted to hold their annual school strategic update –formerly called the local school improvement council (LSIC) presentation — at their school or have it at the school board office.

Berkeley Springs High School and Paw Paw Schools want to present their update at their school while the other schools wanted to present theirs at the board office, Tuttle said.

School board member John Rowland said at their January 9 meeting that he felt strongly that the school board should go to each school for the updates.  Board member Justin Litten agreed.

Reports

Tuttle advised the board that new Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) officer Deputy Chuck Hess was hired and started working a couple of weeks ago.

Deputy Paul McFarland, who was hired as PRO officer when Deputy Kevin Barney retired last year, has also retired.

Math Field Day took place successfully on January 23 at the middle school, she said.  The county science fair was postponed twice.  Judges were going to the schools to judge the projects.

Bus drivers have been great clearing the garage on the weekend, Tuttle said.

They had a pre-bid meeting for the flooring replacements, she said.  The bids closed on January 30.  The bid process for the architects for the high school cafeteria heating, ventilation and air conditioning (VAC) replacement is in progress.

School board president Aaron Close said that the roof drains at Berkeley Springs High School and Warm Springs Middle School had been blocked by the snow.  The melting snow couldn’t drain and leaked into the buildings. They had to fix some ceiling panels, but the situation is resolved now.

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Morgan County Schools Elementary Education Director Kandy Pentoney and Secondary Education Director Beth Golden discussed elementary and secondary school “beginning of the year” benchmark test data at the October 17 Morgan County School Board meeting.

Many grades saw improvement and secondary scores increased 2% from last year. However, a large percentage of students fell below grade level in reading and math.

Classifications

Students are considered above grade if they are more than .5 years above their current grade level, said Golden.

On grade means .5 years below to .5 years above their current grade level.

Below grade indicates students are .6 to 1.5 years below their current grade level.

Far below grade level is more than 1.5 years below current grade level.

Not pinpointed means not enough questions have been answered to accurately pinpoint levels.

Pre-K, elementary

Pentoney said she was excited about how the pre-K data looked. Some results were much better this year.  28 pre-K students were already at mastery in alphabetic awareness and mastery of throwing and catching had improved.

Many pre-K students excelled in oral language in speaking, identifying and using shapes, counting, self-regulation, play, print awareness, writing and gross motor movements. Beginning of the year mastery in measurements, numerical operations and algebraic thinking were low.

Reading, math K-5

Pentoney said that it was the first year of using iReady as a benchmark assessment for K-5 reading.  Some 19% of all K-5 students were on or above grade level in reading with their beginning of the year data.  49% were considered below grade level and 32% were at risk for far below.

In math, 11% of k-5 students were on or above grade level in math with their beginning of the year data. 54% were below grade level and 35% were at risk for far below grade level. Pentoney said students in the red areas were 2-3 years behind grade level.

The percentages of K-5 students at or above grade level in reading ranged from 5%-32% with 77%-95% of them falling at 1, 2 or 3 years below grade level.

In math, students at or above grade level at each grade ranged in percentage from 5-20% in math with 80% to 95% of students scoring at 1, 2 or 3 years below grade level.

The iReady benchmark is similar to the West Virginia General State Assessment tests with test questions. Comparisons to last year’s benchmark test with a different company showed students faring a little better for the most part on the previous year’s testing.

Strategies

This year with the Science of Reading, county school directors will work on teacher buy-in, share research and use common programs for reading instruction in all schools, Pentoney said. Next year they will begin systematic professional development on best practices on teaching reading.

For math, schools will have John San Giovanni coaching on number routines and problem solving.  They will also continue with Reflex and Frax to develop math fluency, Pentoney said.

Other strategies will include school-based coaches, four square writing continuum, increased use of formative assessments, analyzing data to drive instruction, monitoring Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions and providing families with strategies to use at home to help their child in reading and math, she said.

Secondary

Golden addressed the IXL data for year two for high school and middle school students at the meeting.

IXL is a targeted learning tool that provides tailored lessons, supports focused student outcomes and offers individualized pathways to address student weaknesses, said Golden.

Some 25% of grade 6-11 students were on or above grade level proficiency in English language arts in their beginning of the year IXL benchmark assessments, Golden said. Another 11% were below grade level and 58% were far below grade level.  Not pinpointed levels were 5%, which has improved from last year.

In math, 8% of grade 6-11 students were on or above grade level on beginning of the year assessments.  Another 16% were below grade level and 74% of students were considered far below grade level.  Not pinpointed levels were 7%.

Proficiencies increased 2% in both English language arts and math from beginning of the year benchmarks in 2022 and 2023, Golden said.  All grades came in higher in English language arts except for ninth grade.  Math had similar results.  Golden said they are having trouble engaging kids in the tests.

Beginning of the year proficiency growth in student cohorts (as students move to the next grade level) grew from 2022 to 2023.  Golden said they need to accelerate that growth more.

Students are performing on state level on the PSAT 9 and 10 exams, she said.   Students were slightly below state level on the SAT School Day exam.

A high number of students in grades 1-8 had maintained or gained proficiency in English language arts and math through participating in the summer Camp Alpha and Camp MoCo programs.  A total of 20 students attempted credit recovery in the high school summer program and all 27 attempted credits were recovered, Golden said.

Improvement steps

Golden said school staff and administration is doing so much to address student proficiencies: standardizing the testing environment, changing schedules, tracking beginning of year, mid-year and end of year assessment scores, attendance and time to complete benchmarks.

They’re helping kids track their own data, holding student meetings,  goal setting, using best instructional strategies and refining weekly IXL smart scores.

The big focus is accountability and teacher training.

Principals are on board and “we’re working on it,” Golden said.  An all-day Principals meeting was held on October 17.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said.

Pentoney added that the focus is on student achievement and getting kids to invest in their own data.

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West Virginia Senator Charles Trump, State House of Representatives Delegates George Miller and Darren Thorne and Governor Jim Justice’s Eastern Panhandle Representative Daryl Cowles attended the November 7 Morgan County School Board meeting’s legislative work session to discuss areas of concern to the school system and to the Legislature.

One of the school district’s biggest concerns was the Third Grade Success Act that the West Virginia Legislature passed.

Morgan County Schools Superintendent Kristen Tuttle expressed gratitude for the legislation and said it was well overdue.

However, they are concerned about what funding will pay for the after-school and summer school requirements for students that have fallen behind grade level.  The funding wasn’t allocated in the bill, Tuttle said.  Their ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Relief) funding runs out the end of September 2024.

The legislators said there has been no discussion of funding for required summer school and after-school programs in the State Legislature.

Tuttle wondered how they will force families to make their children attend summer school and after-school programs, which will be required in the 2026-2027 school year. Parents feel that the summer is theirs.

“How do we get them to buy into extra support,” Tuttle asked.

Tuttle said they will probably have to shift summer school to targeting kids that are below grade level instead of allowing anyone to attend.

School board president Aaron Close said that with kids moving in and out of the school system, if they get kids in their third year of school, they haven’t been able to track their academic proficiency for first to third grade.

School board member Laura Smith said that some home-schoolers aren’t doing well. Tuttle said some have huge skill gaps with a lot to make up by third and fourth grade.  Other home-schoolers are doing fine.

Delegate George Miller asked if schools can still take on summer school with space and staff.

Smith said they can’t cut back on staff.  Tuttle said it’s hard to get staff to work in the summer.  Offering the daily pay rate has helped.  The county school system gets a handful of AmeriCorps volunteers for the summer program.

Housing, other concerns

Close said that housing is a big concern for attracting teachers here.  They’ve had a lot of interest in teaching positions from people in southern West Virginia, but they can’t afford to live here with the housing costs.

Governor’s Representative Daryl Cowles asked about the bonuses that school employees received if they had fewer than five sick days a year.  Tuttle said it was for classroom teachers only.  School Treasurer Ann Bell said that maybe 20-25 teachers took advantage of it.

Tuttle told legislators that they really liked the new statewide screener that the Third Grade Success Act required them to use.  It offers individual skill gap practice.  They want to continue to use it.

“Vote for it,” she said.

Tuttle also said that dealing with charter schools, virtual schools and Hope scholarships has been a lot for central office staff.  Some students can participate in everything in public schools while others get charged.  Schools can’t use state funds for athletics, but they can use scholarship money for athletics. People don’t understand.

When a virtual student needs special services, the first step may be to a public-school system, but they may not be mandated to provide them, Close said.

Pay raise, program cuts

Trump said it’s possible that a pay raise for school employees will occur this session that begins in January.  It has to come to committee first.   Trump is also trying to encourage colleges to offer associate degrees.

Delegate Darren Thorne said the House of Delegates wants to hear about the mandated state programs that schools would like to see cut.

Tuttle said that a lot of the programs are decided by the counties and that Morgan County Schools is going through that process now.

Close suggested they look at class sizes in 2026-27 if a lot of kids aren’t at grade level.  Tuttle said it’s better to keep class sizes smaller for better academic achievement.

Vacancies

Staffing is still an issue. Morgan County Schools still needs bus drivers, nurses and substitutes and has three counselor vacancies, Tuttle said.  Substitutes get no benefits and other counties are paying more.

County schools have around 18 long-term substitute teachers and about 12 teachers with alternative certifications, which is helping fill positions.

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A recent West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) report on the 2023 County Efficiency Indicators for state school districts showed Morgan County as one of six counties with a red “On Watch” status for not meeting standards for four 2023 West Virginia Balanced Scorecard indicator measures.

Morgan County Schools Superintendent Kristen Tuttle said in an email that the four red “On Watch” indicators on the 2023 Morgan County Balanced Scorecard are math progress, post-secondary achievement, attendance and on-track to graduate.

Morgan County is one of 26 counties where one support indicator has not met standards for two consecutive years. For Morgan County, that indicator is math achievement, Tuttle said.

Tuttle pinpointed the county’s math score drop as tied to a “drastic dip” in 11^th grade SAT scores last year.

Red indicators

On the 2023 Balanced Scorecard, Morgan County had red indicators in middle school and high school English language arts and math achievement, middle school math progress, on-track to graduation, elementary, middle school and high school attendance and post-secondary achievement.

“Some of the indicators are lagging indicators and we already know they will be better next year because of last year’s data.  We have been working on these for some time,” Tuttle emphasized.

Tuttle said that this information was summarized at their September Morgan County Balanced Scorecard data presentation along with strategies to address achievement.

The “On Watch” and support indicators are based on the whole county scorecard, not individual school scorecards, she noted.

Growth, decline

“If you pull the individual schools’ cards, you will see that many of our schools are making good growth.  Pleasant View Elementary had 12% and Warm Springs Intermediate School had 6% growth in English language arts.  Pleasant View Elementary showed 22% and the intermediate school showed 10% growth in math.  Paw Paw High School showed 8% growth in English language arts and 3% growth in math,” Tuttle said.

“Berkeley Springs High School’s eleventh grade SAT scores were much lower than their normal performance level and pulled the whole county down.  Had those scores not taken such a drastic dip, we would’ve been in much better shape as a county,” she said.

Good growth is happening, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the eleventh grade’s poor performance on the SAT exams, Tuttle said.

This group’s performance has been a little weaker over the years, but they did still show growth from their PSAT scores prior to their junior year SAT.

“Warm Springs Middle School students didn’t perform as well as expected.  We attribute some of this to students not trying their best,” she noted.

Improvement strategies

Tuttle said ways that they are addressing the proficiency scores are:

-Focusing on classrooms having highly-engaged, standards-based instruction using county-adopted resources that are being closely monitored.

-Conducting deep dives into teacher and student data to determine specific areas of weakness for each student and teacher and then focusing on targeting those weaknesses.

-Working with schools to set individual student goals for both benchmark and state assessments.

-Focusing on building the instructional leadership capacity of our principals.

-Providing high-quality professional development and coaching on specific math strategies, hi-yield instructional strategies, iReady and IXL benchmarking tools, evidence-based intervention programs for students falling below grade level and helping families to support their students at home.

-Implementing the Paper tutoring program in November where students will have 24/7 access to live tutors to assist with homework and written assignments as well as support instruction in the classroom.

-Offering more SAT prep/practice opportunities in both high schools.

-Continuing the use of Reflex to improve foundational math skills.

-Providing professional development on the Science of Reading for elementary schools.

-Creating plans to help students understand the importance of the assessments so they try their best and take them seriously.

-Re-emphasizing that student achievement is the top priority.

Higher goals, expectations

Tuttle stressed that teachers and administrators have been working very hard to overcome challenges the past few years and are diligently addressing these areas. There are many positive things happening in the school system, she assured.

“The county, schools, administrators, teachers and students are setting higher goals for greater growth this year across the board.  We have very high expectations for our student achievement this year,” Tuttle said.

“Our students have huge needs from dealing with drug issues in the family, abuse, and trauma. We have more JA (Juvenile Abuse and Neglect) cases than Jefferson County. It’s hard to get students to a place they can learn when they are worried about going home. We have amazing families also, but it’s just important to recognize how many of Morgan County’s students are in very difficult situations,” Tuttle added.

Scorecard indicators

Each West Virginia school district along with each of their schools is issued a Balanced Scorecard annually based on 11 indicators of student performance and success.

Those indicators are English language arts and math achievement, English language arts and math progress, English learner progress, graduation rate (4-year cohort and 5-year cohort) attendance, behavior/discipline, on-track to graduation and post-secondary achievement.

Some 25 counties met the requirements of the 11 efficiency indicators, with 16 of them having done so for two consecutive years.

Five counties were identified as needing substantial support. Attendance and math achievement were identified as areas of focus, according to the WVDE press release.

The state Board of Education annually reviews information to determine each county’s approval status as part of the accountability system.

State Superintendent Michele L. Blatt said that it’s critical to work with counties to remediate issues early before they become more substantial and require higher levels of state Board of Education and Department of Education involvement.  Visits to and communications with the counties are planned on a routine basis to regularly review the efficiency indicators and address areas of need.

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Morgan County’s “scorecard” on state-mandated assessments from last year show a lot of red

for county schools, highlighting multiple areas where student knowledge does not meet state standards for their grade level.

West Virginia’s “Balance Scorecard” lists academic standards, progress, English learners and Student Success as factors being weighed by the West Virginia Department of Education.

Morgan County Schools didn’t meet the goal of improving their state assessment exam reading and math proficiency scores 2% from last year’s scores.

Reading proficiency scores dropped 1% from 37% to 36% but math proficiency rose 1% from 26% to 27%, said Director of Special Education and Assessment Nicole Hiles in her September 19 presentation to the Morgan County School Board on the 2023 Morgan County Balanced Scorecard and the West Virginia assessment exams.

Students in some grades in Morgan County Schools showed significant improvement on the 2023 West Virginia assessment exams. The school system met its goal of reducing chronic absenteeism and improving its graduation rate.

Other strategic plan goals were removing 5% of their students from the WVEIS list of chronic absences and improving and improving the graduation rate for 4- and 5-year seniors to 90% as measured by cohort data.

The percentage of county students considered chronically absent fell from 37% to 26.54%, Hiles said. More than 250 students dropped off the chronically absent list.

The Paw Paw High School graduation rate has been at 100% for eight years running, said Hiles.  Berkeley Springs High School’s graduation rate last year was 92%. The on-track to graduate percentages were up almost 4%.

County proficiency data

The five-year trend for academic proficiency on the state assessment exams shows 38% proficiency in English language arts (ELA), 31% proficiency in math and 35% proficiency in science in 2018.  Proficiency dipped slightly in 2019 and fell to 32% in ELA, 22% in math and 25% in science in 2021.

Proficiencies rose slightly in 2022, then declined to 36.31% in ELA, rose to 27% in math and decreased to 22% in science in 2023.

In 2023, some 33.49% of Morgan County students didn’t meet proficiency standards in reading, 41.60% didn’t meet standards in math and 39.57% didn’t meet proficiency standards in science.

By school

Warm Springs Intermediate School was the only county school to surpass the state average in reading and math on the 2023 state assessment tests. Its students achieving 45.09% in reading/English language arts, 44.51% proficiency in math and 32.3% proficiency in science.

While Paw Paw Elementary’s reading proficiency rose around three points to 43.18%, their math proficiency dropped from 47.73% last year to 31.82% in 2023.

Pleasant View Elementary students averaged 33.33% in reading proficiency, a rise of nearly 12 points from last year, and climbed to 37.5% from 16.07% in math proficiency on the exams, a jump of approximately 21 points that put the school over the state average.

Paw Paw High School‘s reading/English language arts proficiency levels rose around eight points from 28.95% to 36.84%. The school’s math proficiency increased to 15.79% from 13.16% but remains less than half of the state average.

Berkeley Springs High School’s reading/English language arts proficiency average cut in half in 2023, dropping to 27.7% from 53%.  Their math proficiency decreased to 14.5% from 19.87% in 2022, less than half of the state average.

Warm Springs Middle School’s reading/English language arts proficiency remained about the same at 31.36% but math proficiency declined from 19.72% to 15.98%.

With the exception of the intermediate school having a science proficiency of 32.3%, other Morgan County Schools had science proficiency scores ranging from 20.8% (middle school) to 13.9%. (Berkeley Springs High School) Paw Paw Elementary had too small of a student sample size to report.

Highlights

 Paw Paw Elementary third graders scored a 59.4% reading/English language arts proficiency on the 2023 state assessment exams and Pleasant View Elementary fourth graders achieved a 50% reading/English language arts proficiency, said Assessment Director Nicole Hiles.

Pleasant View Elementary fifth graders achieved a 41.2% reading/ELA proficiency and intermediate school fifth graders scored 40.9% in reading/ELA proficiency.

Paw Paw High School seventh graders achieved a 54.6% reading/ELA proficiency and their sixth graders scored a 42.9% reading/ELA proficiency, she said. Paw Paw High School seventh graders scored a 36.4% math proficiency on the 2023 exams.

High school SAT School Day results fell from 936 to 860 at Berkeley Springs High School and from 918 to 865 at Paw Paw High School. Both high schools’ scores were below the state SAT exam average of 911.

What’s working, what’s not

Hiles said that what’s working are personalized skills practices with IXL, tutoring and online tutoring with focused supports, long-term substitutes, parents and at home usage, improved intervention services, research-based programs and scheduling, Reflex and Frax and improved foundational math skills and implementation of blended learning strategies.

Staffing continues to be a struggle, with the lack of certified teachers and vacancies and the lack of day to day substitutes for each county classroom.

Some students are still missing a lot of school and feeling impacts from social emotional influences and struggling with apathy.

Student skill gaps also continue to be an issue as teachers and families recover from school disruptions from COVID years.

Hiles said teachers are being presented with differentiated professional learning opportunities and are trying different programs like Bold School, Thinking Classrooms, The Successful Middle School, How the Special Needs Brain Learns, i-Ready and Paper Tutoring. Coaching sessions are ongoing and teaching staff is increasing the pace of instruction.

Hiles said the school system’s focus now is on math skills in the secondary grades.

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The Morgan County Board of Education’s financial situation has improved over the past several years with the receipt of COVID-related monies and an increase in net position. Net position is the difference between everything the school system owns and what they owe.

However, Morgan County Schools Treasurer Ann Bell said in her annual review of the Morgan County Board of Education’s financial statement that the American Rescue Plan (ARP)  monies are running out this week and other recovery monies are ending in 2024.

They’re planning for how to sustain the programs and positions that were possible through those funds when these monies are no longer available, she said.  Bell’s presentation occurred at the September 19 school board meeting.

Less money was also used from the general expenditure fund for expenses because of the COVID-related funding and grants, Bell said.

COVID monies

In 2020 and 2021 Morgan County Schools received a total of $7,097,888 in COVID-19 assistance.  They were given $448,104 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF) monies to assist with the ongoing impact of COVID-19.

The school system received  $1,905,036 in ESSERF II funds to help mitigate the expenses incurred directly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morgan County Schools got $4,744,748 in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funding to help support   safely reopening and sustaining the safe operation of schools while meeting the academic, social, emotional and mental health needs of students resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Net position

As of June 30, 2023,  Morgan County Schools total net position was $22,307,498, an increase of  $3,253,006 in net position from Fiscal Year 2022, Bell said.  This rise is mostly from increased current and right-of-use assets. (leases)

Of this $22,307,498 net position amount, some $10,733,223 may be used to meet the government’s ongoing obligations to citizens and creditors, Bell said.  The largest portion of the board’s net position (45%) is capital assets-buildings, land, equipment, vehicles and furniture) and any debt related to them.

Fund balances, carryover

As of the close of the current Fiscal Year 2023, the Board’s governmental funds reported
combined ending fund balances of $12,834,535, an increase of $2,516,465 from the prior year. Approximately $6,117,607 of this amount, which is the unreserved fund balance for the general fund, is available for spending at the board’s discretion, Bell said.  The

unreserved fund balance is up from last year’s amount of $4,702,871.

Actual spendable carryover with the encumbrances removed is $5,738,586, which represents 19% of the budgeted general fund revenue. The state recommends that school districts keep enough funds to cover two months of operating expenses in reserve, Bell noted.

The $5,738,586 less the budgeted carryover of $1,650,000 leaves $4,088,586 for contingency for emergencies, which is 14% of the budgeted Fiscal Year 2024 general fund revenue, Bell said.

The fund balance of the Special Revenue Fund is $1,529,611.   The special revenue fund includes funding for Title 1, Title 2, child nutrition, special education, all grants and other federal funding.

The fund balance of the School Activity Fund is $636,962 and the fund balance of the Federal Stimulus & Stabilization fund is $0.  The fund balance of the Capital Projects Fund is $47,879.

Right-of-use assets increased by approximately $382,323, which indicates the renewal of a multi-year county-wide copier/printer lease and subscription-based information technology arrangements.

The subscription-based information technology arrangements have to be reported as leases, which is new for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Bell said. This included software agreements beyond the end of the fiscal year and electronic textbooks.

Capital assets

Capital assets for the school system decreased by $246,581 to $13,473,331 in Fiscal Year 2023 due to annual depreciation and the school system’s inability to purchase school buses due to the shortage of supply, Bell said.

Capital asset purchases in Fiscal Year 2023 included a book vending machine, a walk-in cooler, outdoor classroom physical education equipment, a scoreboard, technology infrastructure, a welding table/booth, a hot food serving table, a Widmyer Elementary entrance sign, two passenger vans and a refrigerated box truck. One school bus was retired.

Long-term debt

The school board’s long-term total debt includes their CMTA lease/purchase agreement for the county-wide energy management performance upgrades.  A payment of $251,316 was made in Fiscal Year 2023. Next year’s payment will be $267,664, Bell said.

Other long-term debt includes a QZAB interest-free loan that was a local match for the Berkeley Springs High School Building C and D renovations.  A $66,666 QZAB loan payment for the Berkeley Springs High School renovations was made in Fiscal Year 2023 and a $66,666 payment is due next year.

Revenue and expenses

Total district-wide revenue for the school system in Fiscal Year 2023 was $32,309,748 with 38% of their revenue coming from unrestricted state aid, 34% from property taxes and 18% from operating grants and contributions, Bell said.

Property tax revenue decreased by approximately $519,188, mostly from decreased local tax collections, said Bell in her report.

Total Fiscal Year 2023 district-wide expenditures were $29,056,741 with 53% spent on instruction, 40% used for total supporting services and 7% for food services, Bell said.  Supporting services include students, instructional staff, general and school administration, facilities operation and maintenance, central services, transportation and other support services.

Overall expenses increased by around $3,355,391-primarily due to increases in the cost of instruction from legislative salary increases and the recovery of learning loss due to the pandemic,  Bell said.

The annual financial statement for the Morgan County Board of Education for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 is published in today’s edition of The Morgan Messenger. The financial statement was sent to the West Virginia Department of Education Office of School Finance for approval.

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The Morgan County School Board chose three goals for Morgan County Schools Superintendent Kristen Tuttle to achieve during the 2023-2024 school year. Her annual evaluation will be based on these goals.

Goals

Tuttle’s first goal is that Morgan County students will improve reading and math scores by 4% by June 1, 2024.  This will be measured by beginning of the year (BOY) and middle of the year (MOY) assessment data, iReady/IXL, Science of Reading implementation progress, professional development provided and  parent education by June 1, 2024.

Tuttle’s second goal will be to  adjust the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER/ARP) budget and plan to ensure liquidation by September 30,2024 and evaluate programs and positions to continue within the regular Fiscal Year 2025 budget or remove.  This includes the ESSER/ARP budget, personnel season actions, Fiscal Year 2025 budget completion, completion of projects and purchase evidence.

Tuttle’s third goal is to mentor and train the new assistant superintendent and assist in the development of a plan for reorganization of central office responsibilities due to pending retirements.

Actions include a new organizational chart and duties list and a successful first year evaluation of the assistant superintendent.

School board president Aaron Close said that the board doubled the academic improvement percentage goal from 2% to 4% for the Superintendent this year. Close also commented on the ARP (American Rescue Plan) funding that is being discontinued.

“As the Board of Education’s ARP funds are depleted and required to be spent in a timely manner, the Superintendent is going to have an important task to determine which ARP funded programs are the most impactful.  Over the next two years the Board of Education and the Superintendent will be working closely to determine how best to sunset positions and programs that can’t be adequately funded with the regular and excess (special) levies,” Close said.

“The climate and culture of the current school buildings is positive and we are excited to see the Superintendent continuing her positive relationship building with our staff,” Close added.

“We will be placing intense emphasis on standards-based instruction across the board. Additionally, we are focusing on Science of Reading training and implementation of the new iReady screener/benchmark at the elementary level,” said Tuttle

“We were disappointed in our academic performance at the secondary level and plan to support teachers with professional development in a variety of instructional strategies.  We will also be providing instructional coaching and leading professional learning committees on targeted topics. I plan to be more hands-on this year with instructional observations, walk-throughs and feedback to keep the focus on teaching and

learning,”she said.

“That goal will be the largest focus for me.  I will also be spending a great deal of time spending down the ARP funds and reworking our budget to try to keep positions and programs that are working and reducing in other areas,” Tuttle said.

“I look forward to working with Mr. Duelley in his new capacity.  He is a positive new addition to county leadership,” Tuttle added.

Jeromy Duelley is the new Morgan County Schools Assistant Superintendent.

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A 911 call was received about a disturbance at a Morgan County School, said Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer.  It was unclear as to whether the incident  was taking place at Berkeley Springs High School or the middle school since they received calls about both schools.  They first responded to the high school, then headed to the middle school.

Sheriff Bohrer said he arrived first at Warm Springs Middle School and encountered a male subject in a domestic altercation with his ex, a student’s mother, who was in a car in the dismissal pick-up line.  The man was preventing her from leaving and also preventing buses from leaving and was gesturing and posturing, Bohrer said.

Bohrer said when he tried to talk with the man about what was happening, he became resistant and ran off.  They had to chase him.

Sheriff Bohrer and Sheriff’s Deputy Corporal Jesse Hedrick arrested the man that Bohrer identified as Matthew Reeves, age 36, of Berkeley Springs.   Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Scott Lemon and West Virginia State Trooper Blake Meyers also responded to the scene.

Bohrer said that Reeves was charged with two counts of obstructing an officer.  Reeves was also served with an emergency protective order that his ex applied for.  He is currently in custody at the Eastern Regional Jail with a court date set, Bohrer said.

Bohrer said in a social media post after the incident that there was “no danger to any student or school at this time.”

Morgan County Schools also alerted parents on their social media pages on Friday that a suspicious person was in the roadway at Warm Springs Middle School during dismissal.  The school was placed on code red and lockdown and law enforcement was called.  Students were kept in their classrooms with their teachers while the situation was resolved.

Parents also got a phone call that buses would be delayed at least 20 minutes.

The incident caused a delay in dismissal and traffic disruption. Law enforcement arrived and apprehended the individual.

School Superintendent Kristen Tuttle said in an email that a man was reportedly dropped off by a car during dismissal and was holding up traffic.

“Administration acted quickly to secure students and called law enforcement to handle the man.  The man did run when police arrived and was chased and arrested by law enforcement.  One of the middle school teachers aided in catching the man,” Tuttle said.

“We appreciate the quick response of the school administration and safety team as well as the actions of law enforcement to handle the situation. No one was harmed and dismissal resumed once the man was in police custody,” Tuttle added.

“As always, we make the safety of our students a top priority and appreciate everyone’s patience while the situation was handled,” said the Morgan County Schools Facebook post.

Warm Springs Middle School Principal Jamie Harris said that he was inside the building doing PA announcements for dismissal while Assistant Principal Ben Kase was supervising the bus loop.  Kase alerted Harris that they had a situation outside that needed law enforcement.

Harris said that he and his school safety team immediately went outside and got students to return to the building to their classrooms for lockdown.  School buses were also secured. Harris said that getting students back in the building was top priority.

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New school personnel began their academic year by meeting for trainings on Morgan County Schools procedures, curriculum and goals.

New teachers gathered on Tuesday, August 8 to meet County Directors, complete paperwork, and begin required training. Teachers then attended a luncheon at The Pines, sponsored by members of the Chamber of Commerce. The Culinary Department provided a “boxed lunch” and led the teachers on a tour of the building. 

“This event is always the highlight at the beginning of the school year,” says Kandy Pentoney, Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction, who has worked with the new teachers in Morgan County for 14 years. “The excitement and eagerness to begin a career in my hometown is inspirational.”

All new teachers were invited to participate in Capturing Kids’ Hearts training at Warm Springs Middle School on Wednesday and Thursday. All Morgan County Schools’ staff have been engaged in this training, an initiative led by Kristen Tuttle, Superintendent of Schools. The training is centered on building relationships with students and empowering them to succeed.

This initial stage of training ended at the Morgan County Board of education on Friday, August 11 as teachers learned about the curriculum they will use with students. Professional learning continued on Monday, August 14 with their colleagues, where they continued to prepare to meet their students and families.

“Whether new or experienced, adrenaline keeps all educators going through the beginning days of the school year,” Pentoney said.

Experienced and well-trained teachers serve as mentors to new teachers. They observe, support, listen, and find resources that new teachers may need throughout the school year.

“Responses from new teachers on end of year surveys clearly show that new teachers highly value their mentors. This relationship creates a bond that lasts a lifetime,” said Pentoney.

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