CHARLESTON — A bill being considered by the House Education Committee Monday could allow for a pilot program for regional boards of education.

The House Education Committee held a hearing Monday afternoon for House Bill 3387, relating to the creation of a regional school district pilot program. The bill will be up for markup and discussion at a later date.

HB 3387 proposes the creation of a regional school district pilot program beginning July 1 to help address challenges faced by certain smaller county school districts related to factors like accessibility and funding. 

“In many cases, the challenges county school districts face are shared by bordering county school districts,” said House Education Committee Chairman Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, the lead sponsor of the bill. “With this knowledge, the Legislature recognizes the need to…unify and consolidate county school districts when necessary. I repeat, when necessary. It doesn’t mean all districts; just certain ones may be needed to consolidate.”

The bill grants the state Board of Education the authority to implement this pilot program, forming regional districts by unifying and consolidating existing county school districts. Regional school districts, once formed, would be able to consolidate schools, make financial decisions, and hold the same powers exercised by county boards of education. 

The decisions made by the regional board of education would supersede local boards of education, but the State Superintendent of Schools would be in charge of the new regional districts. The state Board of Education would submit rules for consideration by the Legislature for the process of unifying county schools districts into regional districts and the phase-out period for elimination for the districts.

Ellington pointed out that several county school districts are already under state control, such Upshur, Hampshire and Logan counties. Last week, the state Board of Education voted to intervene in the Mingo County school system, citing ongoing political conflicts in the county interfering with student education and achievement.

“It is my understanding that there are several others that are in similar conditions,” Ellington said. “This is a vehicle to at least give counties that have similar geographic areas and similar problems the ability to unify and hopefully solve that problem…If it is something that is successful and works, other counties may consider doing the same thing.”

Jim Brown, the executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association, argued that HB 3387 would do away with local control of county school systems.

“This bill transfers critical decision-making authority from locally elected county boards of education to an undefined regional board governed by the State Board of Education,” Brown said. “This bill will erode local autonomy and the ability of communities to directly influence decisions about their schools, budgets, staffing, and student services.”

Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, said lawmakers need to consider what will happen with grievance procedures for teachers and school staff in the new regional districts, policies for hiring and reductions in force, and how schools would be funded through the state school aid formula. Lee argued that regional boards of education could do more harm to smaller, rural school districts.

“If the goal at some point is to get to 10 or 11 regional districts in West Virginia, then you’re really causing some of the smaller counties and smaller school areas to be in trouble,” Lee said. “Many of you have counties right now that are pretty large and there are schools in the county that feel neglected in their own county. And that’s on a county level. Now multiply that by five in a regional-type situation and you’re really getting schools neglected.”