WV State Board of Education’s Response to Audit Not Finished!
The West Virginia Board of Education is not ready with its response to the public education efficiency audit released last year but the board is close according to board President Wade Linger.
Linger had the response on the agenda for Wednesday’s monthly meeting but he says it is not done.
He told MetroNews one problem is the state board does not have its own staff and has to rely on the Department of Education staff to craft the report.
He says that can be problematic because some parts of the audit are critical of the state department.
“So then we (state board members) have to get this thing (the response) and we have to go through it and make sure it has the flavor the board wants not the flavor the department wants because they are the ones being criticized,“ Linger said.
Linger says he does not think it is anything intentional by the department of education staff but that is just the way it is.
The state Board did a retreat earlier this year and went through the report line by line. Linger says some recommendations in the audit on how to run the state school system more efficiently can be handled by board action but others will take legislative action. Linger says the state board will give its opinion on all of them.
“Even if it’s something that requires a law change we’re still giving our opinion about what we think that should be. So we’re not dodging anything,“ Linger said.
The board president said in a way he is glad the report is not finished yet, now that Vision Shared and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce are conducting eight public forums on the audit. He says information from those forums could factor in to the board’s response.
“We don’t think we’re the smartest people in the world. We have our opinions and the information we have in our meetings and everything that we do,“ Linger said. “It will be great to have an opportunity to hear from the public on this.“
Linger says the state Board of Education wants to make sure its response to the audit is relevant and the changes that result from the response can be used to help in the education of West Virginia children for years to come.
Education • Politics | Government | Election • State-WV •
