On July 6, the Harrison County Superintendent and Board of Education held their regular meeting. It was the first of the month and also the first of the new fiscal year.
No inkling of the news that would soon come was evident during the quick 10 minute proceedings that focused on typical housekeeping topics. Last week came the news that the West Virginia Department of Education would intervene in Harrison County Schools.
Among other significant concerns included reports that Harrison County remained 239 employees over the formula for school funding and used $16 million of financial reserves rather than cut personnel.
The school aid funding formula, a topic of focus in the past two years, uses a seven step process to determine which counties receive what. It appears Byzantine on the surface because state education officials and the State Legislature have tweaked it over the years in an attempt to ensure fairness and to address challenges faced by some school systems, but not others.
Much of the school aid formula is used to pay for what the State finds is an appropriate amount of personnel for the system related to its student population.
Factors accounted for include the “1,400 floor” for the most sparsely populated counties, reflecting the unique challenges they have faced in transportation and other fields, especially after consolidation over the decades. These schools have a formula that provides extra funding to meet those specific challenges.
In 2018, the State Legislature gave added flexibility to school systems. Prior to that year, a school system had to employ the number of personnel that it paid for. After 2018, a school system could employ “under the formula” and retain the extra funds for other needs. The most successful systems, such as Pendleton County, typically employ under the formula. That county enjoyed approximately a little under $2 million million carryover from the 2026 fiscal year to the 2027.
One of the secrets of its success lay in finding ways to use other personnel funding sources and moving employees back and forth while revising job descriptions. It all took place within the parameters of the rules and the law. While some personnel faced the threat of a “reduction in force” layoff, the central office was able to avoid that. That county also has a very frugal policy in terms of employment as well.
Its restrictions have come under scrutiny in recent years as different school systems face different stressors. Hardy County, for example, has a large legal immigrant population of workers at its poultry processing facilities. That school system has 15 different languages spoken in it, including tribal tongues from Guatemala with no written form. That same school system also has a much larger than typical special education population.
Hardy County Schools superintendent Sheena Van Meter has suggested that an easy fix for the school aid funding formula could lie in increasing slightly the number of both faculty and service personnel paid for by the formula. The formula does not cover the salaries of most central office staff. That remains the complete responsibility of the county school system.
In December 2025, Pendleton County Schools Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer J. P. Mowery informed his board that “we employ under the formula, which is how we survive” and later added that a fiscally conservative approach is “how we balance the budget and keep all our schools open.”
He also explained at the time that school systems that employ over the formula generally enjoy added funds from a school levy or are in significant financial trouble. Mowery is a regular speaker on these issues with the West Virginia State Legislature and also often goes to Capitol Hill to educate Congress about the need to retain various federal funding streams that benefit West Virginia schools.
According to the WVDE, Harrison County Schools has both benefited from a school levy and also has fallen into significant financial trouble. The system has 1,430 total personnel, 239 over the formula and only about 150 of those funded by the excess levy.
This has taken place during a period of declining enrollment. Harrison County Schools has made unpopular decisions to consolidate schools such as Liberty High School as it faced increasing financial difficulties. It also passed a spending freeze in March of this year, but the report expressed doubts as to its effectiveness in addressing the shortfall. Problematic was the information gathered that suggested some principals worrying about delivering service adequately during the freeze while others reported no change at all.
Paul Hardesty, who recently returned to an unprecedented fourth straight term as West Virginia State Board of Education president, levied strong criticism at Harrison County Schools. He shared that one problem seemed to come from the presence of four former teachers on the five-man county Board of Education.
“Nobody wants to RIF their friends, but you know what? You have what’s called a fiduciary responsibility to manage the taxpayers’ funds in an appropriate manner to offer the best opportunities for the children of Harrison County,” Hardesty was quoted by West Virginia Public Broadcasting as saying. “I’ve read this report three times, and I get more aggravated each time I read it. It says that basically that certain employees are off-limits because of certain board members. That don’t work, can’t work. I’m anxious to hear what the recommendation is to the department, but I think the good Lord told Hezekiah, you got to get your house in order, Harrison County, you better get your house in order.”
He noted that “almost 20 percent of the counties in this state” have found themselves in significant trouble due to a refusal to make the practical choices.
Repeated poor financial performance by a minority of school systems has fueled calls to abandon county systems altogether and create a regional system. Additionally, those systems that have made tough choices and performed within their financial parameters have to endure the added scrutiny, criticism, and regulation that often comes to address the poor performers.
Yet the report upon which the action was based includes more criticisms than the simply financial.
A five-member team from WVDE, four from its Office of Accountability, one being Jeffrey Kelley, Associate Superintendent of External Operations, reviewed HCS. Another member was Alexandria Criner, Director of the Office of Accountability. Criner told WV Public Broadcasting that“While enrollment has decreased steadily since 2019 the per pupil expenditure and personnel in excess of the funding formula have continued to increase.”
Its criticism focused on the “overreach” of the Harrison County Board of Education into HCS central office and school operations. Hardesty noted that a county Board only has oversight over a single employee, the Superintendent. The Superintendent has authority over operations.
The report cited continual “Board overreach into administration, including interference in staffing, scheduling, and discipline, advocacy for certain schools, programs or individuals, undermining of the Superintendent’s authority, and bypassing the established chain of command.”
One example described lay in “a lengthy board discussion focused on the honor society graduation regalia at one high school.” More significant problems have come from Board members basing selections of curriculum and programs based on teacher feedback when those decisions fall under the exclusive purview of the Superintendent.
It went on to cite a number of areas where Board members had acted beyond their legal authority in “active personnel investigations”, “grievance and discipline matters”, “and situations involving potential conflicts of interest or impropriety.”
While the State report noted that the Board supported the Superintendent, it also accused it of tying her hands in terms of her legal authority. Additionally it called for a “targeted review” of special education services.
Frank Devono Jr. , President of the Harrison County Board of Education, responded in a lengthy statement last week. He noted that HCS received “a positive independent audit from the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office” sharing that it “presented no findings” and “the Board’s financial statements were fairly presented in all material respects.”
He shared that “the Board’s overall net position increased by more than six million in this fiscal year” and that WVAO would have shared concerns if it found “immediate financial distress.”
Additionally, in recognition of the overstaffing issue, Devono stated that “the Board, the Superintendent have been reviewing options and brainstorming ideas to reduce staff responsibly.”
A loss of 400 students since 2024 and about 1,800 since 2019 have taken a toll on funding, shared Devono. He listed a number of steps taken by HCS and the Board to address budgetary concerns.
“We wholeheartedly acknowledge and respect the authority of the West Virginia State Board of Education and the Office of Accountability,” shared Devono, who added “unequivocally, we remain committed to collaborating with the Department of Education to address concerns identified in that report.”
Randolph County, which recently hired Pendleton County Middle/High School principal Dr. Derek Lambert as its new superintendent, has been released from its WVDE intervention. Roane County Schools, however, will continue under State supervision.
