A proposed third audit of the McDowell County school system could lead to a long-awaited return to local control.
Kenna Seal, head of the Office of Education Performance Audits, will conduct another audit of the school system this fall, according to Liza Cordeiro, communications director for the state Board of Education.
Cordeiro said the state board won’t be able to make a decision about a return to local control for the school system until it receives the results of the latest audit.
The state assumed control of the school system in 2001 after an initial audit found more than 260 deficiencies across the school system.
However, a lot has changed in McDowell County since 2001, and that change has been for the better.
Since the state took over the school system, a number of aging facilities across the county — including several that date back to World War II — have been closed. Several new schools have been constructed, including the new Southside K-8 and a new Welch Middle, and construction continues on the new River View High School and a new Bradshaw Elementary. Both are being developed along a 17-acre educational campus in Bradshaw.
A fourth new school also is planned for the Iaeger community.
It is also important to note that a return to local control doesn’t mean complete local control. If and when the state relinquishes control of the school system, the local Board of Education would still be placed on a two-year probationary period with strict guidelines to follow.
The state board doesn’t plan to release the school system until all of the original 260 non-compliance violations found in the 2001 audit have been corrected. A 2005 audit of the school system found only 17 non-compliance concerns remained. It is our hope a third audit will find that all of the non-compliance issues have been corrected.
McDowell County is enjoying an educational renaissance thanks in part to the hard work of former state-appointed School Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin, who led the fight for new school construction in the county. His hard work now continues through the steadfast leadership of current state-appointed School Superintendent Suzette Cook.
We believe the school system has come a long way since 2001. Old and dilapidated schools have been closed. New state-of-the-art schools are open or under construction. There is a new sense of pride and ownership in the local school system.
The school system of McDowell County is moving in the right direction. It is our hope that the third audit planned this fall can lead to a long-awaited return to local control.
