Local control: Audit key to future of McDowell schools

After eight years of state intervention, the findings of a third audit could determine the future direction of the McDowell County School System.

A team led by Dr. Kenna Seals, executive director of the state Office of Educational Performance Audits, recently conducted a school-by-school inspection of all 13 educational facilities in McDowell County. The visit was the third audit of the McDowell County School System since 2001.

The original 2001 audit found 260 non-compliance violations, and set the stage for state intervention. A follow-up 2006 audit found 17 non-compliance violations and 10 partial non-compliance violations — a significant improvement from the original 2001 audit, but still not good enough to allow for a return to local control.

The findings of the third audit are scheduled to be made public on Jan. 13. That’s when Seals will present his findings to the state Board of Education. Seals has declined comment on the findings of the audit until it is presented to the state board.

However, Seals reports the school system has made significant progress in recent years.

“Well, obviously with those 260 non-compliance (violations) we cited earlier — many of those have been resolved,” Seals said during an earlier interview with the Daily Telegraph. “They are building schools down there now. There has been a lot of progress made in several areas if you look back at the original non-compliances. They have closed a lot of their facilities. Switchback is closed. Panther is closed. Gary is closed. And of course they’ve gotten money from the Army Corps of Engineers and the SBA (School Building Authority). So progress is being made.”

We agree. The McDowell County school system has come a long way since 2001.

A number of antiquated schools have been closed, and a number of new state-of-the-art schools have been constructed, including the Southside facility, Mount View Middle, Bradshaw Elementary and the soon-to-be-opened River View High School. Morale has improved, and student achievement is on the upswing. Simply put — things are looking better across the school system.

Whether the school system has corrected all of the original non-compliance violations cited in 2001 and 2006 is another question. It is our hope that those have been corrected, and that state officials can begin the process of a return to local control.

School officials in McDowell County, including former School Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin and current School Superintendent Suzette Cook, have worked long and hard with the help of a dedicated staff of teachers and support personnel to make improvements across the school system. It is our hope that all of their hard work will lead to a long-awaited return to local control.

In addition to McDowell County, Mingo, Preston and Grant counties also remain under state control. The state also retains partial control of Lincoln County.

We would love to see McDowell County removed from that list.