Community Bulletin
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Board of Education was briefed on the newly launched West Virginia Middle Schools — Bridging the Future Initiative during its July 8 meeting. Led by the West Virginia Department of Education, the initiative is designed to address achievement gaps at the middle school level through targeted professional learning and research-based instructional strategies.
Bridging academic success from elementary to high school is the focus of districts nationwide. Middle school presents challenges as students experience changes in brain development, maturity and physical growth.
The Middle School Initiative is the result of years of research, experience and expertise. Teams of educators will attend specialized training this summer as they prepare to implement middle school strategies in the upcoming school year. More information about the West Virginia Middle School Initiative is available on the department’s website.
I Love WV Public Schools
Members of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators provided information on their recently launched I Love West Virginia Public Schools campaign. County superintendents statewide are working together to tell the positive stories of public schools and advocate for their success.
Additional details are available on the I Love WV Public Schools website.
School safety update
As part of the school safety report, the board received an update on the requirements for maintaining safe and supportive school environments. The report detailed procedures related to hiring and criminal history background checks, investigations, certification revocations and application denials. It also clarified the respective roles and responsibilities of county school systems, the department and law enforcement agencies in these processes.
The full school safety report is available on the department’s website.
County interventions, reviews and support
The department’s Office of Accountability recently conducted on-site monitoring of Harrison County Schools to examine board member effectiveness, efficient and effective county operations and special education. Concerns over the increase of professional and service-level positions above the funding formula and the sustainability of the continued increases were detailed along with issues of board member effectiveness.
The board voted to implement a partial intervention of Harrison County Schools. This gives the state superintendent of schools authority over aspects of county operations, including hiring administrators and principals, high-level finance decisions and some county board decision-making.
The report is available on the July board meeting page of the department’s website.
Board calendar
The board voted to change the traditional meeting schedule for the 2026-2027 school year. Meetings will convene six times throughout the year to allow members time to accommodate the needs of the board and their professional and family demands.
The board will continue to meet the second Wednesday of the following months at 9 a.m. Additional meetings, including special and emergency convenings, will be held as needed. In addition to the August 2026 meeting, the approved schedule includes:
- October 2026
- December 2026
- February 2027
- April 2027
- July 2027
- August 2027
Items shared during the meeting, along with a video recording of the stream, are available on the July 8 meeting calendar page.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting is at 9 a.m. Wednesday, August 12, in Building 6, Suite 600, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, West Virginia.
