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School Bailout Bill Lacks Ultimate Consequence · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: House Bill forty five seventy four flew through the House
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  Speaker 1: in a single day. It creates an eight million dollar
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  Speaker 1: emergency fund for county school systems in financial distress. The
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  Speaker 1: immediate catalyst was Hancock County Schools, and let's be blunt,
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  Speaker 1: that system is financially broke. The bill is meant to
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  Speaker 1: provide stability after a state takeover and to make sure
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  Speaker 1: workers get paid. That part matters, but as passed, the
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  Speaker 1: legislation stops short of real accountability. Yes, there are conditions
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  Speaker 1: attached to receiving the money, but the most meaningful consequence available,
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  Speaker 1: removal of the local Board of Education, is missing. The
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  Speaker 1: county's financial officer, superintendent, and assistant superintendent have all been dismissed,
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  Speaker 1: yet the elected board that approved budgets, staffing levels, and
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  Speaker 1: leadership decisions remains in place. The bill gestures toward possible
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  Speaker 1: board removal, but the language is vague murky at best.
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  Speaker 1: So where's the deterrent? Where's the assurance that fadusci responsibility
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  Speaker 1: will be taken seriously? One call to the Department of
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  Speaker 1: Education revealed Hancock County was about one hundred and forty
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  Speaker 1: positions over formula. Did the board not know that. If
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  Speaker 1: they did, why didn't they act before the crisis reached
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  Speaker 1: to this point. Taxpayers statewide are now filling this hole.
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  Speaker 1: They deserve answers. Due process takes time, and it should,
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  Speaker 1: but there's a cleaner accountability tool available. If a county
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  Speaker 1: needs emergency bill out money, the bill should require every
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  Speaker 1: sitting board member to resign. No resignations, no money. That's
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  Speaker 1: how accountability works. In the private sector. Boards are responsible
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  Speaker 1: for outcomes. Some will argue that such a move would
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  Speaker 1: disenfranchise local voters. Maybe, but the taxpayers fitting the bill
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  Speaker 1: live all across West Virginia and their interests matter too.
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  Speaker 1: The money should be appropriated, workers must be paid. Students
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  Speaker 1: did nothing wrong, but unless the board is held accountable,
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  Speaker 1: nothing prevents this from happening again. The Senate should look
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  Speaker 1: to make changes, pass the bill, and then send it
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  Speaker 1: back to the House for further consideration.