Independence High cheer coach suspended, concerns over personnel transfer discussed at BOE meeting

Jan. 24—The suspension of a coach at Independence High School was unanimously approved Tuesday evening by board members during a Raleigh County Board of Education meeting.

Melinda Cooper, the head cheerleading coach at Independence High School — according to a roster posted to West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission's website — was suspended for an undisclosed period of time.

Raleigh County Schools Superintendent David Price said he was not permitted to provide any further details regarding the suspension as it was a "personnel matter."

In other business, a teacher from Marsh Fork Elementary School addressed board members about the recent transfer of a special education aide from their school.

Cindy Burdette, a Title 1 teacher at Marsh Fork Elementary, said the transfer of the special needs aide, who was certified in special education, was a huge loss for the school as the number of special needs students at Marsh Fork Elementary is growing.

"We have so many special ed children now," Burdette said. "In years past, we've had two special ed teachers and an aide. Since then, our special ed numbers have almost doubled. I don't know the numbers for sure, but I know they've gotten larger."

Burdette said the school has an opening for a special education teacher, but she said she's worried that the position could be filled with a teacher who is not certified to teach special education.

She added that their special education teachers and aides give medication daily to some of their special needs students and at times need to "restrain children," which is why hiring a certified special education teacher is critical.

"I know (the transfer) is a done deal, but I just wish that, not that it would have been done differently — I just wish that you could have — that somebody could have just thought about our school and the needs of our school," she said.

Burdette also told board members that she emailed a letter detailing these same concerns to board members, the superintendent and others in the district's central office. She said the letter included the signatures of more than 20 members of the Marsh Fork Elementary Faculty Senate.

In the letter, dated Jan. 24, the faculty detailed the ways in which teachers rely on the aide who was transferred, the bond this aide had formed with several special needs students, and asked that the district reconsider and reverse the transfer.

After the meeting concluded, Price told The Register-Herald that the decision to transfer a special education aide from Marsh Fork Elementary to another school was not done lightly or in haste and was done after consulting with the school's principal.

"That decision was not made solely by central office staff," Price said. "There was a lot of collaboration, and numbers dictate a lot. And even though numbers may have grown like they have down there, and we know that, it's still a ratio that is well within the limits of state code."

Allen Sexton, the director of special programs with Raleigh Schools, said the transfer would bring the number of special education aides at Marsh Fork Elementary to four. He added that the school will also have four special education teachers and currently one of those positions is open.

Under the field of special education, Sexton said there are a number of different positions including preschool, severe disabilities and autism, which are positions currently in place at Marsh Fork Elementary.

When filling these specialized positions, Price said the district hires teachers with the proper certifications. In the instance that a certified teacher does not apply, Price said a substitute will fill the position until a permeant qualified teacher can be found.

Like most counties, Price said the district is struggling to permanently fill all its open teaching positions.

"Most of our vacancies usually come in special education, science and math and we're seeing an increase, but as far as openings, we have a lot of substitutes in a lot of positions," he said. "But we do a lot of training with our subs to make sure they're trained to do the job."

Price said the district is also assisting these subs in getting teaching certifications so they can be hired full-time.

In November, MetroNews reported on figures released by the West Virginia Department of Education that showed 1,544 non-certified teachers in classrooms this school year. That is up from about 1,200 last year and more than twice the number from 2015, when West Virginia hired about 600 non-certified teachers.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com