Hancock school board begins superintendent evaluation
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NEW CUMBERLAND -- The Hancock County Board of Education began its yearly assessment of its superintendent Monday, holding a lengthy executive session as part of the board's regular meeting.
In related matters, the school board will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m., this Monday, for the "discussion and possible action regarding the appointment of a county superintendent to serve a one to four-year term beginning July 1, 2023." The meeting will be held at the John D. Rockefeller IV Career Center.
Under guidance from the West Virginia School Board Authority, evaluations of each county school superintendent are held at least annually, providing an opportunity to review objectives, student performance, and areas such as community relations, leadership of the district and other determined areas.
After conducting its regular business Monday night, the school board, along with Superintendent Dawn Petrovich, entered into an executive session lasting from 7:30 p.m. to 11:20 p.m.
Upon entering back into regular session, board President Chris Gillette read from a statement drafted by the board and its legal counsel.
"We are pleased with the progress on some goals, and understand there is still work to do on others," Gillette said.
Gillette did not go into further detail, and explained additional discussions will be held.
Petrovich did not return to the meeting, with Gillette saying she had left during the executive session.
Petrovich was named superintendent of Hancock County Schools in 2019, signing a four-year contract with the school district at the time.
Prior to being named superintendent, she served as assistant superintendent of schools under the previous two superintendents, has served as county test coordinator, principal at Broadview Elementary and assistant principal at Weir Middle and Allison Elementary.
Earlier in the meeting, Petrovich presented a report on the school system's West Virginia Schools Balanced Scorecard and the Statewide Accountability System.
The Balanced Scorecard, with the most recent available report being for the 2021-22 school year, tracks areas such as English language arts, mathematics, attendance and behavior for elementary and middle school levels, and English language arts, mathematics, attendance, students being on track for graduation, and post-secondary achievement for high school levels.
"We noticed student attendance was a problem," Petrovich said.
According to the report, which is available online through the West Virginia Department of Education's website, schools in Hancock County not meeting standards for attendance included Weirton Elementary, Oak Glen Middle School, Weir Middle School, Oak Glen High School, and Weir High School.
A.T. Allison Elementary and New Manchester Elementary partially met standards for attendance.
Another area of concern, according to the report, was in mathematics, where Weir Middle School, Weir High School and Oak Glen High School did not meet standards. Weir High also did not meet the standard for post-secondary achievement, which Petrovich explained was connected to scores in Advanced Placement course tests.
"All of these things tie in together," Petrovich said, relating attendance and in-school performance.
Petrovich noted the district received a draft report on the standings in November, and officials since have been working to address the issues raised.
"We're working on all of these things this year," she said.