Published: May 30, 2008 11:29 am      

Experience with school board enlightening

I am not sure whether I should be surprised or saddened by what I heard at the meeting of the Mineral County Board of Education May 27.

While addressing the request of a dedicated cafeteria manager from Burlington, W.Va., Mr. Hackworth read from the W.Va. code that certain job classifications received specified benefits and compensation.

Mr. Hackworth repeatedly mentioned the fact that the W.Va. legislature had seen no reason to revise the pay structure, so he recommended that the board abide by the W.Va. code rather than go out on its own to further compensate Mineral County employees.

During another discussion regarding the proposed "Home School Instruction" policy, Mr. Hackworth made no mention of the fact that the same W.Va. legislature that he cited earlier has also seen no reason to update the W.Va. code regarding home schoolers attending classes as needed in the public schools. (The existing W.Va. state law does not restrict the number of classes that "home schooled" students may attend during any one semester. Parents of "home schooled" students have the option to supplement their children's home school education by enrolling them in public school classes as needed.)

Instead, Mr. Hackworth put forth a Mineral County specific "Home School Instruction" policy for the Board's consideration.

I see this as yet another example of how Mr. Hackworth uses very selective methods to forward his agenda.

Mr. Hackworth went on to say that other counties have instituted policies regarding the percentage of the instructional day that home schoolers may attend public classes, but he failed to mention exactly which counties he contacted and to whom he spoke.

The concerned home schoolers of Mineral County have also made phone calls to a number of counties within West Virginia, and we have learned that most of those counties have no county specific policy regarding home schoolers attending public school classes. Some counties mentioned case-by-case examples, but that was about the extent of it.

I have been following the home schooling issue very closely ever since two of my nephews and one niece were removed from their classes at Keyser High School in January at the hand of Mr. Hackworth. Even though their mother followed all of the guidance provided to her by the county while registering her children for classes, Mr. Hackworth took it upon himself to remove them because he thought that home schoolers should not be attending more than 50 percent of the instructional day in public school classes.

After Mr. Hackworth removed these three students from their classes, he proceeded to draft a policy for board approval that would justify his actions. The policy will be open for public comment until voted on by the board during the June 12 board meeting.

I find it rather interesting that Mr. Hackworth drafted a policy only after taking such action since the W.Va. code states that it is the responsibility of the county Board of Education to decide such matters.

People have asked me, "If your children are home schooled, why do you care about whether or not Mr. Hackworth limits the number of classes they can take at the public schools? You should either home school them or not." My response is that I want my children to have full access to any public school courses that my tax dollars pay for as long as they meet the requirements to attend those classes.

Most people do not understand that home school children get last pick when it comes to registering for classes. If another full time student registers for a class after a home schooler, the full time student gets in the class first. Also, most people do not realize that the three students removed from their classes at Keyser High School in January were at the top of their classes and continue to be at the top of their classes at the Mineral County Technical Center.

My nephew stated that all you need to do these days to be number one in class is to show up and turn in your homework. Does anyone else find that disheartening? Is that really the state of our school system in Mineral County?

My experience with the Mineral County Board of Education and Mr. Hackworth over the past three months has greatly enlightened me and a number of other very well educated citizens of Mineral County.

We are continuing to follow the home schooling issue; however, we have also found the proposed bond levy to be of concern as well. I will be submitting additional letters to the editor to address the bond levy and other issues in the future in order to inform the citizens of Mineral County regarding the activities of our elected and appointed leaders.

Robert L. Fout
Ridgeley, W.Va.