| By Dianne Weaver
After a boiling controversy over the employment of former delegate and legislative education chair Jerry Mezzatesta and a superintendent of schools that refused to resign, the WV Board of Education has taken partial control of Hampshire county schools.
The state board said they moved on Hampshire County schools after reviewing an audit report that found the county's board office in turmoil.
An interim Hampshire schools Superintendent Jill Parker was removed and former Tucker County superintendent Cynthia Kolsun has been hired as a temporary replacement.
State board members voted 6-1 to take over the Hampshire school board's financial and personnel decisions.
Candy Canan, vice president of the Hampshire County Education Association, said "This is a huge positive step in the right direction. It's long overdue. The state Board of Education did the right thing by the people of Hampshire County today."
The state board had declared a "state of emergency" in Hampshire and gave county school officials seven months to fix what they called widespread personnel and financial problems.
Auditors said that top Hampshire school administrators hired employees illegally and misspent grants solicited by former House of Delegates Education Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta.
Mezzatesta worked as a "community specialist" for Hampshire schools until he was fired following multiple state and federal investigations.
Some deficiencies were fixed, but many problems persist, according to an audit report.
The audit says that sometimes the most-qualified applicants weren't hired for jobs and some Hampshire teachers weren't licensed properly.
They were critical that the county employs two treasurers, the only system in WV to do so.
Hampshire schools Superintendent David Friend recently resigned after efforts to fire him. Friend didn't report to work for 15 months, citing health problems.
Hampshire school board members pleaded with state board members to postpone the take-over decision for at least 60 days, wanting time to hire a new superintendent on their own.
Board member Parker broke down in tears while defending Hampshire schools, criticizing the audit report as inaccurate. She gave state board members a seven-page statement.
Hampshire school board office employees reportedly told state auditors that they feared top Hampshire school administrators would retaliate or fire them if they went on record about problems.
The state board views the takeover as a response to the system's cry for help.
There was apparent dissension during the state's takeover meeting.
Members Ron Spencer and Barbara Fish urged their colleagues to give Hampshire board members more time to hire a new superintendent.
Fish abruptly left the meeting during the discussion and did not vote on the takeover.
State schools Superintendent Steve Paine said Hampshire school officials had been given plenty of time to correct problems.
Hampshire is the fourth of West Virginia's 55 county school systems now under state takeover. The state board also runs schools in Mingo, Lincoln and McDowell counties.
Currently, school board members in Lincoln and Mingo Counties claim the takeover is related to their failure to agree with school consolidation.
In 1992, Logan County became the first county to be seized
by the state, but control has been returned.
The state seized control of Mingo County Schools in February 1998. Following a surprise inspection, a 10-member review team found a total of 172 deficiencies in Mingo County school operations.
Lincoln County was seized in 2000 and McDowell County fell to state
control in 2001.
Control was returned to the Mingo board, but was taken over again in February 2005, after board members refused to sign-on to the state's consolidation program.
The executive director of the WV School Boards Association, Howard O'Cull said there have been very few successful takeovers by state administrations around the USA.
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