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Student deadlines looming in West Virginia strike

PARKERSBURG — A statewide work stoppage by teachers and service personnel has closed schools throughout West Virginia for more than a week, which could affect some testing and application deadlines for parents and students.

Several events planned for the week have been delayed or postponed due to the work stoppage, as public schools in all 55 counties have been closed since Feb. 22.

March is a busy time of year for high school seniors, with deadlines for financial applications, scholarships and Advanced Placement testing all occurring this month.

Teachers and service personnel were out Friday as part of a statewide work stoppage, which has lasted for more than a week now. Public employees are protesting low pay and rising insurance costs.

Officials say the strike is occurring during a busy time for graduating seniors.

Carla McCay, a school counselor and AP coordinator for Parkersburg High School, said testing is set to begin Wednesday and is supposed to occur in a two-week window. Students taking AP classes can take a test to gain college credit for the course if their scores are high enough.

“Hopefully we won’t be out that long, but it could push that testing further down in the month,” she said. Though the schools have some wiggle room with the schedule, makeup exams would usually begin near the end of the month, she said.

McCay said the deadline for the WesBanco-sponsored Tippens Scholarship is March 5, but that deadline likely will be extended to “whenever we get back” in session.

Some deadlines can’t be changed by the school system, McCay said.

Deadlines for the state PROMISE Scholarship and federal financial aid applications ended Thursday at midnight.

“If students missed those deadlines, they can still apply, they just would not be eligible for the fall of 2018, but they would be for the spring of 2019,” McCay said.

McCay also said March tends to be a high-traffic period for transcript requests for college or scholarship applications. Students can still go online to request the transcripts, but those requests must be approved by a registrar to be sent out. McCay said the PHS registrar has been periodically checking in to send those out.

“Students can access their transcripts through their Parchment (online) account and request the transcript be sent to the school or the scholarship of their choice,” she said. “The registrar is still keeping a close eye on everything.”

The Governor’s Academy applications also were due Friday, but officials said that deadline would be extended.

McCay said school officials are using social media, email and other avenues to stay in contact with students and parents to let them know what is needed and when. Wood County Schools Assistant Superintendent Kennith Cook said while the central office has been closed most of the week, administrators have still be stopping into the office periodically.

“I’ve gone in at times and done what we needed to do,” he said.

Cook said the walkout has too many unknown factors for officials to plan ahead.

“This is a fluid thing. It could change hour by hour,” he said.

Cook said one area he knows will not be affected is graduation dates, at least for Wood County Schools.

“My biggest concern with this teacher walkout was to make sure our graduation dates weren’t affected, and they are staying the same,” he said.

But high school seniors aren’t the only ones being affected. Keith Palmer, director of elementary schools for Wood County, said kindergarten registration was put on hold this week due to school closures.

Palmer said while the start date for registration has come and gone, that doesn’t mean it’s over.

“We’re just going to continue the process whenever school is back in session,” he said.

The closure also affects some of the area private schools, though not in the way some may expect. Karen Robinson, principal at Parkersburg Catholic High School, said her school is relatively unaffected because it does not rely on food or transportation services from Wood County Schools. Parkersburg Catholic Elementary School has had to make some changes for students who ride Wood County Schools buses to the private school, she said.

But Robinson said while Parkersburg Catholic has received inquiries about enrollment from parents whose children go to public schools, they cannot transfer in during the walkout.

“Before the work stoppage began, our office sent an email to all schools telling them two things,” said Jennifer Hornyak, associate superintendent of accreditation and technology for the Department of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. “One was to continue our normal school days. We knew we would be affected with buses and possibly hot lunch programs with some of our schools.

“Secondly, we said parents can visit, get tours, meet staff, even put down a deposit, but we cannot let new students begin class until after the walkout ends.”

Hornyak said the Catholic schools system requires school transcripts to enroll a new student. With all of the public schools closed and employees not reporting, they cannot get the paperwork, she said.

“We definitely hope there is a resolution for the walkout soon,” she said. “We are praying for a quick resolution for everybody.

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