PARKERSBURG — School districts around the state have started entering into what some call “personnel season” or “staffing season” as they look at staffing numbers and prepare for next academic year.

Wood County Schools’ Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources John Merritt told the Wood County Board of Education during the regular meeting on Feb. 27 that they are facing an “unprecedented” situation due to the loss of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ARP-ESSER) funds and shrinking student population.

A release from the district on Feb. 21 said over the past two years, student enrollment has declined by nearly 560 students, causing a reduction in available state funding. It said with the decrease in state funding caused by declining student enrollment and the expiration of ARP-ESSER funds, Wood County Schools is currently over-staffed by 168 employees.

“We’re still very, very early in the process,” Merritt told the board Feb. 27. “We never usually start this process until March. But given the vast amount of work to be done, and the number of people to be notified, we started very early.”

Merritt said his office was approached by Superintendent Christie Willis the day after Christmas break to begin the process.

“So, on January the Second she assembled a leadership team and we began working on that process at that point,” Merritt said.

A letter obtained from a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request showed the district was notified on Jan. 10 by the West Virginia Board of Education that ARP-ESSER funding for 58.89 staff member positions would end and that if the district decided to keep those positions, they would have to find other funding sources. The FOIA request also asked for a list of positions created and affected by ARP-ESSER funding, including administrators, faculty and service personnel, along with the positions and number of employees affected by the RIF (Reduction in Force) and transfer process but was denied citing West Virginia code 29B-1-4 (a) (2), (8).

Merritt said for three weeks his team worked on a list of all the different positions that had to be eliminated to meet funding constraints and on Jan. 30 they began talking to people and looking at those who might be in a unique situation.

“Like an in-building bump, for example,” he said. “So, we went ahead and tried to take care of those things.”

He said elementary principals were given a list of employees to be notified on Feb. 13 and high school principals were given a list on Feb. 15. He said on Feb. 20 they started sending out letters to over 100 employees on the list to be considered for RIF or transfer, with over 400 total notified by Feb. 27. He said some employees could receive up to three or four letters, depending on their extra duties and those on the non-renewal list will receive a letter after the board meets on March 12.

Merritt said all employees who receive a letter will be able to request a hearing with the board and that the deadline for those requests will depend on when they received their letter. Willis said they have received eight requests to this point.

“I would encourage the board to have these hearings as quickly as possible so that if a mistake is made, we can fix something very quickly,” Merritt said.

Boardmember Ron Tice asked when the board could expect a full list of those affected by the RIF and Merritt responded that it would be available during the board’s regular meeting on March 12.

“We feel very confident in the process we’ve done,” Merritt said. “We’ve worked really hard. The whole team has worked very hard.”

Ashlee Beatty, director of curriculum and instruction, said while some programs will be affected and have to end – such as paid after-school classes for high school students wanting to take physical education, health or driver’s education – there will still be free after-school credit recovery programs for high school students. She said while ARP-ESSER funding is ending for some programs, the district is getting funding in other areas to create new programs. She said House Bill 3035 has allowed the district to create the summer Jumpstart Reading Program for students finishing grades K-2.

“We’re very excited about that program,” Beatty said.

Willis said current budget challenges have created very difficult decisions for the district.

“Wood County Schools is working to continue to provide the best educational opportunities possible for our students while being fiscally responsible. We greatly appreciate the support and trust from our community,” she said.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com