As many of you know I am a supporter of the future for the children of Wetzel County. Some 57 years ago I was a graduating product of the system, and to be honest, I was an average student. Not many “A’s”, no “F’s” but some “D’s”. An average student. My wife attended the same school and she was a good student, paid attention and did her homework, and helped me with mine. Mary was considered an above average “B” student. Our son graduated 33 years ago, and was a confirmed average student with “B’s” and “C’s”. A good student but had only the interest to graduate and go out into the world.

With that background into my family’s educational history in Wetzel County, you should also know that Mary went on to have a successful career in the public health sector, our son graduated from Fairmount University with a degree in engineering. And today is an EPA inspector with the state of North Carolina. And as for myself, I believe I pulled myself up by my military boot straps, got an education after hours, and used that to find a good job that provided me and my family with a solid standard of living.

All this was possible because our foundation was built in the Wetzel County school system. Were all things perfect and good, no, but little in our world ever is. I believe you take what you were given and build on that to have your own future and destiny.

Why am I telling you my family’s past history? I wanted you to know that schools, teachers and budgets are only part of the equation when figuring the success of a school.

In a few weeks you will have the opportunity to choose who you want to be the members of the Wetzel County Board of Education. Those whom you choose will step into the largest educational project the county has ever experienced. When it is completed, I believe we will be proud of the future the present board gave to future generations.

Last week I visited the chosen site and was given an idea of the future building of the new school. There will be an area where a small, but functional farm will help guide students in the FFA to have hands-on experience with agriculture and livestock. Our current tech center is becoming too small for the growing demand for their courses taught there. The future school will have an eye on developing subjects so that students can gain hands-on experience and step out the doors of the school and find good jobs. Math, and science labs that will be the foundation for students who someday may be going to the moon, or beyond. All this because the board had the foresight to remember their elected jobs were to give students the tools to be part of the future they chose.

With this in my mind I want to tell you of my feelings on candidates I have heard speak, and seen their online posts. My thoughts and words are neither an endorsement or rejection of any candidate, but my opinions alone.

A few years ago, I had concerns on the budget, and the schools’ expenditures. Mr. Jeff Lancaster provided me with an in-depth copy of the budget and helped me to understand aspects of the complex financial report that I was not prepared to comprehend. After some time, I saw how it all came together. Each line became clear when considered in the big picture.

There are candidates running for board seats, and they are basing much of their campaign on the board’s expenditures and expanding budget. They have chosen to do this at a time when the levy to help with school supplies and teachers’ salaries is coming up for a vote. They appear to be asking, can more be done to motivate teachers into becoming part of the solution and not a problem.

I will not judge the goals of candidates nor their ability to understand the complex education system beyond numbers on a page. I will however say that bringing the school’s report card down to simply financial mathematical numbers is a limited view of the issues. In advanced math I was taught complex problems are only answerable with unseen variables to be considered before solving the problem. What are those unseen variables that are not factored into the budget, as a line item. Social and economic equations that cannot be written on a ledger sheet. As for those who are basing their bid for a board seat on their ability to say, NO!

They are not part of the solution but part of the problem. Nor those running who are throwing financial mud-covered numbers on the wall, to see if they will stick. This is not looking for answers, but bringing fear to concerned voters who will decide if the school levy will pass or fail. This could very well change the entire dynamics of the school’s operation for years to come.

Variables to consider that cannot be placed in an equation, student hunger. Many children depend on the schools to provide a good healthy meal each day. Home life, as many as 70% of the kids in school are being raised by foster parents or grandparents, or someone other than their biological parents. That makes a difference, not saying it is good or bad, but teachers will tell you it makes a difference. Teachers and aids sometimes are the only adults in their lives that show concern for the child and their welfare.

In Wetzel County there are three school districts. Those running for the board will each represent one of those districts.

District #1, by a recent census survey. Population: 4,600. Average age 47.6. Within the 227 square miles of the district there are 20 individuals per square mile. This is the largest district and is mainly rural. Average income per individual, $28,000. Per household, $51,000. Children under 18 that are below the poverty line, 32%, that equals 161 children. Parent or guardian with high school education or equivalent, 85.6%. Bachelor’s degree, 10.2%.

District 2 population 4,336. It covers 127 square miles, mostly rural. Population per square mile, 34. Annual income per person, $34,000, per household, $67,000. Persons in poverty range 9.8%. Children in the poverty range 9%, that equals 51 students.

District 3 population of 5,135. Average personal income per individual, $32,000, and per household $60,000. Average age 44.5 and under 19, 9%. Population per square mile 1,920. Those people considered under the poverty line, 15.5% and under 18, 10%, that equals 46 students. Education with high school or equivalent, 94.2. Those with bachelor’s degrees, 23.8%. This district runs from Steelton along the river to Brooklin.

Total number of students below poverty line, 260. Number of students in Wetzel County, 2,205. Percentage below the poverty line, more than 11%

The BOE budget is not the question citizens of the county should ask, it should be directed to our county commission. They set rates for each of the longtime school levies. If you live outside a municipality your rate is 40%. Inside a municipality, 33%. Don’t confuse annual taxes and the need to pass the children’s and teachers support levies.

When judging the report card for a school system in West Virginia, all factors must be considered. There is little doubt that areas of our system could use more support and standards can always be set higher. But to ask to be elected as the guardian of that system, I believe it takes more than a willingness to say, NO. And it takes more than numbers and using them as the reason to say that is why we are in the middle of the state’s report card. School boards are there to work through problems, and not be the persons defining the shortcomings in the system and giving no answers. It takes a family dedicated to making improvements, and that is what the people of Wetzel County want in their next board members, as I see it Through the Lens.