Virginia
West Virginia Superintendent of Schools to retire after facing tough questions related to the investigation into Upshur County Schools
CHARLESTON – West Virginia Superintendent of Schools David Roach will retire this month, according to a special meeting agenda posted by the state board of education meeting late Wednesday.
Roach’s decision comes after a tumultuous day in Charleston during which the superintendent was sharply questioned by West Virginia Board of Education members for the role he and former deputy superintendent Dr. Sara Stankus played in an investigation into financial issues in Upshur County.
Stankus served as Upshur County superintendent until she was appointed as state Deputy Superintendent in August 2022. She retired on June 7 of this year.
What began as a routine report into federal spending during the pandemic ultimately led the state board of education to seize control of Upshur County Schools on Wednesday. The initial monitoring report raised questions about various issues, including whether summer pool passes were a valid use of federal funding. Further developments led Roach to order a special circumstance review into Upshur County finances, which uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars of questionable transactions.
Read about the decision to take over Upshur County Schools here.
West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty told Roach the discussion involving Upshur County Schools was “nauseating and disappointing” after the superintendent initially failed to articulate a recommendation going forward.
“To the people of West Virginia, I’m embarrassed because of the way this is going on right now,” Hardesty said. “This is something that should have been done prior to coming to a State Board of Education meeting. I’m going to leave it at that. I want to try to be professional, to be diplomatic, but I have never seen anything of this nature in my whole 30-year educational career. This is Busch league.”
The board also questioned Roach about why Stankus, who led Upshur County schools during much of the period under review, was involved.
Laura Pauley, the Director of the Office of Federal Programs with the WVDE, said Stankus’s involvement in the federal programs review made her staff feel ‘awkward.’
“On our February 10 monitoring call with Upshur County, she actually joined the call as a deputy superintendent with the department,” Pauley said. “I’m not sure why. Normally it would just be for staff, but I think only one or one or two of their staff joined, and then she joined that call as well. So she would have been involved on that call. Personally, it made it kind of awkward for my staff.”
Pauley said that Roach had the review team meet with Stankus even after learning about their concerns.
“We initially took it to legal and Superintendent Roach, just because we were concerned with what we were seeing as potential implications that she was the one who would have approved what we were questioning,” Pauley said. “And then, after our meeting and providing documentation to Superintendent Roach, he had us meet with her, yes.”
“And [Roach] didn’t continue to meet with you?” state board vice president Nancy White asked.
“He left and asked legal to leave and had us meet with Sara, that is correct,” Pauley replied.
“My fear initially was that including Dr. Stankus at the very beginning compromises that investigation — seriously compromises it,” White said.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Roach gave an exhaustive timeline of the various reviews, which began late last year. After issues related to non-compliance with federal programs were uncovered, the state superintendent began meeting with various groups, including officials from Upshur County Schools, state officials and legal counsel. He claimed Upshur County was ‘not truthful’ in their initial response.
“On March 6, we had another meeting. This time it was me, legal counsel, and federal programs, and at the end of that meeting, I suggested that Dr. Stankus be informed and be a part of that meeting, because we did not get the truth about the pool passes and the wilderness trail passes,” Roach told the board.
Information gathering continued into late April, when Roach began to discuss a special circumstance report. More documents were collected and interviews scheduled, and on May 22-23 an unannounced visit was made to Upshur County.
Hardesty said the state board was not made aware of the issues in Upshur County until May 26.
“The communication where you made the board aware that there were serious problems in Upshur County and you were going to do a special circumstance review was May 26, 2023, is that correct?” Hardesty asked.
“To the to this board, yes,” Roach replied. “But it was made sooner than that to my partners.”
“Well, you work for us,” Hardesty answered. “Let’s keep that in mind.”
State board members grilled Roach about the timeline, with Hardesty saying that things in the report could rise to “potential criminal actions” but the school board was not notified about the findings for months.
“My concern is we’ve known about this since March,” he said. “No action, no activity, no nothing. No correspondence with this board until May 26. I find that troubling on numerous fronts.”
State board of education member Debra K. Sullivan, however, asked why the board was even having a discussion before the special circumstance report was complete.
“We’ve been doing these special circumstance reports for as long as I’ve been on the board, and that’s been almost seven years,” Sullivan said. “And there’s a routine, there’s a protocol that is followed in the department.”
Normally, the report is finalized and the county is given time to correct issues, she said.
“I’m frankly mystified why we’re having this discussion right now,” Sullivan said. “I think that Mr. Roach is becoming the flashpoint for this when the problem is a situation in Upshur County Schools.”
Hardesty said the issue was why it took Roach so long to notify the state board.
“All the questions for Mr. Roach that have been asked so far today are in reference to a federal program monitoring report that was done February 10 and posted for the whole world to see on our website on March 14,” Hardesty said. “We cannot discount that the person at the epicenter of those findings was the deputy superintendent, the number two person in this department … And the question was asked, why was this not brought to the board until May 26?”
Roach’s performance review was on the board’s agenda Wednesday. The special meeting agenda announcing his retirement was posted a short time later.
Like Stankus, Roach will not finish a full year on the job. He was appointed superintendent in August 2022 when Clayton Burch transferred to the School for the Deaf and Blind.
The state board will consider Roach’s retirement during a special meeting on June 23, at which time they will also consider the appointment of a new State Superintendent of Schools, according to the meeting agenda.
Virginia
Virginia woman charged in alleged murder-for-hire plot
A Virginia woman has been arrested and charged in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, according to the Henry County Sheriff’s office.
Gennevieve McGhee, 44, was allegedly captured via audio and video evidence in the meticulous planning of a murder for hire, the sheriff’s office said.
McGhee is accused of meeting with a confidential source at her residence in Ridgeway, Virginia. The source was acting under law enforcement direction and utilizing a recording device to capture evidence.
TEXAS INFLUENCER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT
She allegedly discussed detailed instructions on payment arrangements and instructions for carrying out a robbery and murder.
McGhee is charged with criminal solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit a felony.
INDIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL CHARGED IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT ON SIKH SEPARATIST LEADER IN NEW YORK CITY
McGhee was taken into custody by deputies from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday and is being held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center with no bond.
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The case remains under review by the Henry County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Additional information on the case is not available at this time, officials said.
Virginia
How to Watch & Listen to West Virginia vs. No. 24 Arizona
The West Virginia Mountaineers (4-2) will meet the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats in the third place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis midseason tournament for the sixth meeting between the two programs.
West Virginia vs. Arizona Series History
Arizona leads 2-3
Last Meeting: March 28, 2008 (NCAA Tournament) WVU 75-65
When: Friday, November 29
Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas, Imperial Arena (3,900)
Tip-off: 3:00 p.m. EST
Stream: ESPN2
Announcers: Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli
Radio: Tony Caridi (PBP), Brad Howe (analyst) Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College(Radio affiliates)
WVU Game Notes
– West Virginia was scheduled to play in the 2020 Battle 4 Atlantis. The tournament was moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., due to COVID, and the Mountaineers won the renamed Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.
– WVU is 45-16 in in-season tournaments since 2007.
– With a win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU defeated a Top 5 AP team for the second consecutive season. Last season, the Mountaineers downed No. 3 Kansas in Morgantown, 91-85.
– Prior to the overtime win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU had lost six straight overtime games.
– This is WVU’s fourth trip outside the United States and Puerto Rico to play a regular season game. WVU played in Cancun in 2013 and 2019 and opened the season in Germany in the 2017 Armed Forces Classic.
– West Virginia is the only team in the country that has two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game from last season — Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg)
– West Virginia is 201-55 against nonconference teams in regular season games in the last 21 seasons.
– The Mountaineers have posted a winning nonconference record in 31 of the last 32 seasons.
– WVU is 265-99 in its last 362 games against unranked teams, including winners of 148 of its last 180 at the WVU Coliseum.
– This is the 116th season and 122nd year overall for WVU basketball, which began in 1903.
– Darian DeVries, who led Drake to six consecutive 20-win seasons and has a career .731 winning percentage as a head coach, was named the 23rd head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University on March 24, 2024.
– DeVries has a record of 154-57 (.731) in seven seasons as a head coach, including a 59-16 (.787) mark in the last two-plus seasons.
– This past August, the men’s basketball team went to Italy for a 10-day tour and won all three of its games against international competition.
– West Virginia returns just 2.8 percent of its scoring from last season’s team (Ofri Naveh).
– The Mountaineers are led by a pair of transfers in Tucker DeVries (Drake) and Javon Small (Oklahoma State). Last season, DeVries was named an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention selection, while Small earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.
– In addition, Eduardo Andre (Fresno State), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), Sencire Harris (Illinois), Amani Hansberry (Illinois) and Jayden Stone (Detroit Mercy) will all see considerable action this season.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the 20-member Julius Erving Preseason Watch List, giving annually to the nation’s top small forward.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the preseason Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the John R. Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watch List.
Virginia
NBA Draft: West Virginia Duo Produce Big Numbers in Upset Over No. 3 Gonzaga
West Virginia got off to a hot start at the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis by knocking off undefeated Gonzaga 86-78 in overtime in their first-round matchup. The Mountaineers have received strong performances to begin the season from two upperclassman transfers: Javon Small and Tucker DeVries.
With each player delivering standout performances, it’s time to start considering them seriously as draft prospects.
Let’s take a closer look at their outings in this big win and dive into their seasons as a whole up to this point.
Tucker DeVries finished this game with a stuffed stat line of 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and four blocks. This level of versatility clearly illustrates the type of player he is, as he looked solid in nearly every aspect of the game. He has good positional size at 6-foot-7 and plays with a very high IQ on both ends of the floor. His defensive impact was especially noticeable, as he consistently made impactful plays, including a steal that led to free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation. DeVries finished the second half on a 5-0 run, which gave West Virginia momentum to capture the game in overtime.
DeVries has had a solid all-around season leading up to this performance, averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, two assists, 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks, with shooting splits of 36.6%/40.7%/81.3%. If he were to be drafted following this season, it would likely be in the second round, but his versatile play style is very promising.
Javon Small led the Mountaineers in scoring during this upset victory, contributing 31 points on impressive shooting splits of 50%/40%/81.8%. In addition to his scoring, he also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out two assists and added one steal and one block. Small is a quick and slippery guard who stayed in attack mode throughout the game, translating well into fast-break opportunities. Rarely staying in one spot on offense, Small kept the floor spaced and forced his defender to fight through traffic to keep up with him. His offensive approach was patient as he waited for his defender to get off balance before attacking.
Before this game, Small had averaged 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, four assists and three steals. He leads the Mountaineers in points, assists, and steals, while providing a noticeable spark on a nightly basis. Small is now at his third school in four years, with similar statistics in each of his previous two seasons. As an older guard, it is not guaranteed that he will be drafted, but if this level of productivity continues throughout the season, he may receive an opportunity to prove himself at the next level.
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