HANCOCK COUNTY, W.Va. — Hancock County has become the most recent West Virginia school district to be placed under the control of the West Virginia Board of Education, joining Mingo, Upshur, Logan, Tyler, Nicholas and Boone counties.

“What we do have is that there’s been some problems in terms of accountability,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said. “When you have that many schools systems that are being taken over, that’s not a good sign. You have to be very proactive to get the word out, make sure those dowers are being used effectively.”

Last week, Morrisey named James Paul as the newest state school board member, his first appointee as governor. Morrisey has recently been critical of the state school board on a range of issues, including oversight of county board finances.

“I named a new state school board member, that was my first pick and I’ve asked him to try to get to the bottom of a lot of these issues because West Virginia doesn’t have a spending problem statewide- we’re actually the middle of the pack, between 25 and 27 in terms of spending per pupil,” Morrisey said.

A major question surrounding the situation at Hancock County Schools involves audits. The county had been operating more than 100 positions over state staffing formulas, and the state school financial operations officer told lawmakers in a committee meeting last month that the county failed to appropriately report through the West Virginia Education Information System. An investigation is still ongoing.

“It raises a question of exactly how these audits have been conducted and what else needs to be done to make sure money can’t fly out the door like that or that these districts are going to be run in a fiscally responsible manner,” Morrisey said.

Meanwhile, House Bill 4574 and House Bill 4575 have been held up in committees since Jan. 20. The bills would allow the state board to administer supplemental funds beyond the school funding formula and would appropriate $8 million to fund the shortfall supplement fund.

Asked whether the bills could move before the end of the legislative session in March, Morrisey said, “I’ve had some discussions with some people in the Senate and the House and I know that there is an interest in getting something done. We’ll keep talking about that and I do expect that there will be something that happens in the next few weeks before the session ends.”

A woman and a man from West Virginia were arrested after the woman pulled a handgun during a child custody exchange in Tarentum on Friday night, according to court records.

Tarentum police arrested Alexis Sage Simpkins, 22, of Morgantown, W.Va., and Joseph Erickson, 24, of Fairmont, W.Va., after responding shortly after 9 p.m. to a report that two people with handguns were outside a home in the 300 block of West 11th Avenue and threatening the people there, according to their criminal complaints.

As an officer approached the home, a car with West Virginia plates was backing out of the driveway. The officer used his vehicle to prevent it from leaving, the complaints state.

Numerous people near the porch of the home pointed at the car yelling, “That’s them.”

Simpkins, the driver, and Erickson, the passenger, were both detained. According to the complaints, Simpkins admitted to having two handguns and gave the officer permission to retrieve them from the car.

A Ruger .380 in the center console was not loaded. A 9mm Ruger on the passenger side floor was loaded with a live round in the chamber, the complaints say.

Neither Simpkins or Erickson have a concealed weapons permit in Pennsylvania or any state, police found.

Police said they learned from the people at the house that a child custody exchange was taking place there. They said Erickson became aggressive and a fight took place between him and a man at the house, during which Simpkins retrieved one of the guns from her vehicle, loaded the chamber by moving the slide back, and pointed it at four others, the complaints state.

The Tarentum officer arrived shortly after that moment. The officer reported that the man from the house had a large abrasion and a “goose egg” on his forehead, according to the complaints.

Simpkins and Erickson were each charged with a misdemeanor count of carrying a firearm without a license. Simpkins was also charged with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person; Erickson was charged with disorderly conduct.

They were arraigned Saturday and released on their own recognizance, according to court records. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for 1:15 p.m. March 4 before District Judge Carolyn S. Bengel.