West Virginia
Special Education Numbers Increasing Despite Overall Enrollment Decline – West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A new analysis of special education data hopes to advance understanding and solutions for students with the greatest need.
During the past five years, enrollment in West Virginia’s public schools has declined by nearly 10 percent. In 2017, 270,613 students were enrolled in West Virginia public schools. By the fall of 2023, that number had dropped to 245,047.
However, educators like Rachel Brown say during the same period the numbers of special education students have gone up.
“Everyone’s overworked because our numbers keep rising,” she said. “And our county has done a lot of cuts this year, because our enrollment numbers have gone down, but we couldn’t cut. Our numbers have gone up.”
Brown is the intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/AU) special education curriculum specialist for Kanawha County Schools. She oversees more than 60 self-contained classrooms across the county, where students with the most complex needs, who require the most support, are placed.
The increase is not unique to Kanawha County, the state’s largest school district.
“It’s increasing everywhere,” Brown said. “I was discussing with a specialist yesterday. Ten years ago, she was in a rural part of the county. And I was like, I bet you had a sweet, tiny little classroom of like, five, because our maximum self-contained is 12. And now in the same location, we have two self-contained classrooms at this school, and they’re both full. So that’s a huge change in over a decade.”
A new analysis from the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs at West Virginia University’s Rockefeller School of Policy and Politics is quantifying some of those changes.
“In West Virginia, it is a problem of some magnitude,” said Samuel Workman, director of the institute. “We’re talking between, depending on the year you look, anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000 students. So it constitutes about one in five in the current year of students, 20 percent of our students. That’s a great number of our young folks who are on independent educational plans.”
Credit: Samuel Workman/West Virginia University
Workman and his team analyzed the last five years of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act data (IDEA), from the West Virginia Department of Education. The report compiled a data set from 2017 to 2023 addressing the demographics, geography and trends in independent educational plans (IEP), in the state.
“States will monitor things like how often these kids are in normal classrooms, or standard classrooms, I should say, any disciplinary actions taken against these children, and sort of assessing performance over time, both for their sake and relative to other students,” Workman said.
Workman’s study shows the breadth of conditions – both physical and developmental – covered by IEPs. They run the gamut from difficulty with vision or hearing, to psychological issues.
The largest category is now “specific learning disabilities,” which Workman said the federal government defines as psychological problems with processing language. But categories like autism and developmental delay have witnessed increases, especially in recent years.
“Which I understand to be associated with a whole host of environmental problems in children, substance abuse in a home being one,” Workman said. “But those are the sorts of things we are seeing at least at present time, explosion is probably too strong of a word, but certainly sharp upticks in the number of children categorized within those disability categories versus the traditional sort of hearing disabilities.”
The analysis also reveals interesting demographic distributions, including the fact that a near two-thirds majority of students on IEPs are male.
Brown said her experience aligns with that finding, as does research into the diagnosing of the condition.
“We do have a higher rate of boys in our autism classrooms,” Brown said. “The research [shows] females are able to mask better, so they’re not identified as frequently or as often early on. Even with ADHD, boys are often identified before girls.”
Credit: Samuel Workman/West Virginia University
More data and study is needed to better understand such discrepancies, as well as the relationship between the various factors driving the trends, including the opioid crisis and lack of access to resources like early childhood interventions.
Workman credits the state’s Department of Education for making the data easier to access. He hopes his study helps to make it easier to use and understand and ultimately bring more eyes to the issue.
“The way I organize data is not the way a public health person would organize the data, it’s not the way an education professional organizers data,” Workman said. “Continuing to work to make that data as integratable as possible with our public health systems and our education systems will work wonders in understanding the nature of the problem, what we’re dealing with.”
Workman said with one in five students having IEPs, the far-reaching impact of education – from the immediate impact of each student to the broader implications for workforce development and businesses – makes a better understanding of special education needs imperative.
“The degree to which we can better understand these children, help them to the extent possible to lead sort of productive, rich lives, both at home and at their place of work and all this sort of stuff, the better off the state’s going to be. So it’s a real problem with a real need for lots of eyes,” he said.
Brown agrees.
“I always have hope, that’s the best part of being a special educator, you always have to hope,” she said. “I’m hoping that this will help make special education a priority, and just education in general a priority in our state.”
West Virginia
Belle residents learn about, discuss proposed Clean-Seas plastic repurposing plant – WV MetroNews
BELLE, W.Va. — A plastic repurposing plant was the topic of a multi-hour town hall meeting in eastern Kanawha County hosted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Over 50 residents in the town of Belle attended a public comment hearing Tuesday evening to learn more about a proposed plastic-conversion facility planned for the area. The plant is planned at the former 84 Lumber property along Dupont Ave.
Clean-Seas West Virginia is the company seeking an air quality permit from the DEP. The Clean-Seas company website said it converts plastic through a process called pyrolysis, breaking down plastic at the covalent bond level, and repurposes it into new plastics, fuels, and industrial chemicals.
Tuesday’s hearing featured DEP and its Division of Air Quality personnel outlining their role in the process, in addition to taking questions from Belle residents. The hearing is mandated in the permit process in a 30-day public comment period. Public comments about the permit will be accepted until July 27 at 5 p.m.
DEP officials emphasized that they can’t control which businesses come to the area, but rather they determine whether Clean-Seas is compliant with DEP and air quality rules and regulations.
Concerns included a myriad of topics. Residents voiced concerns as to how emissions would affect children, how much oversight the Clean-Seas company would have from the DEP, and the overall safety of the proposed plant itself.
Joe Kessler with the Division of Air Quality was one of the officials who took questions during the meeting. One of the concerns he addressed was compliance from the company and how much monitoring would take place from air quality division. He said because their staff can be stretched thin, they can’t constantly monitor every single facility across the state. Instead, he said companies fill out compliance forms — and crews make inspections as necessary.
“Whether we like it or not, we don’t have enough staff to have somebody all the time at every facility across the state,” Kessler said. “That’s obvious. So, we have to build in monitoring for the company to do, and that they have to certify it. There’s a form they certify it with.”
“If we catch them lying, and there are ways to do that, if we feel they’re lying, we can prosecute them criminally, then we can shut the plant down, so there’s a weight behind that,” Kessler continued. “No company is going to want to be issued a violation for lying on their certified record.”
Kessler said it’s not a foolproof system, but rather the reality of having a limited staff.
Morgan King, climate and energy manager with the community organization West Virginia Citizen Action Group, addressed the DEP personnel and said she’s heard a widespread desire to block Clean-Seas from coming to Belle. She said West Virginia Citizen Action is against the plant’s arrival, citing safety concerns.
“The operation poses potential health risks to the people in the upper Kanawha River Valley, especially for those most vulnerable,” King said. “Our students, local schools, and community members who live nearby, and visit the library, the clinic, and the shopping complex.”
Community organizer and Belle resident Eric Caruthers said his entire family would be affected by the Clean-Seas plant. He said his nephew attends Riverside High School, and his sister teaches at Midland Trail Elementary; both schools within a mile from the Clean-Seas property. Caruthers said his parents also live nearby.
Caruthers asked the Division of Air Quality to deny the Clean-Seas’ request for an air permit.
“As a resident, my concern is not based on rhetoric. It is based on proximity and process reality,” Caruthers said. “Heating 50 to 200 tons of plastic daily releases volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and fine particle matter.”
Caruthers said giving the permit to Clean-Seas would be taking an “unacceptable risk” of harming the Belle community’s health and well-being. He said air permitting relies upon honest self-monitoring and accurate emissions reporting on the part of plants.
“Clean-Seas has repeatedly mischaracterized this operation to the public as a zero emission, green process, when independent data shows that this plastic oil is primarily destined to be burned as industrial fuel,” Caruthers said. “They have already broken community trust through shifted timelines and misleading narratives. These behaviors have caused us to lose all confidence in Clean-Seas as an organization of integrity.”
The pyrolysis process remains “unproven,” Caruthers said, and the Belle community should not be a “testing ground for industrial experimentation.”
Another concerned resident, Martha “Marty” Gibson, said she has health challenges that could be impacted by Clean-Seas.
“I’m asthmatic,” Gibson said. “(When) I see somebody burning a fire, I don’t step out of my house. That makes me a prisoner in my house. and I shouldn’t have to do that. I’m not going to stand still and have a company come in here who only wants to make money, doesn’t care about the people of this state, and let them make me a prisoner in my house as well.”
Clean-Seas has brought equipment to the property already, which is within their rights before receiving a permit, Kessler said. They just can’t “hook up” anything unless that permit is secured.
Learn more about DEP permitting processes here.
Here’s the latest on cycloporiasis in NYC: cases, symptoms
Both the state and city health department are investigating an increase of cyclosporiasis cases in the region. Here’s the latest.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states are investigating a surge of cyclosporiasis cases across the country.
Cyclosporiasis, or the disease caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, has been confirmed in 1,645 cases as of July 13 and is under investigation in more than 5,100 additional cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC officials said a cluster of cases in four states − Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky − are likely linked.
Data from state health departments suggests the total number of cases could be higher that what’s been publicly reported. In Michigan, officials are tracking more than 2,600 infections as of July 13, according to the state’s Health and Human Services department.
The parasitic infection can cause explosive diarrhea, cramping, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Officials are probing whether a food or produce item is the source of a surge in cases of cyclosporiasis.
CDC officials said symptoms can appear two days to two weeks after someone is infected with the parasite. The organization also issued a health alert to doctors, other medical providers and public health officials about the outbreak.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Help Wanted
Upshur County Schools is hiring a part-time MedEd nursing instructor — a licensed RN or certified medical assistant — to lead high school students through hands-on training in clinical and hospital settings, in partnership with WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital. Read more →
This story brought to you paywall-free, courtesy of the My Buckhannon team and our community partners
FRENCH CREEK, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources announced the West Virginia Wildlife Center will host its 10th annual Rendezvous Celebration Friday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
The event will be held rain or shine and will feature an immersive living-history experience spanning precolonial times through the Civil War era.
“The Rendezvous is one of the Wildlife Center’s most anticipated annual events, and reaching our 10th year makes it even more special,” said Mark Biller, wildlife biologist at the West Virginia Wildlife Center. “This gathering brings West Virginia’s frontier history to life in a way that is both educational and engaging for visitors of all ages.”
Historical reenactors, dressed in authentic period clothing and demonstrating daily life from early American history, will establish a living-history encampment on the grounds of the Wildlife Center. Visitors will have the opportunity to observe traditional skills including blacksmithing, woodworking, beadwork, sewing, cooking and knife making. Additional demonstrations will highlight the role of a frontier scout, showcasing bush survival techniques, weapons history and gunsmith artifacts that reflect the challenges and ingenuity of early settlers.
Regular admission rates apply, and Wildlife Center passes are accepted. Admission is $4 for adults ages 16 and older, $2 for children ages 6 to 15 and free for children five and under. Both cash and credit cards will be accepted at the gate.
The West Virginia Wildlife Center is located 12 miles south of Buckhannon on Route 20 and approximately 29 miles north of Flatwoods. For more information about the event, visit WVdnr.gov or call the Wildlife Center at 304-924-6211.
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