The West Virginia Board of Education voted Wednesday, January 14th, to extend the Randolph County school system’s State of Emergency status for another six months, following a presentation from Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly at the Board’s monthly meeting in Charleston.

“Since I began about a year and a half ago with my tenure at Randolph County, it was very clear and evident that there were difficult decisions facing Randolph County Schools,” Dilly said in his opening statement.

Randolph County was originally placed under a State of Emergency in June 2025 due to long-term financial and operational concerns within the district. At the time, state officials cited issues ranging from staffing and enrollment to budgeting and test scores. Since then, county administrators have been expected to show progress toward stabilization.

After the county entered a State of Emergency in early June, Dilly said he held “over 10 sessions to address realignment and reorganization as far as mergers and consolidations.” In October, the Randolph County Board of Education voted to close Harman School and North Elementary, a decision the State Board later affirmed in December.

Dilly told the Board that the county balanced its FY26 budget on October 21, calling it the result of “a lot of background work” and sacrifice from school staff and administrators. But even with closures and cuts, the superintendent stressed that Randolph County still faces major challenges.

“We also recognize that we are not out of the woods yet,” Dilly said. “We still have roughly about a $2.2 million challenge ahead of us.”

With personnel season approaching, the district is bracing for what is likely to be a difficult round of Reduction-in-Force (RIF) decisions. Dilly told the State Board that Randolph County is currently more than 61 positions over the state staffing formula, even after the closures of two schools and the balancing of the FY26 budget. Because staffing makes up the largest portion of public school spending, cutting positions is often one of the only remaining levers districts can pull. For teachers and service personnel, that means the spring is exceedingly likely to bring transfers and cuts. Those types of outcomes can reshape classrooms and programs even if buildings remain open. While RIF hearings are a routine part of the school calendar in many counties, this year’s process in Randolph is expected to be especially intense as the district attempts to close a multimillion-dollar gap while still meeting student needs.

There are tens of thousands of employees in the state’s public education system in West Virginia, with over 24,000 professional employees such as teachers, counselors, school nurses, etc. It is important to note that in the event of severe RIFs, Randolph County and other areas, layoffs would reach further than just the classroom Many employees within the state’s public education system depend on work not only for income but for the various benefits from an employer in areas such as health insurance, which may be of significant importance in the event they have limited job options outside of working for the state’s public education system. Furthermore, financial struggles would be intensified for many families as a means of income, as a consequence of losing a job in the state’s public education system. Additionally, many of the state’s students would be affected by larger classroom sizes as a consequence of the reduction in employees.