Shake-up of superintendents in counties under state control.

Logan County Superintendent Jeff Huffman will step down from the role of district super at the end of June. Huffman has agreed to take a position to oversee and support schools under state control.

CHARLESTON The State School Superintendent Michele Blatt appointed four new county superintendents in Logan, Mingo, Nicholas and Tyler.

“The superintendents will begin to immediately address the issues identified in the counties to ensure student learning and well-being remain the central focus of our school systems,” Blatt said Friday in a statement.

Logan County Superintendent Jeff Huffman, first appointed when the school district was the subject of state takeover in October 2022, will finish up in Logan on June 30th. News of the change circulated quickly around Logan County while staff and students were getting ready for graduation. A screen-cap of a text conversation between Huffman and other unidentified individuals. Mr. Huffman said in the texts he had “been asked to and accepted a position to oversee and support select schools systems that are currently in state intervention.”

That checked out with Blatt’s announcement that Huffman “will transition into a leadership role to support the WVDE in its oversight of counties under WVBE control.”

Huffman’s replacement is current Kanawha County Assistant Superintendent, Dr. George Aulenbacher.

Blatt also announced Dr. Joetta S. Basile as the new superintendent in Mingo County replacing Dr. Johnny Branch. Mingo County was the subject of their own takeover back in March. Dr. Branch’s contract runs out at the end of June. Basile was superintendent in Monroe County for thirteen years.

Both Logan and Mingo County school districts have history with the state department of education. Logan was the first state takeover back in the early nineties. Mingo county spent a decade under state control before gaining back authority to the elected board in 2014.

The state board of education voted to conduct a county takeover of Nicholas and Tyler counties on May 14th. In Tyler County, the county board there had refused to extend the contract for Superintendent Shane Highley past June 30th. Blatt announced Highley will continue on as Superintendent

In Nicholas County, Doddridge County School Superintendent Scott Cochran will takeover the reigns from former superintendent Terrance Beam, who was fired last week following the vote to takeover by the state board.

PHOTO | AM Stone