State liaison assigned to Marion County following superintendent contract controversy
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CHARLESTON -- Marion County Schools avoiding becoming the latest school to be placed in a state of emergency or direct intervention by the West Virginia Board of Education, but it will be watched closely.
The state Board of Education voted Wednesday during its regular monthly meeting in Charleston to direct State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt to assign a liaison to Marion County Schools to ensure education officials there are executing corrective action plan following issues over the renewal of Marion County Schools Superintendent Donna Heston’s contract.
Alexandra Criner, director of the Office of Accountability for the state Department of Education, told board members that her office conducted an onsite review at Marion County Schools following a controversy regarding the non-renewal of Heston’s contract by the Marion County Board of Education, though her contract was eventually renewed for one year.
“In February … the office of accountability began receiving correspondence from Marion County stakeholders after a controversy surrounding the local board’s decision not to renew the superintendent’s contract,” Criner said.
Criner said the Office of Accountability made visits to Marion County Schools to interview Board of Education members, select central office staff and school principals. Following those interviews, the Office of Accountability produced a report outlining its findings for the county to adopt a corrective action plan. But recent actions prompted the department to bring matters to the attention of the state board.
Last week, a federal lawsuit was filed by Heston and Kristin DeVaul, administrative assistant for human resources at Marion County Schools against the Marion County Board of Education. Heston and DeVaul accused the three county board members -- members Donna Costello, Kevin Rogers and James Saunders -- of harassment, illegal monitoring, and false allegations that Heston and DeVaul were engaged in an intimate relationship.
According to the Dominion Post, Costello, Rogers and Saunders voted against the renewal of Heston’s contract, though Saunders later reversed his vote and joined county board members Tom Dragich and former board president George Boyles in approving a one-year extension. Saunders is now the president of the board, with Rogers and Costello serving as vice presidents.
While Marion County Schools avoided being declared in a state of emergency, Wyoming County Schools was not so lucky. The state Board of Education formally declared a state of emergency for Wyoming County Schools due to significant operational and leadership failings.
This mandate requires local officials to undergo remedial training and develop a comprehensive improvement plan within thirty days to avoid a total state intervention. Criner told state board members that a June review identified critical deficiencies across nearly all operational areas in Wyoming County.
“The review yielded concerns with board governance, including issues with transparency, meeting management, and public confidence, including failure to post agendas in advance, public disputes during meetings, irregularities in meeting recordings, vague agendas, and outdated superintendent evaluation information on the district website,” Criner said.
The review looked at the conduct of Wyoming County Schools Superintendent John Henry, including limited superintendent accessibility, canceled leadership meetings, and attempts to coordinate interview responses during the state’s visit. Leadership was found to prioritize facilities over academics, including the elimination of a key director position without a plan for maintaining instructional support.
According to the review, the county’s personnel director was excluded from disciplinary investigations, and the district failed to enter disciplinary records into the state portal since November 2025. There is a documented perception among staff of a risk of retaliation for speaking out.
The review team also found fiscal and facility mismanagement, including more than $590,000 in unspent federal funds that were nearing expiration at the time of the review. The district utilized informal agreements, lacked a formal work order system, and the superintendent reportedly made unilateral staffing decisions that exceeded funded positions. Some facilities are operating at utilization rates as low as 28.8%, raising significant questions regarding operational efficiency.
Wyoming County makes for the 10th public school system that is either in a state of emergency or direct intervention by the Department of Education. While Logan County remains under state intervention, the board voted Wednesday to return federal program management to the local county board. Roane County remains under a state of emergency, while Mingo, Upshur, Nicholas, Tyler, Hancock, Boone and Harrison are under state intervention.