By RYAN QUINN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
The West Virginia Board of Education has selected three finalists for state schools superintendent, according to an education official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the finalists are: Steve Paine, who served as state superintendent from mid-2005 through the end of 2010; Kathy D’Antoni, the state Department of Education’s chief career and technical education officer; and Blaine Hess, superintendent of Jackson County’s public schools.
The board has a meeting set for 9 a.m. Thursday in Room 353 of Building 6 on the Capitol Complex, in Charleston. Interviews and a possible vote regarding who will be the next superintendent are listed on the meeting agenda.
When asked if the board will vote on the new superintendent Thursday, board member Jim Wilson said, “I would hope to.”
“It’s not set in stone or anything,” he said, “but the opportunity is there, if we’re ready.”
Wilson would not comment on whether Paine, D’Antoni and Hess are the finalists. Education department spokeswoman Kristin Anderson also would not comment on who the finalists are.
Board President Tom Campbell, in a brief telephone interview, neither confirmed nor denied that Paine, D’Antoni and Hess are the finalists.
He said one person still must notify his or her current employer, and the names are planned to be released today. Campbell said the board came up with its list of finalists late last week.
He repeatedly has advocated for transparency by the board — Campbell and the board did agree to begin live-streaming audio from meetings starting April 12.
In this particular case, where candidates would be identified only a day before a possible vote, Campbell noted that the vote might not take place.
He has said there were eight in-state applicants and four-out-of-state applicants for the job. Board attorney Mary Catherine Tuckwiller said two of the dozen applicants were deemed unqualified.
The board reviewed the applications in closed session.
He served in 2010 as president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a role in which he advocated for states to adopt the Common Core math and English language arts standards blueprint. The CCSSO and the National Governors Association were leaders in the development of the standards.
According to a National Assessment Governing Board biography, Paine also is one of the founders of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which developed the Common Core-aligned standardized tests that the state school board is now planning to move away from. Paine also served on the separate National Assessment Governing Board, which controls the National Assessment of Educational Progress that’s given to statistically representative samples of students across the country.
Following his time as state superintendent, Paine worked for a year as a vice president for New York-based test maker and education software giant CTB/McGraw-Hill, which the state had done millions of dollars in business with during Paine’s superintendent tenure.
Paine’s LinkedIn page says he later worked as a “senior adviser” for the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation. He also worked for California-based Engrade, and later for California-based BrightBytes, which has provided work for West Virginia’s Department of Education.
Jackson County school board members hired Hess as their superintendent in 2006. At the time, Hess was in charge of that county’s high schools, had worked for the Jackson school system for 11 years and had spent time as band director of Kanawha County’s George Washington High.
Jackson had about 4,730 public school students around the start of this school year.
Hess also didn’t return the Gazette-Mail’s requests for comment.
An employee answering the phones at the education department Tuesday afternoon said D’Antoni was out and wouldn’t be back in until today. She didn’t respond to an email sent Tuesday afternoon.
A.J. Rogers, executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators, said all three people are members of his group. He said he’s “elated” to hear the names, saying he thinks they’d all do an “outstanding job” and that he’s glad the school board seems to be “staying in state.” Michael Martirano, the current superintendent, came from Maryland.
Rogers said the job will be “very difficult,” noting possible further budget cuts coming to education.
“I think, right now, we need someone in there who won’t have to spend a lot of time getting to know West Virginia and the issues in West Virginia,” Rogers said.
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