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Former Marshall County Superintendent Jeffrey Crook Named to Interim Post in Brooke County

Brooke County Board of Education President Theodore Pauls, left, shakes hands with Jeffrey Crook after Crook was named interim superintendent Monday. Photo by Taryn Linder

WELLSBURG — Jeffrey Crook, the former superintendent of Marshall County Schools, is now interim superintendent of Brooke County Schools.

Crook was named to the position during a special meeting of the Brooke County Board of Education on Monday evening. The Marshall County Board of Education had met in special session Friday evening to accept the resignation of Crook, who was hired as superintendent in 2017.

The Marshall County board voted on Jan. 22 not to renew Crook’s contract with that school system when it was set to expire in June, and board members have remained tight-lipped about their reasons for doing so.

Crook’s interim term in Brooke County begins today and ends June 30. Board President Theodore Pauls said the Brooke County Board of Education hired Crook because he is “highly qualified.”

“He has a great reputation and is highly received by students, faculty and the public,” Pauls said of Crook.

Crook said he wants to spend his first day in the district visiting the schools and meeting the students, faculty and principals.

“It is very hard to make a good decision if you do not know what is going on in the schools,” he said.

Crook noted that his focus is on the welfare of the students, teachers, staff and all of Brooke County.

“I know there are some things going on,” Crook said. “The way I see it is it’s an opportunity for a new beginning.”

Crook replaces Toni Paesano Shute, who resigned as Brooke County superintendent on Jan. 23. Shute had come under fire over issues such as administrator pay raises and overcrowded school buses. As word of Shute’s resignation was announced, so were allegations that she had requested and received confidential information from the West Virginia Department of Education regarding Brooke County Board of Education Vice President Stacy Hooper, who also is a special education teacher in Marshall County Schools.

Hooper said some of the information Shute had access to included personal student information. Hooper said she received an email the state Department of Education informing her of the data breach. County superintendents may request access to their employees’ emails for active investigations; however, Hooper is an educator in Marshall County, and as a board member she is not an employee of Brooke County Schools.

With an interim superintendent now in place, Pauls said the board’s immediate concern is passing a levy that would generate $6.1 million. Voting in the special election begins Friday. Among things the levy would fund is Phase II of the board’s payroll plan. Phase II would provide raises to district teachers and full-time staff; Phase I allowed for raises for administrators at a time when the board cited financial difficulties as the reason for closing three primary schools and cutting more than 40 teachers and service personnel.

If approved, the levy also would raise the minimum wage paid to part-time staff from $10 an hour to $12 an hour. This would affect approximately 40 employees and cost the district an estimated $10,000 per year. The proposed levy also includes two stipends for staff of $1,500 and $5,000.

In other news, the board voted against backing West Virginia Senate Bill 451, also known as the education omnibus bill.

The proposed comprehensive education reform package includes creation of a public charter school program in the Mountain State, education savings accounts for parents and a 5 percent pay raise for teachers and school service personnel. The bill allows for differential pay for teachers in some high-demand subject areas and allows teachers to bank sick days and to collect a bonus upon retirement as a result. It would reduce the importance of seniority in hiring and teacher retention, would make it possible to dock teacher pay during a work stoppage and would prohibit extracurricular activities during a strike.

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