U.S. Attorney Probing Alleged COVID Aid Misuse in Upshur County Schools
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WHEELING -- West Virginia Board of Education member Dr. Jim Wilson believes if past financial safeguards for overseeing the spending of local school districts were still in place, current allegations of misspending in Upshur County Schools might have been caught earlier.
Upshur County Schools is now under investigation by the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia for allegedly spending some of the $16 million it received in federal COVID relief dollars on such things as school conferences, staff retreats, food and beverages and improper payments to staff members.
The Upshur County superintendent at the time was Sara Lewis-Stankus, who Roach hired as his deputy superintendent and served in that role until her resignation in May.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia released a statement Thursday confirming it "is leading the investigation regarding Upshur County Schools and alleged misuse of funds."
"No further information will be released at this time to protect the integrity of the investigation," the statement continued.
The situation led to State Schools Superintendent David Roach being grilled by the state school board Wednesday over the handling of the matter. It was announced late Wednesday that the board would hold a special meeting June 23 to vote on accepting Roach's retirement, effective June 30.
Wilson said there previously was an Office of Performance Audits within state government whose employees traveled to school districts to make surprise visits and audits of their accounts.
"But that was done away with," Wilson said. "The Legislature wanted more local control for counties. If it were still in place, they might have caught it (any misspending) sooner."
A special circumstances review of Upshur County Schools spending was triggered by a routine Local Education Agency (LEA) monitoring review that began in December 2022 and resulted in a report in February. The monitoring visit looked at county spending specifically relating to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds provided to counties through federal COVID-19 appropriations.
Upshur County Schools received more than $16 million through three different ESSER fundings.
Wilson believes Upshur County officials "were working on it" to rectify issues regarding the improper spending of federal dollars, but did so while trying to hide the situation.
The school district has 60 days in which to respond to accusations, according to Wilson.
"You just hate to see a county get in that situation where they (allegedly) misuse federal funds, then (allegedly) try to cover it up," he said.
"If they would have just come out and said they misused funds, maybe they would have had to just pay back the money. Now it could be a real problem for them."
Roach was named state superintendent in August 2022 after serving as executive director of the West Virginia School Building Authority. Shortly after, he hired Lewis-Stankus as his deputy superintendent.
Lewis-Stankus had served five years as superintendent of Upshur County Schools prior to her move late last year to become deputy superintendent last year. She departed the State Department of Education in May.
Wilson acknowledged Roach's reputation came into question when it was discovered his second in command may have been involved with the alleged misspending of COVID relief funds, and that this led to his announcing his retirement.
The West Virginia Department of Education has had multiple departures in superintendents over the last decade.
"Some (of the departures) were voluntary, some weren't," Wilson said. "This one was semi-voluntary. When he (Roach) heard what was going down, he decided it would be best to retire.
"It is a shame as he was an excellent educator. I hate to see him get tarnished with something like that."
Wilson credited Roach with turning around the SBA while he was there.
"He was also in the process of redoing our English and math programs in the state, and he has done an excellent job with that," Wilson said. "He has a long history in West Virginia of being a very good administrator.
"He just fell short of what was going on in Upshur County, and it was one of those things you just can't let go by."
For now, Assistant West Virginia Schools Superintendent Michelle Blatt has been sent to Upshur County to oversee operations there until a new superintendent is hired.
"The situation there is under control now," Wilson said.
Wilson noted it was necessary for the State Board of Education to turn over the investigation to the U.S. Attorney's Office as the matter involved the misspending of federal funds.
The Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Education and the West Virginia State Police have been notified and will handle any investigations needed at the local level, Wilson said.
"We don't have investigatory powers, so we have to turn it over to the U.S. Attorney's Office," Wilson explained. "We were very disappointed that this happened. If we would have had that audit group still functioning, they would have caught this and it would not have been as much of a problem.
"Now I fear it will be a real mess," he said.