photo by: Joselyn King

Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller reflects on her tenure leading the school district as she begins 10th year on the job.

WHEELING — Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller began her 10th year at the helm of Ohio County Schools this past week — with the last decade bringing technology to the classroom as well as unexpected surprises.

The first major change over the years is that each high school and middle school student now has their own Chromebook for assignments.

Next, Miller proposed in 2017 what was initially expected to be about a $72 million district-wide improvement to all school properties. Voters passed a school bond issue in 2018 to begin the work that was initially expected to take about three years.

Construction began, then COVID hit in 2020. Students were forced to learn from home while teachers learned through trial and error the best ways to provide lessons remotely. Those new Chromebooks would get put to use and come in handy.

Also along the way were two teachers strikes in West Virginia — the first in 2018, and again in 2019.

This summer, flooding hit the central office, forcing its temporary relocation. In addition, many students and their families were affected by the tragedy, and the effects will be realized during the upcoming school year as student mental health concerns become an even greater focus.

Most recently, just as Ohio County Schools was cleaning up from the flood, Miller learned she was named “Superintendent Of The Year” by the West Virginia Association of School Administrators.

During her time as Ohio County Schools superintendent, Miller was tapped to serve as president of the WVASA. She was the first woman to serve in the role.

“It has been a very exciting 10 years,” Miller said. “I work with a really great bunch of amazing people, so it was really great to experience those 10 years with the central office team.

“We’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs — from the pandemic to the construction projects throughout the school system. Hiring people and being a part of the WVSSA organization has been rewarding, and just having an impact statewide.”

Miller Talks “Family” and “School Family”

Miller said since being on the job for nearly a decade she has bonded with staff, and “they become an extended part of your family.”

“You see the parts of their lives — children being born, weddings … it’s just an extension of your family,” she explained.

For Miller, the job has also given her the chance to see her children grow up in Ohio County Schools.

“I’ve had the opportunity to experience that not only as their mother, but also as their principal and superintendent,” she said. “It has been very interesting to watch what avenues they take based on their experiences at Wheeling Park High School.”

Miller and her husband David have three daughters — Kayley, Kamryn and Karringtyn.

Kayley attended Stanford University on an academic scholarship, and was head cheerleader there. After graduating and working as an accountant with Goldman Sachs in California she is attending Harvard Business School this fall.

Kamryn is a licensed cosmetologist in Morgantown, where she specializes in hair extensions and coloring.

Karringtyn, meanwhile, is a junior at WPHS this year, and involved in basketball and cheerleading. She has plans to go into the medical field, according to Miller.

“Wheeling Park prepared all three of them,” she said.

Miller said the best part of her job is going to schools and interacting with students, watching the teachers and seeing how they all grow and improve, according to Miller.

“It’s impactful when you see people (teachers) go back to school and further their degree,” she continued. “You see kids graduate and they come back and talk about their experiences. I think that is very meaningful when they talk about what a great education they got, what a great experience they had and what great teachers they had.

“A lot of positive things happen in our school system, and I don’t know if we always celebrate them. Sometimes we just take it as a normal day when there are some very good days.”

Miller also doesn’t think people realize how great the Ohio County Schools system is.

“When you go to places throughout the state, people speak very highly of Ohio County Schools and the opportunities that occur in Ohio County Schools,” she said.

Enrollment and How It Affects the Budget

Ohio County Schools presently has a budget of about $90 million. Enrollment in grades K-12 is expected to be just under 5,000, with a slight increase in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten enrollment.

“When looking at the budget, we closely look at our enrollment,” Miller said. “We think that in Ohio County Schools we provide so many opportunities. But when enrollment decreases, so do budgets. We do not want to eliminate any type of programming or opportunities. So that is something we want to monitor closely so we can maintain the programs we have.”

New state requirements mandate all high school students take a personal finance class. This has school districts scrambling to find teachers for the class, while perhaps having to eliminate other courses, according to Miller.

“That’s going to be extra people teaching extra courses for extra requirements,” Miller said. “But we certainly don’t want to give up those (elective classes that are) ‘extras’ because the ‘extras’ are what make our school district unique.”

An ‘Ambitious’ Bond Project Amid COVID

Ohio County Schools received COVID relief funding through the American Rescue Plan that was used during the school-wide property improvement project. In the end, construction costs exceeded $100 million.

“The bond project was a very ambitious move on our part in the early years,” she said. “We wanted to impact all 13 schools at the time, which are now 14 schools (since the Warwood School was separated into separate elementary and middle schools).

“There was so much work put into this, and our community was amazing to support this. And we have followed through. I believe we have exceeded (expectations for) all of our projects.”

The school facilities have all been updated, with safety upgrades being a priority, Miller indicated. Heating and air conditioning units also were improved, as makerspaces were created at each school.

No, Miller wasn’t expecting the COVID pandemic to hit during the three years of construction.

“Never,” she said. “The crazy thing is when COVID came around, we made decisions based upon state guidelines to keep our schools open.

“But our No. 1 priority was feeding children, and making sure they had food. It was not only difficult for families, but difficult for our staff, as well.”

Miller points to recent standardized test scores from Ohio County as proof the school district “is now where we were when we went into COVID.”

“We’re very proud of that,” she said.

Reflecting on the Past Decade

Over the past decade, there have been changes in technology for the classroom, and that has resulted in educators re-examining their methods, according to Miller.

“The way we teach classes has changed,” she said. “We work very hard teaching children how to think and form opinions, and how they learn in the classroom..

“I work with amazing people, and have a supporting family. Sometimes this job can be very difficult — managing, trying to make great choices, but it’s great to be here. It’s great to work with all these people.”

She indicated the school district has to rise up when there are trying times.

“When tragedies happen and they impact our communities, it’s very, very hard,” Miller said. “The flooding that has happened several times — it’s hard when kids have to go through that.

“When you lose people in the school system it is difficult … or just the things you have to deal with in life. Whenever you get put in difficult situations and have to have those difficult situations, it is part of the job,” she said.