The Berkeley County School Board accepted Manny Arvon’s resignation and retirement after 45 years of “service.” He leaves with a pension of $14,250 per month and the ability to keep health insurance for him and his wife at a reduced rate.

Following the decision, the Board named former Putnam County Schools Superintendent Harold “Chuck” Hatfield as the interim Superintendent. He will be paid $19,500 per month and the search for a permanent Superintendent will begin this summer.

Considering that Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was offered $353,000 to run New York’s school system which serves 1.1 million children, Hatfield’s salary of $234,000 for running a system that serves 20,000 children is quite extravagant. Where Carvalho would have been paid at a rate of 33 cents per child (he turned down the offer and remained in Miami), Hatfield is paid at a rate of $12 per student.

According to the School Board, “Chuck Hatfield has similar credentials to our parting superintendent with experience.”

Indeed, he does.

Mr. Hatfield was a classroom teacher, a principal, Director of Early Childhood Education, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Pupil Services, and Deputy Superintendent for Putnam County Schools until 2004. In 2004, he became Superintendent of Putnam County Schools, where he served until his retirement in July of 2016. In 2009, Chuck was named West Virginia Superintendent of the Year.

Like Arvon, he allowed the abuse of children and facilitated nearly a paid year’s vacation for a kindergarten teacher & aide at Buffalo Elementary. The aide, Yvonne Francisco, was placed on paid leave for ten months in 2009 after a child’s mother sent a recorder in her son’s backpack and captured abuse.

In December of 2018, teacher Michael Burch was suspended from Roanoke County High School for inappropriate incidents, both verbal and physical. Burch had been employed previously by Putnam County Schools under the reign of Superintendent Hatfield.

In 1999, at Winfield High School, Burch was suspended for two days when he touched a student inappropriately. After the girl said she continued to be targeted by Burch, “school officials did nothing.”

Sounds like Berkeley County has hired the right man for the job.