CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The superintendent who oversees the West Virginia School for the Deaf in Romney said she has talked with students about their problems with cafeteria workers, faulty air-conditioning and building conditions that led to a protest last week.

The protest resulted in 26 secondary school students being suspended after they refused to return to class, said Patsy Shank, superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

"That was a reasonable request, to return to class," Shank told members of the state Board of Education at a meeting Thursday.

State Board of Education member Barbara Fish had asked about the incident at the school, which houses students in grades 7 through 12

One day last week, "40-some" students sat outside Shank's office in the rain, she said. She asked to speak with two or three of the students about the issues.

The talks were not successful, and several students were upset and refused to discuss the problems with her, she said. She later received a list of their concerns.

Students were frustrated that many cooks do not use sign language or practice cleanliness during meals.

Cooks will be required to wear hairnets, change gloves more frequently and not eat while they serve food, Shank told students in a presentation last week. Cooks will also take sign language classes.

Students were also upset with a campus swimming pool being closed, and they are tired of the gymnasium's old rubberized floor.

A bid is out for a new ventilation system in the pool area, Shank said, and school officials might replace the gym floor with a wooden floor.

School officials will also look at replacing air-conditioning window units in the girls' dorm and will have an expert look at the entire heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system to see if it needs replaced.

Students were also frustrated that they might miss a regular trip to Kings Dominion amusement park in Virginia.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The superintendent who oversees the West Virginia School for the Deaf in Romney said she has talked with students about their problems with cafeteria workers, faulty air-conditioning and building conditions that led to a protest last week.

The protest resulted in 26 secondary school students being suspended after they refused to return to class, said Patsy Shank, superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

"That was a reasonable request, to return to class," Shank told members of the state Board of Education at a meeting Thursday.

State Board of Education member Barbara Fish had asked about the incident at the school, which houses students in grades 7 through 12

One day last week, "40-some" students sat outside Shank's office in the rain, she said. She asked to speak with two or three of the students about the issues.

The talks were not successful, and several students were upset and refused to discuss the problems with her, she said. She later received a list of their concerns.

Students were frustrated that many cooks do not use sign language or practice cleanliness during meals.

Cooks will be required to wear hairnets, change gloves more frequently and not eat while they serve food, Shank told students in a presentation last week. Cooks will also take sign language classes.

Students were also upset with a campus swimming pool being closed, and they are tired of the gymnasium's old rubberized floor.

A bid is out for a new ventilation system in the pool area, Shank said, and school officials might replace the gym floor with a wooden floor.

School officials will also look at replacing air-conditioning window units in the girls' dorm and will have an expert look at the entire heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system to see if it needs replaced.

Students were also frustrated that they might miss a regular trip to Kings Dominion amusement park in Virginia.

Shank said the problem had been that not enough of the school staff volunteered to go on the trip. Still, the trip is being planned and Shank said she would go herself.

Before the protest, teachers and staff knew about many of the students' concerns, but kept quiet, Shank said.

"I think there's culpability all around," she said.

Still, she said she would take ultimate responsibility for the breakdown in communication.

"It was a very difficult week last week," she said. "It took me totally by surprise."

Also Thursday, state school board members voiced their support for three failed bills the Legislature might consider again during a legislative session later this month.

At the request of state board President Delores Cook, the board members would support legislation to create innovation zones, which would allow individual schools to bypass current state mandates and be more flexible in how they teach children; a bill to provide extra help to struggling students in grades 3 and 8; and legislation that would allow a school system enough leeway in the school calendar to make sure students get 180 days of instruction.

The school calendar bill would probably make it necessary to add days or weeks to the school year.

All three measures failed during this year's regular session.

Gov. Joe Manchin announced he would reintroduce the bill this month to offer remedial help to third- and eighth-graders. The students would get in-school, after-school and summer-school instruction. The other two bills are up in the air.

Also Thursday, State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said students from flood-ravaged Gilbert High and Gilbert Elementary schools in Mingo County, along with children at Wyoming County's Huff Consolidated Elementary and Middle School, might not have to take the state and federally mandated WESTEST 2 exam. Some other schoolchildren in the flooded areas might also receive waivers, Paine said.

Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.