After years of complaints about infighting at the Mingo County Board of Education, West Virginia state education officials investigated the board's procedures and financial decisions.

They arrived in February. And the next month, they took over.

Mingo County is one of eight counties — that serve nearly 25,000 students — where the state is changing how things are run.

The state already controlled Upshur and Logan counties, took over Mingo, Tyler, Nicholas and Boone counties in recent months and warned Roane and Randolph counties that they could be next.

In all but one of these counties, students are performing below the state's average for academic achievement, but this is not a major factor in the decision. The state takes over counties for administrative and financial reasons.

Over t

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