Belle Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

KCS Sued By School Counselor For Rights Violations

A school guidance counselor from Belle has sued the Kanawha County Board of Education and Superintendent Thomas F. Williams alleging the defendants violated her first amendment rights.

Chelena McCoy filed a complaint through her attorney in Kanawha Circuit Court asking for injunctive relief and damages for violation of her first amendment rights along with her protection from retaliatory and discriminatory actions under the West Virginia Whistleblower law.

The complaint stems from temporary policy changes around the West Virginia General Summative Assessment (WVGSA), also known as annual standardized tests. The U.S. Department of Education requires a 95 percent test participation rate from students.

In 2020, these tests were canceled due to the pandemic. In 2021, the school system again required the test and the USDOE allowed a waiver from the 95 percent participation rate and instructed the county to offer various safe testing options for students.

According to the complaint, parents of students who chose to have their students learn remotely during the pandemic became concerned about sending their students into the school for the test, but they had not been informed of their rights to ask for safe testing alternatives.

McCoy asked to notify these parents of their options, but according to the lawsuit “Danielle Burke, Belle’s Principal, and Jon Duffy, Director of Counseling and Testing informed McCoy that she could not do so. Duffy said it was their policy not to preemptively share the availability of testing alternatives for fear it could lower test participation rates, not just that year, but also in future years when accountability standards are reinstated.”

McCoy then reached out to the news media to get the information out. WCHS-TV ran a story on the issue on April 19, 2021 with “interviews with McCoy and Duffy. In the story, Duffy conceded that children were not required to take the test.”

On April 27, 2021, McCoy received a formal letter of reprimand for allegedly providing inaccurate information to the news media.

McCoy-Letter-of-Reprimand Download

According to the lawsuit, “McCoy was later informed by the Board that the letter of reprimand would go into the Board’s personnel file, the letter would follow her within and outside the Kanawha County Schools, including school systems in other states, and that McCoy could face further disciplinary action if there were future infractions.

“The letter of reprimand was also requested by both licensing agencies for school counselors, the West Virginia Department of Education and the National Board of Certified Counselors. Both licensing agencies also requested that McCoy explain in writing her shortcomings and failures as it related to the receipt of the reprimand received by Kanawha County Schools.”

In a brief email, Williams declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Through her attorney Hoyt Glazer, McCoy issued the following statement:

“My case is about the public’s right to complete and truthful information and the right of teachers and school counselors to be honest; it is about a school counselor’s ethical obligation to protect the public when a school board opts to place it’s narrow self-interest above the public welfare by suppressing information that the public has a right to know; it is about the right of public employees to be free from harassment, abuse, and retaliation for sharing factual information that the board may deem unflattering or harmful to them; and it is about basic democratic principles such as free speech and the government’s obligation to serve the people and not itself.”

Putnam Co. Man Identified As Fatality In Belle Chemical Plant Explosion

A Putnam County man was identified Wednesday as the victim in a Tuesday evening plant explosion at the Optima Chemicals Co. in Belle that shook surrounding homes and prompted a temporary shelter-in-place order for several hours.

John Gillenwater, of Hurricane, was transported from the plant to a local hospital but later died, according to the Associated Press.

Gillenwater’s family acknowledged his passing in a statement.

“The family is devastated over the loss of their husband, father and friend John Gillenwater,” the statement said. “John was beloved by many in his community and his church. At this time, the family is dealing with the shock of this tragedy and we ask that you respect their privacy.”

Three others were injured in the fiery blast, which lit up the night sky and sent smoke clouds billowing along the river in Kanawha County.

In a news release from Optima Chemicals, the two employees who were hurt in the explosion were evaluated at a local hospital but have since been released. The fourth person injured was hit by debris while driving nearby, but was able to drive without help to Montgomery General Hospital.

CW Sigman, director of the Kanawha County Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said officials with local regulatory agencies, the plant itself and some of his team investigated the incident Wednesday morning.

“One of our folks was out in the neighborhood and making sure everything’s okay, and it seems to be,” Sigman said. “[And they made] sure there’s no odors or anything like that on either side of the river.”

Sigman said the explosion involved chlorinated dry bleach and methanol, with the latter acting as an accelerant. He said first responders worked to contain the fire but also allowed it to burn off rather than rely too much on firefighting foam, which is known to cause a potentially cancerous chemical known as PFAs.

“Probably the best way to handle it. That way, the firefighting foam, and all that stuff, will not contaminate the water,” he said. “Methanol burns pretty clean.”

Gov. Jim Justice acknowledged the incident in his Wednesday virtual press briefing on the state’s coronavirus response.

A spokesperson for Optima Chemicals said preliminary information indicates that the cause of the incident occurred as a result of a 1200-gallon metal dryer becoming over- pressurized during a chemical-product drying operation. The material in the dryer was a compound used for sanitization.

People who lived in the area reported their houses shook. Emergency officials announced a shelter-in-place order for two miles around the plant, and a nearby road was closed before firefighters were able to extinguish the flames and allow people to move around. The order was lifted early Wednesday morning.

The Chemours Co. formed as a spinoff from DuPont in 2015, and Optima has been a tenant of Chemours at the Belle location since that year.

Optima Chemical was established in 1991 from the chemical division of AFF. The West Virginia location manufactures specialty agricultural chemical products. Optima is headquartered in Georgia.

The 723-acre site is located along the Kanawha River about 10 miles southeast of Charleston. The town of Belle has about 1,100 residents.

A Year Later, No Progress on West Virginia Ammunitions Plant

Nearly a year ago, executives with Ranger Scientific LLC announced plans to bring a large industrial facility to a reclaimed surface mine site in West Virginia.

Several state officials, mostly Republicans, spoke at the event and touted the pro-business legislative agenda they said helped attract the ammunitions manufacturing project near Belle.

But a year later, Scott Stansfield, manager of Quincy Coal Company, which owns the site that would host the plant, tells the Charleston Gazette-Mail that the land has not been sold to the developers, though talks are ongoing.

Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper said though he still communicates with company representatives regularly, there’s no progress to report.

Both Stansfield and Carper deferred further questions to Daniel Pearlson, the company’s CEO.

The newspaper reports that Pearlson declined an interview.

Corps of Engineers Offering Tours of Marmet Locks and Dam

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is offering public tours at the Marmet Locks and Dam in Belle, West Virginia on June 4 in observation of National Dam Safety Awareness Day.

Tours will be offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day, and participants can meet at the Operations Building. Reservations are not required. Cameras are not permitted.

A news release from the Corps of Engineers says the tours will explain why and how the locks were built, how the dam is operated and the benefits the project brings to the local area.

Walker Machinery Company to Layoff 77 Employees

Walker Machinery Company has announced that 77 of its employees will be laid off.

Local news agencies report that the company, which employs about 500 people, says slow economic conditions and a slumping coal industry are forcing the layoffs.

Walker Machinery Company deals Caterpillar equipment and has eight facilities throughout West Virigni, including locations in Belle and Nitro.

Prior to the decision, the company offered employees jobs in other areas of the company’s territory, including relocation packages.

Belle Mayor Glen Chestnut says the layoffs could be devastating to the town’s economy.

Meeting in Belle to Look at Long-Term Impacts of Kanawha County Mud & Rock Slides

In Kanawha County, reoccurring mud and rock slides have led to the on and off closure of a portion of route 60 near Cedar Grove.

A community group has organized a meeting in Belle this evening to discuss the long-term impacts that these reoccurring closures could have on businesses and residents.

The Upper Kanawha Valley Citizens Advisory Council is inviting community members and business representatives to attend this evening’s meeting.

Representatives from the Department of Highways will be there and will discuss the long-term plans for resolving the issue of mudslides and rock slides which have led to the on and off closures.

Businesses that are being affected are also invited to attend.

According to Dave Fletcher, the chairman of the Upper Kanawha Valley Citizens Advisory Council, Appalachian Power and Medford Trucking are among the businesses that have expressed concern.

Residents in many of the communities have reported long delays on their commutes, since they’ve had to take detours along route 61 in the last week.

The meeting will be at 5:30 PM, Wednesday, April 29th at Belle City Hall.