Tag: Nicholas County Schools

Dispute Resolution Sought in West Virginia School Plan

The state education board says a dispute resolution company out of Massachusetts will come to West Virginia on Monday to find a solution to the dispute over Nicholas County’s plan to consolidate schools into a single campus following flood damage.

State Superintendent Steven Paine tells the Beckley Register-Herald that the company will interview those involved and return in December with recommendations.

State Board of Education President Thomas Campbell says dispute resolution is standard for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in situations like this one.

The state board rejected Nicholas County’s consolidation plan. Paine said Gov. Jim Justice sponsored the resolution process to be fair to everyone involved after West Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled the state board has the constitutional authority to accept or reject the county plan.

Nicholas County School Consolidation Case Continues

The fight over school consolidation in Nicholas County continues. The West Virginia Board of Education, which is against consolidation, released a statement Thursday saying they’ll appeal their case to the West Virginia Supreme Court. 

After the devastation caused by the June 2016 flood, there’s been an ongoing and contentious debate over school consolidation in Nicholas County. The Nicholas County School Board is seeking to merge two middle schools, two high schools, and a vocational school all into one campus near Summersville. Damage from last year’s flood closed Richwood Middle, Richwood High and Summersville Middle schools. 

Several students, teachers, and residents in Richwood have fought against the county board’s plan to consolidate. 

Last month, the West Virginia Board of Education voted against consolidation in Nicholas County for the second time.

Recently, the case went before Kanawha County circuit judge Duke Bloom, who sided with the Nicholas County School Board, and said the state board acted “arbitrarily.”

Now, the West Virginia Board of Education has released a statement saying they are appealing the circuit court’s ruling. According to Kristin Anderson, communications director for the State Board of Education, an attorney with the WV Attorney General’s Office will appeal the case with the West Virginia Supreme Court Friday morning.

W.Va. School Board Votes Against Nicholas Co. Consolidation, Again

The West Virginia Board of Education has voted a second time against consolidating schools in Nicholas County.

The vote came one day before a court hearing in a lawsuit against the state over the first vote.

Members of the state Board of Education voted 6 to 1 Monday to refuse to accept a consolidation plan approved earlier by the Nicholas County Board of Education.

It’s the second state board vote on the issue. The first came on June 13 and was followed by the filing of a lawsuit.

In that suit, Nicholas County board members claim the state arbitrarily denied the consolidation plan. That’s why state board President Tom Campbell said the board took a second vote on Monday– to clarify its decision.

But Campbell said his board still wants to work with Nicholas County.

“We tried to offer to expedite a plan with the School Building Authority president, me and the president of the Nicholas County board and they said no,” Campbell said after the vote.

“So, I’d just like to see more cooperation and less distance from the people who are affected by the decision.”

The consolidation plan presented to the state would combine five schools all onto one campus in the Summersville area – Richwood High and Middle Schools, Summersville Middle, Nicholas County High School, and the county’s vocational school.

Richwood High and Middle and Summersville Middle were all damaged during the June 2016 flooding that devastated much of southern and central West Virginia. The schools have not been reopened.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom will hear arguments in the case Tuesday morning.

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