School Closures Story Archives - Page 2 of 2 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

State Of Emergency Implemented For Berkeley County School, Harrison County Schools Consolidated

The West Virginia Board of Education (WVDE) issued a State of Emergency for Martinsburg North Middle School (MNMS) in Berkeley County at its monthly meeting Wednesday, citing issues with safety and academic rigor.

Jeffrey Kelley, assistant superintendent of district & school accountability, reported the results of a Targeted School Environment Assessment that discovered dozens of Title IX violations, hundreds of fights and what one teacher quoted in the report called “an air of chaos” at the school.

“The West Virginia Learning Environment Survey taken in October ‘23 revealed 53 percent of students at Martinsburg North reported feeling safe at school,” he said. “This was compared to a statewide result of 80 percent of students who reported feeling safe at school.”

Martinsburg North is one of 21 schools in West Virginia identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement in the 2022-2023 school year. Identified schools represent the state’s lowest-performing schools and receive intensive support and technical assistance from the WVDE to address critical areas of need.

Based on 2023 West Virginia General Summative Assessment data, 24.12 percent of the school’s students were proficient in English language arts and 5.69 percent of students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics. Both these numbers represent a decrease from 2022 achievement levels and are below the statewide proficiency average for middle schools of 54.1 percent in English language arts and 47.4 percent in mathematics.

Several board members, including Victor Gabriel, expressed shock and dismay at the report.

“This doesn’t happen in West Virginia,” he said. “Evidently, we have a flaw and we’re going to make sure that flaw gets taken care of.”

https://wvpublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/0508-Jeffrey-Kelley-Board-Report-_01.mp3

Jeffrey Kelley, assistant superintendent of district & school accountability, presents the findings of an April site visit to Martinsburg North Middle School to the West Virginia Board of Education May 8, 2024.

The Martinsburg North report was in stark contrast to the meeting’s opening, when the board recognized three exemplary practice schools.

One school from each programmatic area was honored for illustrating outstanding school practice in one or more areas of the West Virginia Standards for Effective Schools. Sherman Elementary School in Boone County, Mountaineer Middle School in Monongalia County and United Technical Center in Harrison County were this year’s honorees.

School Consolidation

The board also approved several mergers and closures of schools in Harrison County.

Liberty High School will be merged into the existing Robert C. Byrd High School, and Mountaineer Middle School and Washington Irving Middle School will be consolidated into a new Liberty Middle School to be housed in the vacant Liberty High School building.

Board president Paul Hardesty told community members that came to speak to the board against the mergers that they are simply the latest in a growing trend of school consolidation across the state.

“Our space utilization statewide is 51 percent,” he said. “Miss Sullivan asked about the funding formula. That’s where we rise and fall in public education and lately, because of hemorrhaging enrollment, we are falling.”

Board member Debra Sullivan previously questioned the wisdom of punishing communities for an outdated school aid formula that no longer reflects the state’s population. Public school enrollment has fallen more than 10 percent in West Virginia since 2016.

On Wednesday, she expressed concern over the size of the proposed consolidated schools.

“You’ll have about 1,100 students in that school, I think it would make it the largest high school in the county,” Sullivan said in reference to the consolidated Robert C. Byrd High School.

“Are we going to revisit class sizes and classrooms and utilization at some point to reflect today’s needs?” she said. “We have students who need more support. That takes having, I think, more staff as the superintendent said, but also it means having fewer children in a classroom. Twenty-five fifth graders is hard to manage anymore.”

Phones In Schools

During board member reports near the end of the meeting, board member Christopher A. Stansbury discussed the potential of banning cell phones across all West Virginia schools.

“May being Mental Health month, one of the things that I had a request for information on is dealing with cell phone use in public schools and some of the mental health consequences that we’re dealing with,” he said.

Stansbury cited data coming out of Norway, where cell phones have been banned in most middle schools (grades 8-10) over the past 10 years.

“They found that there were fewer psychiatric consultations, they had less issues with bullying, they had higher GPAs and test scores,” he said. “Results were strongest, best for girls and then also in schools that had the strictest bans. I think that’s something that we as a board need to take a look at.”

The idea of a statewide phone ban was met with supportive comments from board members Nancy White and F. Scott Rotruck, who said he had been engaged in some independent research on the matter already.

State Board Of Education Approves Closure Of Four Elementary Schools

The West Virginia Board of Education approved the closure of four elementary schools in three counties, raising concerns among community members.

The West Virginia Board of Education approved the closure of four elementary schools in three counties during their meeting Dec. 13, 2023.

H.E. White Elementary School and Lizemore Elementary School in Clay County, as well as Ranger Pre-K through 5 in Lincoln County will close at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. Norwood Elementary in Harrison County was already closed under emergency procedures in July after structural engineers identified issues that made the building unsafe for students.

In their impact statements, both Clay and Lincoln counties cited declining population and enrollment for the closures. Senate Bill 51, which went into effect on June 5, requires impact statements including transportation time of the affected students be written in certain instances of school closing or consolidation.

Clay County said their overall student enrollment has decreased by 19.2 percent, representing a loss of 385 students from 2015-2016 to 2022-2023. Lincoln County stated an enrollment decrease of 7.8 percent, representing a loss of 794 students over the last 10 years.

Several parents and community members spoke in opposition of the closures in Clay and Lincoln.

Christina Mounts said she did not understand why Ranger Elementary was being singled out for facilities issues that are also present in other county school buildings.

“The comprehensive educational facilities plan identified most of these same deficiencies as present in at least five of the other schools in Lincoln County,” she said. “Why are the other five schools not being held to the same standard?”

Mounts called Ranger Elementary the heart of the community, and its closure would not be in the best interest of students’ educational needs.

Mike Nichols said due to its rural setting, the closure of Lizemore Elementary will have a greater impact on the local community than a closure in an urban area.

“Often in urban areas, there are community centers, other schools, other facilities close by where kids can still meet and play and practice,” Nichols said. “No such luxury exists for our community. Our area, the school and the gymnasium are the community center. The ball field and the playground is the park. They go away, we have nothing. Nothing.”

Longer bus routes resulting from the school consolidations was a particular concern amongst the speakers. All three counties applied for waivers to create bus routes longer than 45 minutes for the new consolidated schools. Under WVBE Policy 4336, county boards of education cannot create a bus route longer than 15 minutes over the 30 minute maximum recommended duration for elementary school students without state board approval.

Lynn Taylor spoke against the closures of H.E. White Elementary School and Lizemore Elementary School in Clay County. She and others said they had been told new bus routes could be as long as 70 minutes. Taylor, who has a child with autism, also raised concern of sending her children so far away from their parents.

“What’s gonna happen when he goes to Clay and we’re an hour and a half away from him?” she said. “That’s the things that we see that’s gonna happen with these closures of the schools. The parents aren’t going to be close enough to make kids feel secure. The parent involvement is going to drop in the schools.”

Phil Dobbins, superintendent of Clay County Schools, said the closure of Lizemore Elementary would shorten existing bus routes, most of which run close to or over an hour in length from first pick up to drop off at the elementary school.

“These routes will be shortened by about 10 minutes because buses will not have to make the loop at Lizemore Elementary to safely drop off, get back out on the highway and head to Clay (Elementary),” he said. “So that 10 minute decrease would reduce those times to 50 minutes, 57 (minutes), 43 (minutes) and 50 minutes respectively and again, we’re not creating any new route.”

Board member Debra Sullivan questioned the broader trend of closures and consolidations in the state, with particular focus on the role of state policy in the issue.

“Is it our counties’ fault that the state population has fallen over the past two plus decades?” she said. “Is the school aid formula addressing the realities facing our schools today? Is the formula taking into account poverty rates and percentages of children needing special ed services?”

Sullivan noted that many of the schools being closed in recent years are older, and built to accommodate former, larger populations.

“Only a fraction as many students are now enrolled,” she said. “Applying building utilization percentages based on 20 or 25 students, it’s an old metric. It doesn’t support today’s reality.”

Board President Paul Hardesty reminded Sullivan and the rest of the board that they were not considering an issue of policy, and were required to vote in accordance with the existing regulations.

All four closures and bus route waivers were approved.

Senate Starts Week By Passing A Dozen Bills

It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to healthcare and substance use.

It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to health care and substance use.

First up was Senate Bill 51, which would require an impact statement in certain instances of a school closing or consolidation. School closure and consolidation have been pervasive in the state as the population continues to decline. According to the 2020 Census, West Virginia lost 3.2 percent of its population since 2010.

Senate Bill 258, which would eliminate a $10,000 cap on rent-to-own agreements in the state, was the only bill that did not pass unanimously.

“Currently in the law, it says that there cannot be a rent-to-own contract related to consumer goods which has a cash value, fair market value of more than $10,000. This bill, if it passes, will remove that cap completely,” said Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan. “Consumers and rent to own businesses will be free to enter into whatever contract they like regardless of the amount of value consumer goods which is the subject of the contract.”

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, both voted against the bill but did not provide comment on the floor.

Senate Bill 282 creates the West Virginia Guardian Program. The program would allow county boards of education to contract with honorably discharged law enforcement officers to provide public safety and/or security on public school grounds and buildings.

With all the federal money coming into the state, Senate Bill 439 aims to help one state department complete its projects more easily.

“This is a pretty uncomplicated, easy bill. All it does is streamline the process for the DEP to bid and award contracts.” said Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker. “With all the federal money coming in, they’re afraid they’re not gonna get all the bids out for mine reclamation and some other projects. The Department of Highways is already doing this and it’s working well for them.”

The Senate also passed:

Senate Bill 248, clarifying when excess funds accumulated by boards are to be transferred to General Revenue Fund
Senate Bill 270, adding exemption to permit requirement for cremation for research for institution arranging the final disposition of a decedent who donated his or her body to science
Senate Bill 271, modifying approval process requirements for First Responders Honor Board
Senate Bill 283, updating the language of the Military Incentive Program, which provides a tax credit to employers in the state for hiring certain members of a class of veterans, to include all veterans

Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, addresses the Senate on Monday Jan. 30, 2023. *Credit Will Price/WV Legislative Photography*

One Senator, Four Bills

One-third of the bills in front of the Senate on third reading Monday were sponsored by Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood. He said the bill’s aim was to address a chronic issue in the state.

“Three of the four bills that were on third reading today, deal with the homeless/drug crisis that is especially affecting two or three counties, that being Wood County, Cabell County, maybe you can say Kanawha County, maybe one or two others,” Azinger said.

“In Wood County we have four percent of the population and 25 percent of the beds, and we could potentially have double that if Ohio Valley College is purchased by these folks that have these drug rehab places. These bills are trying to constrict. The issues that we have in Wood County with homeless camps, with crime, as you can imagine, break ins and burglary, it’s just off the charts.”

Senate Bill 239 would require the Commissioner of the Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage community stakeholders in a study of homeless demographic information throughout West Virginia, due by July 1, 2024. Azinger said better understanding the state’s unhoused population is important to ensure the best use of the state’s resources.

“The study is basically just to know where the homeless folks are in West Virginia, why they are migrating from one part of the state to the other and how many of these homeless people are from out of state,” he said.

“We’re getting tons of out-of-state people that come to West Virginia, to the drug rehab places, because we have a lot of beds in one county, Cabell, but also, because we have benefits. We give away, you know, all kinds of freebies, and the word gets out on the street, cross-country, ‘Hey go to West Virginia.’ And that’s what’s happening. We want to truncate that, staunch the bleeding, put a stop to it, and make it reasonable. We’re not kicking anybody out of beds, we don’t want to do that, we want people that want help to get help.”

Senate Bill 243 would require the institutions giving people that help with substance use issues to also provide transportation after treatment has ended. The mandate for transportation is broad-reaching, as the bill requires, “a means of transportation back to the individual’s state of birth, a state in which they have previously lived, or a state where they have a family support structure” be provided. Azinger said there is no funding for the requirement by design.

“Just send these folks back to where they have family, to a state that they’re from, or someplace where they have connections and relationships and a history there,” he said. “We’re just making the drug rehab places have some skin in the game. Let them pay the price back for the bus ticket. Parkersburg paid $24,000 in bus tickets last year. So that’s $24,000 that, in my opinion, the City of Parkersburg shouldn’t have to pay.”

He also stated that the requirement serves two purposes: getting those individuals fresh out of substance use treatment back to their support system, and out of West Virginia.

Azinger also sponsored Senate Bill 241, which shifts the responsibility of investigating and enforcing of, the Patient Brokering Act, as well as Senate Bill 251, which requires the display of the official U.S. motto, “In God We Trust” in all state schools.

“Our country was built on God,” Azinger said. “Our America was birthed by the Great Awakening, religious revivals in the early 1700s was the impetus, was a birthright of the American Revolution. That’s always how we have operated. So why did we take it out? What’s happened since we’ve taken it out? Well, a lot of bad things have happened since we’ve taken it out, so let’s start bringing God back into the schools.”

Completed Legislative Action

Two more bills passed through the legislative process and are now on their way to Gov. Jim Justice for his signature.

Senate Bill 143 is titled Relating to Adopt-A-Stream Program. The bill would establish an Adopt-a-Stream program to promote the cleaning of the state’s waterways, similar to the Adopt-a-Highway program.

Senate Bill 231 transfers administration of West Virginia Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Matching Funds Program to Department of Economic Development.

Both bills originated in the Senate but were amended by the House and returned to the Senate for final approval.

AC, Power Issues Cause Closures of 7 West Virginia Schools

West Virginia’s largest public school district was forced to close seven schools on Friday for problems with its air conditioning and power systems.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the closings add another set of problems as the district struggles to recover from a devastating flood in June that destroyed two schools and damaged others.

Maintenance Director Terry Hollandsworth said “multiple issues” contributed to the problem.

American Electric Power spokeswoman Jeri Matheney said the company’s systems were not the cause for all but one of Friday’s closings.

Two schools, Herbert Hoover High and Clendenin Elementary, were destroyed in the flood. Students at those schools will share facilities at the damaged Elkview Middle and Bridge Elementary. School officials were working furiously to make repairs before the school year began this week.