CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fayette County School Superintendent Terry George has been collaborating with the School Building Authority to come up with a Facilities Plan that would be more likely to receive SBA funding next year.
The SBA turned down Fayette County’s Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan in 2015–where they requested 39 million dollars over three years to consolidate, close, and build anew.
“Our plan is to work with the School Building Authority, the State Board [of Education], and Dr. Martirano to come up with a project that could be funded and successfully completed with an award in December of 2016 at the SBA,” George told MetroNews.
George and SBA Executive Director David Sneed met with the State School Board of Education Wednesday to provide an update on what the parties are doing to attempt to improve the Fayette County facilities through short-term and long-term projects. The collaboration began January 5, according to George.
“We’ve been quietly working to develop a process where we can assess our situation, collect our data, and begin working on a long-range plan,” he said. “That’s what they would like to look at. We have all agreed to cooperate and get on the same page and try to put together a long-range plan for the county that alleviates the current facility issues.”
In the short-term, Fayette County will apply for a Major Improvement Project (MIP) that is capped at $1 million during the SBA’s June meeting. If the MIP is approved, it would build a classroom addition to Midland Trail, allowing the Fayette County Board of Education and State Board of Education to close Ansted Middle School.
“We could relocate students from one of our schools that’s currently in sub-par condition,” George said.
Additionally, Fayette County will purchase portable rooms to move students from Collins Middle School to Oak Hill High School temporarily. George said the portable rooms would lead to the closure of Collins Middle School and relieve overcrowding of the students already at Oak Hill High School.
“That would allow our grades five through eight from Collins Middle to be reunited,” he said. “And also to have them in a facility that is not only safer, but eliminates the overcrowding conditions that exist at Oak Hill and Fayetteville High School right now.”
Eventually, the goal will be to have a different school for the relocated Collins Middle School students.
“Close the current Collins site,” George said. “Relocate all of our students to the portable units, but we want to stress that is a temporary condition. We’re looking at long-term solutions that we would be addressing to the School Building Authority.”
George said that Fayette County would present a new long-term plan with input from the School Building Authority. No details of that plan are yet available, but George said Fayette County would be ready to present the plan in December 2016 in front of the SBA.
Despite the SBA’s input, it is still not a guarantee that they approve a new facilities plan. The plan George presented to the SBA last December was questioned over the likelihood of local matching funds, the overall size compared to what the rest of the state needed, and concerns over the closure of Meadow Bridge High School.
“We’ve attempted to adopt a comprehensive plan based upon a sense of urgency during last year’s funding cycle,” George said. “It was not well-received by the School Building Authority–primarily because of the cost involved.”
George is hoping that, with their input, Fayette County will be on the right track to better quality school facilities.