Wood County school closure, consolidation plan gets approval from state BOE

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia Board of Education have approved a public school consolidation, closure and merger plan for Wood County.

The vote was 7-1 during Wednesday’s BOE meeting in Charleston with Miller Hall, BOE vice president, casting the lone vote in opposition after hours of discussion.

“We would rather not be in this position, but we’re in it,” said Dave Perry, BOE president.

Debra Sullivan, a BOE member, agreed.

“It’s heartbreaking to even think about closing a school. A school, it’s a living being. It’s not a building. It’s the people. It’s the relationships,” she said, citing financial reasons as the driving factors in her vote for the plan.

“If these closures and consolidations do not move forward, I cannot fix the schools. I can’t do it without cutting, without really destabilizing the system personnel-wise,” William Hosaflook, Wood County superintendent, told the state BOE before the vote.

He detailed the school consolidation, closure and merger plan which included the following:

– closure of Worthington Elementary School in Parkersburg and the merger of grades K-5 into Emerson Elementary School in Parkersburg;

– closure of McKinley Elementary School in Parkersburg and merger of grades K-5 into Jefferson Elementary Center in Parkersburg;

– closure of Waverly Elementary School in Waverly and consolidation of grades pre-K-5 into the new Williamstown-Waverly Elementary School along with grades pre-K-5 students from the closing Williamstown Elementary School in Williamstown;

– merger of 6th grade students into Wiliamstown Middle High School along with 6th grade students from the closing Williamstown Elementary School.

Six people spoke against portions of the Wood school proposal at the start of Wednesday’s BOE meeting, including Senator Donna Boley (R-Pleasants, 03), a supporter of Waverly Elementary School.

“This is truly one of the community schools that should be honored and respected, not one that this body should be closing,” Boley said.

Two of Sara Hart’s children attend Waverly Elementary School.

“My greatest concerns are that Waverly loses programs for our students that many thrive on. Our school testing has been some of the best in the county due to those programs,” Hart said.

Rick Olcott, the president of the Wood County Board of Education, said the closure decisions were made after careful deliberations which weighed declines in enrollment and funding against community school needs.

“West Virginia is facing challenging financial times with revenue streams less than projected and right-sizing is not only a Wood County school system imperative, but a consideration for many organizations,” Olcott said Wednesday.

“Closing schools is not a desired strategy, but it’s essential given the demographic picture and future financial projections.”

Members of the Wood County Board of Education approved the school closure and consolidation plan on Oct. 23, 2019 after seven public hearings that were held in late September and early October.





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