CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The Harrison County Board of Education has unanimously voted to move forward with the Comprehensive School Alignment Plan.
The board made its decision Tuesday night after about 30 residents provided their input on the plan.
The plan includes merging the student bodies of Liberty High School and Robert C. Byrd High School into the RCB building. The students in Mountaineer Middle School and Washington Irving Middle School will consolidate into the Liberty High School building, and elementary students from Northview and Salem Elementary Schools will consolidate into the Mountaineer Middle School building.
Harrison County School Superintendent Dora Stutler has said the moves are due to staffing issues and population loss in the county.
“Loss of population in the county, in certain areas of the county,” Stutler told WAJR Radio last week. “Some areas of our county are seeing a decrease a lot faster than other areas.”
In addition to a steady drop over the last decade, the current Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan forecasts a 2.3 percent drop in population through 2030.
Ryan Deems, a teacher at Mountaineer Middle School and president of the Harrison County Education Association, criticized board members at Tuesday night’s meeting for what he called a lack of communication during the development of the plan. Deems said board members should go to each school on the list to answer questions and provide the school communities more background information.
“Board members should go to these schools and explain their vote, face the faculties, and talk to them,” Deems said. “This should have already been done, but better late than never.”
Some parents have threatened to remove students from the schools in the plan and enroll them in online, homeschool, or other options.
Liberty High longtime track and cross country coach Jerry Burgess told members of the board that the merger of Liberty High School and Robert C. Byrd will result in many runners that will no longer make the team.
“I got to tell you, if I bring these kids over to RCB and try to compete in AAA, that’s not going to happen—you just took that opportunity away,” Burgess said.
Burgess urged the board to find another solution that would preserve the identity of Liberty High for present and past students.
“Where there’s a will there’s a way and this quote-unquote solution you have does not work for us,” Burgess said. “And if you want to feel the wrath of western Harrison County, you vote ‘yes’ for this.”
The state Board of Education will now review the plan.