HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Cabell County Board of Education plans to hold a special meeting next week to vote on a revised school excess levy that includes full funding for libraries and parks.
The board meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to vote on the plan.
According to proposed figures released Friday by Cabell County Schools, the Cabell County Public Library will receive more than $1.8 million and the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District will get nearly $576,000.
The previous levy, which included a reduced funding amount of $1.37 million for libraries and $200,000 to parks, failed in the May primary election.
Huntington resident Monty Fowler was a ‘no’ vote. He said if the school board approves the new levy and parks/library officials sign off on it, he will support it once it’s up for a vote again in the General Election.
“I’m going to be joining thousands of other Cabell County residents in voting ‘yes’ in November,” Fowler told MetroNews Friday. “I am beyond gratified the Cabell County Board of Education finally has listened to the community and is doing what we’ve been asking them to do for the last 18 months.”
Residents like Fowler have been rallying to support libraries and parks after former Cabell County Schools Superintendent Dr. Ryan Saxe proposed the cuts. Saxe previously said the cuts were necessary due to financial pressure caused by inflation, a lack of additional funding from the COVID pandemic and student enrollment decreasing.
Saxe resigned in June to become the superintendent in Berkeley County. Former Mason County Schools Superintendent Tim Hardesty then became the Cabell superintendent.
Hardesty said in a Friday news release that one of his top priorities was to restore funding to libraries and parks.
“We are excited that we have a path forward that restores total funding to the Cabell County Public Library and the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District. This resolution and proposed excess levy call will restore full funding to both the Libraries and Parks as outlined in the current approved excess levy. We look forward to moving into the future as a unified group to make Cabell County the best it can be!” Hardesty stated.
Fowler said the change proves that the money was there all along and that Saxe wasn’t being truthful.
“This gives lie to the statement that what he was doing was essential for the survival of the schools, the teacher salaries and all the programs,” he said.
In addition to funding libraries and parks, the levy would provide funding for school safety initiatives, including the employment of School Resource Officers (SROs), salary supplements for all staff, salaries for paid athletic coaches, summer programming, Career & Technical Education and workforce development, instructional support and materials, cybersafety and device security, and maintenance and equipment.
The levy has faced a number of court challenges over the last year. In February, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that would’ve continued funding libraries and parks. In Dec. 2023, a Cabell County Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of libraries and parks after the two parties filed a lawsuit against the school board. The BOE then appealed the lower court’s decision to the Supreme Court.
The levy has provided funding to the library system since 1967 and the parks district since 1983.
If approved, the new levy would take affect at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.