WESTON, W.Va. — Middle school students, faculty, and staff in Lewis County are making preparations for a different education environment this year.
The Robert L. Bland Middle School in Weston was ravaged by heavy rainfall and floodwaters on July 21. Because of that, the Lewis County Board of Education delayed the start of the school year for the middle school students. Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced earlier this month that the state would provide funding to assist Lewis County in moving middle school to WVU Jackson’s Mill this year.
Lewis County Assistant Superintendent of Schools Tim Payton reported to the board of education Monday night that clean-up work at the Bland Middle School is estimated to cost $1.6 million. Payton said the district hasn’t received anything from its insurance agency yet to cover those costs. Payton said the insurance company is finalizing the process and will be sending out its first check in the near future.
Payton emphasized that the work on Bland, up until this point, has simply been cleanup. There will be more costs, he said.
“That’s not putting anything back together, that’s not repairing any elevators, that’s not cleaning up the Category 3 mud that’s underneath the building,” Payton said. “It’s not making repairs to any of the athletic buildings; it’s not making any repairs to the CTE (Career Technical Education) or the vocational annex. It’s not doing any of those things.”
Lewis County Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Long said that many people are busy making preparations. She said it’s no easy feat.
“The middle school has been working hard out at Jackson’s Mill,” Long said. “We’re getting ready for our students. It’s like reinventing the wheel or building an airplane while you’re flying it. We’re reinventing school in a place that is a camp, but what really isn’t set up for being a school.”
Because of the relative unprecedented nature of this move, Long said that the school system is going to do a “dry run” to test out how schooling at WVU Jackson’s Mill will go. The tentative first day of middle school is September 8. The test-out day is set for Monday.
“We’re going to ask some high school students, our seniors, to volunteer,” Long described. “We’re going to put them on the bus and we’re going to pretend we’re having school. We’re going to take them to Jackson’s Mill. Some are going to have sixth-grade stickers, some are going to have seventh-grade stickers, and some are going to have eighth-grade stickers. We’re going to pretend that we’re having school.”
Other schools in the county have begun the school year.
Long said she’s had many conversations with teachers and staff throughout the county in the lead-up to school. The day of Gov. Morrisey’s announcement, Long met with Lewis County High School and Bland Middle School teachers, taking questions.
The following day, she said she met with personnel from three elementary schools, holding extensive conversations with them to hear their concerns. Long said she stopped by Leading Creek Elementary School, chatting with teachers and staff, a day removed from her visit to the other three elementary schools.
Long said all of those talks were very productive.
“I thank the principals and the teachers for taking their time to talk with me,” Long said. “To give me some of their ideas, some of their concerns. Couple of things, we’ve already actually addressed that they’ve said. I think sometimes we just don’t maybe listen well enough for them to tell us what the issues are and how we can fix them.”