GRAFTON, W.Va. — Tempers flared during a four-hour Taylor County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night at Taylor County Middle School.
The proposed closure of Flemington Elementary School has drawn significant public outcry and surprise, as the development seemingly came out of nowhere. State Senator Jay Taylor, R-Taylor, has sent a letter to the Taylor County Board of Education, asking them to reconsider the planned closure of Flemington.
The board was asked by Superintendent Dr. John Stallings to approve the creation and finalization of a required impact statement on the matter. Dozens of residents spoke to the school board during Tuesday’s meeting, imploring them not to close Flemington.
At one point, the meeting went into a ten-minute recess to restore decorum after tensions rose to a boiling point.
When the dust settled, no motion was made. Thus, no impact statement will be created and the process comes to a screeching halt.
Taylor County Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Stallings suggested that residents’ speeches were “premature.” He said the impact statement would explore options going forward. Stallings said “no one knows” what the impact statement would lead to, but it would show where students would go, among the complete ramifications of the proposed closure.
From there, the statement would go to West Virginia education officials for a 30-day review, followed by public hearings for the impacted schools. He said that would give members of the community plenty of time to discuss their thoughts on the plan.
“The impact statement is merely a first step in trying to find some solution to our current situation,” Stallings explained.
The timing of the proposed closure have caused many in the community, as well as Senator Taylor, to scratch their heads. The county invested nearly $1 million into a new roof, windows, and doors, just two years ago into the Flemington building.
Resident Desiree Lipscomb said this is a stunning reversal and doesn’t make sense.
“I feel like it’s unfair and unjustified to put renovations and money into a school, then turn around and take it away from the children,” Lipscomb said. “The renovations in all of our eyes were an improvement for our students, our future students, and the people of the community.”
Board members heard from Stallings that enrollment was projected to drop from 2,013 students in October 2026 to 1,896 students next October, a dip of more than 100 students. Additionally, he said that the county is employing positions and service personnel over the state’s school aid funding formula and needs to right size that budget.
Flemington Elementary teacher Danielle Kidd pointed out that closing Flemington doesn’t solve the problem.
“We have been told that approximately 60 positions across Taylor County Schools must be reviewed or reduced,” Kidd said. “The proposed closure of Flemington Elementary School would reportedly eliminate 13 professional positions. That’s approximately 22 percent of the positions the county says it needs to address.”
Resident Wilma Phillips, a Third Grade Early Childhood Classroom Assistant Teacher (ECCAT) at Flemington, called upon county education officials to protect Flemington students.
“You, as elected board members, are responsible for deciding whether those recommendations are in the best interest of Taylor County’s children and the taxpayers,” Phillips said.
Another resident, Dana Stewart, agreed. She said that the future of Taylor County’s youth depends on the board’s actions.
“We trusted you with our children when we voted you in,” Stewart said. “So, choose Flemington Elementary, choose the community, and choose our children.”
Several board members said they didn’t have enough information at the moment to approve the impact statement’s creation. However, one board member, Daniel Dowdy, said they need the statement, in order to identify a ten-year plan for Taylor County Schools going forward. He said the last thing the county needs is the state Board of Education seizing control of the district.
In the end, however, nobody made a motion for the statement to be approved.
Resident Jeff Marshall asked for the school board to slow down and get a community group involved to provide feedback.
“We’ve been told for months over months that it wasn’t going to happen,” Marshall said. “And then, all of a sudden, we find out that there was some kind of steering committee that was put together, nobody knows who was on the steering committee, but they made a decision to close Flemington Elementary without any community input.”
Closures and consolidations have been discussed all throughout the Mountain State, resident Lynette Murray noted. She said that the current environment, with multiple lawsuits related to education ongoing, means that Taylor County Schools should pump the brakes.
“It would be prudent for this body to refrain from such an irrevocable decision until particularly those lawsuits are resolved,” Murray said. “I know this board does not want to close any schools. I hope and ask that you will do all in your power to ensure that these students can benefit from the investment made on their behalf.”