MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Monongalia County Board of Education will hold two Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan sessions Wednesday to get input from the public.
Chairwoman of the Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan committee and long time local educator, Barbara Parsons says it’s a ten year projection of needs for the district that is sent the West Virginia Department of Education for budgeting purposes.
“The reason the state does this is, it takes the state to approve building a new school, it takes the state, in many cases, for these counties to give money for the building of schools,”Parsons said,”If you’ve got a plan, and you can show the state you have a plan it fits rather nicely.”
Parsons says the sessions are important opportunities for residents to talk about their priorities. She says state leaders know the community has input and that gives the plan more credibility.
“The problem we have is that there are so few resources, this past year the state building authority had maybe $50 million to put into 55 counties that all have needs,”Parsons said,”It’s getting to be a smaller pool with bigger needs.”
Chairwoman of the committee and long time local educator Barbara Parsons says they have been able to complete so many building projects that this ten year plan will focus more on curriculum than “bricks and mortar.”
“Our focus is really beginning to be on the curriculum and how we’re going to deliver education,”Parsons said,”A lot of people are suggesting flexibility in terms of not having “bricks and mortar”delivering education in other ways,”Parsons said,”Offering opportunities that don’t exist now.”
Parsons says if you go to one of the sessions be sure to fill out the survery prepared by the committee.
The first meeting will be Wednesday, February 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the University high School Library, another meeting will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at the South Middle School.