CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – The Harrison County Board of Education will vote on the Comprehensive School Alignment plan on Tuesday. Superintendent Dora Stutler said the moves are due to staffing issues and population loss in the county.
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.
“Loss of population in the county, in certain areas of the county,” Stutler said. “Some areas of our county are seeing a decrease a lot faster than other areas.”
Stutler said under consideration is a plan to merge Liberty High School with Robert C. Byrd High School, better utilizing the space there. Liberty High School has about 450 students with a capacity of about 1,100, and RCB has about 710 students with a capacity of about 1,200 students. Further, the plan includes combining Washington Irving Middle School with students from Mountaineer Middle School at the current location of Liberty High School. Elementary school students from Salem and North View would move into the current Mountaineer Middle School building.
“We’ve offered a plan looking at all the facilities, and we’ve offered that to the public,” Stutler said. “And the public has a right to come to any public meeting.”
The North View Elementary School was built in 1927, and the Salem Elementary School is currently 45 years old, making maintenance a major concern. A planned consolidation prevents a rushed move from a facility similar to the events that followed the recent structural failures at Norwood Elementary School.
“They’ve been wonderful facilities, but they have now just passed their life expectancy like any old building would do, and to make renovations would be extreme.”
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Stutler said the changes are proposed to make the best use of district resources. As a lifelong resident and educator in the county, Stutler said she has watched change and understands the connection former students have to their former schools and identities.
“You have to weigh out what truly is best for kids,” Stutler said. “You’ll never get the emotion out of closing a building; it’s not going to happen.”
If the plan is approved, consolidation would begin at the beginning of the 2024–25 school year.
The Harrison County Board of Education meets Tuesday in the Robert C. Byrd High School Auditorium at 6 p.m.