CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Liberty High School Cross Country coach Jerry Burgess wants to save the school from the Comprehensive School Realignment Plan approved by the Harrison County Board of Education. The plan would merge Liberty students with students at Robert C. Byrd High School.
The complete plan includes merging the student bodies of Liberty High School and Robert C. Byrd High School (RCB) into the RCB building. The students in Mountaineer Middle School and Washington Irving Middle School will consolidate into the Liberty High School building, and elementary students from Northview and Salem Elementary Schools will consolidate into the Mountaineer Middle School building.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Burgess said the school is important to the students and families, plays an important role in the community, and makes a significant contribution for the most famous graduate, Jimbo Fisher. Fisher won the 2014 BCS National Championship and is the current head coach of the Big 12 rival Texas A&M Aggies.
“If you ever visit Liberty High School, it’s a jewel,” Burgess said. “We have one of the prime weight rooms in the state, and that’s because of Jimbo Fisher’s generosity.”
Burgess is retired from the business world, where he worked for over 30 years, and has worked in education on and off for the last 21 years. His concerns range from the students and the young educators they depend on to the lack of an action plan beyond consolidation.
“I’m not concerned about my job; I’m concerned about the young people,” Burgess said. “There’s going to be a lot of duplicity and a lot of redundancy when you mix two schools together, and not everyone is going to make it.”
Burgess spoke passionately to the board during a public meeting last week about all the things that go unnoticed. He spoke about the pride Mountaineers have in their school and the many family aspects of the education the kids get there.
“That high school is a building, of course, but it’s where some children get two of their daily meals,” Burgess said. “And for many, many children, those are the only two meals they’ll get all day.”
Another concern is blending the Liberty High School with the larger student body at Robert C. Byrd. But many students pushed into a new school might also struggle a great deal academically in different environment.
“We have taken our cross country team, the girls team, three straight years to the state tournament, and the boys team one year. I have two all-stars, and I’ll have one this year,” Burgess said.
According to Burgess, multiple grades learn together in other buildings, and that’s an approach that would work in this case. He wants the board to seriously consider that option.
“Liberty High School could be easily reconfigured to take in Mountaineer Middle School; RCB could certainly handle Washington Irving Middle School,” Burgess said. “They do it at Lincoln and they do it at South Harrison, but for some reason it won’t work in this situation.”
Future impact hearings will be held at each building before the plan is considered by the Harrison County Board of Education. No changes would be made until the 2025-26 school year.