ROANE COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — More consolidations are on the table in West Virginia. This time, Roane County is looking at possibly closing Walton and Geary Elementary and Middle Schools and consolidate those into Spencer Elementary and Middle Schools.
“All of the children in Roane County are going to be impacted by this,” Roane County Superintendent Michelle Stellato said. “All of the schools, all of the teachers, all of the staff will feel this impact.”
This comes after the state board declared a state of emergency in Roane County Schools due to financial issues.
In the report conducted by the West Virginia Board of Education accountability office, it was noted that Roane County employed more staff than the State’s funding formula permitted.
“When personnel season rolls around, the staff actually gets to take a vote on how that gets handled,” Stellato said. “Should the consolidation go forward, that’s how that would work. We have to make tough choices and decide what’s best for our kids and how we maintain the finances in Roane County Schools and how are we able to serve all the children, and sometimes that means that we have to cut an excess of staff.
“We don’t feel like we have excess of staff because we’re so spread out and so spread thin.”
Stellato said Geary and Walton usually have around 200 students, but those numbers continue to see a decline.
“We’ll probably lose more children because that’s a really far bus ride and we have schools in Kanawha and Clay and surrounding counties that might be a closer option,” she said. “We’re chasing a moving target.”
A concern parents have brought to the table is how long the bus rides to and from school will be.
“It’s going to impact the lives of every kid in those communities, whether it’s the ones that have to travel for an hour, over an hour, or just even my son,” Kevin Hall said. “We live right beside the school.”
Stellato said the busses are going to bring the biggest impact to students if these consolidations happen.
“I think it was 43 routes and we’re down to 28,” she said. “The biggest impact of doing this and having them to only run one hour means it can’t go to everybody’s house anymore. There are children who have to find a way, and guess where those children are? In the deepest parts of our county.”
For many in the school system, there are still unanswered questions.
“How long do they have in the evenings after travelling?” Hall said. “Can they participate in extracurricular activities? We participate at the school all the time. We’re actively involved in the school. Are we going to travel here during the day for activities?”
The next public hearing will be held at Spencer Middle School on Monday, Nov. 3 at 5 pm.