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Citizens prepare to address BOE

DAILEY — Parents and concerned citizens plan to meet Sunday to gather written comments for the Randolph County Board of Education regarding questions about the future of the historic Homestead Elementary School.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday at the Valley Bend Methodist Church’s fellowship hall, and attendees are encouraged to bring signed letters that include the date, their name, address and phone number along with their specific questions and concerns.

The letters will be presented to the Board of Education during the regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the board office in Elkins.

“We are really hoping for a good turnout for our meeting Sunday evening,” said Thomas Rennix, president of the Tygart Valley Homestead Association.

The Tygart Valley Homestead Association has hosted fundraisers this spring to help replace Homestead Elementary School’s roof, and school leaders have said the building also needs new heating and plumbing systems, in addition to major electrical work.

Homestead Elementary School has been closed temporarily after a severe storm March 1 ripped a section of roof off the school’s gymnasium, causing it to crash on top of the cafeteria.

Suzanne Cain, principal of Homestead Elementary School, said parents have become increasingly concerned about the school’s future — especially in light of a recent report that the state fire marshal will not allow the school to reopen until certain electrical upgrades are completed.

“The fact is that it’s getting near the end of the year, and parents want to know — are they ever going to go back (to Homestead)?” Cain said Friday. “When it’s a temporary situation, you can deal with that. But it’s the unknown that’s difficult.”

Since the March storm, Homestead Elementary students have been attending other local schools in the local area. Most of the classes have been transferred to George Ward Elementary School in Mill Creek, while preschool students are attending Beverly Elementary and fourth- and fifth-graders are attending Tygarts Valley Middle School.

Cain said the students, teachers and all the people involved have tried to handle this situation the best they can, and it has worked out OK so far. But she said the teachers who are sharing “split” classrooms have a hard time keeping the attention of their students, and state testing this week caused some additional concerns about having enough classrooms and computer lab space at George Ward.

“Everybody has had to make sacrifices — George Ward kids, Tygarts Valley, everyone. … It has worked out. It’s just been a little hectic,” Cain said. “It’s good that the community is cooperating. They understand our situation.”

Roof repairs at Homestead are expected to be covered by insurance, and Assistant Superintendent Rich Carr has been providing updates to the Board of Education about the bid process for those repairs as well as needed asbestos abatement.

While those repairs should have funding in place, the needed electrical upgrades do not currently have a funding source. Carr told board members during their most recent meeting that the possible cost for the required electrical work could be about $70,000 to $75,000 at minimum.

He said the fire marshal’s biggest concern is that power cannot be completely cut off at the school. The electrical system needs to be replaced, specifically the “service” point where it comes into the building would need to be moved to another location in the school.

The building’s current service entrance is located in a room that is too small to meet current state codes, so he said another room near the school office could be turned into the service point.

He said there also are some old breaker boxes where there are places showing corrosion.

The school was built in 1939 and deeded to the county by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of 99 schools that were created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, it’s the last one still in operation.

The Board of Education in December rejected a proposal to close the Homestead school for the 2017-18 school year, but the board did accept a plan to close Valley Head Elementary School and send its students to George Ward.

Declining enrollment and financial constraints over the past several years have made it difficult to fund all the maintenance needs of the county’s aging school buildings, officials have said.

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