ELKINS — The Randolph County Board of Education recently heard the goals and expectations of a committee dedicated to establishing long-term goals for the county school system.

The goals and objectives established by the Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan Committee must consider all aspects of the educational and facility needs within the county.

KJ Shaffer, chairperson for the school system’s Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan Committee and teacher for RCS, said the committee’s purpose is to create long-term goals to benefit the county school system and its students.

“We are looking at long-term goals, looking at 10 years; so, this is going to be the goals set for 2020-2030,” he said. “We’re looking at the curriculum delivery model, grade configuration, school sizes and optimal student populations, number of facilities based on resources available — that’s a big one, resources available — and community expectations.”

A number of goals were created by the committee in an effort to effectively and positively serve the students of Randolph County.

Specific goals addressing maximum and minimum classroom and school size, student population, maintaining facilities and curriculum delivery methods were outlined within the comprehensive plan.

“Our big thing is to make sure that our facilities -we’re talking the actual brick and mortar and the staff- that we have everything there to provide, not only the education, but also any extra-curricular activities,” Shaffer said. “We’re looking to make sure that all classrooms meet state regulations and guidelines for safety.”

Shaffer emphasized RCS will annually review projected enrollments for all of its facilities in an effort to provide effective educational environments for students.

“We know that there are state regulations on how many kids can be in (classrooms) in elementary,” he said. “We don’t have regulations for high school and middle school, but we want to make sure that it is adequate, that it’s not overcrowding in one classroom and only a few students in another.”

Shaffer touched on the importance of maintaining schools.

“We also (want to) make sure that there is also a fulfillment of the maintenance facility,” he said. “To make sure that maintenance has the resources to go out and do any repairs — not only any emergency repairs but also to look down the line to say, ‘This is wearing out.'”

Shaffer said the county wants to work to become more proactive rather than reactive to issues that may arise with things such as equipment.

In addition, another goal outlined in the comprehensive plan is to develop and maintain partnerships within local communities.

“We want to make sure that there is always a good communication between schools, between staff and, especially with the public,” Shaffer said.

In addition to Shaffer, other individuals serving on the committee include Debbie Schmidlen, superintendent; Joseph Arbogast, assistant superintendent; Eric Lucas, principal at Elkins Middle School; April Senic, director of special education for RCS; and a state certified engineer.

Counties are required by the West Virginia Department of Education to create a Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan every 10 years. While guidelines are created by WVDE, counties have leeway to create their own specific goals and objectives. An update is provided to the state every year by RCS.