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Forum focuses on Upshur County Schools’ CEFP

The Inter-Mountain photo by Amanda Hayes Jody Johnson, Upshur County Schools director of federal programs/Title 1, speaks during the public forum.

BUCKHANNON — Although just what might be included in Upshur County Schools’ new Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan is not ready to be released, talk of a new home for Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School continues.

During a community forum this week, the conversation focused on how the CEFP process is unfolding and what is needed. However, several in the audience asked about a new Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School.

Sixth-grade social studies teacher Brian Allman pointed to the previous 10-year plan with the idea for a new middle school.

Following the development of the CEFP, the Upshur County Board of Education floated a bond that would have covered half of a new middle school — configured to house fifth through eighth-grade, improvements at other schools in the county. The School Building Authority awarded Upshur County Schools a $13.1 million grant which it had to return when the bond did not pass.

“I know how close we were,” Allman said. “We can come up with this great idea all we want but we are going to need community support.”

Allman said his classroom is one that was built in the 1925 section of the building.

“I love it up there,” he said. “I love this school. I have spent my whole career here. That being said, it has been built on six times. I think the future of the middle school is not going to be in this building.”

Allman said he would like to see facilities that are beneficial from the very beginning – pre-K all the way through to 12th grade.

“I wish I was teaching in the brand new middle school that was designed and we saw the beautiful blueprints for,” he said. “We were this close.”

A new home for B-UMS was not the only idea discussed as career and technical education was also a big part of the conversation.

B-UHS teacher Sarah Wamsley said, “One of my biggest concerns is I heard a lot about career and technical education but didn’t hear enough about space.”

Wamsley said she has written close to $30,000 in grants for her classes and received lots of equipment.

Her students now joke that she can’t write any more grants because they are out of space.

“It is really, really tight in my classroom,” she said. “You walk through a maze in my classroom and there is no where for my kids to work. I think we need more space so our kids can really get that hands-on learning.”

Superintendent Dr. Sara Stankus said the CEFP planning has been a year-long process that continues.

“We are not there yet,” she said. “For this entire year, most of the people in here, in some way shape or form, have talked to us about what they would like to see in our school system. We have really been intensively involved in this process.”

“We came together at the Opera House in June and we had a community meeting. We talked to our stakeholders about what they wanted to see in a graduate of Buckhannon-Upshur High. We called that Portrait of a Graduate.”

Stankus also reminded those in attendance that, “Schools are more than the building that holds the students.

“I think of growing up in Tallmansville and going to a two-room school and what that meant to our community there,” she said.

As the CEFP process continues, Stankus talked about the importance of education.

“When we think about schools and what we want to do with the buildings, we have to think about our entire community and what is best for us as Upshur County citizens,” she said. “We are so diverse in our people, but yet, everyone wants the best for our kids. I have not met anyone who has said, ‘Sara, I really hope we don’t create a great school system for our kids.’

“We know if there is one thing that can change the playing field for all of our children, that is education. Education has been called the great equalizer. No matter what your zip code, no matter what your income, no matter how dysfunctional your family, when you come to school you are given the opportunity to learn, to graduate from and to go to be whatever you choose to become. I have always believed that and invested my lifetime in helping with that mission.”

Ted Shriver, architect and education planner with Williamson and Shriver Architects, said the CEFP is required every 10 years and the current CEFP expires in December 2020.

“To receive funding from the SBA, you must complete this plan,” he said.

Three committees have been meeting over the past year.

Dr. Jeffrey Harvey talked about some of the data gathering his committee completed.

“Upshur County, like any other community, has experienced some fluctuations with our population over the last 8 to 10 years,” he said.

The population peaked in 2015 but was counted at 24,465 in 2017.

“Relative to a lot of other communities in and around WV, our population has been pretty stable,” he said.

Median income has risen steadily, household values and property values are trending up and unemployment is trending down, according to Harvey.

At the same time, homelessness – to include people sharing homes with other family members, is rising and average rents are a little higher.

There are also issues with opioid addiction and the number of children in foster care.

Vanessa Perkins said the direction Upshur County Schools is moving in is providing more career and technical education that doesn’t’ compete with Fred Eberle Technical Center, stem learning opportunities, and for high school graduates to earn associate degrees.

“To accomplish this CEFP process, it boils down to funding,” she said.

“We do that by making our county stand out among everyone else,” she said. “We do that by offering more opportunities for our adults to be more involved in our community and have same opportunities that our students do.”

This could be done through adult learning in evening at the high school to help them earn college degrees.

“We have heard your concerns,” she said. “Our kids matter. Your board and your superintendent and her staff are working really hard to make this happen and so are we.”

Jody Johnson, director of federal programs, said the needs that have come up already include space for social workers, spaces for students to decompress and calm down, space to meet with parents that is comfortable, space for students to have access to health care every day when they are in school, space for more technology and vocational educational exploration and space for after school and independent and summer programming.

Shriver said the next phase of the CEFP process will focus on what happens with existing schools.

Stankus added information from the meetings will be available soon at upshurschools.com.

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