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ELKINS -- Tygarts Valley High School Principal Steve Wamsley brought a group of other TVHS educators to the Randolph County Board of Education meeting this week to discuss possible renovations to the school's 70-year-old gym.
Wamsley has previously said that in late 2021, when the BOE supplied Elkins High School with money for its football field and track, rather than build a new gym for TVHS, it then placed $500,000 in an account for a new gymnasium at TVHS. He said the BOE later added another $250,000 to the account, giving the school $750,000 to use toward a new gym.
Since then, the school learned the cost of the new gym would far exceed what the BOE had set aside. So Wamsley said he came up with a new plan to use part of the money to make improvements to the old gymnasium, and use the rest for a new softball field/track for the school.
At Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting, Wamsley told board members, "What I would hope is that you would understand our frustrations. This has been something that we have been dealing with since we were little.
"You know, my dad played in this gym, my son played in this gym. It's been there since 1950. Just a couple of years ago we thought we were getting a new gym. And we thought that to the point that we haven't paved the parking lot. That made no sense if we were going to get a new gym.
"For some reason that went away, and that was very frustrating," Wamsley said. "So then for that $750,000 to be sitting there makes us a little bit anxious, and it's hard for us to trust the same group of people that voted three to two not to let us have the money for the gym the last time.
"That was hard for us because it's something that we need very badly and we thought we were getting it. And when that rug was pulled out from underneath, that was hard. That was a tough thing to swallow," he added.
"So now here we are with a little bit instead of a lot. We'd kind of like to use it."
Also speaking during the meeting were TVHS Assistant Principal Melissa Wilfong, athletic director Amanda Bell, Sherri Currence, president of the TVHS Faculty Senate, and Tom Wamsley, the TVHS boys basketball coach.
"People talk to me a lot and have a lot of questions about this money, and I tell them all the time we want to make better facilities for our students," Bell said. "That's our entire goal with all of this. We want to see upgrades. I'm also a Tygart Valley alumni. Things have not changed since I graduated."
Tom Wamsley pointed out that the state of the TVHS gym is dangerous for the public.
"If we can just do a little bit and keep surviving up there, you know, and get the bleachers, the shower room, a couple extra baskets, that would help," he said. "Because coaches come up to me and they look around, they go, 'This is all you've got?' And then, 'How do you have practice?' I say, 'We're very economical.'"
During the meeting, board members expressed that they would love to see TVHS get funding and make improvements, and stressed that the board has no bias against the school.
Board members also suggested the possibility of having BOE meetings "up the valley" in the area served by TVHS.
Superintendent of Schools Debbie Schmidlen said a cost estimate for the requested locker room renovations is around $120,000.
"That would be a great start as we're waiting on the property (for the softball field)," Steve Wamsley said. "It's gonna take a few months. In the meantime, because this money was initially meant for a gym, why not let us work on the gym during that time?"
"We'll get some quotes on bleachers, then I could put that in the form of a recommendation onto a board agenda, and then we'd be prepared to take a vote on that," Schmidlen said.
"We'll try to get the architects here sooner rather than later. So I can get something in the form of a recommendation to the board in May. I'll let you know as soon as I do," she added.