ELKINS — A small group of community and business leaders recently met with Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly to discuss alternatives to closing the Harman and Pickens K-12 schools, and to ask that any decision on the proposed closings be postponed for a year.

Davis Health Systems Interim CEO Mark Doak helped organize the Dec. 20 meeting and was joined by Robbie Morris, Jonathan Kyle, Dan Bucher and several others.

Morris, a Republican, was elected in November as an 11th District state senator, while Kyle, a Republican, was elected to a 66th District House of Delegates seat in November.

Bucher, a former assistant administrator at both Elkins Rehabilitation & Care Center and Cortland Acres in Thomas, is a lifelong resident of Harman whose children and grandchildren both attended Harman K-12. 

“We had a very good meeting with Mr. Dilly to talk about any possible alternatives to closing the schools,” Doak told The Inter-Mountain. “The people in Harman and Pickens would like to see if there are any alternatives to closing their schools and we were discussing some of those options.”

Doak said one alternative may be the virtual learning program that Dilly spoke about at the most recent Randolph County Board of Education meeting.

“We talked about remote learning and the possibility of kids only coming to Elkins from Harman and Pickens for classes only two days a week instead of five days,” Doak said. “I can’t really say we resolved anything, but Mr. Dilly was very interested into looking at alternatives and seeing if we could come up with something that worked.”

The Inter-Mountain attempted to speak with Dilly this week about the meeting, but he did not respond to phone messages or emails.

The group, which requested Dilly delay the consolidation proposal for one year, put out a press release, which states: “The request (delay) is being made to consider all the challenges being faced — mountainous terrain, additional bus time, financial constraints, school retention and low academic scores.

“The delay allows discussions to develop alternatives and to identify ways to improve academic scores throughout Randolph County… The present consolidation schedule has been very aggressive, with meeting changes, and occurring over the holiday season. Every school plays an important role in their community.” 

Morris and Kyle each attended a Board of Education meeting earlier this month and offered their support to both schools, the BOE, and the Superintendent.

“I thought the meeting with Dr. Dilly went OK,” Morris told The Inter-Mountain Thursday. “I wanted to listen and see what potential solutions there were so that when we get into the legislative session we can work to overcome them.”

Doak told The Inter-Mountain Thursday, “I’m not sure if anything we did at this meeting will delay the decisions the school board has to make at the first of January, but it does at least leave open at least alternatives. At least the door is still open. If we can get something through it or not, I have no idea, but I will be optimistic.”

Doak said the state Board of Education is so focused on consolidation throughout the state that it may not understand how much Randolph County differs from other counties in West Virginia.

“Randolph County is the biggest county in the state and it just seems like there should be some alternatives for us,” Doak said. “We are not a small county where you can just put everyone together, we are a very big county… I think Superintendent Dilly is open to alternatives and I understand that he’s in a difficult position. I was very impressed with him. It was a very open and honest conversation we had with him.”

The first public hearing for the proposed Harman School closing, to allow Harman parents, staff, residents and anyone else who wants to offer comment on the proposal, will be from 5:30-8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6. This hearing will take place at the Elkins High School auditorium, however, and not at Harman School, where it was previously slated. 

Also changed is that, instead of taking place over two days, all the public hearings and votes to close each school will be done in one day, at the same venue. 

The public hearing for those who wish to comment on Midland Elementary’s involvement in the proposed closure of Harman will run from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 6. followed by a public hearing on Elkins Middle School’s involvement from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the public hearing for Elkins High School ‘s involvement from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 

Immediately after hearing four hours of public hearings, the Randolph County Board of Education will vote on whether to close Harman School at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 6. All the hearings and the vote will take place at Elkins High School. 

Two days later, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the entire process will repeat, this time in relation to the proposed closing of Pickens School. 

The first public hearing, for Pickens, will be from 5:30-8 p.m. Jan. 8. It will not take place at Pickens School, as previously planned; it will now be held at the Tygarts Valley Middle/High School gymnasium. 

The public hearing for those who wish to comment on George Ward Elementary’s involvement in the proposed closure will be from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 8. The public hearing on Tygarts Valley Middle/High School’s involvement will follow from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The BOE will vote on whether to close the Pickens School from 9-9:30 p.m. Jan. 8. All the hearings and the vote will take place at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School.