Morris

ELKINS — Robbie Morris, who was elected in November as an 11th District state senator, told the Randolph County Board of Education this week that he and other local representatives plan to work hard to keep the Harman and Pickens K-12 schools open.

Morris, who will take office on Jan. 8, spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s BOE meeting about the proposed closures of the two schools.

“I’m here this evening to notify the Board of Education and administrative staff that your legislative delegation is looking at a wide variety of options to help from a Charleston standpoint with this issue,” Morris, a Republican from Elkins, said.

“I have had conversations with Dr. (Shawn) Dilly, I have had conversations with Mr. (Brad) Smith, I’ve had conversations with board members, and dozens upon dozens of citizens about this issue. 

“My future co-senator Bill Hamilton and delegate-elect Jonathan Kyle have all had conversations and I can confidently say that we support Harman School and we support Pickens School. We understand the difficulty and the rules and regulations that the Board of Education and the Central Office have to work with. A lot of that is dictated through Charleston, which is unfortunate because I believe in local control, especially in the school system.”

Morris said he felt it was important to come out and let the communities know that he and other local delegates will work with them.

“I don’t want to raise expectations and say that we are going to be the solution, because I have 133 other legislators both in the Senate and the House of Delegates and a new governor to work with to get something to happen,” he said. “But I think it’s important for everyone to know that we do care, we are concerned about what the closure of Harman and Pickens will do to those communities and most importantly the students.

“We are having conversations not just among ourselves, but more importantly with our colleagues about different solutions we can find that isn’t just necessarily providing more money to a particular school or a particular community, but looking at ways we can change the school funding formula, ways we can fund different things that can alleviate pressure off the general revenue budget, and then we can apply to these schools and a whole host of things,” Morris said.  

BOE President Rachel Anger pointed out that the problem was not only local, but statewide. 

“That’s one of the challenges that we find. There is somewhere in the ballpark of 30 schools around the state that are slated for closure and going through the same process Randolph County is going through right now,” Morris said. “So I can’t go down there and say I want money for this and I want money for that. So we are looking at holistic approaches. We have 30 schools closing in one school year and that is unprecedented.”

Morris said many of the other counties facing closures are not in the same situation as Randolph County, with Harman and Pickens being in rural areas.

“I’ve heard of some kids where closures are happening where the new bus route is two miles from their current school. That’s a lot different from what we are talking about in Randolph County,” said Morris. “But I’m sure there are other schools within that closure list that are dealing with similar situations where it still has an impact on a community and students. So we are very well aware and we fully support these schools and these communities and we will be working as hard as we can to find a solution. 

“Timing is not, in one respect, necessarily our friend, because (with) the new gubernatorial administration coming in, the legislative session will not begin until Feb. 12, but it is my understanding that any decisions made here at the local level or state level can be rescinded up until sometime April,” he said.

“We will be finding exactly when that date is, but it is our intention to develop an entire list of solutions for consideration and address those as quickly as possible within the sessions so that should we be able to find a solution we will not pass the point of no return… We are going to give it everything we have to try and prevent this from happening.” 

Kyle, a Republican who was elected to the 66th District House of Delegates in November, also attended the meeting, but said he chose not to speak out of respect for everyone’s time. Kyle did contact The Inter-Mountain on Wednesday and said, “I stand firmly in support of Pickens and Harman schools and recognize the critical role they play in the heart of our communities. At the same time, I also understand the incredibly tough decisions our current administration is facing and appreciate the effort they are putting into addressing these challenges.” 

The first public hearing about the proposed Harman School closing will take place at Harman School on Monday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.

The following day, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, hearings will be held concerning the other schools that will be affected if Harman closes. Those include: Midland Elementary (the hearing will be at Elkins High School at 6 p.m); Elkins Middle School (the hearing will be at EHS at 6:30 p.m.); and Elkins High School (also at EHS, at 7 p.m.). 

The BOE will vote on whether to close Harman School that same evening, at 7:30 p.m. at Elkins High School.

The first public hearing concerning the proposed closure of Pickens School will be on Monday, Dec. 16. That meeting will take place at the school and will begin at 6 p.m.

The following day, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the other schools that would be affected in the potential Pickens closing will be the subject of public hearings at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School. George Ward is first on the list and will begin at 6 p.m. A public hearing for Tygarts Valley Middle/High School will be at 6:30 p.m. 

The BOE will vote on whether to close Pickens School at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School.