ELKINS – The Randolph County Board of Education voted 4-1 against closing the Harman K-12 School Tuesday night after a series of public hearings.

The vote was met by applause from the more than 30 people still in the audience at Elkins High School when the vote was taken. The series of public hearings began at 5:30 p.m., and the vote was taken at 9:50 p.m. The meeting was adjourned immediately after the vote was taken.

The four BOE members voting against closing Harman were Ed Daniels, Janie Newlon, Dr. Phillip Chua and Dr. Sherri Collett.

Only BOE President Rachel Anger voted in favor of closing the school.

A total of 13 people spoke during the Harman School hearing, while six other people spoke later during the other hearings.

A series of public hearings and a BOE vote on whether to close the Pickens school is now set for Wednesday evening, starting at 5:30 p.m., at Tygarts Valley High School.

A full account of Tuesday’s public hearings, plus photos, will be published in Thursday’s edition of The Inter-Mountain.