Couple presents $43,000 donation to BOE for metal detectors

Submitted photo From left are Randolph County Board of Education member Ed Daniels, his wife Carole, Tim Lewis and Angie Lewis, at the BOE offices this week.
ELKINS — A $43,000 donation for purchasing weapon detections systems and camera was presented to the Randolph County Board of Education this week.
In November, the BOE created a fund for such updates across county schools, after an incident involving a student with a gun at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School.
During Tuesday night’s BOE meeting, the fund received a big boost when the parents of a TVM/HS student presented the donation check.
Tim and Angie Lewis said after the meeting that the intent of the student bringing the gun to school was to harm their son and another student. They also talked about raising the funds during the Public Comment section of the meeting.
“We are here to make a pledge of $43,000 that has been raised to purchase weapons detectors for the schools,” Angie Lewis said. “We have gone to 20 businesses at this time and we plan on going to a few more and sending more letters requesting donations.”
She said the amount she provided the BOE with was enough to purchase two of the weapons detectors, and added that she hoped the Board would consider making Tygarts Valley the first site to get the equipment since the incident happened there.
“They could put one at the front door and one at the bus door,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s possible to have us be put on the next meeting’s agenda so that you can vote on placing them there.”
Randolph County Board of Education President Rachel Anger responded by saying, “Unfortunately, because of open meeting laws, we have to put that as a separate agenda item… But I think we can go ahead and do that so that we have it up for the three allotted days before… I certainly want to do everything legally correct and identify where the money has been coming from and leave that up to the public, too.”
Tim Lewis asked if, should the BOE vote on the matter during the next meeting, the detectors could then be ordered.
“We can work with the vendors at that time,” said Brad Smith, Randolph County Schools Director of Finance and Treasurer.
Angie Lewis said she and her husband were going to continue to work to gather funds so that the equipment could be bought for all the students in the county.
“We want all the kids in Randolph County taken care of, no matter what,” she said. “Nobody needs to feel how we felt that day… We are going to continue to work on the business and the community to donate more and protect all children.”
The county plans to buy the 10 units from OpenGate, the same brand used by West Virginia University, through the purchasing group Omnia. The county’s high school and middle school locations will receive the detection systems and updates first, followed by K-12 schools and the elementary schools.
“We want to thank the community for everyone’s help with this,” Tim Lewis said. “And we’d like to thank Board member Ed (Daniels), he has really stepped up and helped us out a lot.”
For questions or additional information about the Fund, contact the Randolph County Board of Education at 304-636-9150.