ELKINS — Two weeks after the Randolph County Board of Education voted 4-1 against closing the Harman K-12 School, residents of the community continue to step forward to thank the BOE for their decision to keep the school open. 

Two residents from Harman spoke during the public comment section of the most recent BOE meeting.

“Thank you, Board members, for realizing the detriment of closing Harman School and voting to keep it open,” Harman resident Judy Bucher said.

“Dr. (Shawn) Dilly, you have portrayed that the closing of Harman and Pickens Schools would have saved Randolph County’s budgetary problems. Because you have expressed that jobs, class offerings, and activities will be preserved if Harman School closed, there are individuals in the county who are upset that Harman School was not closed.

“We are all part of the same county and I want to see our entire county be successful,” she said. “We at Harman School know what it is like to have programs taken away and we do not wish that on others in our county.”

“Was closing Harman School the best solution for our county?” Bucher asked. “I still struggle to understand how this would have solved our budgetary woes. It seems to me that this was a hasty solution that was not best for our county and would not have accomplished the reported outcome. A well-thought out plan for our county would meet the needs of all areas of our county, going forward for many years.”

Dan Bucher, another Harman resident, directed his comments toward Dilly. 

“I’m not here tonight because I want to be a constant irritant to you, I’m here because the children in our rural communities need an advocate and a voice, and I am,” Bucher said. “My comments are not intended to demean or to be critical of you as a person, but to challenge some information presented.

“Last week you authored a piece (printed in The Inter-Mountain on Jan. 18) entitled ‘Navigating Change and Building a Stronger Future for Randolph County Schools.’ In it you suggest that the engagement from the community in the educational system is a good thing.

“However, we get the sense that our engagement is only welcome if we don’t ask hard questions or seek accountability for the well-being of all of our county students.”

Bucher said Dilly wrote that the BOE, members of the community and parents don’t grasp all the regulations or appreciate the complexity of the issues and balancing act he is forced to perform as the superintendent of schools. 

“I admire commitment to a profession and expertise in a chosen field,” Dan Bucher said. “However, I would be hesitant to admit that the school administration has 119 years of experience, and yet our student test scores are dismal, and what you continue to promote is the most devisive plan possible for our rural students and communities.

“To further your analogy, if the building that engineers design is failing, if lawyers are losing lawsuits for their clients, if doctors are botching surgeries, it may be time to suggest there’s a problem.

“On the evening of Sept. 30 at a meeting in Harman, you first laid out your proposal to close Harman,” Dan Bucher said. “You cited the failed state policies that contributed to your recommendation. My wife asked you for some talking points which she could take to our legislatures; she is still waiting. I share the sentiments of the last sentence in your piece, our students need us more now than ever. And I concur with that.”

The next Randolph County Board of Education meeting will be Feb. 4 at 5 p.m.