Wamsley

ELKINS — Local principals are willing to help find a solution to school consolidation issues, the Randolph County Board of Education was told this week.

Tygarts Valley High School Principal Steve Wamsley spoke on behalf of the Randolph County Principals Association at Tuesday evening’s BOE meeting.

Wamsley said all of the school principals in Randolph County were willing to help. Elkins High School Principal Carla Lambert and Beverly Principal Paul Zickefoose also attended the meeting, but did not speak.

Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly said he was aware the principals had a meeting last week and welcomed any ideas they might have.

“The principals met last week and worked on some thoughts and ideas, so I thought it would be nice to go ahead and invite them here this evening and let them share some initial thoughts,” Dilly said. “We obviously know everything’s in a very early circumstance, but they’re going to be a critical part of solving this challenge we have in front of us.”

Wamsley said the principals’ biggest concern was a perceived lack of urgency.

“We think that we need to get moving with a lot of this stuff or the state is going to come in and take us over,” Wamsley said. “So we’re trying to come in and maybe offer some suggestions or whatever we can do.”

Randolph County Schools was placed in a State of Emergency by the state Department of Education in June. The State of Emergency tag will remain in place for a total of six months, during which Randolph County Schools must create a balanced budget and come up with a progress update to present to the state BOE in December.

One idea Wamsley presented Tuesday evening was similar to what high school basketball teams do in regional tournament play. 

“The SSAC sends letters out to regions and they ask them to rank everybody in the region,” Wamsley said. “And you rank everyone except your own school and they take those and they come up with the seedings. So I talked to them about how maybe we could do that if we were going to close schools.”

Wamsley handed documents to Dilly and the BOE members that detailed how the idea could be put in motion.

“I asked the principals to prioritize what they felt would be the reasonable priority of the closure of schools,” Wamsley said. “And there’s a list from the lowest number of students at a school to the highest. So I asked them to prioritize that list, but not vote for their own school… So I handed that out and we got back the results. You are getting those now.”

Wamsley also spoke about how an online program could help if some of the smaller schools in the county are closed.

“One of the things we think the board should obtain and promote is ‘Proximity,'” Wamsley said. “Proximity is a live teacher where the student is at home and the two are able to converse back-and-forth… So if some kid living in Mill Creek doesn’t want to go to Tygarts Valley, he can go elsewhere…I f there’s closures of some outlying schools and somebody is not comfortable sending their child on a bus, Proximity can allow them to stay at home and get an education from a live person.”

Wamsley said that students who participate in Proximity Learning are still considered Randolph County School students. Dilly told Wamsley and the BOE that he requested Proximity to do a presentation at a BOE meeting and was waiting for a response. 

“They said they were willing to do it, I just haven’t aligned a date and time yet,” Dilly said.

Proximity Learning delivers live, online instruction directly into classrooms. It uses certified teachers to ensure interactive learning and student success.

Wamsley said the county’s principals were willing to take part in work sessions regarding consolidation.

“We met and spoke to each other and we would be more than happy to come in for those if you guys are looking for some outside input,” Wamsley said. “We certainly aren’t around to blame anybody, point fingers, or tell you what you should do or how to do your job. We’re just trying to come in and give you a little bit of a different perspective and some different things to think about.”

Wamsley admitted that the principals are nervous about the possibility of the number of schools in the county going from 13 to 6.

“There’s been discussion about one high school, two middle schools, and three elementary schools,” Wamsley said. “That’s six schools and that affects all of us. And that would be really, really hard for me to sit back and watch for the rest of us.”

The next BOE meeting is scheduled for Aug. 5 at 5:30 p.m.