ELKINS — Randolph County Schools has released a survey on its website that is requesting community input on the proposed school closures for the county.

Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly spoke to the Randolph County Board of Education about the survey during the second of two recent “work sessions” regarding consolidation.

“We’ve developed a community survey kind of asking thoughts about some of this,” Dilly said. “We have conveyed the plan on (the website) and some elements of the plan, so people can comment on the plan. But we do want to gather some more community input on some of this because of the shortage of time we are facing.

“Would I love to do a lot more community meetings? Would I love to do a lot of things differently? Yes, but the challenge we now have is we’re looking at probably Sept. 23 for the first set of hearings for us as moving forward.”

The survey was posted online on Aug. 1. Community members looking to provide feedback can do so by going to https://boe.rand.k12.wv.us. Once there, a survey can be found under the “about us” tab on the top of the right side of the page. The survey is in the news link under the “about us” tab.

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

Dilly recently presented his latest consolidation plan, which involves three phases. Phase 1 would be for the 2027-28 school year, moving fifth-grade elementary students from Beverly, Coalton, Harman, Jennings Randolph, Midland, Third Ward and North to Elkins Middle School, which would be a fifth- through eighth-grade campus. 

With this plan, Harman would become a kindergarten through fourth-grade school. The fifth-grade through eighth-0grade students in Harman would be moved to Elkins Middle School, and the nine through 12 Elkins High School. Dilly said there may also be a secondary option for a virtual school program for Harman students.

Similar to the plan for Harman, Pickens would continue to house kindergarten through fourth-grade students. Fifth- through eighth-grade students would move to Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School, and high school students to Buckhannon-Upshur High School. Virtual learning is also a possibility for Pickens students.

Phase 2 for the plan is highlighted by the construction of a new Middle School next to Elkins High School and the Randolph Technical Center. That building would open in the fall of 2029 and would be for fifth- through eighth-grade students in the county. 

According to Dilly, Phase 3 of the plan could take place anywhere between 2029 and 2035. The plan would be to move the middle school and high school students from Tygarts Valley to Elkins, once the new middle school was constructed.

After locating the survey on the Randolph County Schools website, those taking part in the survey will be asked to enter an email address. The survey consists of 19 questions that have been provided from Randolph County Schools. The first question is: How important do you believe it is for Randolph County to maintain control over its educational decisions and long-term planning (e.g., school closures, reconfigurations, funding priorities), compared to having these decisions primarily directed by the state?

Some of the other questions on the survey include: Which school are you most closely associated with? How familiar are you with the district’s proposed reconfiguration plan? What benefits  of reconfiguration are most important? How concerned are you about student’s travel time to the consolidated school or new middle school? Do you support the district issuing a bond or tax levy to fund construction of the new middle school or facility upgrades? Is there anything else you would like the Board of Education or Superintendent to consider regarding the reconfiguration and closures?

“Looks like there are some positives and negatives showing up in there,” Dilly said of the responses to the survey that had come in by last week. “I’m going to try and have a complete report for you at our next work session. But I would encourage folks out there to make sure they understand the plan, which does not include closing Tygarts Valley in Phase 1. But I think it’s important to prepare folks for potential future consolidations, and that’s what I’ve suggested long term as we are looking to build a school.

“My hope is that it’s in 2035 or 2040, somewhere very far down the road before any considerations, but if we are considering a building, it’s really important that we are thinking long-term.”

The next regular Randolph County Board of Education meeting will be Aug. 19 at the Central Office.