BUCKHANNON — The Upshur County Schools superintendent this week proposed closing two elementary schools and consolidating Buckhannon-Upshur High School and Middle School into one facility.

Superintendent Christy Miller announced the two-phase plan during this week’s Upshur County Board of Education meeting. The West Virginia Department of Education took over control of Upshur County Schools in 2023.

The first phase of the plan would be to close Rock Cave Elementary and Tennerton Elementary at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.

Under this plan, the current Rock Cave students would be transferred to French Creek Elementary, while the Tennerton students would be transferred to Buckhannon Academy.

Miller noted that Rock Cave Elementary’s enrollment has dropped to 74 students for this school year. She said there would be no additional construction needed to absorb the current Rock Cave students into French Creek Elementary.

There would be construction required at Buckhannon Academy, however, to absorb the Tennerton students, Miller added. The work would include installing a new boiler and chiller, as well as a new roof for the gymnasium. She said a state School Building Authority grant application would be submitted to cover some of the costs.

In the plan’s second phase, Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School would be closed, with all its students transferred to Buckhannon-Upshur High School.

Miller said the B-UHS enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year is 734, while the B-UHS enrollment is 966, for a total of 1,700 students. The capacity for the B-UHS facility is 1,522, which would require “additional construction considerations to provide a separate learning and office space for middle school students.”

She said a separate application for School Building Authority funds would be submitted for the project.

“This board, as all county boards, need to begin to become more fiscally responsible with funding that is provided to educate students in the public school setting,” Miller said. “The decline in enrollment year over year does not warrant maintaining the same number of buildings in Upshur County Schools.”

The next steps for the proposed plan, Miller said, would be:

Develop a timeline of required activities with deadlines to share with the public and the school communities impacted.

Secure meeting dates and meet with impacted schools PTOs, LSICs and Faculty Senates.

Conduct required closure hearings.

Secure all documents required for consideration of closures and consolidations.

Secure the application to the School Building Authority, meeting the September deadline for submission to be eligible for funding in December of this year.

Hire an architect for planning and services for construction at Buckhannon Academy Elementary.

Secure required changes to the current Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan developed and approved in 2020.

Secure approval from the state department of education prior to Dec. 31 to move forward with the plan.

Miller, who was appointed the Upshur County Superintendent by the state Department of Education after the takeover, also spoke before the state Board of Education in Charleston Wednesday.