ELKINS – The Randolph County Board of Education decided during Tuesday night’s regular meeting that the Harman Education Association (HEA) would be given the school building in Harman.     

The Harman K-12 school will officially close its doors for good at the end of the week after Randolph County BOE voted to close the school last October. The state BOE made the closure official by approving the county’s decision this past December.     

The property disposition allows the Randolph County school district to take control of the building after its closure, but that the facility must be used for educational purposes.     

During the minutes/agreements/contracts portion of the meeting, a reading of Agenda Item A was made and stated, “The Superintendent requests approval for the disposition of the excel real and personal property known as Harman School Property to the HEA. The entity approved by a majority of the Board and authorizing the Board President to execute all necessary documents for the property transfer.”   

After the reading, BOE President Rachel Burns seconded a motion from Board member Janie Newlon and called for a vote. The BOE then voted 4-1 to approve the Superintendent’s request. Board members Ed Daniels and Phil Chua also voted to approve the request, while Sherri Collett voted nay.     

The Harman School and Advancement Center, which is part of the Harman Town Council, and Urgent Care EMS Inc were also seeking to gain control of the Harman School building.      

Prior to the vote to hand over the building to the Harman Education Association, representatives from the HEA and Harman School and Advancement Center (Town Council) made a final presentation to the BOE during the Delegation and Public Comments section of the meeting. Dan Bucher, President of the Harman Education Association, was the first to speak to the BOE.      

“You are in a position to ensure that a school opens this fall in the Harman School building,” Bucher said. “It’s a huge undertaking, but the HEA is a very capable and enthusiastic group of people working on this. You have not met all of them, though you have met our board members last week.”   

Bucher told the Board of Education that the HEA has made a lot of progress in the past three months and that they are confident that the school will be ready for a September opening date.     

“Not only will the community have a school, but the building and groups are really an asset to benefit the entire community,” Bucher said. “It’s always been our vision and our intent that it will serve as a hub for not only educational programming, but also social entertaining, fundraising and other large functional gatherings by many organizations.”    

Bucher also mentioned to the Board that the HEA was willing to collaborate with the town of Harman.     

“I reached out to Mayor (Jerry) Teter to assure him that we want to hear the town’s ideas and of ways the facility might be able to meet some of their needs,” Bucher said. “I have not heard back, yet.”     

Harman resident Tammy Swecker then spoke on behalf of the Harman School and Advancement Center (Town Council).    

“I’m here to speak out on behalf of the town itself and the municipality actually receiving the building,” Swecker said. “They also have intentions of having a school. They also have intentions of having community events. I feel like although both groups are packed with very nice people that I know, the town as not a specific person, but as an entity, would be more likely to have access to everyone and uses that are important to everyone in the community.”       

Both entries, the Harman Education Association and the Harman School and Advancement Center (Town Council), have made it clear that their No.1 goal is to put a charter or micro school in the building.