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ELKINS – The Randolph County Board of Education learned Tuesday night how the leftover funds from the two county schools which were closed this year will be spent.
During Tuesday night’s BOE meeting, Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Derek Lambert broke down for the BOE which schools will be receiving money from the leftover funds from Harman K-12 School and North Elementary School, which were both permanently closed after the 2025-26 school year.
Each Randolph County public school has a General Fund account, which includes money received from donations, carnivals and other fundraising events, the school system’s Chief School Business Official/Treasurer Brad Smith told The Inter-Mountain, adding that it is these funds for Harman and North that will be redistributed to the other schools.
“I wanted to give you kind of an update on what we have done with the school funds from Harman and North,” Lambert told the BOE. “The remaining Harman school funds will be distributed to Jennings (Randolph), Elkins Middle, and Elkins High School. So of those funds, the money that we allocated to the schools, Jennings Randolph is receiving $4,607, Elkins Middle School is receiving $8,063, and Elkins High School $6,911.”
Lambert said the amount of money sent was based on how many Harman students went to each of the three schools.
“There were no remaining faculty senate funds from Harman, so from the North School account, Jennings Randolph is getting $10,640,” Lambert said. “Of that, $1,200 has to be allocated to their faculty senate funds. Elkins Middle School will be getting $2,026, and of that amount, $234 must be allocated to the faculty senate.”
Lambert told the Board members that Jennings Randolph will receive $14,136 from the North School PTO funds, and that Elkins Middle School, which is creating a PTO, will receive $2,692.
“The Harman PTO funds are still pending because the audit has not been finalized,” Lambert said. “But as of right now, just simple or very rough math, Jennings is getting about $28,000 from those two schools, Elkins Middle School is getting about $12,000, and Elkins High School is getting about $7,000.”
Lambert said Smith and his office made the calculations for the school funds based on guidance from the West Virginia Department of Education.
“I think there was some confusion that the funds belonged in the community, because I (heard) some concerns and those are kind of quasi funds of ours and they can’t go into the community for literally other things,” said BOE President Rachel Burns. “So the next best thing is that they follow the kids.”
Lambert also told the Board that the North School Elementary property was now posted for auction. The auction is online only and is being done by Kaufman Realty & Auctions.
The property is listed in two parcels or as a whole, and bidding is open and will end on Oct. 19. There will be a preview/open house at the school and property on Oct. 12 at noon. Those interested in the property can visit the auction website at www.kaufmanrealty.com.
The next Randolph County Board of Education meeting will be Oct. 6 at 5:30 p.m.