Parents to discuss Wayne County school reconfiguration plan

The details of a proposed school reconfiguration plan in Wayne County will be unveiled to parents Monday night in Kenova.

The first of multiple community meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Monday for the Ceredo and Kenova elementary communities. Wayne County Superintendent Lynn Hurt said these meetings are intended to eliminate rumors and inform the public.

“We will answer as many questions as we can and listen to their concerns and see if there is anything that we can do to alleviate any concerns they may have,” she said.

The current proposal up for discussion would close Kenova Elementary and Ceredo-Kenova Middle School at the end of the school year.  

Ceredo-Kenova Middle students will be split up and sent to either Buffalo or Vinson Middle Schools. Then Ceredo-Kenova Middle will become the new home for Ceredo and Kenova Elementary students in second, third, fourth and fifth grades.

Ceredo Elementary would then house Pre-K, kindergarten and first graders from both Ceredo and Kenova.

Initial reactions to the plan, which was first announced last week, were mixed as parents tried to take in the news. Hurt said it was not easy coming up with this proposal.

“It’s hard to watch people hurt but I have to look at the bigger picture, we have to look at the bigger picture and include everyone and do what we can for as many kids as we can,” Hurt said.

There is also a second part to the proposal that involves another bond election on the May Primary in 2014. It asks voters to contribute $16.2 million to match $6 million from the general fund and $16.2 million from the West Virginia School Building Authority. The $6 million local contribution would come over a four-year period.

This proposed bond is less than half of what was asked for and rejected by voters in December and only includes the most immediate needs of the schools system.

It would be enough to build a new Ceredo-Kenova Elementary School and a PreK-8 in Crum as well as add classrooms at Wayne High School to get rid of the modular classes.

Hurt said they believe this plan is the best option they have to address the present needs.

“We don’t want to not include both of the schools and the high schools in need and we feel like by doing this we can get everybody on board,” she said.

The proposal still must be approved by the Wayne County Board of Education.

Monday night’s meeting will be held at the Wonderdome beside Kenova Elementary. Another community meeting is scheduled for Tuesday night at 6 p.m. for Ceredo-Kenova Middle School in the school’s gymnasium.

Meetings also will be scheduled with the Buffalo, Vinson, Crum and Wayne communities in the coming weeks.