Concern About School Facilities in Mingo County

MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. -- Parents, lawmakers and even school board members are frustrated with the condition of school facilities in Mingo County.

After the football field at Tug Valley was left in disarray during the summer, some are now calling out the state about the problem.

“There was a lot of issues with the field,” Delegate Justin Marcum says. “I think they were unsafe during the summer.“

Things are better, but only because of the help of volunteers.

“Some of our board members have even got out and worked on the schools done landscaping and stuff on the schools themselves,” board member Dave Farley said.

The school board says four out of five of the district's lawnmowers were broken during the summer.

And since the district is under state control, they weren't able to do anything to fix them.

“We cannot even buy a pencil,” board President Bill Duty said. “We cannot do finances. We cannot do anything that pertains to the education of a child in this county.”

The Mingo County School system has been under state control for 15 years.