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.