New Schools in Old Buildings

This is the fourth article in a series about school consolidation in Wetzel County. The articles cover topics discussed in two impact statements approved by the school board Oct. 14.

One obvious takeaway from Wetzel County’s consolidation plan is that all of the county’s school buildings are old and sorely need upgrades. But the school system knew that in 2020 and had no plans to address all the issues, according to its 10-year plan.

The impact statements released last week as part of the consolidation push include details about the history and condition of five of the county’s schools. More details about those schools are available in the county’s 2020-2030 facilities plan.

The facilities plan led county taxpayers to believe the school board would not make any systemic changes in schools for at least a decade. “There will be no redesignations in Wetzel County,” the document said, further elaborating that “no configuration changes” were planned in any of the county’s four high school attendance areas.

That was then. This is now.

Under the consolidation plan, the properties that house Paden City and Hundred high schools would be sold or donated to community organizations. Their students would attend school at the buildings that house Magnolia and Valley high schools, which would get new identities (names, school colors and mascots). The seventh- and eighth-graders who are currently part of PCHS would go to New Martinsville School.

All of those students would have to make the best of their educational opportunities in environments that Wetzel County Schools acknowledges are not ideal.

A brief history of Wetzel County high schools
Paden City has the oldest high-school building in the county. The impact statement for the PCHS-Magnolia consolidation said the current Paden City High School was built in 1978, but that doesn’t appear to be accurate. The building was dedicated May 1, 1977, after a 1975 fire burned much of the old building, according to the Tyler Star News.

The gymnasium, band room and shop from the old building survived the fire and are part of PCHS. A separate multi-purpose facility was built next to the main building in 1987.

The county’s other high-school buildings date to the late 1980s. Magnolia’s multi-story building was finished in 1988 and includes part of the previous 1960 building. Hundred students also moved into a new building in 1988, save for a lab that was built in 1975. And the current Valley High School, including an existing vocational-agricultural building, opened in 1987.

New Martinsville School was built in 1976 but includes portions from 1956 and 1958 and a cafeteria built in 1998.

School administrators argue in their impact statements that Magnolia, Valley and New Martinsville School are the better long-term options for merging students from the four high schools into existing facilities. They said Magnolia is the larger of the two riverfront facilities and thus offers sufficient classroom, cafeteria and library space for an estimated 529 students after consolidation. Magnolia’s building can hold up to 1,208 students.

The buildings at Hundred and Valley are more comparable in size, with Hundred able to hold 427 students and Valley able to hold 464. But school officials likewise said the slightly larger building in Pine Grove is the better option in terms of classroom space, common areas and resource usage. The projection for a combined student body is 194 people.

How to spin an impact statement
The impact statements emphasize the structural and environmental problems that exist at the PCHS and Hundred facilities.

One statement said PCHS “does not adequately meet all of the educational and safety objectives” outlined in the 10-year facilities plan, for instance. “Significant renovations are required to bring the school up to modern standards and ensure a safe and conducive learning environment for students,” the impact statement said.

The “smaller, constrained site and numerous safety and infrastructure issues” at PCHS are bigger concerns, according to school officials. They also said PCHS “falls short in addressing space and future growth needs.”

But the school system downplays the problems at Magnolia and Valley. It would cost $16.6 million to upgrade Magnolia’s building, compared with $7.6 million for Paden City. Upgrades to Valley would cost $10.7 million, compared with $7.8 million at Hundred.

The consolidation proposals also omit key information, like the fact that Magnolia’s building is in the Ohio River flood plain. The school system’s 10-year facilities plan further adds that “existing commons/dining space is inadequate” at Magnolia, that the building is on “a very small site of less than 3 acres,” and that it does not accommodate disabled students.

Flooding also could be an issue at Valley. You wouldn’t know it from reading the impact statement for consolidation, but the 10-year facilities plan said all four acres of the campus is in a flood plain. The plan also notes that the school’s gym floor and framing had to be repaired from flood damage and the gym also has an insulation problem.

New Martinsville School, meanwhile, does not have enough sprinklers for fire suppression, and the lighting in the parking lot is considered “inadequate.”

The cost to bring all of the schools up to code broke down as follows in the 2020 plan:

• New Martinsville School: $20.1 million

• Magnolia: $16.6 million

• Valley: $10.8 million

• Hundred: $7.8 million

• PCHS: $7.5 million

Consolidation push aside, the facilities plan also shows how the school system ranks its high schools in terms of spending priority. The plan called for spending $10.9 million on buildings in the Magnolia area over 10 years and $5.2 million in the Valley area. Paden City schools were set to receive $4.7 million, while the building expenditures planned for Hundred High School and Long Drain School were a mere $470,640.

If the county and state school boards approve Wetzel County’s consolidation plans, the county will have to amend its facilities plan to reflect a future with two high schools.

Read our previous articles in this series:

• Wetzel County Defends School Consolidation Plans

• The Wheels on the Bus Keep Rollin’

• Fewer Students, More Merger Talk