The Wheels on the Bus Keep Rollin'

This is the second 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.

Rural students who travel to Hundred High School would see their average bus trip increase by about 42 minutes under a proposed Wetzel County Schools consolidation plan. That would more than double some of their school commuting times.

Hundred currently has five bus routes, according to the county’s impact statement for a plan to send Hundred students 20 miles to Valley High School in Pine Grove. The travel times for those routes range from 36 minutes to 53 minutes one way in normal weather.

Redirecting those students from northeast Wetzel County where Hundred is to the southcentral location of Valley would increase the length of the bus rides over windy roads to anywhere from 78 minutes to 90 minutes.

The West Virginia code and state education policy recommend that elementary-aged students spend no more than 30 minutes per trip on buses during normal weather. The recommendation increases to 45 minutes for students in junior high and high school.

Wetzel County’s plan to merge Hundred and Valley would double the recommended time for two of the existing five bus routes. But the impact statement also noted that three current buses to Valley or Short Line School require travel times that also exceed the recommendation. Those bus trips last from 62 minutes to 73 minutes.

Hundred students could opt to attend schools outside Wetzel County. The distance from Hundred to high schools in two neighboring counties is less than it would be to Valley. The distance is 17 miles to either Clay-Batelle (23 minutes) or North Marion (25 minutes).

There would be less travel impact for the county’s corresponding plan to send Paden City High School students to either Magnolia High School (grades 9-12) or New Martinsville School (grades 7-8). The current single bus route to Magnolia would take 48 minutes instead of 33 minutes, and a proposed second bus route would take 58 minutes.

For PCHS students, the distances to high schools in neighboring counties would be greater than to the two schools in New Martinsville. Tyler Consolidated is 13.4 miles from PCHS (18 minutes), and St. Mary’s is 19 miles (25 minutes).

Busing was a common concern among people who took a survey about consolidation that Wetzel County Schools conducted in the summer. The Hundred High School community understandably was the most vocal about the impact that the current consolidation would have on bus routes.

"If there is a consolation, the only common-sense answer is [to] have the school in the center of the county,” one Hundred participant said. “It is a big county, and travel time is a major issue. To have a successful transition is to be fair and equal for all students of Wetzel County.”

Another person said students should be able to attend a school that does not require hours on a bus. This also would ensure that students are close enough to attend school functions and sporting events and that parents could get to their children quickly.

“It’s difficult enough to get kids involved when the facility is nearly in the kids’ backyard, let alone 45 minutes away,” a third Hundred respondent said. “I think that many kids will be left behind and overwhelmed with a consolidation.”

A former Magnolia student who once had a 45-minute bus ride disagreed. “It didn’t impact me, as I was a member of the National Honor Society, an honors student and involved in many extracurriculars.”