Wetzel County School Board Considers Consolidating High Schools

The Wetzel County School Board is considering consolidating some schools.

Convinced the time had come for drastic action, Wetzel County Board of Education members and other school district officials have crafted a motion to bring to the board’s next meeting Tuesday — to consolidate the county’s four high schools into two.

The motion came out of a work session attended by the board of trustees — Chair Linda Fonner, Vice Chair Bryan Castilow and members Christine Mitchell, Christine Nice and Jimmy Glassock — along with Wetzel County Superintendent Cassie Porter and other district officials, as well as the principals of the four high schools.

If passed, the motion would consolidate Paden City and Magnolia high schools into one, as well as Valley and Hundred high schools into one. If the board votes to merge, the plan would be presented to the West Virginia Board of Education by the end of 2024. If the state board agrees, the merger could take place for the 2025-26 school year.

The plan was created following a report on the school district’s disappointing summative assessment test results. This year, Wetzel County students scored proficiently at just 40.63 percent in English/language arts, 35.56 percent in math and 25.32 percent in science. The county’s 11th graders scored proficiently at a rate of 41.54 percent in ELA, 14.62 percent in math and 24.62 percent in science.

The time for talking about a solution is over, Castilow said.

“It’s time to stop putting things off.” he said.

Wetzel County high schools mostly struggled to rank among West Virginia’s 112 high schools. In math, Magnolia ranked 39th, Hundred 80th, Valley 90th and Paden City 104th. In science, Magnolia was 37th, Hundred 65th, Valley 79th and Paden City 106th. In ELA, Magnolia was 64th, Valley 90th, Hundred 99th and Paden City 109th.

According to a survey conducted for the school district by the Thrasher Group, Wetzel County residents overwhelmingly supported countywide improvements. The information gathered revealed that students’ education was made even more difficult by the difficulty in finding certified teachers.

The board acknowledged that the problem was twofold. First, there was an urgent need to bring the county’s teacher-to-student ratio in line with that of certified teachers. The district is currently struggling to field enough teachers in core subjects, relying heavily on substitutes and teachers who are teaching remotely.

It was also made clear at the meeting that current teachers are giving their all to their students, but with preparation time and teaching multiple classes, teachers cannot fulfill their educational mission no matter how hard they try. Burnout is a concern for principals at every school.

If the merger goes through, the two new merged schools will be given new names, colors, mascots and logos. All teachers and staff at each school will keep their jobs. Seventh- and eighth-grade students from Paden City High School will transfer to New Martinsville Middle School.

At Friday’s work session, there was talk that merging two schools might not be the final step. The district could ultimately merge all of its high schools into one, though no consensus was reached on that issue Friday.

Benjamin McPherson, the school district’s chief personnel officer and county administrator, said the current consolidation plan would help address the problem of teacher shortages at each of the four high schools. By merging, the appropriate number of teachers for all critical grades will be achieved.