Fayette among systems tabbed for SBA funding

Dec. 14—Fayette County Schools officials figuratively opened one of their Christmas presents a couple of weeks early on Monday.

And, the contents got the holiday season off to a spectacular start.

Fayette was among the big winners Monday as the School Building Authority of West Virginia announced over $100 million of funding for school construction needs projects for the Fiscal Year 2024 cycle.

At Monday's quarterly SBA meeting in Charleston, FCS officials learned the system's request for $15,625,860 from the SBA to help pay for construction of a new elementary school in Hico had been approved. The county has committed $6 million of its own finances to a $21,625,860 project that will result in a new Midland Trail Elementary School being built at the Midland Trail Educational Complex in Hico. The student bodies of current Ansted and Divide elementary schools will comprise that new school's population.

Gov. Jim Justice, as chairman of the SBA, announced a historic milestone Monday as the SBA gave the go-ahead to an allocation of $111,687,534 to 19 counties for projects in Fiscal Year 2024.

The funding is the largest annual award by the SBA since 2011, according to a press release from the governor's office. It will be used to build 10 new schools and perform major renovations on 13 existing schools across the state.

"I am truly proud to vote for this historic investment in our schools, because it represents our unwavering commitment to providing West Virginia students with the best possible learning environment," Justice said in the release. "This funding doubles down on our belief that every student deserves access to a high-quality education.

"These new and upgraded facilities will ensure our students have the resources and technology needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond."

Fayette County Schools Superintendent Gary Hough said the awarding of the funding will help the county system continue with a facilities upgrade plan undertaken several years ago.

"We are pleased," said Hough. "This is the culmination of what we felt like needed to happen to take care of our aging buildings, our buildings and their structural makeup and the makeup of where they were at over a series of years.

The Ansted building was formerly coal-fired but is no longer, now utilizing temporary electric heating in each classroom, Hough said. "It's not a building that we want to look at long-term. The (cost) to repair that building and get it back up to standards was a whole lot more ... It's much more cost-effective to move into a newer building and do what we need to do."

Divide Elementary was built in 1953 and Ansted in 1954.

The planned elementary school, which will merge 410 students into the new building in a PK-5 setting, will round out a facilities upgrade plan put in place in the 2016-17 year, Hough said. That included an update of the Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan (CEFP) and interaction and support from the SBA in implementing an improvement plan.

Projects in recent years have included a new Oak Hill Middle School and a new New River Primary School, transition of the former Fayetteville and Valley high schools into PK-8 scenarios, renovations to allow Ansted Middle School students to move into Midland Trail High School, and closure of a section of Meadow Bridge High School and the eventual construction of the Meadow Bridge Regional School, which is still ongoing.

"It's been a long process," Hough said.

"As soon as we get the grant award contract and do the paperwork in the next month, you begin to initiate the architectural drawings (by architectural firm McKinley and Associates), and we'll begin to look at the site itself very quickly, because we know where we're going to put it," he said. The project could extend into 2026 or 2027, factoring in preliminary architectural work, the bidding process and construction, Hough said.

"At this time, we think they can, and we anticipate they can," Hough said when asked if the elementary schools slated to close can hold up until the new school is built. The key will be to monitor the current buildings and do what repairs are necessary "without investing a great deal into it."

"I'm really thankful that we've had a local board (of education) that's maintained that vision the whole time," the superintendent said, adding that "a great staff" has worked hand-in-hand with him in recent years. "The SBA has stuck with us through this process, and understand ... how important it is to get the (planned) projects" to fruition.

"I appreciate Andy Neptune and the staff down at the SBA for their work. And the state board of education, they understood when they took us over (state control in 2010) what had to happen. And they have worked us through the process."

Past superintendents were important, as well, he said.

Besides Fayette County, among the other projects approved Monday were:

—Wyoming County — $15,711,654 to be used for construction of the new Mullens PK-8 School. The county will commit $8,753,193 to a project expected to cost $24,464,847.

—Greenbrier County — $6,707,058 to be utilized for additions and renovations at Frankford Elementary School. Local funds of $600,000 will also be utilized.

—Berkeley County — $8,333,333 for construction of a new primary and intermediate school. This is a multi-year commitment with the same recurring payment over three years for a total award sum of $25,000,000.

—Wood County — $9,309,647 for construction of three new schools: Lubeck Elementary, Vienna Elementary and North Parkersburg Elementary. This is a multi-year commitment with the same recurring payment over three years for a total award sum of $27,928,940.

—Taylor County — $7,306,600 to be used for construction of the new Anna Jarvis Elementary School.

—Marshall County — $9,213,555 for construction of the new Benwood-McMechen Elementary School.

—Harrison County — $5,842,600 for additions and renovations at Nutter Fort Primary School and Simpson Elementary School.

—Grant County — $4,755,330 targeted to additions and renovations at Petersburg Elementary School.

—Jackson County — $13,547,398 for additions and renovations at Ripley Middle School.

—Mason County — $1,249,000 for upgrades at Roosevelt Elementary School.

—Logan County — $3,000,000 to be used for foundational and structural upgrades at Logan County Middle School.

—Randolph County — $558,110 for a partial roof replacement at Elkins Middle School.

—Calhoun County — $4,839,829 for renovations at Calhoun Middle/High School.

—Morgan County — $367,100 to be used for renovations at Berkeley Springs High School.

—Hancock County — $987,720 to be used for renovations at Oak Glen Middle School.

—Gilmer County — $724,693 for renovations at Gilmer County High School.

—Tucker County — $1,965,945 for wastewater treatment plant upgrades for Tucker County High School.

—Barbour — $1,642,102 for renovations at Philippi Elementary School.

A Raleigh County request of up to $2,069,526 from the SBA for water line replacement at Woodrow Wilson High School and Academy of Careers Technical Center was not approved.

The School Building Authority is funded annually by the West Virginia Legislature using a portion of general state revenue, lottery funds and excess lottery funds. According to the SBA website, construction funds are created from general revenue and the annual sale of capital improvement bonds.

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