Midland Trail Elementary funding celebrated

Feb. 5—hico

Full-throated enthusiasm from eager Fayette County school children greeted Babydog — and the man she accompanies around the state, Gov. Jim Justice — on Monday at Midland Trail High School.

Many of those same children who relished their time with the English bulldog and her owner will be among those who will reap the benefits of the reason for a special ceremony Monday at the high school — recognition of the funding for the new Midland Trail Elementary School that will be constructed at the Midland Trail Educational Complex in the coming years.

Justice was joined by Andy Neptune, executive director of the School Building Authority of West Virginia, Fayette County Schools Superintendent Gary Hough, Fayette County Board of Education members, McKinley and Associates architects, local school principals and others as the presentation of SBA funding for the school was recognized.

In December, Fayette County Schools was awarded $15,625,860 from the SBA from Fiscal Year 2024 funding to help pay for construction of the elementary school in Hico. FCS has committed $6 million of its own money to create an overall funding pool of $21,625,860 for a project which will combine the student bodies of the current Ansted and Divide elementary schools into a Grades PreK-5 school building adjacent to the Midland Trail high/middle school facility.

Divide was built in 1953 and Ansted was built one year later.

"It's a pretty big deal," said Divide Elementary Principal Shannan Hedgecock. "Our kids are excited; they look forward to a new school coming together (and) being up here in the community, as well, and all of us being on the same campus together."

Her administrative counterpart, Marchelle Bowling, the Ansted Elementary principal, said, "A lot of hurdles have been overcome, and we're so thankful for the support of our community and the SBA for ... making it happen and be a reality. We're thankful for our county for their full support. We can't wait for our community to be one."

The entire student bodies of Ansted and Divide gathered at MTHS Monday for the ceremony.

The main message Justice stressed to the children and others in attendance was simple. "If you can make other people smile, and she (Babydog) did, and you love everybody, why does it need to be more complicated than that? Make people smile, and love everybody. At the end of the day, that's all we need to do in this world to have a heck of a lot better world."

" ... we could never get across the finish line doing something as good as today really is ... without you," he told the students. "You kids are so, so important to all of us (and) to all of you."

Realize your worth, he urged them. "You've got to remember, 'I'm worth it.' ... You can do anything; dream so big ... and shoot for the sky.

"Imagine the magnitude of what we've got going on here; we're going to build a brand new school."

"It's a great day," said Hough, who offered thanks to the governor and the SBA for the funding assistance, as well as his schools staff and board of education for their efforts.

"We're hoping to have it open by the fall of 2026, August of '26," Hough said of the new school. The actual substantial completion date is listed as May 2026.

"It's the completion of everything that we set out to do," the superintendent noted. "It's the last project of getting our schools up to top quality and doing what we need to for our children.

"That's why it's really important. The last piece of the puzzle."

Core sampling has already been done on the site, Hough said. And, at its last meeting, the board of education issued a bid for architectural services for the first phase of athletic facility improvements in the county, which includes work on relocating the MTHS softball and baseball fields to make way for the new elementary school.

"Probably by the fall of next year, you'll begin to see (foundations for the new school)," Hough told the crowd.

Neptune said he was "happy to be back in Fayette County."

"I came down and personally visited Ansted, and I saw the needs for that school," he said. "I didn't get the chance to get over to see Divide, but they told me it was very similar.

"You want to try to be able to give these children the best opportunity you can give them."

"I can see this really being a shot in the arm for this community, for this county because of what this school is going to bring those children and where they've come from," Neptune added. "It seems they'll be almost traveling in time (going from the old to the new)."

Neptune also praised the county school system for its participation in the process. "You have to give props to Superintendent Hough. He's been a good steward, and that board of education has been a good steward of their money. To bring $6 million to the table like that; it just shows their commitment to try to get this last phase of the project done for the county.

"They really, really need commended for that."

Neptune said he was "very pleased" with the overall funding available in the most recent SBA cycle. "I cannot thank Gov. Justice enough for what he does as far as our funding goes." He said Justice even brought more money to the table than was originally expected to be available. "We were able to put about $111 million into all these projects that allowed us to be able to build 10 new schools across the state of West Virginia, and 19 renovations (to other schools)."

Afterwards, Justice said schools and roads are two prime factors people or firms considering relocating to an area put at the top of their list.

"Right off the get-go, the first State of the State Address, I said we've got to make education our centerpiece," Justice said. He stressed "historic" pay raises and an alteration of the A-F grading system. "On that bell curve of A through F, you had a few schools As and a few schools Fs, then a lot of schools with a C. How can you market West Virginia (by) saying 'Come to West Virginia, most of our schools are Cs?'"

"The net-net of the whole thing is education is an economic driver off the charts, and if you want people to come, we have got to put that stake in the sand and say we're going to make a real difference in education," he added. "You know, we've still got a ways to go. There's no question you've got a ways to go. But, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about for me."

Former Fayette County Superintendent Terry George was among those present Monday. "I'm just glad to see everything finally (come to fruition)," George said. "The big plan that we had that we developed when I first got here, this is the final stage.

"Fayette County is no longer facing putting their students in schools that are old and unsafe. Thank God the kids have got what we told them we'd get. The county's been blessed."

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