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NEW MARTINSVILLE – Wetzel County Schools will save nearly $1 million by merging the county's four high schools into two, without any changes in personnel counts, according to impact statements released by school district officials.
The Wetzel County Board of Education will meet at 9 a.m. Monday at a special meeting at the county board office to put the next steps to making those mergers happen into motion.
Ultimately, the school district wants to create one high school for the county. In the interim, it wants to consolidate Paden City High School into Magnolia High School and New Martinsville School, and consolidate Hundred High School into Valley High School. When that happens, the two new schools will have new names, school colors and mascots.
The board will vote Monday to accept the impact statements and allow Wetzel County School Superintendent Cassie Porter to file legal advertisements announcing public meetings to discuss the consolidations. The Paden City-Magnolia meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at Magnolia and at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at New Martinsville School and 6 p.m. Nov. 15 at Paden City. The Hundred-Valley meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Hundred and 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at Valley.
The school board will meet at 9 a.m. Nov. 22 to vote on consolidating the four high schools into two.
This scenario was first discussed in a late-August work session and a special meeting was held later where the Wetzel board voted to allow Porter to proceed with the potential consolidation. District officials have said the consolidation was necessary due to the poor test scores among the high schools. By merging the four schools into two, there will be enough certified teachers in each of those two buildings to serve the students. Right now, officials said, many classes are taught by long-term substitutes or via remote learning.
According to the impact statements, released Thursday, there will be no immediate cuts in teaching or service personnel with those consolidations. Any minor reductions would come through attrition, as staff retires or resigns, rather than through layoffs.
"This stability means that the valuable experience and dedication of the current staff will continue to benefit students, providing a seamless transition and maintaining high educational standards," the statement read. "Overall, the consolidation supports a sustainable staffing model while enhancing the educational experience for all students."
The moves will save the district substantial amounts of money. According to the impact statements, the consolidations would save a total of $940,071 - $581,349 from consolidating Hundred and Valley and $358,722 from consolidating Magnolia and Paden City.
"These savings, along with efficient personnel management, will allow the county to better utilize its resources without compromising student education or services," the statement read.
The impact statements acknowledge that closing Hundred High would impact the community there, as the school would not be available for community functions, and there would be disappointment in a community hub being gone. According to the statements, the Magnolia-Paden City situation is different, as the two schools sit less than six miles apart, and the two schools already collaborate for theater events and share bussing to various athletic events.
Consolidating Magnolia and Paden City would strengthen those bonds, the statements read, while consolidating Valley and Hundred would allow for new community partnerships to bloom.