By Stephen Smoot
Schools opened all over Harrison County and across the state as summer vacation came to a close. A South Harrison High School student, Nathaniel Linger, came to address the Board of Education concerning problems confronting students in the first days and weeks of school there.
“I had originally wanted to come to the last meeting, but I could not make it due to the flooding,” said Linger, the student body president of South Harrison. He explained that he had come
Linger added that “we did not get to make our schedules, and this year, we were handed schedules that were missing certain classes. I was handed a schedule that I couldn’t even graduate with.”
Also, “a big issue I have is that last year, I believe there was an April meeting you all voted to keep a position for a virtual learning lab at South Harrison. As far as I’m aware, that virtual lab hasn’t been made available to any of the students.”
He explained that he and his friends attempted to schedule online classes, but were limited to two” and we could not be given time in school whatsoever to do the work.” Then Linger shared that “it’s just sad because there are many advanced classes online that I wish to take and that I have friends who want to take, but we can’t because we have to have a full schedule in school and then a max of those two online classes.”
Some of those seeking the greater academic challenge transferred to Bridgeport High School to access them. Linger noted the “disparity” between the smaller and more rural schools versus the larger facilities in urban and suburban areas.
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Dora Stutler indirectly addressed Linger’s concerns. She stated that “we have gotten some we’ve had delegations, a few complaints on the South Harrison schedule. I want to clear up some misconceptions and because we have some formal complaints, we are addressing those.”
Stutler continued by saying that “We’re working with the folks involved that need to be involved in that and I just want to say, first of all, and this is on Mrs. Knight’s behalf, I watched what she did this summer. She’s taken a meeting over this because she’s been in there and she’s worked on that schedule and she knows what she’s doing.”
“She’s been doing this her whole career, whether we agree or we don’t agree with her methods or whatever, she knows how to make a high school schedule,” commented Superintendent Stutler. She then shared that “this was brought to our attention really in May that there were issues with the schedule at South Harrison.”
The Superintendent explained that lower enrollment means fewer electives are available, saying “Bridgeport, Lincoln, South Harrison, RCB, (personnel conducting a study) broke it down on what electives are offered, and I can tell you that Lincoln doesn’t offer near as much as Bridgeport because their enrollment is lower.”
She added that “it never came out of the curriculum office that we were having a virtual classroom at South Harrison.” Superintendent Stutler stated as well on scheduling protocols that, according to the West Virginia State Department of Education, “I’m telling you what we’re doing now is the correct way to do it. What was done in the past was not.”
Next up, Jamie Kosik shared the struggles of the school system with HVAC units in different facilities. He explained that before July 1, only two technicians were able to address maintenance issues with HVAC, but another employee came on board at that point.
In Liberty Middle and Mountaineer Elementary schools, chillers shut down due to condensation from high levels of humidity. Kosik explained that in North Central West Virginia, systems are designed to heat or cool, not to dehumidify. “Now places like hospitals, clinics, and places like that where they cannot go over a certain percentage of humidity, they definitely have to have larger humidity controls,” said Kosik.
Keeping up with issues as they arise has kept the maintenance team from “preventative maintenance, “but we’re not at that point yet.” He added that “our guys and EMCOR are out there every day doing the best that they can, to keep these systems running. We’re out there putting out fires every day because things are broken, things aren’t working.”
A major unplanned maintenance and repair problem came from recent floods that afflicted schools in the region, especially Bridgeport High School, Bridgeport High School. Kosik reported that “pretty hard hit” areas included the locker room, the coach’s offices, the baseball field and that sport’s equipment, and supplies. Seven classrooms were also damaged.
“The pitching machine was under water,” he stated, and also shared that a lot of paint, flooring, carpet, furniture, and other items were likely unsalvageable.
Officials also noted that parts of the campus, especially some of the sports facilities, at Bridgeport High School were built in the flood plain and may have to be raised.
