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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

How Are We Doing?

It's been over a year since the 2nd proposed levy was presented to the county.  The Pocahontas Commentator made a prediction then which applies now"


Commentator Warns That 2nd Step of Alderman's Prediction is Happening:




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Step Two: School Bldgs in Terrible Condition": 

Our County, our schools. Stolen momey form Charleston or DC always comes with strings, like "prevailing wages", which make everyhtinfg cost five times waht it should. have we no carpenters, plumbers, electricians, er, masons, in this County? I would SUPPORT a levy to fix OUR schools OUR way with LOCAL labor and materials, and run them OUR WAY with no outside interference. What ever happened to the wood boiler in the High School?



Here is the recipe for getting a new set of school buildings:

1. Lower the maintenance budget so that the buildings will look in disrepair.

2.  Declare that the buildings are in disrepair.

3.  Instead of fixing up the old buildings, declare that only a "new" facility will be the needs of the "students." (When you get the new buildings, you let the old ones rot to the ground.)

4.  Point out that a building is in the floodplain and has to be moved for the "safety of the children."

5.  Ignore the fact that your last building was built in the floodplain just a few years ago and that you have just put a million dollars into a "Wellness" center.  (You have to avoid mentioning this fact and hope that no one will raise the issue.

6.  Explain how a new facility will be more efficient and cost less! (While asking the citizens to pay more taxes to pay for the new facilities.  It is like going to the store and buying something you didn't need or wanted because "It was on Sale."

7.  Get the businesses in the community to join in support of the new school system.  (This will be a little more difficult in the town where the school is now because the citizens of the town will have to pay more for the basic services such as water and sewer.  This is because you just moved their biggest customer out of town.  They think their water bill is already too high.

8.  Explain that the elementary/middle schools will be better off because the student population will be more "balanced."  (Try to ignore the fact that you just moved the 5th graders from the middle school to the school in town, thereby adding to the number of "endangered" students in the floodplain.)

9.  Explain that the "longer bus rides" will actually be better for the students.

10.  Tell folks that by moving the "Fifth graders" from the smallest school that you are actually improving the education of the other grades.  (This is like cutting the top of the blanket off and sewing it on the bottom and claiming that you have made the blanket better."

11.  Get the state to give you a "grant" for studying the problem.  (Ignore that the problems have existed since time immemorial.   $100,000 will purchase a lot of "grease for your skids")  Ignore the face that grants are what got our school system in jams in the first place.

12.  Hit the road to sell your plan.  Get your board of education to support a levy.  Use the slogan, "It is all about the kids."   That way those in favor of higher taxes will complain that you are being "cheap" because you don't want a bigger tax bill.

14.   Emphasize the support of your school board "PRESIDENT for the idea.  This should inspire great confidence in the voters as he attends publicity functions with his mistress.

13.  Threaten to lay off some teachers and school personnel "If the levy doesn't pass."

14.  Explain how $11,000,000 is really just a "drop in the bucket" for a better education.  You will have to sidestep the fact that our county is losing population all the time and has to have a state subsidy to "cap" the student population at 14,000.  (Don't forget to mention that this "cap" might be removed at any time.)

15.  Don't mention that some students daily travel to school on a bus ride which is almost as long as some of their parents have to travel to get to their job.

16.  Once you have gotten your levy passed and your new buildings announce that the Board of Education would like to move its offices down to the "no longer used" elementary school building.  Hope that no one notices that you have just moved the elementary school out of the floodplain for their safety and now you want to move the board office into that same "dangerous" building WITH ALL THE STUDENTS RECORDS. Brilliant move.!

17.  Once this is done you get the board to recommend the razing of the old board building so that you will have more parking space.

18.  Share the pain with all the kids.  Plan to move the Greenbank Middle Schoolers to the high school campus along with the Marlinton Elementary middle schoolers.  Move the 5th grade Hillsboro students to Marlinton Middle School.  That way the Hillsboro school will be even smaller.  Eventually it will be too small and it can be  closed.

19.  Build a separate facility for the middle schools at the high school.  Tell the community that you are going to keep them separate from the high school to protect the middle school students.  Try to avoid discussing the bus ride with the high school children which they will be traveling even longer that they were before.

20.  Lastly,  a levy will allow you to further drain the economic resources of the county in the same manner as when they attached leeches to George Washington to get rid of his "excess" blood.  The cure will kill the system as it did ole George.  The levy will prevent a lot of people from having "excess" money in their wallets.  Like the commercial,  it will be easier to ask the question:  "What's in your wallet?"

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Step Two: School Bldgs in Terrible Condition": 

Our County, our schools. Stolen momey form Charleston or DC always comes with strings, like "prevailing wages", which make everyhtinfg cost five times waht it should. have we no carpenters, plumbers, electricians, er, masons, in this County? I would SUPPORT a levy to fix OUR schools OUR way with LOCAL labor and materials, and run them OUR WAY with no outside interference. What ever happened to the wood boiler in the High School? 

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Steps to New Schools


Here is the recipe for getting a new set of school buildings:

1. Lower the maintenance budget so that the buildings will look in disrepair.

2.  Declare that the buildings are in disrepair.

3.  Instead of fixing up the old buildings, declare that only a "new" facility will be the needs of the "students." (When you get the new buildings, you let the old ones rot to the ground.)

4.  Point out that a building is in the floodplain and has to be moved for the "safety of the children."

5.  Ignore the fact that your last building was built in the floodplain just a few years ago and that you have just put a million dollars into a "Wellness" center.  (You have to avoid mentioning this fact and hope that no one will raise the issue.

6.  Explain how a new facility will be more efficient and cost less! (While asking the citizens to pay more taxes to pay for the new facilities.  It is like going to the store and buying something you didn't need or wanted because "It was on Sale."

7.  Get the businesses in the community to join in support of the new school system.  (This will be a little more difficult in the town where the school is now because the citizens of the town will have to pay more for the basic services such as water and sewer.  This is because you just moved their biggest customer out of town.  They think their water bill is already too high.

8.  Explain that the elementary/middle schools will be better off because the student population will be more "balanced."  (Try to ignore the fact that you just moved the 5th graders from the middle school to the school in town, thereby adding to the number of "endangered" students in the floodplain.)

9.  Explain that the "longer bus rides" will actually be better for the students.

10.  Tell folks that by moving the "Fifth graders" from the smallest school that you are actually improving the education of the other grades.  (This is like cutting the top of the blanket off and sewing it on the bottom and claiming that you have made the blanket better."

11.  Get the state to give you a "grant" for studying the problem.  (Ignore that the problems have existed since time immemorial.   $100,000 will purchase a lot of "grease for your skids")  Ignore the face that grants are what got our school system in jams in the first place.

12.  Hit the road to sell your plan.  Get your board of education to support a levy.  Use the slogan, "It is all about the kids."   That way those in favor of higher taxes will complain that you are being "cheap" because you don't want a bigger tax bill.

14.   Emphasize the support of your school board "PRESIDENT for the idea.  This should inspire great confidence in the voters as he attends publicity functions with his mistress.

13.  Threaten to lay off some teachers and school personnel "If the levy doesn't pass."

14.  Explain how $11,000,000 is really just a "drop in the bucket" for a better education.  You will have to sidestep the fact that our county is losing population all the time and has to have a state subsidy to "cap" the student population at 14,000.  (Don't forget to mention that this "cap" might be removed at any time.)

15.  Don't mention that some students daily travel to school on a bus ride which is almost as long as some of their parents have to travel to get to their job.

16.  Once you have gotten your levy passed and your new buildings announce that the Board of Education would like to move its offices down to the "no longer used" elementary school building.  Hope that no one notices that you have just moved the elementary school out of the floodplain for their safety and now you want to move the board office into that same "dangerous" building WITH ALL THE STUDENTS RECORDS. Brilliant move.!

17.  Once this is done you get the board to recommend the razing of the old board building so that you will have more parking space.

18.  Share the pain with all the kids.  Plan to move the Greenbank Middle Schoolers to the high school campus along with the Marlinton Elementary middle schoolers.  Move the 5th grade Hillsboro students to Marlinton Middle School.  That way the Hillsboro school will be even smaller.  Eventually it will be too small and it can be  closed.

19.  Build a separate facility for the middle schools at the high school.  Tell the community that you are going to keep them separate from the high school to protect the middle school students.  Try to avoid discussing the bus ride with the high school children which they will be traveling even longer that they were before.

20.  Lastly,  a levy will allow you to further drain the economic resources of the county in the same manner as when they attached leeches to George Washington to get rid of his "excess" blood.  The cure will kill the system as it did ole George.  The levy will prevent a lot of people from having "excess" money in their wallets.  Like the commercial,  it will be easier to ask the question:  "What's in your wallet?"


Neglected Buildings


February 19, 2016
Audio Player
We recently we spoke to Ron Hall, the Maintenance Director of the Pocahontas County Schools, to find out just how much their school buildings need renovation and repair. It was worse than I expected.
There has been a proposal to close down Marlinton Elementary is this necessary? Ron answers that question.
“If we elect to keep that school open, we will receive no funding from the SBA (WV School Building Authority) because it is in a flood plain” said Hall. “The needed repairs; all the electrical is outdated and all of the classrooms need more outlets in them. The (electrical) services are all old and need replaced. We need HVAC in the school and our sprinkler systems are done, they’ve served their life, the pipes are starting to burst. The fire alarm system is itself outdated for 30 years and we can’t get parts for it, so when it finally goes down we’ll have to replace the whole unit.”
How much will it cost to do the critical repairs to Marlinton Elementary? Ron.
“Giving you an exact cost is hard to do” Hall answers.”But I would guess, looking at the costs for the other schools, you’re probably looking in the vicinity of 6 to 7 million dollars to put the school back in good shape.”
Of course if Marlinton Elementary School is closed these costs would not need to be incurred. Ron goes on to talk about the problems at, and the costs to repair the Green Bank School.
“Green Bank needs new roofs” Hall says. “(It) needs new fire alarm, new sprinkler system, new windows (and) doors. The Gymnasium needs a new roof. You’re looking at about 7 million dollars to put that school back into satisfactory condition.”
It is proposed to move the Marlinton Elementary students, when that school closes or is forced to close, to Marlinton Middle School. Is the Middle School in need of repairs too? Ron.
“To move Marlinton Elementary up to the Middle School, we would have to add 4 classrooms up there” Hall said. “And do some renovations to again sprinkler systems and electrical upgrades and so forth. We’re looking at probably in the vicinity of 8 million dollars to do all that.”
If that move happens, the proposal is to move the 7th and 8th graders from both Middle Schools –Marlinton and Green Bank- to the High School. What shape is the high school in, Ron?
“The High School is in detrimental shape” Hall said. “It is quite old – about 47 years old. The sewer system is shot. About everything at the High school needs updated (and) renovated. We’re looking at probably in the vicinity of 16 million dollars to take care of all of that.”
How about Hillsboro Elementary?
“Hillsboro is probably the best school” Hall answered. “It’s received modernizations, you know, and a new cafeteria and stuff, so it is definitely our best school (facility) at this point.”
I asked Ron if there was any chance on receiving State funds for these renovations without passing a school levy.
“Short of the Levy, we’re not going to get any funding from the State” Hall replied. “With the levy, the SBA has allotted money for us to fix our schools, but we have to pass the levy to receive that funding.”
So what will the School system do if the levy fails to pass?
“We would somehow have to come up with the money in the County, and there is no way of doing that” Hall says. “Not a plug for or against the levy, I just know that our schools are falling down, they are wearing out and we need to repair. The levy is our number one option because the SBA will foot the money for the biggest part of these projects. Without the levy, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
So things are very bad indeed with the school buildings. Ron pointed out that several roofs at Green Bank School, and the roof at the High School need replacing and he just learned there is a leaky roof at Marlinton Middle school. To repair just one of the roofs at Green Bank will cost $450,000, money the Schools don’t have. Despite the fire alarm and sprinkler problems, the Fire Marshall has been holding off closing several of the buildings, waiting to see if the SBA funds become available.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Here's How a Reserve Grant Works

THE PROPOSED BROOKE MIDDLE SCHOOL BACKGROUND

 In the year 2000, the citizens of Brooke County approved the 2001 bond issue that raised $15 million dollars to finance the construction of the Brooke County Wellness Center and pool, and renovations on several schools. The bond required the Brooke County Board of Education to make payments from July 2001 through June 2016. In 2012, the Board of Education refinanced the 2001 bond issue shortening the payback period by one (1) year and saving the citizens of Brooke County $1.3 million dollars. The 2001 bond will be paid off in June 2015.


 COST of PROJECTS The 2015 bond issue will cover two projects: a middle school and an HVAC system for Brooke High School. The budget for the construction of the proposed Brooke Middle School is $30 million dollars. The new HVAC system at Brooke High School will cost $6 million dollars. The Brooke County Board of Education will make it a point to seek local workers and businesses in the construction projects. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY OF WV (SBA)


In April 2014 the WV SBA presented a $100,000 Reserve Grant to Brooke County Schools for the planning of a new middle school. A key benefit to this project is that the WV SBA will more than match dollar for dollar the amount raised by Brooke County citizens by providing the county with $18 million towards construction. They will not pay towards the HVAC system. Three million dollars will be paid through the bond issue and three million dollars will be paid by the BOE. TAXES Payment of the 2001 bond issue ends in June 2015; payment of the 2015 bond issue will begin the following month, July 2015.

There will be no change in the tax rate that citizens have paid over the past 15 years (i.e., the tax rate for the 2015 bond issue will be the same taxable rate as the 2001 bond issue.) The 2015 bond issue will generate funds of $15 million dollars to be used for the two projects: $12 million dollars for the construction of Brooke Middle School and $3 million dollars for the HVAC system at Brooke High School. THE SCHOOLS – FOLLANSBEE MIDDLE AND WELLSBURG MIDDLE Follansbee Middle school is 87 years old and Wellsburg Middle school is 85 years old. The 2010-2020 ten-year CEFP Plan that was developed by Brooke County citizens and business leaders called for the construction of one middle school and two primary schools along with the closure of the existing two middle schools and seven primary schools.

The new primary schools were to be built on the existing middle school sites. Unfortunately, this recommendation is not economically feasible to be completed at one time as it would have caused an increase in taxes of over 350%, which neither the Board nor our citizens would support.

 Therefore, in order for the county to achieve progress towards the construction of new educational facilities, the board has placed the county in a position to build the new Brooke Middle School, with the realization that the land currently occupied by Follansbee and Wellsburg Middle Schools may be required in the future for new school buildings or facility restructuring. Currently, discussions are being held to determine the most economically feasible use for the existing middle school buildings. Ideas have included leasing the buildings to city or private organizations, or transferring existing board departments, programs, and/or resources to those two buildings.

 It is acknowledged that the existing middle school buildings are of advanced age and the razing of said buildings may eventually be required.

As always, public comment will be welcomed and encouraged on this matter and additional meetings and discussions will be scheduled regarding this issue. THE SCHOOL – BROOKE MIDDLE 1. Location - Brooke Middle School will be located on the Brooke High School Campus between the high school and the baseball field.

... The reduction of personnel will occur through attrition (i.e., retirements, resignations, new job opportunities, etc.) It is anticipated that the construction project will take over at least twenty-four months to complete. During this time careful attention will be given to the needs of the school district with the focus on preserving existing jobs.

In Brooke County, all of us have family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances who work for our school system, and special efforts will be made to preserve the jobs of our employees.

IN CONCLUSION

Change is never easy but is sometimes required for progress and advancement. The new middle school will provide a state of the art facility for our adolescent students and will serve as a beacon of pride, hope, and accomplishment for our county. Brooke County has the opportunity to construct a 21st century middle school complete with the latest advances in safety, technology, and infrastructure without raising the tax rate and being awarded $18 million dollars from the WV SBA. The board is sensitive to the issue of preserving our employees’ jobs and is dedicated to that endeavor. Staff reduction will be achieved through attrition and the careful attention to needs over the next three years.

The board has put all the necessary pieces in place to build a new educational facility as recommended by the Brooke County citizens and businesses owners in the CEFP plan. It is now time for the public to express their opinion by voting on Tuesday, November 4, 2014.The board thanks all citizens of the county for working together in the continued endeavor to provide our students with a quality education.

Monday, February 29, 2016

1 comment:

  1. Now how is that going to work ?When Trump has said he plans to put an end to grant programs for schools. All so Pocahontas and 2 other counties are losing nearly $ 8 million with cuts he is making now. Trump wants state and counties to fund their own schools. He has made it pretty clear he feels it's not the federal government's job to fund them. So in short levies are coming if you want to keep these schools doors open for our children. Pull your pants up buttercup. Trump's in charge now and open that wallet.

    ReplyDelete

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About Me

A local archivist who specializes in all things Pocahontas County