School 10-year facilities plan approved

The Morgan County School Board approved its 10-year Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan at its August 17 meeting after a public hearing on the plan.

Bill Ratcliffe, educational facilities planner from Williamson Shriver Architects, was on hand for questions from school board members and the public at the public hearing.

Ratcliffe explained that a committee of parents, community members, school staff and administrators worked on the goals and objectives of the plan and facilities needs. They also established a priority list for facilities projects.

Top priorities
One person said they felt the Berkeley Springs High School gymnasium renovations project was top priority. There were no other public comments.

School board president Laura Smith expressed concerns that the Berkeley Springs High School gymnasium renovations project wasn’t in the plan. It was considered the highest priority for facilities needs.

Ratcliffe said the cost computations had been done for the gymnasium project, but upon reviewing the plan noted that the calculations had been inadvertently omitted. He said it would be included in the final revision.

Plan features
No school closings were recommended. All schools will keep their present use and current grade configurations.

Facilities work for different schools included additions, building renovations, site play improvements, roof replacements, new classrooms, electrical and security upgrades, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning upgrades and maintenance.

Ratcliffe said that Paw Paw Schools, Greenwood Elementary and Pleasant View Elementary had been identified as priorities for the 10-year plan.

Revisions
Minor revisions suggested by the West Virginia School Building Authority from their facilities plan review were being addressed. The plan was also being given a final check by their firm for any errors, he said.
Superintendent David Banks asked for a school attendance zone map. County roads were currently used as boundaries to decide what school students should attend. Banks said a map could easily be developed with that information, he said.

Cost
The cost of implementing the 10-year Comprehensive Educational Facility Plan is estimated at $7,863,369. The cost doesn’t include the price for the Berkeley Springs High School gymnasium renovations, which was estimated at $3,872,804 with a $300,000 local match.
Some $5.4 million of the projects’ cost would be submitted to the School Building Authority as Major Improvement Projects (MIP) and NEEDS project. Around $1.77 million would be from local monies.
Local monies
Board member Aaron Close said he hadn’t seen the local contributions listed in the plan, only School Building Authority funds. Superintendent David Banks wondered if it was to their advantage or disadvantage to show the split.

Board member Larry Omps didn’t think the local monies should be listed since the amount wouldn’t be very large across the board for individual projects. He also said it could lock them into using money for specific projects when the funds could be used for things like emergency roof repairs or “whatever we need.”

Omps said the local contributions to projects may amount to $200,000 over 10 years. School Treasurer Nancy White said they would look at projects on a case-by-case basis for how they would be funded.

Close agreed that if local monies didn’t need to be listed in the plan, then don’t list them. He liked having some flexibility.

Ratcliffe said the plan contained the county’s levy information, lease purchase options and other funding sources for matching funds.

The plan is a living document and can be revised at any time. An annual update is required, Ratcliffe said.