George C. Weimer Elementary School will close at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, following a unanimous vote by the Kanawha County Board of Education.
The decision to close and demolish Weimer, divide the student population and move them 2.5 miles away into Alban Elementary and 3.5 miles away into Bridgeview Elementary, was reached following an emotional public hearing on the proposal at St. Albans High School Thursday evening.
According to a state-mandated report connected to the proposal assembled by Kanawha County Schools staff, over the past decade, Weimer’s student population has decreased by 34 students, Alban’s by 121 and Bridgeview’s by 64. Projected population student population for the 2024-25 school year would stand at 269 at Alban and 438 at Bridgeview.
The 22,221-square-foot Weimer building, built in 1951, is said to be in “average†condition, while the original half of the building is not ADA compliant.
Both the receiving buildings, the 28,753-square-foot Alban, built in 1962, and the 66,845-square-foot Bridgeview, built in 1953, also are said to be in “average†condition, with 56.3% and 67% building utilization rates, respectively.
The move comes as the third of three “no-cost†consolidations confirmed by board vote this week in light of a decade that’s seen Kanawha County’s overall student enrollment decrease by 15.5%, or 4,362 students.
Kanawha County Superintendent Tom Williams equated that student loss number to the loss of 500 positions and $29 million over the same timeframe. In West Virginia, student population in a given district is directly tied to state funding provided to county school systems.
As a whole, the county’s population decreased by 14,944 from 2010 through 2019.
“Kanawha County Schools has been very good about budgeting and we’ve been able to absorb large losses without cutting deeply into schools or programs, but we are at the point now where we cannot continue to cut positions without also consolidating schools,†Williams said, noting increased utilities, maintenance and liability insurance costs as additional factors.
Board members on Tuesday also voted unanimously to close Marmet Elementary at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, demolish the building, eliminate 10 positions and send its students to Chesapeake Elementary in a move county school officials say will save $651,376 annually in staff, maintenance and operating expenses.
The board followed that move up on Wednesday by unanimously voting to close Grandview Elementary on the same timeline, move board office space into the vacated school and divide students into Mary C. Snow West Side and Edgewood elementary schools, 2.2 and 3.4 miles away respectively. That move calls for elimination of 20 positions and is estimated to save the county $572,724 annually.
As for the Weimer building, district officials say its closure will save the county an estimated $387,279 annually in staffing, maintenance and operational costs. The transition also calls for the elimination of a further eight professional and six service positions.
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Former Weimer students would see their bus route duration increase by five to seven minutes, per the report.
Most of the concerns raised by several dozen current and former Weimer parents and teachers centered on losing the attentiveness and small class sizes provided by a community school.
“Having such a small school and classes, all these kids are able to be noticed... these kids get to have one-on-one with these teachers... When they’re lacking in academics, these teachers see that or if they need a little extra love, these teachers see that,†Megan Gillispie said.
Weimer counselor Sarah Hewett indicated many Weimer students come from tough family or financial situations and necessitate extra attention.
“A lot of our kids have been through a lot of trauma and my biggest concern for them is they will be lost and no one will know what they’ve been through and it will be another traumatizing experience for them,†Hewett said.
Another speaker raised issue with the board’s lack of action on maintenance issues.
“I understand financial situations drive decisions. Some of the fixes you see on the pages have probably been identified long before and they were not addressed,†Wayne Stephenson said. “If this continues to be a problem, you can see there are going to more school closures and consolidations throughout the county. If we can address these prior items to keep students in schools, I think the students will be much more successful.â€
Cary Hess, a school-age speaker, approached the school’s closure from the state political level, calling on the audience to join in a protest for a change to West Virginia’s school funding formula on Monday at 5 p.m. in the capitol’s lower rotunda.
“The legislative funding is clearly not enough. The legislature has stabbed us in the back. That’s why I am inviting everyone in this room and anyone who hears this speech to demand better for our students, educators and school staff,†Hess said. “I want everyone in that building to hear us.â€
Currently, the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability is scheduled to discuss consolidations and closures as part of this weekend’s round of interim legislative sessions, though its unclear if that hearing will touch on the funding formula’s relationship with recent consolidations.
Leading up to the vote, board member Ric Cavender addressed the room.
“My hope is through this process, we will all emerge and your children, your elementary students, if this vote does go a certain way, will be in a situation where they’ll have just as much love and support as they did at their community school,†Cavender said.
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