April 30th, 2018

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Nicholas County mediation team, including representatives of the West Virginia Department of Education, West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) and the Nicholas County Board of Education (NCBOE) today released a potential plan for the rebuilding of Nicholas County Schools, inclusive of school locations and configurations.

The mediation team met today in Charleston and agreed that the plan for rebuilding Nicholas County’s schools should attempt to include the following:

  • A community school(s) serving 6th – 12th grades in Richwood, located within a 3-mile radius of the former Richwood High School. The school(s) should include distinct spaces for middle and high school students – even if co-located on a shared campus – and should preserve the current school names, team names, mascots, and school cultures of schools located in Richwood. The facilities should include academic, athletic, and extracurricular facilities that are safe, sanitary, and functional, including an auditorium, a band room, a gymnasium, cafeteria, and athletic fields.
  • A middle school and comprehensive high school located near the geographic center of Nicholas County, with an integrated career-technical education program and facility. The school should include distinct spaces for a middle and high school – even if co-located on a shared campus – and should preserve current school names, team names, mascots, and school cultures. The facilities should include academic, athletic, and extracurricular facilities that are safe, sanitary, and functional, including an auditorium, a band room, a gymnasium, cafeteria, and athletic fields.
  • Participation in career and technical education (CTE) will be available for all students in Nicholas County regardless of which high school they attend. The Nicholas County Board of Education will strive to foster CTE enrollment through efficient structuring of transportation to minimize disruption for students’ schedules, consideration of distance learning opportunities, and other options that NCBOE can explore with the support of available resources.
  • Athletics, arts, and other extra-curricular programming are highly valued elements of education for all students in Nicholas County. NCBOE will strive to provide athletics, arts, and other extra-curricular programming and facilities for all students who are interested, regardless of which school they choose to attend.

Families and students would be empowered to select the middle and high school that best meet their educational needs. To the extent possible, schools would be sized to allow flexibility for family choices, and would be designed to be scalable to meet future demographic and enrollment changes. Specific locations for these schools would be determined through a deliberate site evaluation process, utilizing criteria drawn from federal, state, and local requirements, to meet FEMA’s needs to establish cost reasonableness.

Next steps following the April 30 mediation session are anticipated as follows:

  • Monday, April 30: NCBOE receives an update from NCBOE mediation team members about the mediation process and progress, including review of the public statement from the April 30 mediation session released by the mediation team. Based on discussions at the meeting, NCBOE proceeds with preparation of an amended CEFP.
  • Monday, May 7: NCBOE considers the amended CEFP and votes to accept or reject.
  • Wednesday, May 9: Pending the vote of the NCBOE, WVBE considers Nicholas County’s amended CEFP and votes to accept or reject.
  • Thursday, May 10: Pending the vote of the WVBE, WV School Building Authority (SBA) will meet to consider approval of Nicholas County’s amended CEFP and votes to accept or reject.

The complete public update can be found by visiting: https://wvde.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Nicholas-County-Schools-Mediation-Apr-30-Public-Update-180430.pdf

For additional information or to share your comments, suggestions, questions and concerns, please contact CBI at ncschoolsmediation@cbi.org.