WELLSBURG, W.Va. — Brooke County school officials learned Monday that state funds have been approved for the construction of a new middle school to be built near Brooke High School.
Superintendent Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson said she had been scheduled to appear Monday before a subcommittee of the West Virginia School Building Authority to make a pitch for $18 million for the project.
But Kidder-Wilkerson said she was called late last week and advised the funding was approved and she needed only to be available by phone to answer questions from the state board.
She acknowledged the news isn’t a total surprise because the WVSBA had awarded the school district a $100,000 grant to cover various expenses involved in planning the new school, including the hiring of a bond counsel.
In October Brooke County voters approved a bond issue to raise $15 million over 15 and a half years for the new school and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the high school. It is slated to go into effect in July.
The school board also will set aside $3 million in local funds for the HVAC project.
Construction of the new school is slated to start in the fall and take 18 to 24 months to complete.
Plans call for the 110,000 square foot building to be built near the high school’s west entrance in a lot currently used for student parking and visitor parking during football games and other events.
It is slated to include about 30 classrooms, a large dining area, a large gym with a regulation basketball court and a smaller one that may double as a multipurpose room and will be adjacent to the music room.
The board also accepted Kidder-Wilkerson’s resignation. Last week Kidder-Wilkerson announced she was leaving the school district to serve as superintendent of Hancock County Schools…