BOE votes to close Harman, North
By Edgar Kelley, The Inter-Mountain
ELKINS — One year and seven days after the Randolph County Board of Education first released information about an effort to close multiple county schools, the BOE voted Wednesday night to close Harman K-12 School and North Elementary School.
In a special hearing at the Elkins High School Theatre, board members voted 4-1 to close Harman, and 5-0 to close North. Board member Ed Daniels cast the sole vote against closing Harman, with Rachel Burns, Janie Newlon, Sherri Collett and Phil Chua all voting for the closures of both schools.
The closures and consolidations will take effect before the next school year. The students from the two closed schools will merge into Jennings Randolph Elementary School, Elkins Middle School and Elkins High School.
Before the hearing got underway Wednesday night, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Shawn Dilly, who proposed the closings and consolidation, pointed out that Randolph County isn’t the only county in the state closing and consolidating schools. He said 16 schools were closed in West Virginia 2024 and five this year, with 16 more proposed for closure.
Read more: https://www.theintermountain.com/news/local-news/2025/10/shuttering-schools/
