Seventh-grader Andrew Canterbury (center) and his sister, third-grader Amelia (left), listen to Kanawha County School administrators explain the plan Wednesday night for schooling children in the Clendenin area during a school board meeting at the Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A crowd of more than 200 parents and community members showed up early at the Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department and sat waiting. Wednesday night’s humidity made the wait uncomfortable, even with the large garage doors raised to let in a breeze.
But it wasn’t the heat that was on everyone’s mind.
A week after learning the damage to Clendenin Elementary School from the late June flood equals about 97 percent of its $3.7 million appraised value, and just days before the start of the school year, their fears were confirmed. Their children will never set foot back in the building, considered by many to be the center of the community for more than three-quarters of a century.
Ron Duerring, Kanawha County schools superintendent, told parents during a special meeting of the county’s Board of Education that the school would be permanently closed and students would go to Bridge Elementary School until a new school can be built…