By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board may have an answer for parents upset about school closures and consolidations in their counties: apply to convert those schools to public charter schools.
James Paul, executive director of the Professional Charter School Board (PCSB), told board members during a virtual meeting Wednesday that parents from three counties, including individuals in Randolph and Wetzel counties, have reached out to him over the last several weeks about how to save schools slated for closure and consolidation.
The Randolph County Board of Education proposed closing Harman School and Pickens School and will send those students to other schools within the county. The Wetzel County Board of Education proposed closing Paden City High School and Hundred High School, consolidating those schools with Valley High School and Magnolia High School.
“Individuals from Randolph County, from Wetzel County, and at least one other county have contacted me over the last month or six weeks to learn about the possibility of traditional public schools converting into public charter schools,” Paul said. “This is a possibility that is contemplated in the charter school law to have conversion charter schools.”
