Opinion

Time for governor to act on Fayette Schools mess

An editorial from The Register-Herald

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Fayette County has been consumed with controversy since parts of Collins Middle School were condemned and ordered closed last January.

Different factions support different solutions, and it doesn’t appear there will be one answer that will satisfy everyone.

 But what everyone can agree on is that it’s a big mess that will take a lot of work to clean up.

Optimism swelled for some when the State Board of Education approved a revised Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan in early September that would have built a new school, but was then dashed a couple weeks later when the School Building Authority rejected the amended plan.

The latter move shocked many because the SBA agenda listed the Fayette CEFP plan as only a consent agenda item.

A lawsuit filed against the SBA by the Fayette County Commission and others claims that caused the school district and citizens to “be under the impression that the review of the CEFP amendment was merely perfunctory.” However, the SBA conducted an in-depth review of the academic merits and funding requirements under the CEFP amendment under an unpublished and unnoticed “New Business” section of the agenda.

The lawsuit alleges that the SBA violated its legal duty of providing notice of the purpose of the meeting and that its rejection of the amendment is void because the decision was made outside the context of the advertised and published meeting agenda.

So, the chasm widens…

 

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