The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

November 4, 2009

Board asks state SBA to help build new Marsh Fork Elementary School

By Michelle James

A proposal for funding to construct a new Marsh Fork Elementary School was received by the state School Building Authority this week.

Rick Snuffer, president of the Raleigh County Board of Education, said $7.5 million was requested to replace the existing school, which is located 300 feet from a Massey Energy coal silo.

Of the decision to request funding for the new school, as opposed to funding for other projects, Snuffer noted the proximity to the silo and that the current school is located in a flood plain and sits downhill from a coal waste pond.

“I think the time is right to once and for all build a new school down there,” he said. “There’s been a lot of controversy, both pro and con, but I just think it’s time that we move on the project.”

Snuffer said the $7.5 million would be used for construction of the new facility and does not include an estimated $1.5 million that would be needed for property acquisition and site preparation.

That additional funding, he said, might be sought from Massey CEO Don Blankenship or provided by the county school system.

“I talked to Mr. Blankenship and he hasn’t committed, but he’s been very cordial, saying he’d look into a site,” Snuffer said. “We’re looking at different pieces of property, and once we get a set property, we’ll make a proposal to Massey.”

Although the proposal was submitted to the SBA this week, a decision on funding will not be decided until April.

Every county has the opportunity to submit proposals, but only a small number will be approved.

Last April, the SBA awarded Fayette County $22 million to assist in improvement projects and in consolidating four high schools, contingent on passage of a bond issue. That money, however, went back into the pot when county voters, on Oct. 24, resoundingly rejected the $49 million bond call.

Snuffer said the board is hopeful the addition of that money will help Raleigh County’s chances at receiving funding.

“We’re hopeful with the return of the money from the Fayette County bond and with the stimulus money that the state will fund it for us,” he said.

Snuffer said he believed a new school is much deserved as well as needed in the Coal River area, which he says, through coal taxes, produces millions in revenue for the state.

“We haven’t been able to serve them,” he said of the residents. “All we have done is close their schools (Marsh Fork High School), and I think it would really be a shot in the arm for the community to give them a new school they would be proud of.”

— E-mail: mjames@register-herald.com

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