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Officials say list of unmet school safety needs in West Virginia adds up to $258 million – WV MetroNews

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Officials say list of unmet school safety needs in West Virginia adds up to 8 million – WV MetroNews


State education officials told lawmakers that $258 million is needed to complete the many upgrades that local school system leaders believe are necessary for safety.

“When you look at that total request for state funds, that’s a pretty large number obviously,” said Jonah Adkins, director of the Office of Safety & Tiered Support Systems. “But we would love to work with Homeland Security and a team of your choosing to kind of take a deeper look and further prioritize these needs because we know we would never be able to meet all of this at once, but if we could chip away a little bit each year I believe we could make some good headway.”

He told lawmakers that local school systems spent $23 million to address security needs, “so our school districts are working with the resources that they have available to them to address those needs as they arise. But obviously there is a greater need. It’s the unfortunate reality of our society that we live in that we have people targeting our children and targeting our schools to do bad things.”

Among the most expensive improvements widely needed are entrance systems consisting of a small space and two interlocking doors, commonly called man-traps. One set of the doors must close before the other one can be opened, so the person entering is briefly “trapped” in between before clearing the second door.

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There are 272 West Virginia schools trying to make those upgrades, according to a presentation made to lawmakers during interim meetings on Sunday.

That represents some incremental progress from the 299 schools that said they needed the safer entrances last year and 327 the year before that.

“So they are trending down. It’s just maybe not as fast as hopefully we could,” said Micah Whitlow, director of the Office of School Facilities.

The annual school facility safety and security measure report was presented during a meeting of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability. Speaking for the state Department of Education were Whitlow and Adkins.

Joe Statler

“I find it quite astonishing that we still have 272 schools that don’t have the mantrip,” said Delegate Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, vice chairman of the House Education Committee.

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“What is causing us to have so many at this point in the game that don’t have the safe entrance way?”

The report described an average of $319,000 for upgrades to school entrances.

“It’s just expensive so it’s hard to pay for a whole lot of those, especially if a county doesn’t have a levy or a bond or those extra ways of building things,” Whitlow said.

Whitlow said, from experience, it’s clear that the “mantrap” improvements could cost between $300,000 to $500,000. “Some of them could be super complicated and be a million (dollars), depending on the configuration and age of the building and some might be very simple and be $100,000,” he said. “It’s a wide range number due to the different building circumstances.”

He said factors can include requirements for the number of doors, glazings necessary for the work and needing to move office space closer to the front door. “In some cases it might be as easy as adding a layer of doors, but in most it’s quite expensive the amount of work you have to do,” Whitlow said.

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Bob Plymale

Senator Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, said the need for school safety upgrades became clearer after the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. But he said school systems went into those improvements without a clear idea at the time of how extensive or expensive they would be.

Now, Plymale asked, “of all these priorities, what is the number one need of what we need to do? Is it the entrances?”

“I would say that’s a great place to start,” Adkins responded.

Joe Ellington

House Education Chairman Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, expressed exasperation over how much work on school safety still must be done.

“My concern is, I would imagine most of us here would think this is one of the priorities for the school system — the safety of our children. You’re asking for a quarter of a billion dollars here. I mean, why haven’t we been addressing this over the previous years to this to that level?”

Ellington went on to ask what to expect in coming years. “If we give you a quarter of a billion dollars, what are we getting next year? Recurring requests for needs? Because obviously things need to be updated, changed.” He asked, “Is this just a wish list or what?”

Mike Oliverio

Senator Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, asked a series of questions focused on what financial resources local school systems have — and whether those options are actually limited.

“Let’s say I’m in a county that can’t really extract much from the local share, can’t get a levy passed — you know, the voters don’t want to pass a levy. Then can I come to the state for money as a county superintendent?” Oliverio asked. “Can I go to the federal government? Do we have a pattern of our 55 school systems of any type of consistent funding from the federal government?”

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The answers he received were not particularly solid.

“Is there anywhere else that I would go as superintendent to try to make my school safer?” Oliverio asked.

“Nothing right off the top of my head, no,” Adkins replied.

“But we’re providing nothing, the state Legislature, to support schools?” Oliverio wanted to confirm.

Adkins responded, “Correct.”

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Mike Pushkin

Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, followed up by asking whether any shortfalls on school security funding would be the responsibility of the county.

“That’s on the county to pay for, correct — so whether it’s additional access road or metal detectors or cameras in these schools, if these counties can’t afford it then they don’t have it,” Pushkin said. “And basically, it’s on us, the Legislature, to provide this.”

 



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West Virginia

Transfer WR Singleton commits to West Virginia

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Transfer WR Singleton commits to West Virginia


West Virginia has added a commitment from Eastern Michigan wide receiver transfer Oran Singleton.

Singleton is coming off a season where he hauled in 64 catches for 639 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also had 23 rushing yards on 6 carries.

The Florida native started his career at Akron but transferred to Hutchinson C.C.

He has one year of eligibility remaining in his career.

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WVSports.com will have more with Singleton in the near future.



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West Virginia Wraps up Nonconference Slate with a Win Over Mercyhurst

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West Virginia Wraps up Nonconference Slate with a Win Over Mercyhurst


Morgantown, WV – West Virginia senior guard Javon Small scored a game-high 19 points while senior center Eduardo Andre put in a Mountaineer career-best 14 points and senior guard Tobi Okani recorded a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers (9-2) extended their winning streak to five with a 67-4 win over the Mercyhurst Lakers (6-9) Sunday afternoon.

Mercyhurst took the early lead, but West Virginia responded with a 7-0 run, ignited with a three from freshman guard Jonathan Powell, and forced Lakers head coach Gary Manchel to take a timeout.

Lakers senior forward Jeff Planutis buried a three out of the break to get back within two. The Mountaineers answered with another 7-0 run with Javon Small opening the run with a midrange jumper and Toby Okani finishing with a backdoor to cut to the rim to cap it off for the 16-7 lead at the 12:27 mark of the first half.

West Virginia struggled to pull away from a Mercyhurst program that jumped up to the Division I level over the summer and did not grab a double-digit lead until 5:50 left in the half after a jumper from senior guard Joseph Yesufu.

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Eduardo Andre gave the Mountaineers their largest first half lead of 14, and the final field goal of the half, for his nine first half points with 3:32 remaining until halftime as the Mountaineers took a 35-22 lead into the break.

After West Virginia went up 16 to begin the second half, Mercyhurst dwindled the Mountaineers lead to nine with a 7-0 run, led by Aidan Reichert putting in the final five consecutive points.

West Virginia broke the game open with a 15-0 run midway through the second half with Toby Okani lead the way with six points as the Mountaineers took a 54-32 lead and coasted to a 67-46 victory.



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Humanities Council’s traveling exhibition, ‘Born of Rebellion: West Virginia’s Statehood and the Civil War,’ on display in Bluefield

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Humanities Council’s traveling exhibition, ‘Born of Rebellion: West Virginia’s Statehood and the Civil War,’ on display in Bluefield


PRESS RELEASE:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Humanities Council’s flagship traveling exhibition, Born of Rebellion:  West Virginia Statehood and the Civil War, is now on display at the Paine Gallery at the Bluefield Arts  Center from now until February 3. Hours and information are available at www.barcwv.org. 

This comprehensive, large-scale experience covers sectional tensions within Virginia preceding the Civil  War, the violence and chaos of the war surrounding West Virginia’s formation and the difficult  aftermath as the new state struggled to forge its destiny during Reconstruction. Born of Rebellion explores this tumultuous and complex era from a wide range of perspectives, including politicians,  common soldiers, women and African Americans. Not simply a story of war and politics, Born of  Rebellion conveys the complexities and pitfalls that accompanied West Virginia’s arduous journey to  separation from Virginia. 

“It has been such a pleasure working with Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Corporation to get Born of  Rebellion in Mercer County for the holidays,” said Council Program Officer Kyle Warmack. “The Paine Gallery is a perfect display space for the exhibit, and we hope its time here provokes discussion about  this part of West Virginia’s experience during the war and our journey to statehood.” 

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For more information about Born of Rebellion, visit wvhumanities.org and click “Traveling Exhibits”  under the Programs menu. For more about the Paine Gallery, its hours of operation and other visitor  information, please contact the Bluefield Arts & Revitalization Corporation at (304) 589-0239. 

The West Virginia Humanities Council, an independent nonpartisan nonprofit, is the state affiliate of the  National Endowment for the Humanities. The Council is supported by the NEH, the State of West  Virginia and contributions from the private sector. The purposes of the West Virginia Humanities Council  are educational, and its mission is to support a vigorous program in the humanities statewide in West  Virginia.



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