Less than 24 hours after the first public meeting, Webster County Superintendent Martha Dean has withdrawn her proposed school consolidation plan due to legal defects in the plan.
At last night's public meeting at the Diana Elementary School, LaCosta Westfall presented Board of Education members and the Superintendent with a letter from her attorney, Dan Hardway of Cowen, West Virginia. The letter pointed out a number of defects in the consolidation plan proposal. After detailing 14 specific deficiencies in the plan, Hardway wrote that:
I note that, while courts in this state are generally reluctant to review school board decisions on closures and consolidations, it is well settled in West Virginia law that a county board’s failure to comply with the WVBE regulations will form a basis for relief in court. See, e.g., McComas v. Bd of Educ. of Fayette County, 475 S.E.2d 280, 197 W.Va. 188 (W.Va., 1996); City of Benwood v. Bd. of Educ., 573 S.E.2d 347, 212 W.Va. 436 (W.Va., 2002).
It is my hope that we can agree to resolve these issues without the necessity of court action so that the hearings you have on the proposed plan may be held before an informed public and an informed School Board. I look forward to hearing from you in regard to the issues I have raised herein.
Apparently, legal counsel for the Board has agreed with at least parts of the letter and suggested that the plan be withdrawn. Due to legal time constraints, any further consolidation plan would have to be re-submitted next year.
The Commentator has confirmed that the Superintendent has withdrawn the plan, according to Board Secretary Brenda Knight.
All further public hearings have been cancelled.
The net effect of these fast moving developments is that the Diana school will remain open another year and 7th and 8th graders will remain in their respective schools.
Contacted by telephone, Westfall was elated about the news. "It's like a great burden has been lifted. All we wanted was more time to review [the plan] and to be able to help the Diana school and all schools in the county by researching other financial ways to keep them open," she added.
WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!! Another year at Diana!! SO GLAD!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe board will probably go through the motions, do nothing to appease you less than smart people. This way the State will close it and be the bad guys with this issue and the school board will all keep their positions.
ReplyDeleteClose it down, the county is going over the fiscal cliff.....
Well now we see there are always 2 sides to a story and everyone is allowed to have an opinion and now it is time you hear mine. These LESS THAN SMART PEOPLE are apparently smarter than you think. We have made AYP and if the State does take over they WILL look at this and also see the schools that have NOT made AYP. Which one do you think they will close first? If the state takes over, they will have the power and the board members could easily be voted out by Webster Co. voters!
ReplyDeleteFor one I can post my name (Debra Davis)--Diana PTO President! I don't need to hide behind the word "anonymous" like the person that posted the remark about the school board and we Diana resident's being less than smart. I happen to have an education thank you, as do the other memebers of this community. If you would bother to get all your information from last night's meeting, union rep John Estep spoke and stated that the State is in no way shape or form coming to shut down or take over Diana Elementary from the Webster County Board of Education. We won our fight to keep our school open because Mrs. Martha Dean did not follow all of the proper procedures and include all the neccessary information as is required by state policies, this I can prove because I have a copy of the letter from Attorney Dan Hardway that was retained by SOS Save Our School fund. We the members of Diana also won this battle because of all the research that was done into various areas. WE FOUGHT, WE SPOKE UP, AND WE BELIEVE IN OUR SCHOOL, THE STAFF AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OUR CHILDREN, AND WE BELIEVE IN OUR COMMUNITY. Smart people get all the facts before calling other's less than smart. Thank you :)\
ReplyDeleteAlthough I feel that the ultimate closure of Diana Elementary School is imminent and will eventually be carried out I did not feel that this was the way to go about it and am glad that the community of Diana and the kids and parents who are so proud of their school can at least for now, remain in the school they love and are so proud of. On a more personal note.... WAY TO GO DAN HARDWAY!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe board can go through the motions, which is what we were requesting to be done in the first place. By no means do I want the county to go over "the fiscal cliff". I think it is very cowardly to post something on this site or any site for that means and not have the nerve to write your name with your opinion. I for one hope that none of the schools in the county close and would like to be able to volunteer my time anyway that I can to help. You can think what you want to about "Our Intelligence" it does not make any difference to us and it is not worth an argument. I hope everyone can get involved and help the county as a whole.
ReplyDeleteTo The Anonymous Above (3:34pm),
ReplyDeleteOf course the Board will go through the motions. Its part of what they do. The State has nothing to do with this county's school at this point. Before noting how smart we are, sir or ma'am, please check your own ignorance at the door and check your sources. We have already been told that the State taking over was just a rumor. Mr. Estep, of the Teachers' Union, cleared that rumor up at the first hearing last night. Thank you for your concern of the fiscal cliff, but as I'm sure, you're spending hasn't changed either. No matter the debt, it's not getting better. We don't have the leadership in our governments to do what it takes. We appreciate you're concern over our children's well-being and our spending habits and may you and yours have a blessed Chistmas and very eventful New Year.
In God We Trust,
Caleb Davis
To Mr./Ms./Mrs. Anonymous Above, (December 18, 2012 3:34 PM)
ReplyDeleteOf course the Board of Education will go through the motions again. It's a fact that is simple reality. But before you comment on our intelligence, Sir or Ma'am, please check your own ignorance at the door. It was told at the hearing last night that the State taking over our schools was just a rumor. This came from Mr. Estep, of the Teachers' Union,if you would so kindly as watch on this site the video(s) of the hearing.
Concerning the Fiscal Cliff, I'm sure you have conformed your spending habits so that you can still do/buy/receive what you need and/or want. To put it bluntly, the U.S. Government does not have the leadership to fix our debt issue. They've dug their own grave, but it should not be the children of our communities that have to suffer for it.
Our community appreciates your concern for our schools.
In God We Trust,
Caleb Davis
Dear "Less Than Smart",
ReplyDeleteIt is attitudes such as yours that has brought us to our countries demise. When the solutions are not always clear, the first and easiest apparent solution is selected, usually in the best financial intersest. Knee jerk reactions such as this proposal mass hysteria, very little fiscal return and a dejected portion of those involved. However, once further steps are taken and an amicable compromise considering safety, community and financial concerns of all parties.....only then can a decision be made that will truly be beneficial. We are not a less than smart community and at no time had we quesitoned the intelligence of our fellow man. I am reminded of Maya Angelou “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” It is not our position to allow the county or assist it in it's continuing deficit, but to work with the Board of Education and the Superintendent in reaching a balanced budget and meeting our children's right to a safe and happy learning environment. I encourage you to look back on your own childhood education and recall what I can only imagine was a lesson not so well learned......"if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all."
ReplyDeleteDear Less Than Smart" A Social Sciences Basics 101 : "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." — Abraham Lincoln
Really it is too bad, there will very likely have to be deep cuts in programs and staff in order to try to stay within the budget. Unless the school aid formula changes drastically, it will be sad for a lot of students in the county. After everything that has happened recently, I'd hoped people would begin to realize that the children-not some building is the "heart of a community" and a community is much larger than one neigborhood.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe board will probably go through the motions, do nothing to appease you less than smart people. This way the State will close it and be the bad guys with this issue and the school board will all keep their positions.
Close it down, the county is going over the fiscal cliff...."
You need to google fiscal cliff!!! You used it in the wrong connotation!!! Here is a link to help with the confusion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_fiscal_cliff
At last someone in Webster has stood up to people trying to ram something down their throats.. Good job Diana community......
ReplyDeleteDiana Elementary was awarded Title I Distinguished School for the 2012 school year-what an honor for the staff, students, parents, and community! This award was presented to only 12 schools in the whole state-Diana was the only k-8 school awarded-you can find this info on the state website-unfortunately-this award was given to our county board to present to Diana about a month ago-Diana Elementary just learned of this last week-it is a shame and an embarrassment that one of our counties schools was awarded for outstanding academic achievement and no one is aware of it-and the school and its students are not recognized for such an achievement-What is going on here? I am hopeful that this will stop any further attempts to close Diana Elementary-furthermore I cannot imagine the State Department of Education shutting down a school that they just awarded as one of its Distinguished schools in the state-I cannot help to think that this may be why this award was kept under wraps-I hope I am wrong-but it seems a little mysterious-Diana Elementary is a fantastic school-everyone should be happy that our county has a school like Diana -this school is needed-we must think of other ways to help the budget-we cannot allow this school closure to happen-and anyone who truly believes in quality education for all children would understand that closing a successful school like Diana would be simply wrong-I challenge everyone in this community or even better in this county because these are all our kids- to come up with intelligent, realistic, and most of all fair ways of helping our county BOE's financial problem -other than making one small school take the entire burden-folks-it is time to step up and make your voice heard-you have more control than you think-let's look at it as helping the entire county-we do not want overstuffed classrooms-which is exactly what you will get if you consolidate-small classroom size works-it has been proven over and over-if you are concerned about your child's's education-than you better get real concerned over what is happening in our county right now! All of our schools in Webster county are important and are needed-let's stand up and fight for what is right-not hide and allow what we know is wrong-there is too much evidence out there that shows that school consolidation does not work-in fact some states are de-consolidating because it back fired-scores went way down-students were unhappy and not able to learn-kids would skip school because the classroom atmosphere was negative and because of bullying-again do your own research-get informed-and get out there and fight for our county and for little schools like Diana-who makes our whole county shine!
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