House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanwaha, is calling on Kanawha County Schools to build a new elementary school within the town of Clendenin.
In a letter addressed to Kanawha Schools Superintendent Ron Duerring, Armstead commended the school system for making sure students in the county could start without significant delays because of the late-June floods. He also spoke of his grave concerns about the long-term education of the area.
"Many Clendenin residents are extremely concerned that the elementary school will not be rebuilt in Clendenin or that the county will decide to build more classrooms at another site rather than rebuilding Clendenin Elementary," Armstead wrote. "After all the citizens of this area have lost in the past few months, it would be a real blow to their morale and determination to rebuild in this area if they were to also lose their elementary school."
Armstead continued and said the school board should consider building the new school where the now defunct school sits - in a floodplain - with "any necessary elevation or adjustments."
Duerring said he couldn't comment on the matter because he had not yet read Armstead's letter, which was dated Aug. 10.
Students from Clendenin Elementary School went back to school Wednesday, but not to the building they were used to. Only days before the start of the scheduled start school year, Duerring announced at a community meeting in the Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department that the building would be torn down so that a new one could be built.
At the time, Duerring couldn't say where the new facility would be built. He said following the meeting that it would be a long process to build a school, and the first step would be to acquire land to build it on.
Earlier, county officials learned that the damage the school received during the floods equals about 97 percent of its $3.7 million appraised value. When building receives damages more than 50 percent of its value in situations like this, the building has to be brought into compliance with the national flood insurance policy.
Repairing the $3.6 million worth of damages to the school would only have fixed the damages and would not have been able to bring the school into compliance with the policy.
Until a new school is built, Clendenin Elementary students will attend Bridge Elementary. Students there will double up in classrooms until portable classrooms can be delivered, which is expected to be about a month after the beginning of the school year.
Both Bridge Elementary and Elkview Middle School, which is hosting students from Herbert Hoover High, were slated to start the school year on Monday. The start was delayed until Wednesday to allow teachers more time to get their classrooms ready and move furniture into their schools.
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