YET ANOTHER NEGLIGENT LOCAL BOARD AND SBA SCHOOL SITING
Kenna Elementary in Kenna, Jackson County, is threatened with being relocated into an industrial park in violation of WV BOE Policy 6200. Will the WV School Building Authority fund this violation too, health and safety of the students be damned? (Update: the SBA did indeed award funding in June 2011.)
KENNA ELEMENTARY POWER POINT (Full Slide Presentation)
Some of the slides:
New Woodburn Community School 
May 24, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Another fine mess that our so called leaders have gotten us into! When are the people of Jackson County going to stand up for our future (which is our children). Not sure if this is correct, but had heard that the property doesn’t have a clear deed and that is why construction hasn’t begun.
July 5, 2011 at 2:27 am
On June 27, 2011 the West Virginia School Building Authority officially announced the granting of $8.7m in funding to the Jackson County Board of Education to aid in construction of a new Kenna Elementary School. The site for the school is in the Kenna Ridge Industrial Park. Jackson County Board President, Tom Layne, has asked me “to get on board to support the school at this location”. The site is an industrial park and does not meet the criteria of WVBOE Policy 6200, Section 202.06 regarding school building sites. We are opposed to the site because of obvious safety issues. Getting the funding does not change the safety issues! Board member Jack Wiseman was quoted in Saturday’s Jackson Star Herald Weekender as saying “it will be a safe school”. Maybe it would be a safe school building but it would not be in a safe location.
Policy 6200 has been quoted many times on this website. The locations listed as prohibited for school sites are to guarantee safety for our children. Jackson County Board member Carroll Staats states, “Once it’s there, everyone will be pleased.” If the school is eventually built at that site, parents will see some of the safety issues that should have been addressed before the property was purchased in 2006.
Mark Manchin of the SBA is quoted as saying he found nothing wrong with the site. Wonder if he would change his mind if he were trapped at the school site by an industrial accident blocking the one entrance/exit road. Would he walk over the steep, brushy hillsides unsuitable for even a four-wheeler or would a helicopter be sent to rescue him?
We have been actively campaigning against this site for five years and are exploring options on where to go from here. It seems the SBA has a record of approving sites that do not meet the criteria of Policy 6200. The State Board of Education is going along with the SBA and not trying to enforce the regulations they have made regarding the safety of our children.
August 6, 2011 at 2:08 am
Most recent statements from Mark Whitley in the Daily Mail indicate Kenna ridge isn’t zoned as industrial park because it is rural. Faulty reasoning – just because it is a rural area doesn’t change the fact that it is STILL an industrial park. Everything on the site, screams industrial. From the businesses themselves to the traffic to the unmarked containers and heavy equipment laying around, it IS an Industrial Park. Don’t take our word for it, go see for yourself if it is somewhere you want your children and grandchildren attending school.