NEW MARTINSVILLE — Wetzel County’s four high schools will consolidate into two and then consolidate into one in a multi-year plan revealed Friday by Wetzel County Schools Superintendent Cassie Porter.

The official consolidation plans are complete, Porter said and have been sent to state officials for review. Those plans have been in the works since a late-August work session. A special meeting was held later where the Wetzel County Board of Education voted to allow Porter to proceed with the potential consolidation.

According to Porter, the two-step plan first combines Magnolia and Paden City high schools into one school and Valley and Hundred high schools into another.

This would precede consolidating the schools into one once a location is decided on and construction is complete.

“Let me be clear that the board has to vote each step of the way,” Porter said Friday. “There has been lots of talk, but eventually if we can find suitable land that’s in the middle of the county so we can serve all students, of course, to build a new facility, a new complex.”

Porter added that would be a process which would take four to five years to complete.

Many local residents have questioned at board meetings the two-step process of consolidating now. They want to wait until a new complex is built and then consolidate all four schools together at that time.

Porter says it is crucial to start now, however. She maintains the county is in a crisis when it comes to certified teachers, with 20 teaching positions unfilled.

“We can’t wait for four or five years,” she said. “I wish there was a magic number or a magic contractor that could put that school up for the next school year but that’s just not realistic. And right now we have a crisis.”

Porter says she understands that school loyalty, community loyalty and school spirit will suffer but, at this point, consolidation seems to be the right choice. She pointed out that teacher shortages, dwindling enrollment and low test scores indicate they must act now.

“It’s very hard to consolidate, but we have to keep our focus on our students,” Porter said.

“We have to make sure that we are educating them. That is our number one priority in this field of education, making sure we do what is best for them. And unfortunately sometimes that does look like closure and consolidation.”

Porter added that there is still a long way to go and that residents in each community affected will have a say in what happens. Meetings will be held in all four communities in which the schools are located.