The Walrus

The Walrus said, “The time has come to talk of many things: Of shoes…and ships… and sealing wax… and the future of Wetzel County Schools. The first words in my opening are from a poem written in 1865 by Lewis Carrol. The last part that speaks of Wetzel County, is my words and my opinion. For my story I have taken on the role of the Walrus to speak of many things in our county looking towards the next generation. I am very aware this subject will touch a nerve with some in our county. But I believe if no one ever speaks up publicly, nothing will change.

For many years I have followed local high schools as they have played a variety of sports. I have watched as young boys and girls have grown in their chosen sports and then went on to graduate. Now some of those same athletes have children attending a school in Wetzel County. I believe that means the circle of academics and sports in our school system has returned three generations since I was a student.

But the truth is, in the last five decades the local world and economy has changed. And in my opinion not all those changes have led to progress. In my travels over the years I have watched as local school enrollments have gotten smaller, while the board of education has maintained the same infrastructure guidelines. Views towards academic futures along with sports is going down the same path throughout our county.

It is time for the school board to look towards the future. A future that is ten years down the road. Do they want the students who are in their first years of school, to be standing in the same place as this year’s class of 2022 will be? The same place I stood 53 years ago! Like the Walrus said, “it is time to speak of many things.”

For example, look around the state at other school system’s athletic facilities. It is getting harder to find a field that has not been covered in astro-turf. Stadiums have new bleachers and score boards that are electronic. Last season county schools played their final games on muddy fields. In the case of Magnolia’s football field, that same mud was on the uniforms of players going back nearly 100 years. Looking through old yearbooks I saw a picture of the hand laid stone field house. It was first used in 1934. Parts of that field house are there today. And each of the other three schools in the county have similar problems with their aging athletic complexes.

We have built two tracks in New Martinsville, neither is usable for high school meets because of size and or condition. I will have to admit, they are far better than when I ran on cinders, but it is time to give todays athletes the opportunity to compete on their home track. None of our county schools have a track.

None of the gyms in our four schools have air conditioning. Our schools new gyms as we call them, are far from being new. We called them new gyms back in the late 1960s and they had no air conditioning. During the warm fall months volleyball teams have to contend with high temperatures. Isn’t it time we addressed conditions that were the same decades ago? Gym bleachers have seen a great deal of usage and are in need of professional evaluation and some repairs. Outside bleachers at football fields have endured decades of weather. Those conditions have taken a toll on some components of those structures. With eight older schools in our county, it is an exercise in futility to try and keep up with decades old infrastructure. The question of air conditioning gyms has been kicked down the road for six decades. Shouldn’t the buck stop here and the board fix this problem?

We live in a county with four high schools. Hundred’s new addition was built in 1988. Valley was first consolidated in 1961 and the present building was built in 1988. Paden City was rebuilt and opened in 1977. New portions of Magnolia were completed in 1989. Now to the elephant in the room. What to do about moving forward into a better future. Shouldn’t we want all our students in Wetzel County to have the best academic and athletic opportunity’s, the same as others in our state have. How long do we have to wait? Will we continue to use the same old excuse that we have four high schools and what we do for one, we have to do for others? This attitude keeps us from doing much for any.

The Wetzel County school system has done many good things. Hundred, Valley and Magnolia have built meat cutter facilities to give students real world skills in the produce business. Those schools also have green houses that have been constructed for students to manage and get experience running a business. And probably one of the best things they have done is the Wetzel County Technical Education Center which needs expanded with more trades and more opportunities. Our county is in dire need of a skilled work force, but we also need more opportunities in all areas of academics. If you remember I wrote about the school and how the board decided to bus students each day from all four schools to the center. A good idea for education for all of the county’s students was solved with accommodating busing. This is a fine example, if there is a challenge, it can be overcome with a commitment to solving a problem and not kicking it down the road.

If the board sets a goal for ten years to solve issues maintaining four schools, we could improve the academic studies resources at the same time. Perhaps in the solution we could build an inter-school television station similar to Wheeling Park. Train students to work in the world of communications. Don’t forget, our community has a cable access channel. Think of the possibilities. Perhaps in the modernization an Olympic size pool could be built in the county. Swim meets could be held between other county schools like those from the Wheeling area. The possibilities are endless…if we start now.

We complain about our children graduating and leaving the area. Perhaps if our school system was modernized, they would want to return and raise their kids in the area. If we don’t try, then we will never get out of this circle of closed possibilities.

I believe past boards have done as much as possible looking towards the following year. But it is time to stop saying, “should’ah, could’ah done something different.” It is time to look ten years down the road, with a goal of bettering the school system. It cannot be done with people standing around talking about it in hushed tones. It is time for the board to make bold moves towards improving the schools in the county. The time is right with oil and gas revenues available to talk about the big “C”…, CONSOLIDATION.

In 1970, Hundred High School had a total enrollment of 131 students, 30 were seniors. Magnolia had 607 total enrollment, 134 of that number were seniors. Valley had 308 enrolled with 81 of that number seniors. And Paden City had 268 enrolled with 61 of that number seniors. Today in 2022, Hundred has 96 enrolled with 40 of that number, seniors. Magnolia 357 enrolled, 105 of that number, seniors. Valley 154 enrolled, 23 of that number, seniors. And Paden City, 96 enrolled and 23 of that number, seniors. All four schools are land locked with no room for expansion in there present locations.

The budget for Wetzel County School’s 20 years ago was approximately eighteen million. Today it is 74 million. That is made up from your taxes, bonds and grants. It is difficult to project ten years into the future, but if I use 2% inflation, that number will be just shy of 95 million. Contrast that to Tyler County school system which spent approximately 37 million last year.

With revenues this large, it would not surprise me to hear that a charter school was coming to Wetzel County for a share of that money. If you think enrollment is down now, wait and see how many future students move to a charter school system and how much money will be pulled from public schools funding. The state’s education board also looks at the money spent in a county and evaluates if increasing spending has dwindling academic returns. Change will come. Do we want others to decide, or do we want our board of education to decide the future for all Wetzel County students.

Some of our students have chosen to leave our schools by attending neighboring counties or even crossing the river where opportunity’s in academics and athletics are greater. In fifty years we have lost 41% of the county’s enrollment. Industries leave along with families. At present the oil and gas development in the area is providing supplement income to the county. Shouldn’t we seize this opportunity while these assets are still available to improve the future for all our students in this county?

In my opinion the education system cannot go another ten years in the same path of not looking forward. It is time for the school board to step up and make plans for the future, or step aside for those who want to make major improvements. Otherwise, Wetzel County football teams in the year 2032 will be playing on the same old muddy fields. Academic opportunities may not have expanded and improved. And the schools system the Walrus attended a half century ago, will not have changed.

In a couple months elections will be held for school board members. When a candidate asks you for your vote, ask what their plans are for the future. Do they plan on going in the same historical circle of no changes? Regulate what kids read in history books? Or break the pattern and build a new education system for the county’s students that will prepare them to be future citizens and leaders of Wetzel County. At least that’s this old Walrus’s opinion: Through the Lens.