School Board votes to replace aging Marsh Fork Elementary

JULIAN, W.Va., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Raleigh County Board of Education on Tuesday voted to replace the nearly 70-year old Marsh Fork Elementary School, designating it as a needs project for consideration by the West Virginia School Building Authority. As a needs project, the Raleigh County Board of Education determined that replacement of Marsh Fork Elementary would be a construction priority for the school board.

"I just hope the School Building Authority will see the merit in the project and be willing to fund it," said Board President Rick Snuffer. Snuffer also told the Associated Press that the school board recommended a new school because Marsh Fork Elementary is nearing 70 years old and is one of only two schools countywide still in the floodplain.

"I think it's too important to the children down there. A lot of parties have been involved in this and there's been a lot of finger-pointing," said Snuffer after the vote to replace Marsh Fork Elementary. "When it comes down to it, I was so proud tonight that all forces joined because it's for the children."

The local school board decision comes as leading newspapers in West Virginia criticized federal intervention by members of the West Virginia Congressional delegation prior to the school board decision.

"Massey took a beating unfairly on this one, and from politicians who should know better than to buy into every scuffled-up drama that comes along."

Charleston Daily Mail Editorial, October 13, 2009

"Local school boards and local residents, whose children and grandchildren attend those schools, are better situated to assess the safety of West Virginia schools than are politicians who populate Washington, D.C. West Virginia businesses already operate under disadvantages, and they do not deserve the sort of Washington-based broadside that arrived last week. School safety is an important issue that warrants detailed and technical analysis of all of the facts. That didn't happen last week in Washington. "Washington Attack Didn't Make Sense," The State Journal, October 15, 2009

SOURCE Massey Energy

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