Fayette County officials are suing the state School Building Authority for denying a request to amend the school district's current building plan.
The request, presented as an amendment to the county's comprehensive educational facilities plan, called for a multi-phase reconfiguration of several failing facilities throughout the county. Had it been approved, it would have consolidated Fayetteville, Meadow Bridge, Midland Trail and Oak Hill high schools into a new building and either merged or reconfigured several middle and elementary schools.
Mountain State Justice, a nonprofit Charleston-based law firm, filed the lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court on behalf of the Fayette County Commission, which voted earlier this month to hire the firm to handle the case. Commissioners reportedly pledged to pay Mountain State Justice $5,000.
The plan, had the authority approved it, would have allowed Fayette County to compete for project funds with other districts later this year. Fayette County Superintendent Terry George, who was appointed in June by state Superintendent Michael Martirano, has said the district needs $58 million for a new high school.
The authority denied the request due to what members called a lack of local support. In June, voters overwhelmingly defeated a bond that would have generated $38.9 million for the construction of a new Collins Middle School, which was ordered closed in January due to structural issues. The consolidation plan, while presented to community members in August, was not voted on by the public or the school board.
The plan did, however, receive the support of state school officials, albeit in a split vote by the Board of Education. After the plan was denied, school board President Michael Green asked Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to overturn the decision, but that request was ultimately denied.
A Fayette County commissioner told the Gazette-Mail earlier this month the county has to pursue every alternative "to gain those educational opportunities our children deserve."
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.