Raleigh Schools receives state funding for high school project

Josephine Moore, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
·2 min read
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Apr. 26—Raleigh County Schools was awarded roughly $2 million in state funding for a waterline project at one of its high schools, which will pave the way for other planned upgrades.

Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Serena Starcher said the funds will be used to replace the waterlines that feed into Woodrow Wilson High School and the Academy of Careers and Technology, which have been in place since the buildings' construction in the 1960s.

"This will allow us to move forward with planned renovations," Starcher said. "Without replacing the waterline, we could not do that."

Starcher said other planned projects at Woodrow Wilson include demolishing a building at the rear of the school and connecting the remaining school buildings.

"We would connect the main building of Woodrow to the gymnasium so all of our students would be under one roof," Starcher said. "It would be a much more secure facility."

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice visited Woodrow Wilson Friday to present school district officials and students with an oversized promotional check for $2,069,526 from the West Virginia School Building Authority for the waterline project.

Starcher said the project will cost roughly $4 million, with the school district providing the remainder of the funds.

"That's one thing we are able to do with our excess Levy and other county resources is we leverage that funding to get more funding from the West Virginia School Building Authority," she said. "The School Building Authority, the governor, they've been a great partner of Raleigh County Schools over the last several years, and we look forward to that continued partnership."

Starcher said they're hoping to begin the waterline project this summer.

Funding for the waterline project was somewhat unexpected as the School Building Authority initially rejected the project for its 2024 funding cycle.

However, Raleigh County Schools received funding for its project after the School Building Authority was given an additional $150 million from the state.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com