Published: August 21, 2008 09:08 am      

Influx of new students creating overcrowding issues for Mineral schools

Realigning attendance districts an option in northern part of county

KEYSER, W.Va. — An influx of younger students in the northern end of Mineral County is prompting Superintendent of Schools Skip Hackworth and Transportation Director John Haines to consider realigning two attendance districts that border Plum Run Road.

“It appears that we’re going to have to add a classroom,” Hackworth told the Mineral County Board of Education on Tuesday, noting that enrollment appears to have increased in the Frankfort District.

“We don’t know for sure yet, because we don’t know who has left us,” Hackworth said, explaining that school records are not requested for students who have transferred out of the county until after school starts.

“Just Friday alone, however, Frankfort Middle School enrolled 14,” he said.

The needed classroom is at the primary level and could either take the form of a first grade, second grade, or split between the two.

“The classroom could be housed either at Frankfort Intermediate School or Wiley Ford,” he said.

In order to be able to accomplish that, the board may have to adjust where some of the students who live along Plum Run Road will attend school.

“The problem is, the north side of the road goes to Wiley Ford and the south part goes to Fort Ashby Primary, for grades one and two,” he said. “It just makes sense for those students to go to one area.”

“We’re looking at making it all Wiley Ford,” Haines said, noting that the changes “may even go as far as Hunt Club (Plaza).”

According to Haines, the county may decide to no longer allow students in some districts to choose which school they attend.

“There have been some locations in the county where students, for whatever reason, have been given a choice,” he said.

“For example, students in New Creek Heights were given a choice to attend New Creek or Keyser.”

New Creek Primary School is experiencing overcrowding problems.

“New Creek is either over or at capacity in at least three of their grades,” Haines said.

“In the future, we’re going to have the students at New Creek Heights come in to Keyser.”

Hackworth said it has always been policy that students who attend out-of-district schools are required to return to their home schools if their classes of choice are full.

“But we’ve never had to invoke that yet at New Creek,” he said.

Hackworth said the increase in enrollment this year could be due to several things, including a slight decrease in unemployment in the state and an increase in students transferring back into Mineral County from Bishop Walsh in Cumberland.

He suggested the rocky economy may be making it difficult for parents to afford to send their children to private schools.

A decision on any changes to be made in Mineral County will be made by next week.

School begins Tuesday.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.