The state School Building Authority's board voted Monday to finally approve funding renovations and additions to Kanawha County's Andrews Heights Elementary, among projects in 14 other counties - including Jackson, Logan, Monongalia and Raleigh - that the board supported.
No nays were heard among the 11 members' voice vote to approve the projects, though the decision came after disagreements on which counties to fund. The board only denied all requested funding from five counties - Braxton, Fayette, Mason, Mercer and Ohio - out of the 20 that asked for assistance.
Tina Combs, a Berkeley County resident who is on both the state school board and SBA board, nominated Fayette's project for funding. Later during the meeting, she and State Schools Superintendent Michael Martirano were the only SBA board members who voted against other members' successful motion to remove it from consideration.
Bill White, who's also a state school board member, and Robert Holroyd both voted against removing Mercer's proposal from consideration. Both, according to the SBA website, are from the county.
Unlike the other SBA board members, who only each nominated one county's project or none at all, Tom Lange, of Jefferson County, nominated what he called a "rural package" of nine counties: Barbour, Calhoun, Doddridge, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Roane, Tucker, Webster and Wirt. They all got funded, despite most being in the bottom half of SBA staff rankings.
Kanawha - nominated by Chris Morris, of Kanawha - had requested funding for Andrews Heights for several years, but modified its proposal this time in a way that impressed SBA staff, who ranked the project No. 7 out of the 20 proposals.
"It's a lot more innovative than it has been in the past, for sure," said Scott Raines, the SBA's director of architectural services.
After hearing from SBA board members last month, Kanawha offered to pitch in $1.2 million in local funding instead of only $700,000, dropping its SBA request from $2.2 million to $1.8 million.
The project will remove the four mold-infested trailer classrooms at Andrews Heights and add a large innovative room with different zones for activities like reading and science experiments in which four teachers will jointly instruct fourth and fifth graders. It will also provide a larger kitchen area, a room for art and music, a teacher work room, a speech room and a conference room, and other renovations.
"We had some SBA members go out and look at it," Kanawha Schools Superintendent Ron Duerring said. "I think we increased the funding a little bit at their request, and I think in the visit they really saw the need."
He said he didn't know when the Andrews Heights project will be complete.
The approved projects total over $50 million worth of funding from this year's annual "needs" grant cycle, and $10 million from next school year's cycle for Raleigh only. Staff said only about $57 million was available to disburse in this year's cycle, and only $15.5 million could be pledged early from next year's cycle.
Here are the approved funding amounts for the counties other than Kanawha, rounded to the hundreds of thousands, along with brief descriptions of the projects from SBA comments. The amounts don't include counties' additional local dollars for the projects:
n Barbour: $4.6 million for energy management upgrades and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) controls "that will result in substantial energy savings at the seven schools involved."
n Calhoun: $1.1 million for HVAC renovations at Calhoun County Middle/High. Calhoun was not granted requested funds for HVAC/roofing replacements at Pleasant Hill Elementary.
n Doddridge: $800,000 to add two classrooms, a multipurpose room and an auxiliary gym to Doddridge County High.
n Harrison: $10.7 million for building a new Johnson Elementary for grades prekindergarten through fifth on the school's existing site.
n Jackson: $10.2 million for middle school addition and associated renovations to Ravenswood High in order to close the existing Ravenswood Middle building.
n Logan: $6.5 million for building a new grades-two-through-four elementary school at the existing West Chapmanville Elementary site, allowing East Chapmanville to close.
n Monongalia: $4.4 million for additions and renovations to Brookhaven Elementary. Monongalia had requested $5.6 million for more extensive work.
n Pleasants: $300,000 for adding safe school entrance and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant toilet upgrades at Pleasants County Middle.
n Pocahontas: $100,000 reserve grant while the county seeks to pass a local levy that would provide $5 million in funding. If the voters there approve the levy, the SBA board will consider providing $11.6 million in next year's funding cycle for renovations at Marlinton Middle and Green Bank Elementary/Middle, allowing the closure of Marlinton Elementary and grade reconfigurations.
n Raleigh: $10 million in this year's cycle and $10 million in next year's cycle for building a new Crab Orchard Elementary and renovations to Shady Spring High, allowing the existing Crab Orchard, Lester and Sophia-Soak Creek elementary schools to close.
n Roane: $1 million for a physical education addition to Spencer Elementary.
n Tucker: $2.3 million for HVAC renovations at Tucker County High. Tucker requested over twice that amount to also do HVAC renovations at Tucker Valley Elementary/Middle.
n Webster: $700,000 to replace a major part of Webster Springs Elementary's roof.
n Wirt: $2.2 million for roof replacement, exterior weatherproofing at Wirt County High and Wirt County Primary Center and Middle School.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.