10/8/74 -- REJECTED, 57.28% favorable (at that time, 60% was required for passage): In comparison to the failed bond of 1973, this bond would have provided for:1) Kingwood students returned to Kingwood2) Rowlesburg combined with Kingwood instead of Terra Alta3) Tunnelton-Newburg-Fellowsville high school abandoned4) Provision for consolidation of the then eight high schools into six high schools in Kingwood, Terra Alta, Bruceton, Tunnelton, Newburg, and Valley. In their meeting here this week, the Preston County School Board named several more teachers in the county, and also directed that all teachers be paid in full for their time taught last year. Groups representing both sides of the issue presented their views at the hearing on April 5, 1975 in Charleston. The Public School Period can be dated from June 20, 1863, the date West Virginia entered the Union. As Preston County enters the 21st Century, there is a palpable sense of optimism regarding it's school system. This referendum, referred to as the "southern high school" bond, would have, with the addition of the FEMA funds, allowed for construction of a new "South Preston High School" for the Tunnelton-Newburg-Fellowsville area, a new Rowlesburg K-12 facility, a new Central Preston High School, and a new Bruceton High School. $298,000 to construct and equip an addition to the Terra Alta elementary building. Here is a typical illustration. A survey of the Preston County Journal, a weekly newspaper published in Kingwood, serves to enlighten one as to the mood of the time: Here is the judgment of one who knows: "The situation in the West Virginia schools is just as rotten as Satan will let it be!". Time: 6 PM. In addition, if they give advance notice to the Superintendent, individuals with relevant issues for discussion may have such issues placed on a future Board agenda for a more thorough discussion of the topic. Requests were presented to Dr. Daniel B. Taylor, State Superintendent of Schools, for a hearing regarding the plan as presented.
This was the first of many county or local bond referendums to be submitted to the voters of Preston County. At that time, there were eight magisterial districts (and eight district Boards) in Preston County, as follows: Revenue for the district's schools was generated by property taxes levied by that district Board. During the early and middle 1960's, a number of citizens' committees were formed to study various aspects of the school programs. Everhart is an attorney at Terra Alta. This addition was, for a time, used for Central Preston High School grades 11 and 12, which included the displaced students from Rowlesburg. Preston Public Schools' Freedom of Information Act Officer is John Spang.
In 1963 the staff of the Research and Field services Department at West Virginia University conducted a survey of "Attitudes and Opinions of Preston County Voters" on a variety of matters, including schools. This bond proposal, referred to as the "deconsolidation bond" was presented on 5/11/76.
Over the next several years, further school realignment was dictated by available facilities, most of which were of early 20th century design and were becoming increasingly difficult to make conform with late 20th century educational requirements. Selection of county school boards composed of persons "in sympathy with" the county school unit plan was pledged by W.W Trent, (state) superintendent of schools, as he prepared to put the new school system into operation. Paths and trails were followed, and pack horses carried necessities only.
Parents, Guardians, Students, and Staff, I would like to take this time to welcome everyone back to Schulter Public Schools. The district organization chart will be prepared by the Superintendent and approved by the Board. Report this profile; Activity.
The opening of the reorganized consolidated high schools with the 1977-78 term was accompanied by significant protests and demonstrations at the school sites. With a number of modifications, especially in 1872, that remained the general type of system until 1934. Each district board could assess a levy for tax dollars to go into each of five funds for the district: In addition, the district boards were prohibited from transferring monies from one fund to another. On June 13, 1975, the State Board of Education, meeting in Ripley, approved the plan as presented, and immediate implementation by the local Board was begun. It is breaking down under its own weight. It spanned over a half-century, 1800 to 1860. An extensive campaign was again waged in the media to explain the plan. In addition, SBA funding has provided for a new elementary school for the Tunnelton-Denver area, and a new K-8 facility at Aurora to replace the school there destroyed by fire in 1993, major building repair at several facilities, and additional construction at Preston High to incorporate the 9th grade. Advanced language and mathematics textbooks were ordered by the dozen through a store there. As the decade of the 1920's closed, the public school system in Preston County, and indeed in the entire State, found itself in a financial crisis as expenses continued to rise in the face of a diminishing tax base. Before this special levy is used however, the district makes a plea for state aid on the ground of "poverty" which is apparently substantiated by the fact that the 40-cent levy does not raise enough funds for the school -- especially if the valuation is so manipulated that it could not raise enough. The PCAC was located adjacent to the vocational school (PCEC) in Kingwood on the "county farm," and, like the vocational school, was shared by all five existing high schools in the county. With the narrow defeat of this bond proposal, many citizens petitioned the Board to resubmit the plan in the hope that it would receive the additional support need for passage.
From the Preston County Journal -- March 16, 1933(Note: This editorial was written by the county school superintendent, only a few months before the "district board" system was abolished and replaced with the "county board" system. See below for specific information. Leading citizens in each district got behind this movement; and before long, many Preston County towns had this form of education.