By Bob Weaver
Gilmer County Schools have been told they must find ways to lessen the effects of mold damage and fix several fire code violations if they want $617,000 in state money to renovate Normantown Elementary School.
Part of the community school has been closed since last year, with Normantown parents saying Gilmer Superintendent Ed Toman wants the school closed and students bused into Glenville.
Despite several school board votes last year directing Toman to re-mediate the problem, the issue languished into the summer, requiring the placement of a modular unit at Normantown to continue using the school following the opening of school this fall.
Superintendent Ed Toman, members of the Gilmer County school board and Normantown parents met with state Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis and School Building Authority officials last week.
Mark Manchin, director of the School Building Authority, said he wants a detailed plan from the Gilmer County school board that addresses how they would fight mold growth if water seeps back into the 87-year-old school.
School officials say the school's bottom level flooded three times in the past 2 1/2 years, causing mold-covered rooms, a soggy floor and air unfit for children to breath.
Gilmer school board member Phyllis Starkey says the response from the SBA has not been "all gloom and doom." Starkey said the board was given precise directions of what is expected, stating she "feels optimistic."
Community leader and Challenge WV fellow Misty Pritt said the State Fire Marshal recently came up with a number of new fire code violations.
Pritt admits there are problems at the school, but the failure of the system to take care of the problems by foot-dragging is linked with efforts to close the school closure and consolidate.
"The SBA was impressed with the efforts of our community to keep our school and take care of the problems," Pritt said. The community has already raised $8,000 toward helping with fire code violations.
The Normantown Community Group will be having a benefit concert Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the Gilmer County Recreation Center.
Pritt said superintendent Toman said this week that the plan to address fire violations was ready to mail.
Normatown alumnus Wilda Jenkins, said she felt good about what Dr. Manchin said to school officials and parents last week.
Manchin said the Gilmer board members must tackle several fire code violations.
Fire Marshall Lewis said they need to consider windows, handrails and steps at Normantown, as well as the building's structural integrity.
Manchin said the $617,253 proposal calls for rebuilding the entire base of the main building, filling in a crawlspace with concrete and the complete renovation of the first floor.
Toman requested $500,000 from the SBA last January, hoping to renovate the school, but the authority denied the request in March.
School systems in West Virginia have requested about $254 million from the SBA, about five times the money that is available.
The SBA will not award projects until after the Legislature ends its regular session in March. Manchin also wants to see if lawmakers allow the SBA to sell millions of dollars in bonds to help fund more projects.
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