001She started when she started using. >> Yes. >> Turn on your mics for me. >> Yes, we will. [clears throat] >> You ready? >> Ready. >> All right. We're going to go if I can get my voice here. We're going to go ahead and get our uh special meeting of the Wayne County Board of Education to order. It is 7 o'clock. And if you'll stand, we'll say the pledge. I'll lead us. [clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let the record show that all board members are [clears throat] present in person. And this evening, we are [snorts] having a public hearing uh in accordance with West Virginia code
00218-5-13A, which sets the precedence the process for the board to follow when a school or a consideration of a closure is being uh considered. The purpose of the hearing is for the board to listen and not make any decisions this evening. And we ask that our speakers speaker um just state your name, make your comments to the board, and we'll give you up to five minutes uh to do that uh speech. But first, we'll let our superintendent give us a quick proposal overview. >> Yeah. The uh the 7 o'clock hearing for today is scheduled at Wayne Elementary School and the purpose of this hearing is because Wayne Elementary would receive students if the closure of Genanoa Elementary occurred. Um through the projections, it it looks like that Wayne would receive approximately 10 additional students. Uh
003the last official enrollment number we have for Wayne Elementary is 436 students. That would move the population to 446 students. The building utilization would go from 76% to 78%. And uh that's the purpose of the hearing this evening. Uh we have the u signup sheet that is out and we have one person who has asked to speak and that's uh delegate Dylan. >> [cough and laughter] >> Thank you, Superintendent. Um, so for those of you who don't know me, I am Delegate Dylan. I represent uh the southern half of Wayne County and the northern third of Mingo County. And it's good to see everyone here tonight, all the board members and um school administration. And I'm just kind of curious, is is there anyone here tonight who is not either a member of the school
004board or school administration or a close family member of of either? If if so, raise your hand. All right. Just making sure who I'm talking to here. Um, for those of you listening at home currently, [sighs] these decisions are hard and uh, I've already had to speak a few times today on a number of topics, some of them relating to schools. I've been asked by the board to sponsor legislation. I've been provided legislation from the board. I've written my own bills to try to address this situation. And already today, I've had to deal with other priorities that many in the legislature seem to have. [snorts] Uh, I had the unfortunate opportunity, I guess you could say, or the the duty, as I would see it, to stand today and speak against a bill which would
005open the door to give West Virginia taxpayer money to students from China if they happen to be enrolled in West Virginia colleges. That's the environment in which we find ourselves. for the board. I don't interview I don't interview this this situation you're in. For our parents, [sighs] my heart goes out. I know what these schools mean to Genanoa and to Dunlow. And on Tuesday, I know we're coming to a decision and I know it's it's not going to be delayed and I recognize that and I know we'll have other discussions and other points will probably be brought up on Tuesday. But I hope in all of this, I hope we can look at ourselves at the end of the day and [snorts] say that we've all done our best, that we've turned over every rock,
006that we've found every dime and every penny, as was mentioned last night. And [sighs and gasps] I hope that we can say to our students and our faculty and all of our schools in in this community that we've made the best decision for everyone. I'm not going to belabor the point tonight. Uh thank you all for listening and um I guess we'll see you on Tuesday. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Is there any clarifying questions or if anybody has any questions for our superintendent? None. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion by Jonita. Second. >> Second. >> Randy. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion. Motion carries. 5 to zero. It is 7:06. Thank you all. >> This meeting went twice as long. Give her.