Published: April 22, 2008 11:35 pm      

‘We really, really need this bond to pass’

New gym would solve several problems at Monongah Elementary

MONONGAH — If the school bond passes May 13, Monongah Elementary has a lot to gain.

A new gymnasium for the school is part of the bond plan. That gym will cost $1.2 million and will be built on the south end of the school on the opposite side from the current multi-purpose room.

Like all other projects in the bond call, the proposed site for the Monongah Elementary gym is on property the county board of education already owns.

Parents and community members visited the school’s multi-purpose room in force Tuesday to learn about the bond and what it will do for Monongah.

That new gym would solve lots of problems around the building, from giving the Lion Cubs a new place to practice and play scrimmage games to providing a good place for annual events like the popular Christmas program.

“When this room is packed, you can’t see your child,” parent Susanne Coulter said. “We really, really need this bond to pass.”

Music teacher Richard Fisher said the gym would mean physical education classes could go on uninterrupted. Moving those classes out of the building would free up more space and reduce the noise level in the school, he said.

Many people had questions not only about the elementary school, but why Monongah Middle School hasn’t been included in the bond plans.

Associate Superintendent of Schools Tom Deadrick said the original plan involved building a new North Marion High School and turning the current NMHS into a consolidated middle school for students currently at Monongah and Mannington middle schools.

People in those communities strongly expressed the desire to keep those schools where they are, Deadrick said.

If the bond passes, all the other renovations and upgrades can be completed, he said. That means massive renovations at Mannington and Monongah middle schools will be next on the list, Deadrick said.

Roman Prezioso was present in his capacity as a representative of the school system and as a state senator. He said if the bond passes this year, then school officials can go to the state School Building Authority next year and ask for money to upgrade those two middle schools.

“The SBA looks favorably at counties that pass bonds,” Prezioso said. “We’ve got to start helping ourselves, and this is the first step.”

Deadrick said the board of education’s architectural firm, Blackwood & Associates, has done cost estimates on what it would take to totally renovate Mannington and Monongah middle schools. He said that information is available at the board office, but he didn’t recall the figures at that time.

Attendees were encouraged to visit the bond Web site at www.investinmarioncowv.com. The Web site has a tax calculator where residents can plug in their tax information. The calculator will tell them exactly how much their taxes will go up if the bond is approved. The link is prominently displayed in the top left corner of the Web site home page.

The bond is part of a $61.7 million package to improve Marion County schools. The plan would address needs at 13 schools, from upgrades at all three high schools and 10 free-standing gymnasiums at elementary schools to a new middle school for the East attendance area, which would replace the current East Fairmont Junior High School.

Of that $61.7 million, $20.2 million is a grant from the SBA. The rest, $41.5 million, would come from a bond that will be on the primary ballot on May 13.

The next open house will be at 7 p.m. today at North Marion High.

E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.