Associated Press Published

West Virginia County to Contest Consolidation Rejection

Nicholas County

School board members in a West Virginia county ravaged by the 2016 floods have voted to take legal action to contest the state board’s rejection of a plan to consolidate five schools onto one campus.

The Nicholas County Board of Education made the decision Wednesday after the state Board of Education voted 7-1 Tuesday to reject the county’s proposed consolidation plan.

After Richwood High School and two middle schools were destroyed by flooding, the plan proposed closing the three schools, Nicholas County High School and the county vocational center and consolidating them onto one campus near Summersville.

The county superintendent will receive alternatives from community members by June 28.

Federal Emergency Management Agency representative Steve Ward says FEMA cannot spend any money to rebuild schools on a flood plain.