Lawsuit filed over Wise school consolidation

Opponents of school consolidation in Wise County have turned to the courts in their effort to stop the county school system from consolidating the county’s six high schools into three existing buildings.

The group Citizens for Equal and Accessible Student Education, or CEASE, filed the lawsuit late Thursday in Wise County Circuit Court. Also among the plaintiffs are several Wise County residents.

The lawsuit – accusing the Wise County School Board of abusing its authority – names all eight members of the board and school Superintendent Jeff Perry as defendants and asks the court to review the consolidation decision.

The school system’s so-called “cram plan” would combine the high school in Appalachia with the one in Big Stone Gap, St. Paul with Coeburn, and Pound with Wise. Perry said the plan is moving forward.

The school system’s website advertises the impending consolidation with a cheery graphic and the words, “Help name our new consolidated high schools,” with a link to an online survey.

Approved on a 5-3 vote earlier this year, the plan follows years of debate on the merits of consolidation and renovation, and the failure of several other options for consolidating into new high schools on one or several sites. Recently, the debate turned particularly bitter as a divided school board and a divided Wise County Board of Supervisors, which holds the purse strings for any major capital improvement projects, remained at odds over the issue. There also is a growing sense of urgency from both sides to do something as the county’s school-age population continues to shrink and school buildings fall further into disrepair.

According to the CEASE lawsuit, “The plaintiffs are aggrieved by the School Board’s decision and seek this court’s review of that decision and a declaratory judgment that the School Board has exceeded its authority and acted improperly, arbitrarily and capriciously and abused its discretion, and further seek an injunction to stop the Wise County School Board from implementing the ‘cram’ plan.”

Among the suit’s complaints: Consolidating into aging 1950s-era buildings would lead to unpleasant, unsafe conditions and negatively impact the communities where the smaller schools are located.

Perry said the board acted appropriately so that it could operate schools more efficiently and expand the curriculum.

“We are confident that we acted within our authority and scope of powers, and we are confident that the courts will validate that assumption,” Perry said. “In the meantime, we’re moving forward with the consolidation of the three schools into the three larger schools, and we are seeing many positive comments, remarks and actions.”

He said the lawsuit is not unexpected; opponents of consolidation have vowed to be “obstructionary” to the end. But the school board is working out the logistics and other details so that the schools will be consolidated in time for the start of the new school year in August.

St. Paul Mayor Kyle Fletcher said his town might also file a lawsuit, specifically to stop St. Paul High School from being closed. He said the 34-year-old school, by far the county’s newest high school, has been recognized for academic excellence and actually brings more money to the county than it costs to operate.

Perry said St. Paul is one of the most inefficient to operate and certainly does not turn a profit. He also said defending the anti-consolidation lawsuits will consume valuable time, resources and money that otherwise could be used for education.

dmccown@bristolnews.com
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