More than half of north central West Virginia school levies fail by large margin

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Of the seven educations levies and bonds that were on the ballot in counties in north central West Virginia on Tuesday, only three of them passed.

Taylor, Ritchie and Lewis counties passed or renewed levies for their boards of education, but Marion , Preston and Upshur counties voted against them, with Monongalia County also voting overwhelmingly against a bond for the Renaissance Academy , which was proposed as a technical education training center.

Some levies in the area, like the Marion County Humane Society Levy , failed because they didn’t receive the needed 60% of the vote to pass, but the failed BOE levies were overwhelmingly voted against.

• Marion County – 57.83% voted against
• Preston County – 53.54 voted against
• Upshur County – 53.34% voted against
• Renaissance Academy Bond – 68.18% voted against

All four of the failed levies were in school districts that also failed the West Virginia Department of Education’s Efficiency Indicators last fall .

Upshur County’s BOE has been in hot water for the past year and was taken over by the State Board of Education last summer after an investigation of misuse of COVID funds . Although the new state-appointed superintendent has been working to fix many of the problems within the school system, Upshur County residents may still lack confidence in it.

The Marion County levy would have allowed for the construction of a new school, but some critics believe that Fairview Elementary, which is in poor condition, should have also been included on the levy. Others said that it allocated too much for athletic upgrades instead of educational; athletic facility renovations at East Fairmont High School, East-West Stadium, North Marion High School and Barrackville Elementary School/Middle School were all included in the proposed levy .

Across the state, several other county levies failed. In Roane County, 58.81% of voter cast their ballot against the Board of Education Levy, WBOY’s sister station WOWK reported. Nicholas County’s BOE levy got more than half the vote, but not the needed 60%.

Levies in Boone and Putnam counties in the south and Ohio and Brooke counties to the Northern Panhandle passed, according to reports by Nexstar’s WOWK in Charleston and WTRF in Wheeling .

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