Paden City High School will reopen as though it never closed

WETZEL COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) – Judge Charles Richard Wilson has issued his ruling, and Paden City High School will reopen for the 2024-2025 school year.

After weighing the evidence presented, Judge Wilson stated that the school is the be “reopened immediately and kept open as if it never closed.”

Teachers, staff and faculty are to be reinstated, and any position that is now vacant because of the closure needs to be filled.

All equipment that was removed from the school is to be returned.

The court also ordered the WVSSAC to treat the eligibility of student athletes and band members as though the closure never happened. The teams can reform and participate in their upcoming seasons without any penalty.

Additionally, the court has also enjoined Superintendent Cassandra Porter from “closing or continuing the closure of Paden City High School.”

The Court also addressed the environmental concerns that were the core of Superintendent Porter’s rationale for the closure. The Judge notes that “no governmental organization, either state or federal, ordered or recommended that PCHS be closed.”

Additionally, the Judge states that they never received evidence that the PCE plume in the soil, gas and groundwater under or near the high school posed an unacceptable risk to the “health, safety, or welfare of the pupils of PCHS.”

As for the issue of benzene, the Court also found that there is no evidence the levels of benzene at PCHS were detrimental to the health and safety of students. The order also notes that what benzene is present can be remediated by using carbon activated air filters.

In an email from Eric Pollard, the Community Involvement Coordinator from the Office of Public Affairs with the US EPA Mid-Atlantic Region, he states that the benzene concentrations detected in Paden City (both around PCHS and elsewhere) do not result in an “unacceptable risk.”

Supporters of keeping the school open were initially going to hold a candlelight vigil for PCHS this evening, but attorney Teresa Toriseva tells me it’s likely to change into a celebration following the Judge Wilson’s ruling.

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