MORGANTOWN – Among the bills that died on the last day of the legislative session was SB 653, the bill to make Pierpont Community and Technical College a Division of Fairmont State University.
After hearing conflicting testimony from Pierpont leaders about Pierpont’s financial condition – the Pierpont board chair saying it’s in trouble, the chief financial officer saying it’s in good shape – the House Education Committee amended it to transfer Pierpont’s aviation maintenance technology program to FSU.
The delegates found that issue to be the outstanding question because the aviation program won’t be able to meet the June 30 deadline to find a new facility described in the 2021 memorandum of understanding outlining the separation of the two schools.
But on the chaotic last day, the House didn’t get the bill passed until 6:35 p.m., and the Senate never took up the amended bill to concur with the changes.
To answer the question what’s next, The Dominion Post spoke with three legislators who represent the area and played a role in the legislation.
Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, was a co-sponsor of SB 653.
“I was little a little disappointed the House didn’t get the bill over to the Senate earlier,” he said, “and maybe we could have got it in a conference committee and tried to work through the differences and maybe come up with a compromise.”
He said he believes there are some problems that will have to be dealt with and would have preferred to do it this past session.
Caputo mentioned the conflicting testimony. “We have to get to the bottom of this and try to make sure both institutions can stand,” and serve the students and the community.
Asked if new legislation might be taken up in a special session he said, “It just depends on how heavy the governor wants to weigh into this,” and possibly bring the parties together, “I just think we’ve kicked the can down the road long enough; we’re just going to have to deal with the problem sooner or later. I think we just have to keep the students first and foremost in our thoughts.”
Sen. Bob Beach, D-Monongalia, opposed the reunification of the two schools in 2021 and opposed the original version of SB 653. Asked about the House version, he said, “That would have been a good compromise. … Not my perfect scenario, but it’s a compromise I could have lived with.”
And what now? “I just think everybody needs to return to their own jobs.” Not FSU doing Pierpont’s job – it’s not their role to be a two-year institution.
It’s possible to extend that June 30 deadline, he said. “It’s just going to take folks sitting down and talking about it.” If they don’t compromise on the date, the program will be lost for a couple months.
“It’s just simply a matter of extending the lease and allow Pierpont to continue doing what they’re doing, and doing well. … We can’t afford for it to be in limbo for even 30 days. … Everybody just needs cooler heads to prevail, sit down and let’s discuss the dates that were in the MOU. It’s really not that difficult.”
Beach said one of the problems is that the Pierpont BOG has refused to move forward with the MOU.
“It rests squarely on their shoulders,” he said.
The board is set to meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Pierpont Advanced Technology Center in Fairmont.
On Feb. 14, Delegate Guy Ward, R-Marion, proposed that the Legislature allocate $13 million to FSU to build a new hangar for its Professional Flight and Aviation Program. He said at the time that FSU’s program is much smaller than Pierpont’s but the shared space in the Robert C. Byrd Aerospace Center in Bridgeport doesn’t allow either to expand under FAA regulations.
The cost to build a new facility for FSU would be cheaper than one for Pierpont, at $25 million, he said.
His proposal didn’t get traction but he supported the amended House version of SB 653 and he was disappointed it failed. Whether the schools merge or separate, there’s still not enough room to sustain both programs and their growth potential, but FSU would have the assets to do something if it took over Pierpont’s program – which has high demand and employs students as soon as they graduate.
Ward said he’s been working with Senate Education Chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson – who led the effort to craft the MOU that warded off the first effort to put Pierpont back into FSU – about a possible solution. He couldn’t give details at this point, but other senators and delegates are involved.
Answers could include additional funding or moving one of the programs. “We’re not giving up. We’re trying to find a solution to the situation.”
Like Beach, he thinks something will have to be done to extend the June 30 deadline. He understands that the Higher Education Policy Commission and the Council for Community and Technical College Education plan some involvement though he doesn’t know what that will be.
“Everybody’s looking for answers, and looking at what they can do and can’t do,” he said. “It’s far from over. … I kind of fault the Senate for this mess we are in. The House was trying to resolve it based upon all the testimony we had. Hopefully we’ll know more here in the next week or two.”
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
