The only thing that board members and other backers of the proposed Wisdom Academy charter school didn’t talk about Thursday night – was the most pressing thing.
And that’s the still-unanswered question of whether the Morgantown Planning Commission is going to bless the address where the school wants to begin educating students next August.
The Wisdom Academy, which would be Morgantown’s second brick-and-mortar charter, plans on repurposing the former Monongalia County Schools central office building on South High Street for that use.
AST Properties, the group aligned with the school that purchased the building, has been in a bureaucratic back-and-forth since October 2023 with the planning commission over the matter.
Right now, it’s logistics – rather than lesson plans.
The building is right down from Morgantown High School and the leafy South Park residential neighborhood, a spot which some worry could make for both traffic issues and pedestrian safety issues, as students are transported to and from during the school day.
Ambiguities in city and state code are adding to the bureaucratic gridlock.
As previously reported, The Dominion Post has reached out, unsuccessfully, to the city several times over past months, requesting clarification on the statutes.
It isn’t immediately clear if a public charter school is even subject to municipal planning and zoning in the first place.
Under W.Va. Code 18-5G-3(c)12 and 18-5G-3(c)13, charter schools must follow “the same zoning rules for its facilities that apply to noncharter public schools in this state,” and “the same building codes, regulations and fees for its facilities that apply to noncharter public schools in this state.”
The only school use listed in the city’s planning and zoning code is “private school.”
Morgantown’s former comprehensive plan, which was in effect until Dec. 19, 2023, states: “By state law, schools are county-wide independent districts and are not subject to municipal regulations.”
But the city’s updated version — the document must be retooled every 10 years — makes no mention at all of schools in relation to municipal regulations.
Meanwhile, Abdul Tarabishy, a Wisdom Academy proponent who has been taking a representative role with AST Properties, declined to discuss the impasse Thursday evening.
“This is still ongoing, so I’d rather not say anything right now.”
What to expect
The school, however, did go into a capsule view of its academic mission.
Some 15 people gathered in the room where the county Board of Education used to meet.
The district’s credo, “Monongalia Schools: Education … Empowers … Excellence,” is still on the wall, in fact.
Yes, the new school will employ safety officers for protection, Wisdom Academy board members said.
Yes, sports and extracurricular activities will be part of the proceedings, they added.
Initial enrollment is projected at 100 students in pre-kindergarten through 6th grade, with around 10 to 12 students per classroom, staffed by both a teacher and an aide.
The academy will follow state benchmarks with quarterly reviews of students and their progress netted – or not.
Students will work through four distinct pathways labeled “character,” “professional,” “entrepreneurial” and “technology,” as they advance.
Look for lots of monitoring and accountability, said Debra Harrison, a retired Upshur County educator and administrator who also holds a seat on the Wisdom Academy board.
“We will be following the West Virginia college and career readiness program that is mandated throughout the state,” she said.
“What allows us to be flexible, is that we have these pathways that we’re going to be integrating into the academic process,” the board member continued.
“Our students will be evaluated. And we’ll intervene quickly, if a student is struggling.”
