Class could be in session in coming weeks for the Monongalia County Board of Education.
In a tax-ticket way of talking.
That’s because the BOE wants to extend an invitation to county tax officials, in order to further school residents on the planned Renaissance Academy – and just how much they’ll be assessed should the multimillion project clear the May primary election ballot.
Early voting begins May 1 for the primary. Election Day is May 14.
The BOE discussed both dollars and direction related to the project in session Tuesday night.
If voters say yes, the academy would be Mon’s first-ever standalone school devoted solely to the pursuit of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
The academy would occupy a perch of reclaimed land just past University Town Centre on Blue Horizon Drive.
Contingent upon its fortunes on the ballot, the school could be built and open to students in 2027.
Students from Mon’s three public high schools would rotate in and out of the academy for the advanced STEM offerings and more intensive dives in to career technical education, without interruption of core classes or extracurricular activities at their respective schools.
Admission would also be open to any other student across Morgantown or Mon, whether they attend private school, a charter or are home-schooled.
While the board is collectively behind the project, along with numerous teachers and administrators in the system, there’s a matter of sticker shock on the ballot.
That’s because voters are going to asked to vote in the affirmative for the $142.6 million bond call required to get the thing built.
BOE President Ron Lytle bemoaned what he says is misinformation concerning the project and its price tag circulating throughout the community and on social media.
He called upon his fellow board members to educate themselves on the numbers and also directed people to the district’s website — https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/ — and a pulldown menu of computer renderings and projected tax assessments for the academy.
During a recent sit-down with The Dominion Post Editorial Board, district superintendent Eddie Campell Jr. tried to translate those bond-call numbers into real-world relevance.
Allowing for some variance in the interest rate, Campbell said, a resident, over the 30-year run of the bond, could pay an additional $52.56 a year – per every $100,000 in home value.
Campbell brewed it even more.
He broke it down, by the month, for three-decade run of the bond.
Try paying around $4.25 a month, the superintendent said.
For 30 years.
“So, for less than the cost of a cup of Starbucks coffee, you just paid for the Renaissance Academy,” he told the newspaper.
Fellow BOE members Nancy Walker and Mike Kelly, meanwhile, said during Tuesday’s meeting they liked the idea of Mon tax assessor Mark Musick or Kelly Palmer, the county’s chief tax deputy, appearing at a future board meeting to break down those numbers – in their official roles as stewards of the county’s dollars.
“That way everything’s validated,” board member Kelly said.
The BOE also validated – by way of certificates and public recognition – the Morgantown High Boys varsity basketball team, which took the state AAAA championship two weeks ago in Charleston.
