After record turn out in the early voting period, residents of Randolph County continued to turn out today to vote on the Randolph County School Excess Levy. At Jennings Randolph Elementary School, the location for voters of Precinct 23 and 24 of the Elkins District, voters came at a steady rate throughout the afternoon with many residents bringing their entire families to the polling place.
Weeks of controversy are finally over as the county finished reporting the results of the election just after 9 PM this evening. Residents failed to pass the excess levy. Here’s a look at how the vote went down and what residents were voting for and against.
Results
Precinct 25: For-195 Against-57
Precinct 28: For-62 Against-78
Precinct 28A: For-79 Against-33
Precinct 160: For-52 Against-62
Precinct 75: For-66 Against-43
Precinct 31: For-47 Against-39
Precinct 155: For-173 Against-209
Precinct 80: For-27 Against-44
Precinct 24: For-66 Against 72
Precinct 30: For-89 Against-59
Precinct 170: For-85 Against-108
Precinct 165: For-71 Against-185
Precinct 225: For-46 Against-89
Precinct 227: For-26 Against-65
Precinct 200: For-130 Against-268
Precinct 85: For-173 Against-177
Precinct 23: For 195 Against-141
Precinct 210: For-42 Against-89
Precinct 185: For-43 Against-100
Precinct 180: For-50 Against 112
Precinct 150: For-125 Against-165
Precinct 215: For-39 Against-62
Precinct 220: For-21 Against-29
Precinct 202: For-42 Against-81
Precinct 27: For-55 Against-64
Total: For 2152 Against 2694
For-44.41% Against 55.59%
The levy failed.
An Overview of What Was Lost
The excess levy, which aids schools in addition to the school tax in place is very similar to the current levy in place with both raising $2.8 million per year for five years. Each year measure allocates $600,000 to supplies and instruction materials, $400,000 to art, music, and extracurricular support, $500,000 to student computer equipment and supplies, $300 to support and maintenance and technique infrastructure, $375,000 to preventative HVAC maintenance, and $625,00 to summer repair and maintenance.
School Allocations
Each year of the level each school is allocated the following amounts to use according to decisions made by Local School Improvement Council. Money is spent according to state policy.
Beverly $ 33,142.36
Coalton $ 28,559.10
Elkins High $ 71,630.70
Elkins Middle $ 55,837.78
George Ward $ 35,351.16
Harman $ 31,154.44
Homestead $ 27,620.36
Jennings Randolph $ 35,412.42
Midland $ 36,345.12
North $ 35,406.38
Pickens $ 22,595.34
Randolph Technical Center $ 37,394.30
Third Ward $ 37,449.52
Tygarts Valley Middle/High $ 48,990.50
Valley Head $ 22,153.58
Grants $ 40,956.94
Schools also receive money from the levy to help fund their music programs. If schools do not use their funds they are transferred into a fund to support field trips. Money is also put forth to support music staff development, all county band and choir, and travel for band and choir.
School Music Amount Choir Amount
Beverly $ 1,500.00
Coalton $ 1,500.00
Elkins High $ 4,000.00 $ 3,000.00
Elkins Middle $ 3,000.00 $ 3,000.00
George Ward $ 1,500.00
Harman (El, Middle, HS) $ 5,375.00 $ 3,625.00
Homestead $ 1,500.00
Jennings Randolph $ 1,500.00
Midland $ 1,500.00
North $ 1,500.00
Pickens $ 1,500.00
Third Ward $ 1,500.00
Tygarts Valley (Middle, HS) $ 3,000.00 $ 1,000.00
Valley Head $ 1,500.00
Approximately $190,000 in funds also support extracurricular activities and field trips each year.
Arts Bank Partnership
In Randolph County, much of the arts instruction for elementary schools students comes through the Arts Bank program that brings various arts into classrooms to work with students. Each elementary school will receive $6,000 per year to support the program. The program will receive $14,000 in total to support programs in secondary schools.
Library Partnership
The excess level also contributes to the county library system. The Elkinis-Randolph, Helvetia, Pioneer, Tygart Valley, and Valley Head libraries each receive $10,000 per year and support.