Wetzel superintendent appeals to Supreme Court over Paden City High School ruling

Wetzel County School Superintendent Cassandra Porter is asking a higher court to reverse a circuit judge’s earlier ruling that Paden City High School should remain open for the school year. 

Porter said Sunday she filed an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court over Judge Richard Wilson’s ruling last week that the school should stay open. Porter had decided to close the school and have students attend other schools in the county because of environmental concerns. 

“I trust the process; however, I am disappointed in the court’s decision which requires school children to attend a school in which benzene and other dangerous chemicals have been detected in the air,” Porter said in an email.

She went on to say that her “highest duty is to provide all students with a safe learning environment. In ordering the temporary closure of Paden City High School, I fulfilled that duty with the guidance and support from the West Virginia Department of Education.” 

The school site, located near a former dry cleaning business in the 200 block of North Fourth Avenue, has soil and groundwater plumes contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, a likely carcinogen used for dry cleaning fabrics, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. An EPA site inspection that began in 2020 determined that the site poses a risk and would require long-term clean up. It was added to the National Priorities List in March 2022.

But the EPA said it had not recommended to the district it close the facility, saying that the site investigation currently shows “no imminent health risks.” 

Wilson ruled Wednesday in favor of school faculty, staff, parents and community members who challenged the closure, saying that Porter was not justified in shuttering the school over environmental concerns and that it should remain open. 

The first day of school in Wetzel County is Aug. 19. If the Supreme Court does not stop Wilson’s ruling, students and staff will report to Paden City High School while the appeal is pending, Porter said.