Photo by Shelley Hanson Paden City High School
Paden City High School will remain open while an appeal of a district court ruling works its way through the system, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled Monday, keeping PCHS’s doors open for the entire 2024-25 school year.
The state Supreme Court issued its order Monday afternoon. Cassie Porter, superintendent of Wetzel County Schools, had asked the court for a temporary stay of District Judge C. Richard Wilson’s decision to reopen the school. Porter had closed the school in June, citing health and safety concerns for students and staff.
The Supreme Court ruling means Porter’s appeal of Wilson’s decision will go through the normal appeals process. Attorney Teresa Toriseva, who represents a group of Paden City residents fighting the closure, said that process usually takes about a year.
“Thanks to the swift action of Judge Wilson and now the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the students and families of Paden City High School can breathe a sigh of relief,” she said, “without having to worry that there will be a sudden court order forcing them to close classes. There is joy and certainty in Paden City tonight.”
Porter announced in June that she would close Paden City High School for the 2024-25 school year due to health and safety concerns. The school is located on a U.S. Department of Environmental Protection Superfund site and over a plume of PCE (also known as tetrachloroethylene). The EPA has said there are “permissible levels” of the chemical in the air. In a July 25 hearing, it was revealed that the chemical gasoline was also detected at the school.
During that hearing, which lasted nearly seven hours, Toriseva and her fellow attorney Josh Miller successfully argued that the chemical levels around the school were not high enough to warrant a school closure. Porter and her attorney Ken Webb of the Charleston law firm Bowles Rice argued that the closure was justified and the chemical levels were high enough to pose safety and health concerns.
Toriseva said Monday there are still many steps in the process to be taken to determine if and when the state Supreme Court will hear the case.
“It all depends on the court’s schedule and whether the court, after examining the documents, decides to accept the appeal at all,” Toriseva said.
Schools in Wetzel County will reopen on Monday, August 19.
