Published: Apr. 2, 2025 at 6:39 PM EDT
PENDLETON COUNTY, W.Va. (WHSV) - Pendleton County parents have become frustrated with the school board after it voted to close the designated special needs classrooms for 3- and 4-year-old students at Franklin Elementary School as part of its Pre-Kindergarten Education (PKE) special education program.
Sarah Moyers, the mother of former Pendleton County special education students, said she is frustrated by the news of a unanimous vote to eliminate Franklin Elementary School’s special education position for 3- and 4-year-old students once the current teacher retires at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
“I just wish that the school would listen to the parents and understand that this is taking away learning for so many children,” Moyers said. “This is all about building a community that is safe for kids with special needs to grow up with. It’s not just my kids now, but it’s important to me that other children have the basic necessities to make a good start in this life, and that’s exactly what the PKE offered.”
Even though it has been eight years since Moyers’ children went through the program, she said this fight for all of the other children is important to her.
“I was that mom once. I was that mom with no support as this district made changes that affected my children,” Moyers said. “I know what it’s like to walk out of an IEP [Individualized Education Program] meeting or out of a special education meeting. I also have kind of been let down by what the board is offering.”
Moyers said that while the board was making its decision, the members cited enrollment numbers and said that there wasn’t enough students to make the program worth keeping. Despite their reasoning they gave for closing the program, Moyers disagreed.
“We’re a small town, and that makes it even more difficult. I feel like, especially when the population of students needing services is so small, and even though they are small, they should still be entitled to these services to help them learn and grow,” Moyers said. “Citing enrollment numbers is just not fair to our community. As a community, we are all about loving other people, and we’re the happiest community you might find, but this has just been a real rift in the community.”
Vincent Verdoni, a father of four, said this situation feels like a way to cut the budget but that cutting PKE was not the solution.
“I think that they could be doing something else besides taking this from away the kids. This is more important. This is our future, these kids are our future,” Verdoni said. “This is a really great school — the best school I have ever seen — but when it comes to these little kids, 3- and 4-year-olds, you can’t take this extra support away from them. You’re gonna do more bad than good.”
Vincent’s 13-year-old daughter, Josie Verdoni, said that after the school board made a cut like this, she is terrified by what could happen next.
“It’s very scary knowing our education could be affected by what they’re doing, and taking away stuff that other people need,” Josie said. “So many people went through and got the help they needed in that program. Now, knowing others are going to be going into school without it is sad, and they really do need that help.”
Other parents have also since come out with their concerns regarding the program. That includes Tiffany Whitlock, the mother of a Franklin Elementary student, who shared a statement with WHSV:
Both Moyers and Vincent said they have been trying to find solutions with the school but to no avail. Pendleton County Schools’ director of student services, Carrie Nesselrodt, provided a statement on the situation:
This is a developing story. WHSV will provide updates on air and online as more details become available.
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