Harrison County Schools hopes to have the fee renewed

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WDTV) – Tuesday is Election Day and Harrison County Schools will be looking to renew the county’s 70-year-old fees. The school principal says the fee is a cornerstone of the district.

“It provides us with everything, from teaching materials, textbooks, everything a child needs to come to school. We don’t ask you to send anything, so that’s the most important thing. It also provides additional funding for our facilities to ensure our children’s facilities are working well,” said Harrison County Schools Superintendent Dora Stutler.

Harrison County Schools is seeking more than $34 million. The school system wants everyone to know that the fee will not constitute a tax increase

“An increase in tax collections, which continues to increase funds flowing into the school system, so we can reduce the tax rate by 7.5% because incomes are increasing around us,” Stutler said.

This is the first time the fee will be included on the ballot in a general election. For a ticket to be accepted, 50 plus + 1 percent of the votes are needed. The district is adamant that failure to comply with the fee would be a disaster for more than 9,000 students.

“It would be a huge event. I hope that citizens will pass it as they have done for the last 70 years. If not, we’re really going to have to go back and look at our numbers to refine the situation and make some decisions,” Stutler said.