CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The Kanawha County Board of Education is moving forward with plans for a brand-new elementary school, which will serve four communities on the eastern end of the county.

Plans were able to get underway once the School Building Authority awarded $20 million to Kanawha County Schools for the school’s construction in mid-December. Those funds will be distributed over the course of three years.

“I’m excited for the folks of the eastern part of the county,” Board of Education President Ric Cavender said on “580 Live” with Dave Allen last week.

After four emotional and grueling consolidation hearings in October, the board voted to close Belle, Malden, Mary Ingles, and Midland Trail Elementary schools last fall as part of budget shortfalls, stemming from a countywide decline in enrollment.

Ric Cavender

Cavender says it was a rough period for many in the Upper Kanawha Valley, but the new school will prove to be a bright spot once completed.

“We never want to consolidate. This past October was rough for a lot of the folks out there in the eastern part of the county and we totally understand that,” Cavender said. “We never want to do that, but this was something that, for us to stay good stewards of the tax dollars of the residents of Kanawha County, something we just had to do. The good news is we’ll have a good result from it.”

In a late-March meeting, the board finalized the new school’s location at the site of the former Dupont Junior High School on the eastern part of Dupont City. The board also approved a $1.65 million contract with ZMM Architects to start a design process for the school.

During the latest meeting, Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Tom Williams said they plan to have the first public meeting regarding the new school next Tuesday. The meeting will be at Cedar Grove Elementary School, which is also a state-of-the-art building designed by ZMM Architects.

Williams said that the meeting would be held there to show residents what is possible. That meeting will be on April 8.

Tom Williams

The new elementary school is expected to be completed in the fall of 2028.