The Berkeley County Schools Board approved amendments to its Comprehensive Educational Facility Plan (CEFP) on Nov. 17, adopting funding adjustments and a set of prioritized projects intended to address rising enrollment and aging facilities.

Superintendent doctor Schooley and consultant Scott Leopold of HPM presented the steering committee’s recommendations, which the district said reflect input from an Educational Futures Conference and more than 2,000 community survey responses. "Highest priority, replace Hedgesville Middle School near the current high school site around $55,000,000," Leopold told the board, summarizing the committee’s top recommendation.

The amended plan lists three immediate priorities: replace Hedgesville Middle (approx. $55 million), address portables at South Middle (approx. $12 million) and investigate adaptive reuse of an existing commercial building for a CTE center (listed at about $55 million). The presentation also identified longer-term items including a potential fifth high school (rough-order-of-magnitude $90 million) and district-wide HVAC work (about $47.7 million).

District presenters said the changes respond to enrollment projections that could increase the district roll by roughly 2,200 students to about 22,000 by 2034 and to utilization benchmarks used by the State School Building Authority; staff noted that the SBA regards 80% as full utilization while many Berkeley campuses exceed 100%.

The board voted to accept the full funding adjustments to the CEFP; the transcript records the motion carried. Staff said they will launch a targeted online survey for families affected by the Mountain Ridge primary boundary proposal (open to impacted households and available through Dec. 3) and return results and any recommended amendments to the board for discussion and action on Dec. 15. Superintendent Schooley reminded members that state law (cited in the meeting as West Virginia law 18a) sets timelines for notifying employees and completing faculty-senate personnel steps tied to school openings; staff said faculty-senate action is expected Dec. 19 and that the board must provide materials to the public and to the board in time for required public-notice deadlines.

Why this matters: the adopted CEFP amendment puts multimillion‑dollar projects into the district’s official facilities plan, which staff said is required to pursue certain state grants and to support a possible bond proposal. Staff emphasized these amendments do not yet establish final funding sources or bond timing; the board discussed a potential bond cycle in 2026 but said funding steps and design work would take additional months to years.

Next steps: staff will publish the Mountain Ridge boundary materials to affected families, collect survey feedback through Dec. 3, provide board members with a packet (anticipated by Dec. 10 to meet public‑notice rules) and bring boundary action and the finalized CEFP amendment to the board on Dec. 15.