NEW MARTINSVILLE – The contempt motion against the Wetzel County Schools superintendent in the legal battle to keep Paden City High School open has been resolved.
Circuit Judge C. Richard Wilson entered an order October 8 saying the parties agree the allegations raised in the August 19 petition for contempt have been resolved. The residents and supporters who successfully fought to keep PCHS open this school year have withdrawn their motion for contempt.
The PCHS supporters had asked Wilson to find Superintendent Cassandra Porter in contempt after a letter from was emailed August 14 to other Wetzel County high school principals from Secondary Education Director and County Administrator Paul C. Huston II forbidding other high school football teams from playing games at the school because of alleged safety concerns.
Toriseva
“Contempt defendant Porter recalled her letter that violated the Circuit Court’s July 31, 2024, that ordered PCHS to be re-opened as if it never closed,” attorney Teresa Toriseva told The West Virginia Record. “Because Porter also repaid the plaintiffs’ costs of filing the motion for contempt, the plaintiffs agreed to withdraw the motion.”
In the contempt motion, the petitioners had said Porter had tried to close a portion of PCHS with the football edict.
“If you have scheduled or plan to play MS or HS football games with PCHS they must be played either at your home field or on a neutral site,” Huston’s email stated. “You are not allowed to play on their field. This is a safety concern. This only applies to football. Volleyball and basketball are ok.
“We are currently in a legal battle concerning student safety, and the field is sitting on top of ground zero for pollutants. We in good conscience cannot turn a blind eye and allow our students to risk chemical exposure from vapors coming up through the field.”
“If you are supposed to play at PCHS and the game is moved to your field, please consider giving them some or all of the gate revenue after expenses.”
The petitioners said that edict closes a portion of PCHS and “is in direct violation of this court’s July 31, 2024, order.”
“A natural and customary part of most West Virginia public high schools are their football teams,” Monday’s contempt petition states. “Normally, high school football teams have their home field within their home stadium. PCHS has a home field within a home stadium in Paden City.
“Part of a high school being ‘open’ is the existence of its football team and conducting games against other football teams at its ‘home field.’
“The defendant’s act of disallowing football games at the PCHS high school football stadium is in direct violation and is in contempt of this court’s order dated July 31, 2024 that ordered ‘... Paden City High school is re-opened immediately and kept open as if it never closed.’”
On August 12, the state Supreme Court issued an order denying Porter’s motion to stay Wilson’s July 31 order granting a preliminary injunction that kept PCHS open for the upcoming school year.
Porter had announced plans earlier in the summer to close the school because of unsafe conditions. Teachers reported to school today, and classes begin August 19.
Toriseva and Joshua Miller represented a group of Paden City residents, school employees and supporters who had filed a petition in July after Porter announced plans to close the school for the upcoming year. The school sits on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. But the U.S. EPA says vapors from the site are at acceptable levels, so members of the community filed their petition to keep the school open.
The petitioners won the court battle in Wetzel County, but Porter appealed to the state Supreme Court and asked for expedited relief August 2.
In his 30-page order dated July 31, Wilson said Porter did not have the statutory authority to close the school, noting the inclusion of the phrase “until further notices” doesn’t indicate the announced closure was temporary.
“The petitioners have established the likelihood of irreparable harm to the petitioners without an injunction,” Wilson wrote. “The closure of PCHS may jeopardize and threaten its students with eligibility to play sports and be members of a marching band. …
“Having found that Superintendent Porter acted unjustifiably so, Paden City High School remains open, and its longevity, future and fate is appropriately an issue for the elected representatives on the Wetzel County Board of Education to determine.”
Toriseva filed the petition to stop the planned closure on July 12, and Wilson immediately issued a temporary restraining order that opened the school temporarily. Days later, Porter filed an emergency motion to rescind or reconsider the TRO. Wilson scheduled a hearing for July 25, and that hearing lasted nearly seven hours until almost 11 p.m. He said then he would issue his ruling before August 1.
Toriseva previously said Porter’s action was a misuse of her power because there isn’t an emergency situation that requires the closure. In the original filing, the petitioners also said they wanted to stop a planned closure of the school that is “a great source of pride for the members of the community.”
The plaintiffs, led by the Paden City Schools Athletic Association, filed the petition July 12 against Porter and the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activity Commission, which governs prep sports in the state.
The other petitioners include football coach Nathan Anderson, art teacher and archery coach Matt Kinnard, teacher Samantha Smith, athletic trainer and parent Thomas Duncan, bus driver Chris McGinnis, football coach Josh Billiter, coach and PCAA President Jon Baker, school secretary and PCAA Vice President Penelope Baker, Alumni President Shauna Williams-Yoho, schools employee Mary McGinnis, school employee and mother Zoa Postlethwait, teacher and coach Trey Barcus, teacher and parent Stacey Yoho, teacher and Paden City Council member Bill Bell as well as other parents, grandparents and guardians of children who attend Wetzel County schools.
Paden City High School is home to students in seventh to 12th grade. It opened in 1951 and currently has an enrollment of about 160 students. It has been honored for academics, and its athletic teams have seen success as well.
In March 2021, Paden City was added to the U.S. EPA list of Superfund Sites National Priority List. After that designation, the school remained open through the 2024 school year.
Wetzel County teachers and staff are scheduled to report to school August 12, and students will begin classes August 19. And because of WV SSAC rules requiring players to practice on 12 separate days before participating in a sporting event, “time is running out for the PCHS Wildcats to field any sports team, including a football team and a marching band.”
The plaintiffs were represented by Toriseva, Miller and Andrew Carpenter of Toriseva Law in Wheeling. Porter was represented by Kenneth E. Webb Jr., Richard S. Boothby and William M. Lorensen of Bowles Rice in Charleston, and the WVSSAC was represented by Stephen F. Gandee of Robinson & McElwee in Charleston.
Wetzel Circuit Court case number 24-P-48 (West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 24-420)