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Originally published Aug. 20, 2024
WETZEL COUNTY, W.Va. – The group involved in a court battle to keep Paden City High School open has now filed a motion for contempt of court against school superintendent Cassandra Porter after an email asking football teams not to play on the school field surfaced, according to the West Virginia Record.
Secondary Education Director and County Administrator Paul C. Huston II sent this email to other Wetzel County school officials on August 14 asking them not to play football on the Paden City field due to ongoing concerns over chemical contamination:
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.
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.
Secondary Education Director and County Administrator Paul C. Huston II email reprinted in the West Virginia Record
Paden City High School sits atop a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. According to the EPA, Superfund gives EPA the funds and authority to clean up contaminated sites. In July 2024, EPA received questions about benzene in the high school and completed vapor intrusion testing which they say showed no significant levels of contaminants.
Toriseva Law in Wheeling represents the plaintiffs and they argue that having a football team and football games on the Paden City Wildcats homefield within city limits is part of keeping the school open.
The plaintiffs are led by the Paden City Schools Athletic Association, according to the West Virginia Record.
A Wetzel County Circuit Judge C. Richard Wilson issued a temporary restraining order in July stopping school superintendent Porter from closing the school. Porter had planned to move students to Magnolia High School, which is also in Wetzel County. Porter appealed the Wetzel County judge’s decision to the West Virginia Supreme Court.
The West Virginia Record names plaintiffs listed in court records as the Paden City Schools Athletic Association; “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 students returned to classes in the Paden City building Monday, August 19.
Paden City High School has an enrollment of approximately 160 students in grades 7 to 12. It was built in 1951.
