BECKLEY, WV – Gov. Jim Justice joined Raleigh County school leaders, State Board of Education members, and several other local officials for a ceremony to announce that an all-new, $8.9 million Stratton Elementary School is officially in-line for construction, after being approved and funded by the West Virginia School Building Authority today.

“It is absolutely a great day in West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said. “There’s so much goodness right here in this great community of Beckley, it’s unbelievable, and so, I congratulate you in every way.”

The new school will be built at the site of the current Stratton Elementary’s athletic field at the same location on South Fayette Street in Beckley.

Stratton Elementary was originally recommended for a funding award during the SBA’s 2019 funding cycle.

“We approved it and started the process, but it was behind several other projects that were also greatly needed and then funding ran out before the end of the year,” Gov. Justice said. “But we kept watching our other projects and those projects started coming in under budget.”

The Governor announced that enough money was saved to immediately fund the project to build a new Stratton Elementary School.

“When it boils down to it, it’s all about our kids,” Gov. Justice said. “And the real reason that this is such an exciting day is because we now know that your kids will get to enjoy the benefits of a wonderful new school in Beckley for years and years to come.”

Today’s event was held with strict guidelines in place to safeguard against COVID-19. Attendees were asked to observe proper social distancing practices and were also asked to wear face coverings at all times when social distancing could not be maintained.

Gov. Justice added that the SBA also approved today a $3.1 million project to build a new roof at Keyser Middle School in Mineral County.