Children displaced by asbestos

Wee Disciples looks to find a new facility for its 240 students
By Jillian E. Kesner / Journal Staff Writer

CHARLES TOWN - School leaders and parents are searching for help after students at Wee Disciples preschool were suddenly displaced earlier this month, when asbestos was found in classrooms at Asbury United Methodist Church.

Laura Scherer, co-director of the preschool, was notified Jan. 15 by the church's board of trustees and told that inspectors found asbestos when they were examining the building in preparation for church renovations.

The building was sealed right away, and no one was allowed back into the classrooms. Scherer and her staff of 31 teachers were left with no supplies, and they are currently working out of the Asbury Center at the church, answering phone calls from parents who are wondering what the next step should be for their children's schooling.

Classes were temporarily halted, and school leaders hoped to resume classes out of the Asbury Center on Monday. However, the center's classrooms do not meet state code in order for a school to meet in that facility.

Now, 240 pre-kindergarten through first-grade students are displaced for the remainder of the school year. Officials at the school are trying to find a way to resume classes as soon as possible.

Parents are helping the directors find a new facility by actively searching for locations and sending out letters to people in the community. Parents and school leaders are also contacting businesses for financial assistance, because they lost all their office supplies.

One of the parents, Jenee Smith, has even spearheaded an application to be on ABC's "Extreme Home Makeover" TV program. On Sunday, 300 parents of current and former students came together to show their support for Wee Disciples and be part of the video application.

Smith travels from Martinsburg to take her 3-year-old son, Jackson, to the school. She said she has been involved with Wee Disciples for six years.

She has five sons, three of whom have already gone through Wee Disciples.

"I won't put him in another pre-school," Smith said.

Wee Disciples has been operating out of Asbury since it began 10 years ago. It is a nonprofit, private Christian school affiliated with the church and was started by Scherer, Danielle Lineburg, Amy Dillow and Kathy Barker.

The four women wanted to have a Christian preschool program in Charles Town. At the time, three of the four were traveling to Shepherdstown for a Christian children's program.

Scherer said Friday that there is no timetable for when the preschool will be able to get back into the building, but it is definitely out of the remainder of the school year and the program's summer camps.

Scherer said a lot of parents are waiting patiently, wanting to support the school.

"A lot are waiting it out," Scherer said. "Others are looking for other options until something becomes available."

While officials are looking for an alternative location, they're also taking calls from parents for fall 2009 enrollment.

"We're hoping to be back in the building by fall," Scherer said.

Wee Disciples thanked parents for their help.

"The parents have given us overwhelming support," said Mary Diehl, secretary at Wee Disciples.

Scherer said that the school needs office space and seven classrooms to resume operations.

More information is available at the school's Web site weedisciples.com. Anyone with ideas or information on a new facility can contact Scherer at (304) 724-1143 or office@weedisciples.com.

-Staff writer Jillian E. Kesner can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 215, or jkesner@journal-news.net

Souce: http://www.journal-news.net