Jackson Wrestling Coach Rick Parks discusses potential plans for a new wrestling facility at Jackson Middle School during Tuesday evening's board of educaiton meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

PARKERSBURG – A proposed privately funded wrestling facility at Jackson Middle School will need further review before moving forward, Wood County Schools officials said Tuesday evening.

Adam Jones, who said he has coached football at Jackson since 2012, and wrestling coach Rick Parks presented plans for a roughly 4,500-square-foot addition that would include a dedicated wrestling room, new concession stand, boys and girls locker rooms and space for an athletic trainer. Jones said the project would be paid for through fundraising and community support, not by the school system.

“This would be no cost to the Board of Education,” Jones said. “We are doing the financial obligation on that. We’re just looking for approval to build the building.”

Parks said Jackson’s wrestling program has grown to about 40 students, but the school does not have an on-site practice room. This year, he said, the team practiced at the Vienna Recreation Building, which helped but created logistical problems for students walking from the school.

“We actually had a kid break his leg walking over this winter because of the snow and ice,” Parks said. “I don’t know too many programs in the state that say, ‘Man, we have to go to our youth feeder program and practice at their facility because what they have is better than what we have.'”

Student Christopher Cobb discusses placing fourth statewide in the 2026 Stock Market Game. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

Parks said the project is about giving students a permanent space and building the program.

“We’re trying to teach our kids to work hard, do things the right way,” he said. “If you want something, earn it, so that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build this money, build these buildings and earn our practice space.”

Jones said organizers have been speaking with businesses and are scheduled to meet with Vienna officials. He said they are asking the city for $35,000 toward the project.

Board President Justin Raber said he wanted to make sure the district reviewed several issues before any approval, including whether the project would need to be bid out because it would be built on school property. He also noted Wood County Schools has policies on naming facilities, after Jones said supporters would like to name the wrestling room in memory of Dave Fleming, a former wrestling coach.

Assistant Superintendent Kaleb Lawrence said the district supports the idea but needs to work through the details.

“There are a lot of technicalities,” Lawrence said. “Make sure our policies fall in line with that. You know, the contracts, look at that, specifications.”

Lawrence said if the school system takes on the project, it would have to follow the district’s bidding process. He said officials could also look at other options, such as a memorandum of understanding.

“There are a lot of fine details that we would not want to trip this project up,” Lawrence said. “We’re excited to be able to have the opportunity to do it, get the community on board to help the kids.”

Raber also raised concerns about the proposed locker room layout, noting the boys locker room appeared larger than the girls locker room.

“Title IX doesn’t care about population,” Raber said. “Those are the little things that we need to definitely look at, because the last thing I would want is for anything to put a pause on this.”

Parks said the layout was conceptual and could be changed.

“All those office spaces, we can move it all around,” he said. “The 4,500 square foot and the 30-by-60 wrestling room is kind of mandatory.”

The board took no final action on the facility proposal Tuesday.

The board also approved its fiscal year 2027 budget after a budget hearing that drew no public comments.

The agenda had several contracts and bids, including $490,638.39 to McKee Paving for 2026 paving projects, $170,249 to Brown Asphalt for the Erickson paving project, $67,810 to United Construction Company Inc. for Parkersburg High School elevator shaft upgrades and $553,387 for Lincoln Elementary kitchen equipment.

Lawrence said the Lincoln Elementary kitchen equipment change order followed a previous deduction from the project’s base bid, resulting in a net savings of $226,064. He added that the district has reduced the Lincoln Elementary contract by more than $1.1 million through change orders.

The board also recognized students, teachers and school resource officers, including Jackson Middle School students who won a state video competition, two students who placed top 10 in the 2026 West Virginia Stock Market Game, Parkersburg South High School art students, National Board Certified Teachers and Lauren Flanagan, recipient of the Ami-John Crawford/J.J. and Harriet C. West Prize through the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. The prize recognizes the best all-around student of any Parkersburg middle or high school, who is selected by the Board of Education.