As long as it didn't rain, Leonard Litton didn't mind walking a half mile to Ramsey Elementary, a one-room school in Clay County. In third grade, he walked two miles to catch the bus, then ride 15 miles to Widen. On foot, on a horse, by train, wagon or bus, students in West Virginia have always found innovative ways to conquer rough mountains, narrow roads and steep hollows to get to school. Much has changed since Litton started school in 1942 and since bus riders replaced walkers. About 85 percent of West Virginia's students ride the bus to school today, said Wayne Clutter, executive director of school transportation and facilities for the West Virginia Department of Education.
Folks just live in some very inaccessible places.
School buses first came to West Virginia during the late 1920s, Clutter said, after school officials started consolidating one-room schoolhouses into larger schools. In fact, the difficulty in transporting students to and from school was an argument against consolidation in the 1920s. But West Virginia's paved roads made it much easier for students to get to school, and school districts started funding buses in the 1930s. Still, the challenging terrain made it impossible to provide bus service to every student in the state, especially those in Clay, Braxton, Webster and Nicholas counties. In those areas, Clutter said, many children are still taken to school by private vehicles.