Citizens of the Coal River Valley brought bags of pennies to the governor, including an 86 pound sack from students in New York, as part of a campaign to raise money for a new school for Marsh Fork Elementary students.

The current school sits just 225 feet from a coal loading silo and 400 yards downstream from a coal waste sludge dam. Parents say the dam and coal dust in the school make it unsafe. The Department of Education tested the air quality and determined it was safe. The parents had dust samples analyzed by a Marshall geology professor who said they were a health hazard.

They want Manchin to help them get a new school. Bo Webb of Citizens of the Coal River Valley, engaged in a rather testy exchange with the governor. "We need you to step forward, as the leader that you are, and get these kids a news school". Manchin said procedures must be followed. Webb said the governor's procedures have failed.

Webb warned Manchin, "If that dam goes, you're going to go down in history as the governor that didn't get the kids out of that school". As far as a new school is concerned, Manchin says he must follow procedure. "I just can't decide to do something when I have no laws that allow me to do it".

The governor says, if the group can raise the money, it should stir the Raleigh County Board of Education to make a new school a high priority.