On Thursday, Roane County citizens gathered to discuss a possible consolidation of two middle schools asking why options couldn’t be explored instead of closing a community school. Said one man who took to the podium to voice his thought like others, who are wondering where money from the state is going. “The West Virginia state budget has been a billion dollars in surplus for the last at least two years, if not more. Where is it going?” another woman asked. West Virginia State Senator Mike Stuart is asking the same exact thing. Since 2015, budget for West Virginia public schools went from $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion. That’s a massive increase. So where’s the money going?” Stuart asked. He and other lawmakers are working on a bill that would help prevent school consolidations.