Wood County and other West Virginia county school systems are close to going to court over a state liability benefit plan.

Superintendent Bill Niday will tell the board of education tonight that he is seeking its approval to enter into a lawsuit over the funding of the other post-employment benefit program, also known as OPEB.

Local school systems believe they should not be liable for the funding of the program...which Niday says is costing Wood County $2.5 million this year.

"We would probably have a case ready by the end of August," Niday says. "You would then have a 30-day notification, and then sometime in late September or early October, we would be ready for the actual hearing at the court level."

Niday says board action on joining a lawsuit would not take place until the next board meeting, on July 14th.