Following this year’s regular legislative session, the need for sufficient funding and support for public schools remains. Although several bills were introduced this session to modernize the school funding formula, prevent school closures, and provide increased pay and benefits for school employees, none of these bills passed. Meanwhile, the legislature approved continued funding for the Hope Scholarship, which has provided over $48 million to families so far this school year and is expected to cost $110 million next school year. As it stands, many of the challenges that public schools across the state face including declining enrollment, inadequate funding, staff and course reductions, and school closures and consolidations continue to go unaddressed. While it is likely that legislators will reconvene to discuss some of these issues later this year, in the meantime, local school districts will have to make difficult decisions in order to continue to serve the children in their communities. Further, it is unlikely current budget factors–including a ballooning Hope Scholarship program and continued efforts to reduce state revenues through additional tax cuts–will allow for adequate funding to be left to make needed investments in the public school system.
Enrollment decline has been a growing challenge for public schools in Raleigh County (as it has throughout much of West Virginia), with a five percent decline in the student population over the past five years. While this reduction isn’t as drastic as in other counties across the state, it still has considerable financial implications for this county’s school district. From the 2022-2023 school year to the 2023-2024 school year, the district lost more than 300 students, which equates to $1.9 million annually in lost state funding through the school funding formula. This funding covers essential costs to operate schools and maintain staffing. When this funding is at risk, school districts often resort to cutting instructional programs and support services, reducing staff, or closing schools because they can’t easily reduce costs in other areas with fixed costs such as transportation and building maintenance.
Last month, the Raleigh County Board of Education approved a wave of employee reductions, transfers, and terminations that could affect more than 150 employees. School administrators in Raleigh County pointed to enrollment decline, funding losses, and the Hope Scholarship as the reasons driving this decision, which will impact educators across all grade levels and subjects.
Career and technical education is one area that will be significantly impacted by this decision, with cuts slated for department heads and teachers that provide training for commercial driving, nursing, cosmetology, plumbing, HVAC, welding, and phlebotomy. It is essential for public schools to maintain opportunities for career, technical, and vocational training for students, considering this is the next step after high school for many students. About two-thirds of West Virginia young adults (aged 16 to 24) are employed and only half of West Virginia public school graduates enroll in college within a year of graduation.
Student support is another area significantly impacted by these cuts. Five counselors across elementary, middle, and high schools in the district will be terminated and 25 more will be placed on a reduced work schedule or transferred to other schools. Members of the local school board cited the school funding formula as the reason for the personnel cuts. Earlier this year, legislators had the opportunity to address this challenge and ensure that schools were appropriately staffed with school counselors through HB 3209, which would have provided funding and mandated ratios for school counselors. Although this bill did pass, it went through significant changes that stripped provisions that would have included funding to hire new school counselors or to support existing counselors.
In addition to declining enrollment and funding reductions, the Hope Scholarship is a major contributor to public education challenges in Raleigh County. The county has some of the highest Hope Scholarship participation in the state; during the 2023-2024 school year, it had the fourth-highest number of participants at 308, which was more than double the number from the previous year. The funds that were diverted from this public school system as a result were nearly matched by the funds that went to private schools in the county via the Hope Scholarship. Private schools in Raleigh County received more than $1.2 million in Hope Scholarship funds last school year. This trend is likely to continue due to the relatively high concentration of private schools in this area– Raleigh County is one of just 10 counties in the state that has more than five private schools.
As legislators consider action throughout interims and special sessions this year, they need to prioritize the children of our state and protect public education. If the approach to school funding isn’t updated, school districts will continue to be forced to cut critical positions and programs to remain open. The Hope Scholarship will continue to exacerbate this issue by diverting hundreds of millions of public dollars to private schools.
