The board overseeing charter schools in West Virginia expressed hope that the state will get bang for its buck through dollars available for construction or improvements.
The West Virginia Professional Charter School Board is preparing for a recently-passed policy allowing charter schools to benefit from funding through the state School Building Authority. House Bill 227 passed during special session last year.
It added a line to state code to say: “A public charter school may, in its name and its sole discretion, submit application to the School Building Authority for funding for the purchase of a building to be used for public charter school purposes and for the cost of the project.”
Now charter schools have been applying for that funding.
“To my knowledge, all of West Virginia’s brick-and-mortar charter schools have submitted their applications for this grant opportunity,” said James Paul, executive director of the charter schools board, adding that representatives of the state School Building Authority have been making site visits to applicants.
Charter schools receive financial support from the state’s public education system and are given greater operational latitude in exchange for the possibility of losing their right to operate if they fail.
West Virginia had no charter schools until passing a state law allowing them in 2019. Still, there are just a few.
Several are in traditional school buildings: Clarksburg Classical Academy, Eastern Panhandle Preparatory Academy in Kearneysville, West Virginia Academy in Morgantown and Workforce Initiative Academy that focuses on high school students getting a jump on nursing degrees through BridgeValley Community and Technical College in South Charleston.
M.E.C.C.A. Business Learning Institute is authorized to open in fall of 2025 with a financial focus for middle- and high school students and headquartered in Berkeley County. Wisdom Academy in Morgantown has now gained approval as a new school for fall of 2025
The West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, made up of appointees of the governor, is one of the ways charter schools are approved and overseen.
Members of the Professional Charter School Board have regularly discussed the challenging matter of startup costs for charter schools. The schools that have opened so far in West Virginia have typically sought homes in buildings — sometimes buildings that had previously housed schools — but they have to acquire them somehow, often without many resources in terms of initial cash flow.
The charter schools board, which met on Wednesday morning, discussed a desire for that money to go toward projects with the highest need or the best opportunity for results.
Board member Dewayne Duncan asked for some oversight to assure funds aren’t divided to such a degree that all applicants get something — yet nothing has much impact.
“If there’s a heavy lift — we need somewhere to make something be really successful; not saying that everybody doesn’t have a need — but maybe we prioritize if we have to or we need to if the funds get short,” Duncan said.
Paul, the executive director, responded that because the funding is approved by a separate agency, the School Building Authority, there’s only so much guidance the charter schools board can provide.
“I have been in good contact with them, and you know, so I can’t predict exactly how they’re going to going to make their decisions or what they’re going to prioritize, but I share your desire for the schools with the either the most need, or the projects that will serve students the best and have the potential to improve student outcomes the best,” he said.
“I would like to see those prioritized.”
Duncan responded, “These are taxpayer dollars. I mean, these are, these are dollars given to us by the Legislature.
“And so I just want to make sure that the funds are being utilized best to accomplish the most for students.”