UPDATE– The Randolph County Board of Education voted down the proposed closures of both Coalton and Midland elementary schools in Tuesday’s meeting.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State school superintendent Michelle Blatt says multiple factors have led to the many consolidations and closures across the state this year,
Blatt appeared on MetroNews Midday this week to speak on the issue, as two more districts have schools staring at consolidations due to declining enrollment.
Tonight at 5:30, the Randolph County Board of Education will hold a public hearing regarding the proposed closures of Coalton Elementary School and Midland Elementary School. If voted on, students from Coalton and Midland will be sent to Beverly Elementary School and Elkins Third Ward Elementary School.
Also this week, consolidation hearings are set for schools in Barbour County. Kassan Elementary/Middle School, Philippi Middle School, Philip Barbour High School, Belington Middle School, Belington Elementary School, and the Junior Elementary School.
The plan is to merge both middle schools into Philip Barbour High School given the fact that the high school isn’t fully occupied.
The main problem state school districts are facing is the continued loss of population, which leads to plunging enrollment numbers. The state school aid formula allocates funds to counties based on enrollment, and as most counties lose population year over year, less money gets sent to the school districts.
“When we look at the state aid funding formula, you may lose 20 kids from the county, but that’s not 20 kids from a particular school, therefore there’s not enough to actually cut a teacher. Class sizes may become smaller, but the buses still have to run, and all those things still have to occur for the students that we do have in those schools,” Blatt said.
While the funding formula is the biggest hurdle, Blatt says public schools in West Virginia are facing more daunting challenges.
“It’s kind of a perfect storm in the sense that we had an influx of COVID funding, we then ended up being able to keep a lot of schools open because of that funding. We then got school choice, we then got the Hope Scholarship, and it’s like this trifecta is really hitting hard right now and that’s why we’re seeing so many closures,” Blatt said.
Blatt says that there are some misconceptions when it comes to school consolidations. She wants to make sure residents know that the state board isn’t facilitating consolidation talks.
“A lot of people believe this is a state board of education driven decision and even though the board does approve the final closures or consolidations, these are local county board decisions. It’s local board members working with their communities, working with their superintendents and the leadership to decide what’s going to be best, what’s fiscally sound, what’s best for the students, and how many staff members they need. Our state board looks at what they’ve done and makes sure that they’ve followed all the processes, they’ve followed state code because the process is very laid out in state code as well,” Blatt said.
“The state board is kind of like the checkpoint to make sure that they’ve done everything that they should do and that the reasons that they are doing this are the right reasons,” she continued.