The Roane County Board of Education made the right call Thursday night, voting 4-1 to close Geary Elementary/Middle School and Walton Elementary/Middle School. Students will now be consolidated into Spencer Elementary/Middle, while pre-K classes will move to a new early education center at Roane County High School.
It was a difficult but necessary decision. The board had rejected a similar consolidation proposal about a year ago. Since July, the county school system has been operating under a state of emergency due to severe financial distress.
Before the state Board of Education voted to certify that emergency distinction, member Greg Wooten didn’t mince words: “You guys are bankrupted. You’re absolutely bankrupted.” He was right then — and as the numbers discussed at Thursday night’s meeting made clear — he’s still right.
Without corrective action, Roane County was on track to post a $3 million deficit by the end of this school year — a dramatic reversal from the $2 million budget surplus it held in 2021.
Roane County is not unique among West Virginia’s counties — “economically challenged” is the polite way to put it. Plainly, it’s shrinking and it’s poor. Managing one or the other is hard enough; managing both is nearly impossible.
The data is dire. Population has fallen more than 10 percent since 2000, with projections showing another 2–3 percent decline by 2028 if current trends continue. At the same time, the county’s 65+ population has grown by nearly 43 percent. Roughly one in five Roane residents lives below the poverty line — well above the state average of 16.6 percent and about 1.5 times the national rate.
Thursday night’s meeting was respectful and dignified — a community gathering where residents prayed together, the band played, and veterans were recognized for their service. That is a testament to the community. It was the kind of meeting that makes clear the people care deeply, even when the choices are painful. So many could learn so much from that.
No one wants to close schools. Sitting under the stage lights at Roane County High School, with parents pleading for another way, the board and superintendent faced an excruciating moment. One citizen urged them to “be leaders” — to vote no and fight Charleston to fix the state’s school-aid formula.
Here’s the problem with that ask: no adjustment to that formula can fix what’s broken here. Roane County’s population density — about 29 people per square mile — makes it impossible to sustain so many schools and so many bus routes given its other socioeconomic hurdles. Any formula generous enough to erase Roane’s structural problems would effectively ask other counties to subsidize its schools going forward. Remember, the state has already fronted Roane two loans to make payroll when they otherwise couldn’t. A third trip to the well is not an option.
More importantly, it’s not equitable, and it’s not feasible. Do it for one county, and you must do it for others — and the state simply doesn’t have the money to do that, even if it had the will.
The Roane board will not be the last to face a vote like this. Other boards have punted already and may come to regret it.
If any county school board thinks any adjustment to the school-aid formula is a fix for these economic problems faced by so many counties, they fail to realize the difference in adjustment and reality.
Ultimately, that ask from the crowd Thursday night for leadership did not go unanswered. Leadership isn’t doing what’s easy. It’s doing what’s right, even when it’s hard. Roane County’s board and superintendent did exactly that.