FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Falling enrollment will lead to a drop in headcount at Marion County Schools.
The district has lost 664 students since 2022 and the $4 million in state funds attached to enrollment.
Job actions taken over the last year have saved the district $1 million while shuffling people within the district to prevent job cuts, according to Marion County School Superintendent Donna Heston.
“In Marion County we’ve done work the past five years, and we are currently 36 professionals and 109 service personnel over what we’re funded and that is tied directly to student enrollment,” Heston said.
The decades-old funding formula determines the number of staff based on enrollment, and those numbers have plummeted to an historic low in the district, according to Heston.
“Marion County is operating 21 buildings with enrollment below 7,000 for the first time in history,” said Heston. “It’s an obstacle that has us up against a wall.”
This year positions will be cut in Marion County but the facilities will operate as normal for now. Heston said their projections show continued declining enrollment numbers, like almost every district in the state.
“Some districts are thinking about consolidations and school closures because that is where we are at in public education,” Heston said. “We’re being forced to make business-like decisions when it comes to public education.”
Heston said the declining numbers are expected to continue into the near future, making it difficult to find good, qualified educators. The headlines and dollars and cents realities of public education today discourage many young people from entering the profession.
“When they look at where they could potentially end up this time of year, it absolutely has an impact on their passion and how they feel about themselves,” Heston said.
During this legislative session lawmakers took up the public school funding formula but could not finalize the legislation. Money was added for the rising costs of special needs, and lawmakers have become more engaged with education leaders over the past several months, Heston said.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a little bit of hope in that more and more we were at least invited to the table to be part of those conversations,” Heston said. “I don’t know that we were completely listened to, and I don’t know if there’s a complete understanding of the magic that public education provides.”