The question of adequate funding for West Virginia’s schools is heating up in the court system.
One lawsuit over school funding is heading for the state Supreme Court. Another lawsuit on similar grounds is being prepared by Berkeley County schools officials.
In the first case, the state Supreme Court has now given state officials who are respondents in a lawsuit about school funding until Nov. 20 to submit their positions in writing. The original deadline had been Oct. 30.
Once the deadline passes, the case would be mature for consideration by the Court, meaning the justices could decide the case on the briefs filed or set it for oral arguments.
The current Supreme Court term ends Nov. 13, so if the case were set for arguments that probably would not occur until sometime after justices reconvene in January.
The case arose when lawyers for American Civil Liberties West Virginia filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to determine that West Virginia’s school funding formula is inadequate and results in inequities across the state.
The lawsuit asks justices to order state officials to fix school funding. The filing spotlights Lincoln County as a primary example of constitutional failure.
Meanwhile, the Berkeley County school system is moving forward with its own legal action over school funding.
The Berkeley County Board of Education in June unanimously approved a motion to go ahead with litigation over West Virginia’s school funding system, including locality pay, special education funding and other funding concerns. The required 30-day notice of intent to pursue legal action against appropriate state officials and entities went out last week.
The concerns reflect longstanding challenges in meeting student needs with the resources provided by the state, according to a Berkeley County Schools statement provided by communications director Karla Troppman:
“While the specific legal claims and proceedings will be addressed through the legal process, the purpose of this effort is to seek a school funding system that more adequately supports the educational needs of Berkeley County students and ensures equitable access to the resources and services necessary to provide the thorough and efficient education guaranteed by the West Virginia Constitution.”
Last year, the cost of meeting special education needs exceeded state funding by nearly $38 million, Berkeley County Schools reported. These are services the district is legally obligated to provide, regardless of whether the funding adequately covers the cost.
Berkeley County Schools also faces longstanding challenges in recruiting and retaining certified teachers because the system competes directly with neighboring districts in Virginia and Maryland that can offer substantially higher salaries. That has resulted in reliance on roughly 200 to 250 permanent substitutes a year because of the difficulties of recruiting certified educators.
In recent years, West Virginia has again faced widespread school funding shortfalls, driven largely by an enormous deficit in special education costs and leading to school closures and consolidations all over the state.
Education officials have warned that 8 to 20 schools face closure or consolidation across West Virginia in the coming year.
Lawmakers have discussed replacing the enrollment-based funding formula with an updated needs-based tiered system, but all of their proposals have crashed out the past couple of legislative sessions.
In the off season, lawmakers have focused several interim committee discussions on possibilities for reforming the school aid formula but it’s not yet clear what they intend to do.
Article XII, Section 1 of the West Virginia Constitution states, “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”
Earlier this month, the West Virginia Board of Education voted 7-1 to officially take a position that the current school funding system is unconstitutional and inadequate while also proposing a major overhaul to the state’s $2 billion public school funding formula.
State Senator Vince Deeds, speaking on Radio Roundtable on WJLS-AM, expressed support for a multi-year approach that addresses immediate needs while providing predictability and room to adapt, rather than making rushed annual decisions or simply adding funding without a plan.
“The good news about it is, and I want to start there, is that we as a legislative body, the Senate and the House, we’ve been talking about making a lot of the same improvements that the state Board of Education is asking for. So I think that’s a good starting point,” said Deeds, R-Greenbrier.
“We have to make improvements in the school aid formula and and really take in in under consideration and really look at what the state board of education wants to do.”
The current school funding formula relies heavily on enrollment to determine school funding.
This past week, the state Department of Education reported that total student registration dropped by 8,270 pupils compared to the prior year.
Overall, this year’s statewide enrollment number was 226,687 students, according to yearly certified enrollment figures made public this week by the state Department of Education.
Last year’s enrollment was 234,957.
The system has lost more than 23,000 students since the 2022-23 school year, and more than 46,000 students over the past 10 years – a 17% decline.
Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Serena Starcher, also speaking on Radio Roundtable, said she has hope that more support for school funding is in the works.
“I’m hopeful,” Starcher said. “I’m very hopeful that our legislature will work with the state board and state superintendent and make some changes to funding.”