West Virginia’s Public Schools Enrollment Declines Another 2.5% Since Last Year
West Virginia’s Public Schools Enrollment Declines Another 2.5% Since Last Year
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West Virginia schools continue to lose students, a continuing problem that has contributed to a wave of proposed school closures and consolidations around the state.
State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt said schools have lost 2.5% of their students in the past year.
The state’s enrollment is now 234,957 students for this current school year, Blatt shared on Wednesday during a state Board of Education meeting.
“Fifty-three of 55 of our districts did decrease in enrollment this year,” Blatt said, noting only Tyler and Doddridge counties had an increase in student population.
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A new West Virginia enrollment report showed a 6.5% decline from when the state had 250,899 students in the 2021-22 school year.
School officials have pointed to the state’s ongoing population decline as a major reason for the enrollment drop.
“There’s declining enrollment in our state as a whole and that’s affecting our school systems,” Blatt said.
West Virginia experienced the sharpest student population decline in the nation from 2020 to 2024, a time period that included the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Multiple school districts have proposed school closures or consolidations this year. Last week, the Roane County Board of Education voted to close two elementary and middle schools at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
The county plans to consolidate students into other nearby schools. The state Board of Education will have to approve the plan.
Roane County School Board President Jeff Mace said funding was part of the problem, MetroNews reported. He said the state’s school funding formula needs to be modernized and should focus on the needs of students rather than student enrollment.
“I believe if we don’t invest in our education, we’re just going to continue to drive all of our young people and our young talent out of the state and we’re going to prevent people from coming in,” Mace said.
State school board President Paul Hardesty has already called on state lawmakers to fix the school funding formula during the next legislative session to prevent school closures in the rural state.
According to the state Department of Education, 16 public schools closed in 2024.
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Micah Whitlow, director of the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of School Facilities, said that counties are making these decisions “based on real problems.”
“These things aren’t done on a whim or they just woke up one day thinking about this. Some of them are staff shortages, finances, deteriorating facilities. Some of these it’s all those things together,” he said.
Expired pandemic relief funding and students opting out of public schools to use the state’s broad school voucher program – The Hope Scholarship – have also put a financial strain on public schools. Around 19,000 students are using the voucher program this school year, typically at private religious schools.
The enrollment report showed that public schools served 477 students using the Hope Scholarship; students using the Hope program can pay to take public school classes. Public schools also served 1,336 Hope Scholarship students that were not funded, according to the report.
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than 4,000 children are attending virtual schools, which are considered public schools in West Virginia. Most of those students are enrolled in virtual charter schools. The state’s number of charter students has increased since the 2023-24 school year when 2,270 were enrolled.
Overall, most West Virginia students continue to be served in public schools as leaders grapple with financial issues, which can lead to less staff in schools.
“We can say that 98.2% of our students are still served in our public schools,” Blatt said.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions:(email protected).
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Author:Amelia Ferrell Knisely
Published on:2025-11-17 21:30:00
Source: www.the74million.org
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Sign up for The 74 Newsletter West Virginia schools continue to lose students, a continuing problem that has contributed to a wave of proposed s”,”copyrightYear”:”2025″,”articleSection”:”Education”,”articleBody”:”nnn n Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newslettern n n n nWest Virginia schools continue to lose students, a continuing problem that has contributed to a wave of proposed school closures and consolidations around the state. nnnnMichele BlattnnnState Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt said schools have lost 2.5% of their students in the past year.nnnnThe stateu2019s enrollment is now 234,957 students for this current school year, Blatt shared on Wednesday during a state Board of Education meeting.nnnnu201cFifty-three of 55 of our districts did decrease in enrollment this year,u201d Blatt said, noting only Tyler and Doddridge counties had an increase in student population.nnnnA new West Virginia enrollment report showed a 6.5% decline from when the state had 250,899 students in the 2021-22 school year.nnnnSchool officials have pointed to the stateu2019s ongoing population decline as a major reason for the enrollment drop.nnnnnnnnu201cThereu2019s declining enrollment in our state as a whole and thatu2019s affecting our school systems,u201d Blatt said.nnnnWest Virginia experienced the sharpest student population decline in the nation from 2020 to 2024, a time period that included the COVID-19 pandemic. nnnnMultiple school districts have proposed school closures or consolidations this year. Last week, the Roane County Board of Education voted to close two elementary and middle schools at the end of the 2025-26 school year. The county plans to consolidate students into other nearby schools. The state Board of Education will have to approve the plan. nnnnRelatedPublic School Enrollment Is Declining u2014 But Not Everywhere, or for All StudentsnnnnRoane County School Board President Jeff Mace said funding was part of the problem, MetroNews reported. He said the stateu2019s school funding formula needs to be modernized and should focus more on the needs of students rather than student enrollment.nnnnu201cI believe if we donu2019t invest in our education, weu2019re just going to continue to drive all of our young people and our young talent out of the state and weu2019re going to prevent people from coming in,u201d Mace said. nnnnState school board President Paul Hardesty has already called on state lawmakers to fix the school funding formula during the next legislative session to prevent more school closures in the rural state. nnnnAccording to the state Department of Education, 16 public schools closed in 2024.nnnnMicah Whitlow, director of the West Virginia Department of Educationu2019s Office of School Facilities, said that counties are making these decisions u201cbased on real problems.u201dnnnnu201cThese things arenu2019t done on a whim or they just woke up one day thinking about this. Some of them are staff shortages, finances, deteriorating facilities. Some of these itu2019s all those things together,u201d he said.nnnnExpired pandemic relief funding and students opting out of public schools to use the stateu2019s broad school voucher program u2013 The Hope Scholarship u2013 have also put a financial strain on public schools. Around 19,000 students are using the voucher program this school year, typically at private religious schools. nnnnThe enrollment report showed that public schools served 477 students using the Hope Scholarship; students using the Hope program can pay to take public school classes. Public schools also served 1,336 Hope Scholarship students that were not funded, according to the report. nnnn than 4,000 children are attending virtual schools, which are considered public schools in West Virginia. Most of those students are enrolled in virtual charter schools. The stateu2019s number of charter students has increased since the 2023-24 school year when 2,270 were enrolled.nnnnOverall, most West Virginia students continue to be served in public schools as leaders grapple with financial issues, which can lead to less staff in schools.nnnnu201cWe can say that 98.2% of our students are still served in our public schools,u201d Blatt said. nnnnWest Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: (emailu00a0protected).nn n n n Did you use this article in your work?
nWeu2019d love to hear how The 74u2019s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us hown n nnn !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;n t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,n document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);n fbq(‘init’, ‘626037510879173’); // 626037510879173n fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);n nnnnnDisclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. nWe do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.nnnnnnAuthor: Amelia Ferrell KniselynPublished on: 2025-11-17 21:30:00nSource: www.the74million.orgn”,”publisher”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”,”@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images-e1759081190269.png”},”sameAs”:[“https://www.facebook.com/uaetodaynewscom”,”https://www.pinterest.com/uaetodaynews/”,”https://www.instagram.com/uaetoday_news_com/”]},”sourceOrganization”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”copyrightHolder”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”mainEntityOfPage”:{“@type”:”WebPage”,”@id”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/west-virginias-public-schools-enrollment-declines-another-2-5-since-last-year-the-74/”,”breadcrumb”:{“@id”:”#Breadcrumb”}},”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/author/arabsongmedia-net/”},”image”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://i0.wp.com/uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/west-virginia-school-enrollment-and-closures-825×495.png?fit=825%2C495&ssl=1″,”width”:1200,”height”:495}}
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-11-18 09:04:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
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