RANDOLPH COUNTY, W.Va. — Two school districts are holding public hearings this week for closure and consolidation plans due to falling enrollment.
The Randolph County Board of Education will hold a public hearing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Elkins High School for the proposed closures of Coalton Elementary School and Midland Elementary School. The students would be merged into the Beverly Elementary School and Elkins Third Ward Elementary School.
In Barbour County, hearings are planned through the week for the consolidations of Kassan Elementary/Middle School, Philippi Middle School, Philip Barbour High School, Belington Middle School, Belington Elementary School, and the Junior Elementary School.
Kristie Skidmore, co-president of Education West Virginia, is a 30-year educator from Randolph County and has watched enrollments fall as state laws have changed. Population loss due to the economy on top of losses to homeschool, charter, and Hope Scholarship options has steadily chipped away at enrollments in rural school districts statewide.
“The rural schools are being affected, which is affecting our more centralized schools as well,” Skidmore said. “We know we have some declining populations, and we know the Hope Scholarship has played into some of this funding loss.”
Rural consolidations create hardships across the communities when buildings are closed, identities are lost, and children have to begin new routines that may require extremely long bus rides. Skidmore blames the funding formula for public schools that is heavily weighted toward enrollment.
“But, when you’re dealing with these rural situations, some of these bus rides will be more than an hour long when you consolidate or merge these schools,” Skidmore said. “So, we definitely need some help for these smaller counties.”
Many community members believe the school boards can make decisions to keep the buildings open without understanding the voluminous West Virginia Code 18 and 18A that set the rules for the operation of public schools.
“It’s easy to point the finger at your local school board, but when they have parameters they have to work within, I’m hoping that our communities will become more educated and understand why we are having issues with funding,” Skidmore said.
Last legislative session Skidmore said was an unsuccessful attempt to pass change, and more is expected in the upcoming 2026 60-day gathering of lawmakers. Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Joe Statler, R, Monongalia, 77, has been reviewing formulas from other states and is expected to propose something similar to what is used by the state of Tennessee.
“We tried to make some changes to the funding formula for small rural areas, but that didn’t go anywhere in the last legislative session,” Skidmore said. “So, we can continue work in that area.”
Dozens of public schools have closed since 2019, and more are likely to close in addition to what is happening in Barbour and Randolph Counties if some action isn’t taken by state lawmakers, according to Skidmore.
“These kids are our future, and they deserve to have the very best learning environment they can have,” Skidmore said. “When you invest in learning environments, you expect to get better outcomes, and that’s what we’re looking for.”