Roane County made the right call when it voted to close two of its schools. The toll of consolidation is real; I was a public school teacher for twenty years. I understand how closures reshape a community. But: if the school board and district officials stop at this decision without confronting the choices that led to a $3 million deficit, the decision will lose its meaning.
The closure was justified, but it was also inevitable.
This cannot be treated as an isolated event. Roane is just one of many districts facing the same pressures. Enrollment across West Virginia is declining. Next year will bring the lowest kindergarten enrollment in state history. At the same time, per-pupil spending has risen by 42% over the past decade while only 30–40% of our students are proficient in reading or math.
If education is an investment then it’s fair to ask: what return are we getting?
Roane County shows what happens when spending is disconnected from student outcomes. The county overspent by $600,000 on special education due to poor budgeting, went wildly over budget building the new Spencer Middle School, and carried staffing levels far above what the state funding formula supported. Meanwhile, school buildings were operating at 45% utilization. The result was a $3 million deficit in a district with an annual revenue of just $30 million.
To meet payroll, Roane requested a $400,000 advance from the next school year’s state aid allocation. This was entirely avoidable.
For context, only 30 students left during the 2023-2024 school year to use the Hope Scholarship, West Virginia’s education savings account program. Their departure reduced district revenue by approximately $134,000. That is insignificant compared to the losses created by internal financial mismanagement.
Roane also received more than $12 million in federal ESSER relief funds over the past five years. Those funds masked the underlying problems. The reckoning arrived once the federal aid ended.
We often hear that schools need more resources. But West Virginia schools — like those across the country — are more heavily staffed now than at any time in history. Many roles have shifted from classroom instruction to layers of support positions such as coaches, interventionists, specialists, counselors, and assistant principals. Despite this expansion, Roane County student outcomes have deteriorated. Every school in the county is below 50% proficiency in reading and math. At Roane County High School, only 12% of students are proficient in math.
The system has evolved in a way where student outcomes are an afterthought while budgets operate on autopilot.
School boards determine priorities. They choose what gets funded and what gets cut. But most are not asking the central question: what are we getting for what we spend?
West Virginia’s funding formula focuses on inputs like salaries, facilities, and transportation. It does not reward outcomes. Budgets are built one year at a time rather than through long-term planning tied to student achievement. When school boards do ask questions, they often focus on revenue, salaries, or tax rates instead of whether last year’s spending improved results for students.
This is not about whether board members care. Caring is insufficient. They must recognize that budgeting decisions impact student achievement and must be held to that impact.
This problem is not limited to Roane County. Nine of West Virginia’s fifty-five school districts are under some form of state intervention, most due to financial dysfunction. Education budgets must be treated with the same seriousness applied to other large public investments.
The State Board of Education and local counties should lead efforts to strengthen financial stewardship before lawmakers are forced to intervene. That means ensuring school board members and superintendents receive basic financial and fiduciary training, adopting multi-year budget forecasting as standard practice, and incorporating student outcome reviews into every budget cycle. In counties already facing deficits or under state oversight, leaders should proactively engage independent financial professionals to conduct forensic audits and develop clear right-sizing plans. These aren’t punitive steps; they’re baseline expectations for any system that claims to put students first.
Discussion about deregulation is warranted, but many existing restrictions that counties face today were requested by the same counties. Flexibility only matters if leadership is willing to use it to improve student outcomes rather than preserve legacy staffing.
Other states are adapting. In small rural schools elsewhere, teachers may cover multiple grade levels. Staff hold multiple roles, such as a guidance counselor who also teaches English or a PE program centered around accessible local activities. Communities face hard choices: preserve our school or our football program? Have an art teacher or keep our second-grade teacher?
There is no perfect answer. But pretending nothing must change is not an option.
Roane County closed two schools. That was the first step. The real test is what comes next.
Will leaders right-size their budget? Will they align spending with outcomes? Will they begin asking about return on investment — not just in buildings, but in student achievement?
If they do not, this moment of painful change will have been for nothing. Without deeper change, the next closure won’t be a decision. It will be a default.
