The West Virginia School Board Association and Board of Education were warned at Wednesday’s state school board meeting of looming financial challenges facing schools.
According to a report from the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Federal Programs, 31% of $414 million in temporary federal COVID-19 relief money spent by county school districts through June 2022 was used to fund 1,723 full-time staff positions either in part or entirely.
Three congressional acts provided the funding for those positions. The last of the two that remain in effect expires Sept. 30, 2024. Officials expressed concern that the end of that funding could exacerbate an ongoing staff shortage in West Virginia schools. According to the Education Association, schools are operating at a deficit of 1,500 certified teachers.
Laura Pauley, the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Programs director, and Board of Education Vice President Nancy White said the positions in question are largely support positions, including intervention specialists, counselors, social workers, cooks and maintenance workers.
“We are heading for a cliff, and we have advised districts [that] next personnel season is probably not going to be pretty,” Pauley said, “because, unless they can find other funding to sustain these positions, they will have to think about eliminating those positions.”
When funding provided by the CARES Act, the smallest of three congressional spending measures, expired in September 2022, no county school board required an extension, according to Melanie Purkey, the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Programs chief.
But Purkey warned that any extension conditions associated with the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, set to expire in September, and American Rescue Plan funding, set to expire in September 2024, would be “very stringent” and extensions would be “very unlikely.”
The report states that Kanawha County Schools spent $13,322,191.67 of its COVID-19 relief money on employee compensation through June 2022. The second-largest district in the state, Berkeley County, spent $10,696,997.94.
Purkey said her office is communicating with all 55 county boards.
“We’re doing the circuit with county board members this spring to make sure they can’t say, ‘We didn’t know,’” Purkey said.
State schools Superintendent David Roach had a stern warning for systems that don’t consider the issue ahead of time.
“It will be the board’s responsibility to make decisions on taking over a county that is financially in trouble. That’s what we do. Then we have to do the work that wasn’t done,” Roach said. “I’m not trying to have it be more dark, but it’s just a fact.”
Board President Paul Hardesty also called for financial responsibility in the coming months.
“There’s going to be a day of reckoning coming real soon,” Hardesty said. “Some of these counties, the haves and the have nots, the spread will continue to increase. I’m not going to use the cliff analogy, but the old black-and-white, two trains coming together on the tracks, that’s what’s going to happen, and the outcome is not going to be good.”
School Board Association President Jim Brown spoke to “the other train,” an increase in county boards’ 2024 liability insurance premiums through the Board of Risk Management and Insurance.
“What I’m sure not everyone is aware [of] is the level of impact this increase will have on districts’ fiscal year 2024 budgets,” said Brown. “The leadership from BRIM has held fast to their belief [that] the premium increases could range from 150% to 250%.”
Brown said he’s been told premium information for FY 2024 would not be made available until late April, while the deadline for counties to approve reductions in force is May 1, with budgets to be submitted by May 30.
BRIM is a five-member panel appointed by the governor through which school districts and other state agencies are mandated to seek coverage, Brown said.
“There’s not an option to solicit coverage outside of BRIM. There’s not a funding stream to cover district BRIM premiums requiring county boards to fund this cost out of the general revenue fund,” Brown said. “Given the recent announcement that $800 million was added to the state budget, I’m hopeful the state [Department of Education] and possibility the Legislature would consider approaching the governor about a funding stream to help offset some of this cost.
“I’m fairly certain that many of our districts will struggle to meet this financial obligation. Some will have to make deep cuts, which will have a far-reaching impact on students.”
According to Brown, the statewide increase is because of “increases in payouts BRIM experienced this past year.” Premium costs vary from county to county based on level of risk and performance in correcting errors from BRIM assessments, he said.
Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Tom Williams cited the premium increase as one factor in the district’s decision to consider cuts to Chandler Academy and its ongoing examination of school consolidation options.
