W.Va. officials seek delay in school aid formula case, citing planned legislative overhaul

CHARLESTON – A lawsuit filed on behalf of Lincoln County families to reform West Virginia’s complicated school aid formula could be delayed until after the 2027 legislation session, providing state officials time to develop a fix.

Respondents in a lawsuit filed in September by the ACLU of West Virginia - including House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston; State Auditor Mark Hunt; State Treasurer Larry Pack; State Tax Commissioner Matthew Irby; and the School Building Authority - filed a motion for abeyance Thursday.

They are seeking a delay in the case until April 12, 2027, following the end of the 60-day legislative session that begins Wednesday, Jan. 13, and ends Saturday, March 13.

West Virginia Code 4-1-17 states that lawmakers and legislative employees "are not required to attend to matters pending before tribunals of the executive and judicial branches of government when the timing of those matters may present conflicts with the discharge of the public duties and responsibilities," including during both regular and interim sessions, as well as a 10-day period before regular/interim sessions and 30 days after.

Holly J. Wilson, principal deputy solicitor general for the Attorney General’s Office, explained that members of the Legislature, Gov. Patrick Morrisey and officials with the Department of Education are discussing a school aid funding formula reform package which could possibly render the lawsuit moot. The Joint Standing Committee on Education is meeting Nov. 9 to discuss the package, which was first unveiled to state Board of Education members earlier in October.

"Petitioner asks this Court to order the political branches to rewrite West Virginia's school aid formula. But the political branches are already engaged in discussions," Wilson wrote. "The Department of Education has delivered an overhaul of the formula to the Governor and legislative leadership. ... The Legislature's discussions during interim meetings, coupled with its anticipated consideration of the school aid formula during the regular legislative session, will give lawmakers the opportunity to evaluate whether and what adjustments to the education system are appropriate."

The Department of Education's draft legislation would weight funding on additional factors other than just enrollment, tiered by service intensity, low socioeconomic status and poverty, English learners, career and technical education, gifted students, and rurality.

Among other features, the proposed bill introduces a funding enrollment mechanism that calculates base funding using the higher of the prior year’s second-month net enrollment or a three-year average, shielding districts from abrupt revenue cliffs. The full cost for implementing the proposed bill will be determined in phase two. But implementing changes to special needs funding could be as high as $190 million.

Speaking during a press conference Wednesday, Morrisey said he has talked with State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt about their proposal and continues to review it.

"We’re trying to digest that, and we’ve been doing a lot of work internally and we’re having conversations," Morrisey said. "I know that after the election, folks will be coming in and there may be opportunities there to do some things. But I know that we’re also getting ready for a very robust legislative session beginning in January. So, it’s premature to make any announcements yet, but I will say that school aid issues and education issues will dominate the next legislative session."

ACLU-WV filed a petition at the end of September over the school aid formula on behalf of a class of Lincoln County families, seeking an order from the state Supreme Court determining that the Legislature, members of the Board of Public Works, members of the Lincoln County Board of Education and state education and tax officials have violated their constitutional duty to maintain a "thorough and efficient" public school system. The state board adopted a policy position last week siding with the complaints raised in the lawsuit.

The state school aid formula was born out of a 1982 decision by former Ohio County Circuit Court Judge Arthur Recht after a parent brought a class action lawsuit in 1975 against Lincoln County Schools arguing that poorer rural counties were being disadvantaged over larger, wealthier counties.

While county school systems receive local funding through property tax revenue, bonds and levies, the seven-step school aid formula plays a large role in setting their budgets. That funding formula relies heavily on student enrollment numbers for each county, which are finalized every October.

According to numbers released last week by the Department of Education, the fall headcount enrollment number for the current school year was 226,687 students, a 3.5% drop in enrollment from 234,957 students in the 2025-26 school year - a decline of 8,270 students.

This year’s fall headcount represents an 18.3% drop in student enrollment over an 11-year period beginning with the 2015-16 school year when there were 277,452 students, a decrease of 50,765 public school students over that period. It also represents the second largest year-to-year drop in public school student enrollment in the last 11 years since the 3.6% drop between school years 2019-20 and 2020-21 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to preliminary numbers from the Department of Education, 4,693 students left the state between the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years, with 3,129 students leaving the public school system for home school, 3,111 leaving for to receive the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program, 540 leaving for private schools, and 23 leaving for micro schools.

Due to the continued decrease in public school students, county school systems have had to make hard choices, including cutting teachers and staff, slashing spending and closing and consolidating schools, with nearly 140 public schools closed since 2011 according to the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy.

Last year, the House of Delegates commissioned a study by the RAND Corporation which stated that while overall state education spending is near the national average, the system fails to adequately account for the higher costs associated with low-income students and those with disabilities. The RAND analysis recommended implementing a student-weighted funding system to direct more resources to counties with higher-need student populations. The report also proposed increasing total state aid to ensure no county loses resources during the transition.