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ARKERSBURG -- Wood County Schools officials say that around 168 positions – 103 professional and 65 service personnel positions – will be affected as the school system undergoes its annual reassignment and transfer process due to declining enrollment and loss of pandemic relief funds.
A release from the school district said during the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts received additional federal funds to support education. It said the district was able to employ additional support staff to help students recover from learning loss experienced when students were instructed outside of the classroom setting. Those funds will expire on Sept. 30 and not be available for the 2024-2025 school year.
Officials for the district stressed that nurses and other levy-funded positions are separate and will not be affected and that they will still have a nurse in every school and additional instructional support in the elementaries.
"These current budget challenges have created very difficult decisions," said Superintendent Christie Willis.
"Wood County Schools is working to continue to provide the best educational opportunities possible for our students while being fiscally responsible. We greatly appreciate the support and trust from our community."
Officials with the school district clarified that while some job losses are still possible, this doesn't mean 168 people will be terminated as many employees will have the opportunity to transfer to other open positions using their seniority. Officials said the reassignment process aims to find positions for as many affected employees as possible while staying within the reduced budget levels necessitated by declining enrollment.
The release said the district is projected to have funding for staffing reduced by over $10 million between expiring COVID funds and loss of state funding. It said yearly funding provided by the State of West Virginia for school districts is based upon student enrollment numbers and the loss of students directly impacts the school budget and funding formula set by the state.
Officials for the school district say enrollment within Wood County has declined by about 560 students over the last two school years and around 2,000 in the last decade.The loss of COVID funding isn't just affecting Wood County schools as the rest of the state will also see their funding expire.
Jackson County Schools Superintendent William Hosaflook said they will have 30 positions affected by expiring COVID funds but that the district started making cuts and adjustments last year to account for that.
"We kept the ones we thought would make the biggest impact this year," Hosaflook said.
He equated the formula for state aid as every 13 students lost to enrollment equals one professional position that would need to be eliminated.
He said the goal of the COVID funding was to get students back to the level they were before the pandemic, and in his opinion the state is, "right around that goal."
The release from Wood County Schools said letters to employees affected by the loss of COVID funding have been sent out this week and the Wood County Board of Education will consider the staffing changes at its March 12 regular meeting.
Gregory Merritt, vice-president of AFT (American Federations of Teachers) of West Virginia, and former president of the Wood County AFT, said the hope is that each professional and service personnel affected by the loss of funds will return to jobs as quickly as possible.
"It's discouraging for anyone who cares about education in Wood County to hear this news," Merritt said. "AFT will support its members anyway it can."
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.co