Voters across West Virginia approved most school levies and bond measures on Tuesday’s primary ballot, giving millions of dollars in local funding to support employee salaries, meal programs and school construction projects.
Voters approved seven out of the 10 school funding measures on ballots across the state in several counties, including Tyler, Wetzel and Wirt counties.
In Berkeley County, voters approved a new$115 million bond levy to support renovations across the school district and construction of a new middle school and career and technical education center.
But others were rejected.
Voters in Summers County nixed a $4 million levy to hire more teachers and upgrade playgrounds. Another $32 million bond levy, which would have funded the construction of a new athletic complex and new stadium, was rejected by voters in Braxton County.
Most of the measures on Tuesday’s ballot were renewals of existing excess levies rather than new taxes.
Districts face growing financial strain
The votes come as public schools across West Virginia face financial pressures, with some districts laying off teachers and encountering budget shortfalls. About 235,000 children are enrolled in the state’s public school system.
Earlier this year, lawmakers commissioned a study that concluded the state should increase its investment in public schools and direct more money to students in poverty or with disabilities.
Instead, lawmakers kept funding the same while fully funding the Hope Scholarship program, which provides public money for private education.
The levy results also highlighted how districts increasingly rely on local tax dollars to fund services beyond what the state’s school aid formula can adequately support.
“The school funding formula is a bit outdated and doesn’t reflect the needs of school students nowadays,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
Allen said school nurses, counselors and social workers are among the positions local districts must help fund beyond what the state formula provides.
She said differences in property values between counties can also affect how much funding districts can generate through excess levies.
“People broadly are supportive of their local schools and want to make sure students in those places have all the resources that they need,” she said.
The stakes of the levy votes varied by county, but many districts tied the funding directly to operational services and student support programs.
In Tyler County, voters renewed a $123 million levy that funds transportation and free meal programs, a year after the West Virginia Board of Education intervened in the district over concerns about district leadership and oversight.
Some voters said they viewed the levies as investments in their communities and local schools.
Peter Mathieson, who recently moved to Berkeley County from New York, said he heard concerns from some community members about whether parts of the district’s proposed career and technical education expansion were necessary, but ultimately decided to support the bond.
“I’m a strong supporter of public education,” he said.