| By Bob Weaver
For the first time in a generation, enrollment in West Virginia's public schools increased, according to the WV Department of Education.
The state-wide increase is 331 students.
The numbers have increased mostly by growth in the Eastern Panhandle and the addition of preschoolers in other counties.
A 2002 state law requires all county school systems offer four-year-old preschool to all children by the 2012-2013 school year, a major concern for thousands of parents whose children are traveling to consolidated schools for an hour or more one-way.
State Superintendent Steve Paine says the addition of the four-year-old children to the system is one of the best moves for West Virginia children who live in poverty.
The loss-gain numbers for regional counties:
Braxton 2,457(2004) 2,411(2005) -46
Calhoun 1,187 (2004) 1,178 (2005) -9
Clay 2,111(2004) 2,042(2005) -69
Ritchie 1,561(2004) 1,607(2005) +46
Roane 2,581(2004)2,586(2005) +5
Wirt 1,017(2004) 1,020(2005) +3
West Virginia 279,457(2004) 279,788(2005) +331
Enrollment steadily declined in West Virginia since 1979.
Calhoun schools have lost about 500 students during the past 15 years, although the 2005 loss indicates the exodus may have leveled.
Calhoun superintendent of schools, Ron Blankenship has said he is hopeful the Calhoun decline is slowing.
Since funding is tied to student enrollment, hardest hit are the most rural and poorest WV counties.
Blankenship said the loss in dollars to deliver basic education and services in Calhoun County is now $3 to $4 million dollars annually, based on a loss of 500 students.
Blankenship has long made efforts to modify the state's school funding formula so rural, low-populated counties can provide a proper education.
Some extra financial help has been given small school systems, but it may not be enough.
Dr. Howard O'Cull, the Executive Director of the WV School Boards Association, says the enhancement of curriculum has been one of the main arguments and lasting benefits of school consolidation.
But it may not be true for many rural systems.
The State Department of Education has quit claiming consolidation saves money.
Blankenship has said you can only cut so far before students are short-changed.
"According to the Calhoun Board of Education, curricular programing adjustments may have to be made at Calhoun Middle-High School for the first time in the school's history, again based on declining school enrollments," said O'Cull.
O'Cull says what has been lost since 1988 is an emphasis on equity among districts. "With declining students some systems may not be able to provide educational quality," he said, particularly in systems of fewer that 1,000 students.
"The Calhoun County illustration shows us (closing schools) it may result in a loss of bettered curricula, which is often the rationale cited for closing facilities since the school aid formula is student driven," O'Cull said.
Blankenship has frequently told board members the margin of financial survival vs. maintaining teachers, programs and services is getting slim in Calhoun County.
Calhoun's Enrollment: Loss/Gain and Percentage Of Change:
1990-1991 1685
1991-1992 1700 +15 +.89%
1992-1993 1689 -11 - .65%
1993-1994 1705 +16 +.94%
1994-1995 1671 -34 -2.0%
1995-1996 1633 -38 -2.3%
1996-1997 1589 -44 -2.7%
1997-1998 1558 -31 -2.0%
1998-1999 1476 -82 -5.3%
1999-2000 1430 -46 -3.2%
2000-2001 1318 -112 -8.3%
2001-2002 1289 -29 -2.2%
2002-2003 1283 -6 -0.46%
2003-2004 1216 -67 -5.2%
2004-2005 1187 -29 -2.4%
2005-2006 1180 -7
TOTAL - 487 Students Down (15 Years) About 33% Loss
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