In fact , the WVDE , with help from first lady Cathy Justice , moved the needle in the right direction concerning the number of students completing high school on time . The 2023 KIDS COUNT survey noted the improvement in the state ’ s numbers .
“ We have further expanded Communities in Schools — a drop-out prevention program — to meet the basic needs of our students and families , so our teachers can focus on academics ,” Blatt says . “ This fall , 52 counties and 257 schools are participating in the state , impacting more than 100,000 students with extensive dropout intervention supports . Ninety-nine percent of our case-managed students are staying in school .”
The state is also addressing child hunger with the Feed to Achieve program , the result of Senate Bill 663 , which is overseen by the WVDE . This program gives children nutritious food in school and outside the school day parameters . The WVDE ’ s Office of Child Nutrition , with help from Supply Chain Assistance funds and funding through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement , is increasing the amount of locally grown food available in school food programs . More than one in five children in West Virginia live in a food insecure household , which is defined by the WVDE as a household where it is difficult to find the money for food . More than 67 % of students qualify for free or reduced meals .
COVID-19 left the Mountain State with 800 fewer educators , but state leaders are tackling the shortage with teacher prep programs and educator support . Forty counties have participated in the Grow Your Own Pathway to Teaching initiative , which gives college students a fasttrack to a teaching degree .
The state also sharpened the public school focus on math and reading when the West Virginia Legislature passed the Third Grade Success Act . This legislation gives schools a multitude of tools to focus on early literacy and numeracy during that all-important benchmark third grade year , including additional personnel for first through third grades and multi-tiered systems of support and intervention .
State institutions of higher learning , impacted by declining enrollment numbers , are raising awareness at the high school level with several initiatives .
In 2011 , nearly 55 % of West Viginia ’ s graduating high school students were enrolled in a summer or fall technical or academic higher education program . In 2022 , that number dropped to just above 46 %, according to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission ( WVHEPC ). Sarah Armstrong Tucker , chancellor of the WVHEPC , says that drop can be put at the doorstep of one issue — COVID-19 .
“ After 2011 , the college-going rate dropped to about 51 %,” she says . “ Fifty-one percent is not good enough for me , but we were there for six years . In 2020 , after COVID , we dropped to 48 % and then 45.9 %. COVID was very destructive in students ’ lives . It was very difficult for them to know what to do .”
Beginning this fall , the WVHEPC is offering high school students a jump start into classes and post-secondary possibilities with a dual enrollment system . Tucker asked the state legislature for funding , received it in July and pushed to get the laser-sharp , dual enrollment program up and running statewide .
“ Higher education dual enrollment had become a case of the haves and the have-nots ,” Tucker says . “ Some counties could afford it , and others could not . Now anyone can take dual enrollment ; you just have to choose a pathway that leads to a job in West Virginia .”
Tucker says there are 4,200 students enrolled in this year ’ s pilot program , with 16 higher education institutions participating . The possible pathways include nursing , teaching , social services , business , information technology , welding , criminal justice , natural resources and aviation maintenance .
“ We tried to be very intentional ,” she says . “ Dual enrollment has been haphazard in this state . In the new program , colleges partner with a high school and come up with a pathway . What program do they think could get students to matriculate into that college ? Students are then enrolled both in college and high school .”
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