Community

Marshall County Schools Reports Enrollment Decline

Marshall County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelby Haines reported that the county is down 54 students during the Board of Education’s year-end data review on Tuesday.

Haines attributed this enrollment decline to multiple factors, including the Hope Scholarship, increased virtual schooling options, homeschool regulation changes and open enrollment between counties.

"I'm pretty pleased with that number, to be quite honest," Haines said. "I know that those new practices have significantly negatively impacted other counties much more heavily than 54 students. Comparatively, 54 students down is not as bad as it could be."

Haines said the county hopes to maintain enrollment to prevent schools from closing due to declining student populations.

Board member Lori Kestner added that the "campaign" this year for students to take advantage of other schooling options was "pretty stronger than it's been in the past."

For other year-end data, Haines reported that an additional 100 students were designated as homeless. She attributed this increase to the definition of homeless for the year-end data, including students who are "doubled up," or living with others due to economic or housing troubles.

"I also think that we are just getting better at recognizing homelessness and marking it," Haines said. "We have, just like everywhere else, kids who are couch surfing. I think that our principals and secretaries are doing a better job at coding them correctly."

Board member Brenda Coffield agreed that the number was "kind of misleading," as one would have to know what types of homelessness are included in the data.

The number of chronically absent students in the county decreased by about 130. Haines also reported a "significant decrease" in the county's total instances of discipline.

Haines said they performed a "little bit of a deep dive" with Moundsville Middle School and John Marshall High School regarding the chronically absent and instances of discipline data.

"We wanted to make sure that those instances of discipline were being documented correctly," Haines said. "We want it to be a true number, and part of that comes from a discipline team at John Marshall that was newer in 2023-24. They set some boundaries, and the kids were a little more accustomed to those rules in year two."

Haines attributed the county's truancy diversion specialist to the decrease in attendance and behavioral problems. They work with students to prevent instances of skipping school, tobacco referrals, suspensions and other attendance and behavioral issues.

"The truancy diversion specialist works with those kids before they get referred to court," Haines said.

Haines reported that another way the county has "kept kids in school" is by supporting teachers and administrators in using community service hours for students, rather than resorting to internal or external suspensions.

"We want our kids in school, so we tried to decrease some of those suspensions," Haines said. "The out-of-school suspension instances are down. We're very appreciative of that."

In other business, Haines and board members began establishing Superintendent and Board Goals for FY2026. The goals must be finalized by Sept. 15, per the WV School Board Association.

The WV School Board Association specifies that at least one goal for the superintendent must relate to student achievement. Goals addressing student success and well-being, including the required student achievement goal, must support the progress of the established county strategic plan goals.

Haines shared her tentative goals as increasing student achievement in Benchmark Assessment data for ELA and math, ensuring compliance with all legislative mandates and supporting new administrators.

"We have a lot of administrative changes, some new directors, so we want to try to support them to the best of our ability with training, goal setting and monitoring the progress of their achievements," Haines said.

Board members also set their tentative goals as getting more student involvement in the BOE process, more closely observing Benchmark Assessment results and continuing community involvement, including student and staff recognitions at BOE meetings.