By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Marion County Board of Education members spotted a mirage at its meeting Tuesday afternoon.
School Superintendent Donna Heston recapped school enrollment numbers for the board near the end of the meeting. Currently, there are 590 students being homeschooled in the county.
“I believe that’s the lowest number we’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Board of Education Member Donna Costello said. “It was in the 600s, went up to the 700s from Superintendent Price to Superintendent Farley. So that’s the lowest number, are we getting them back in?”
Board member James Saunders slowly shook his head from side to side while Heston answered.
“What they’re doing is they’re going to Hope,” Heston said. “We started with 21 Hope Scholarships initially a couple years ago. That escalated last personnel season, now it’s at an all time high of 330.”
The exchange provided some detail on the enrollment challenges the county school system faces. Student enrollment at the end of the 2023-24 school year was 7,300 students, Heston said. While the school district began the year by losing more students, it did recover some of that number. The current deficit is about 160 students down from the end of last year.
