May 14, 2025
photo by: Joselyn King
Ohio County Board of Education members Anne Hercules, left, Molly Aderholt and board president David Croft participate in a meeting this week.
WHEELING — The number of West Virginia students receiving Hope Scholarships is increasing, and this could mean the loss of more than $2 million in revenue to Ohio County Schools next year.
Superintendent Kim Miller provided projected Hope Scholarship numbers to school board members during their meeting this week.
She reported 376 students in the county have applied for Hope Scholarships for the 2025-26 school year.
These scholarships provide the families of recipients money to assist in their attending private or parochial schools or financing a homeschool curriculum.
State funding for public school districts is based on enrollment, and when a child moves on to other education options that is money missed by the school district.
The family of each student approved for the Hope Scholarship next year will receive $5,500. When that is multiplied out, that means $2,086,000 will be spent next year “on children choosing other options,” according to Miller.
She expressed concerns that funding of the Hope Scholarship could affect overall funding for public education in the coming years as the numbers increase. Miller cited reports that the number of Hope Scholarship recipients in West Virginia, currently at 11,000, is expected to jump to 20,000 this fall and 50,000 by 2026.
“This will dramatically increase the program’s financial footprint,” she continued. “It was funded at about $100 million this year, and is expected to require an increasing amount of the state’s education spending in the years ahead.”
With a total of 50,000 students receiving the Hope Scholarship, this would cost West Virginia close to $300 million in 2026, Miller noted.
“As we move into our next school year, certainly these kinds of numbers will have an impact,” she said.
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