As if our county boards of education did not have enough to worry about, a recent report by The Reason Foundation suggests a trend may present big challenges for West Virginia public schools.

In a look at public school enrollment across the country, the foundation said West Virginia was one of only four states with public school enrollment that decreased by more than 5% between fiscal years 2020 and 2024. Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic had something to do with that, but the Mountain State has not bounced back.

At the beginning of FY2020, West Virginia had 263,485 students enrolled in public schools. By FY 2024, that number had dropped to 246,883 — 16,603 students lost. Even at the end of the four-year period studied, the state saw a 1.7% decline in enrollment between 2023 and 2024.

Among the possible causes are statewide population loss, fewer births and an aging population. But that does not explain all of the decline.

Unfortunately, as the report’s author points out, “there hasn’t been much focus on where these students went and what kind of learning environments they were experiencing.” Here we know only that there was a small increase in the number of students in West Virginia attending private school.

With the state’s new open enrollment policy and the existence of new charter schools (including statewide virtual charter schools), and some former public school students who are instead signing up for the Hope Scholarship program, we know state officials have had something to do with the change.

What, then, are public school districts to do, as population loss means changes to the property tax base and support available through bonds and levies; and lower enrollment affects the state’s school funding formula?

Closures and consolidations were approved just last year in Kanawha, Wood, Harrison, Randolph, Clay, Lincoln, Roane and Wetzel counties. That’s a start, as communities face reality and understand they cannot cling to buildings that simply are no longer needed in their counties.

But another way to — perhaps — stem the outflow would be for those in Charleston to begin supporting public schools and education in a way that helps them outperform the competition AND convince those wondering whether they should stay or move to West Virginia to raise their families.

Maybe the cycle can be broken if young families (and potential large employers) believe state officials are working toward making our public schools the kinds of places that will set up their children for success. Maybe then they’ll stay.