In November 2024 the West Virginia Board of Education approved a plan to close or consolidate six Kanawha County schools. At the same meeting, Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Tom Williams said more than 1,200 county students had left public school to use the Hope Scholarship. Since then, Hope has opened to every student in the state. Families in Belle, Malden, Marmet, St. Albans and along the upper Kanawha are making school decisions in a very different setting than they were in 2024.
This post sets out what the public record says about the closures, what changed with Hope in 2026-27, and how a family affected by a closure can think through its options without assuming any one answer is right.
What the state board approved
According to reporting on the November 2024 vote, the plan covered six schools:
- Belle, Mary Ingles, Malden and Midland Trail elementary schools, to be replaced by a new school proposed on the former DuPont Junior High site
- McKinley Middle School, merged into Hayes Middle in St. Albans
- East Bank Middle School, merged into DuPont Middle
The county's case rested on enrollment and money. Kanawha had 23,144 students in October 2024 and had lost about 5,000 students over 11 years, which the district tied to roughly a $30 million drop in funding. By the 2025-26 second-month count, the West Virginia Department of Education put Kanawha at 22,132 students, still by far the largest district in the Charleston area. Putnam County counted 8,357, Boone 2,870, Lincoln 2,638 and Clay 1,338.
Kanawha is not alone. Statewide enrollment fell to 234,957 in 2025-26, down 2.52% from the year before and down 6.35% from 2021-22, and 52 of the state's districts lost students. Hope is one factor among several in that decline, and the superintendent's 1,200 figure is the clearest local number on its share.
What changed with Hope this year
When those 1,200 students left, the Hope Scholarship still had an entry rule: a child generally had to be in public school first, apart from kindergarteners. That rule ended on July 1, 2026. State law said that if Hope students made up less than 5% of public school enrollment, the program would open to all, and it did. Every West Virginia student who could enroll in a public K-12 school can now apply.
The money is the same for every grade: $5,435.62 for a full 2026-27 year, deposited in four quarterly payments. For 2026-27, 26,617 students applied for full funding by the June 15 deadline, nearly double the previous year. Our Hope Scholarship overview covers the rules in more detail.
Weighing the options after a closure
A closure changes a family's daily life before it changes anything on paper: a longer bus ride, a new building, different classmates. Some families in the affected attendance zones will stay with the consolidated schools, and others will use the change as a moment to look at alternatives. Both are reasonable. Here is how the options line up in the eastern and western parts of the county.
Staying in public school
A child who stays enrolled full-time in Kanawha County Schools cannot receive Hope at the same time. That is the rule in the Hope FAQ. Families who stay keep the county's services, including special education under federal law.
A private school nearby
For families in St. Albans, St. Francis of Assisi School is a Catholic parish school, and Cross Lanes Christian School is a short drive north. On the upper Kanawha and Elk side, Elk Valley Christian School is in Elkview. Each of these appears on the Hope Scholarship Board's participating-school list as we checked it in October 2026, but families should confirm directly with the school. Our directory of Charleston-area schools shows grades, enrollment and Hope status for each.
A microschool or home education
Several small programs listed as microschools in the Hope directory sit in St. Albans and South Charleston, and one is in Clendenin. Hope can pay microschool tuition, and it can also fund a home-education year built from curriculum, tutoring and testing. The guide to home education and microschools with Hope covers how the IIP pathway works.
Part-time public services
Hope can pay a county school system for individual classes and extracurricular activities, once the county has signed the Hope provider agreement. A family that leaves full-time enrollment can ask Kanawha County Schools whether a child can still join a class or activity on that basis.
Timing matters this fall
A family deciding now is in Hope's 50% funding window, which runs from September 16 to November 30, 2026. That tier pays $2,717.81 for the rest of 2026-27. A family that waits until December gets 25%. Applications for 2027-28 open on March 1, 2027, and for 2026-27, families who applied by June 15 were funded at 100%. Some families affected by a closure may decide that finishing this year where they are and applying in March is the calmer path.
Whatever the choice, the paperwork starts in the same place. A Hope application needs the child's WVEIS number from the county board of education and a state or county birth certificate. After the application is approved as eligible, the family files a Hope Notice of Intent with the county superintendent, and the account is funded only once that notice is on file.
What we do not know yet
The state has not published 2026-27 private school enrollment, so there is no official count of how many Kanawha students moved into private schools versus home education. The 2027-28 Hope award and exact window dates also are not published yet. We will update this post when either becomes available, and we link every number above to its source.