West Virginia school board elections, 2014
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A total of nine West Virginia school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2014 for 28 seats. Each district held general elections on May 13, 2014. The Raleigh County school district also held a special election in 2014 for one seat.
Here are several quick facts about West Virginia's school board elections in 2014:
- An average of 1.86 candidates ran for each board seat up for election in 2014 in West Virginia’s largest school districts by enrollment, which was slightly lower than the national average of 1.89 candidates per seat.
- 10.71 percent of the school board seats on the ballot in 2014 were unopposed. This was a lower percentage than the 32.57 percent of school board seats that were unopposed nationally.
- 75 percent of the incumbents whose seats were on the ballot ran for re-election in 2014, and they retained 57.14 percent of the total seats up for election.
- A total of 12 newcomers were elected to school boards in West Virginia. They took 42.86 percent of the total seats in 2014, which was higher than the 38.19 percent of school board seats that went to newcomers nationally.
- The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2014 was Kanawha County Schools with 28,458 K-12 students.
- The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2014 was Mercer County Schools with 9,611 K-12 students.
- All nine districts had three seats up for general election in 2014.
The districts listed below served 125,813 K-12 students during the 2010-2011 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district names for more information on the district and its school board elections.
| 2014 West Virginia School Board Elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Date | Seats up for election | Total board seats | Student enrollment |
| Berkley County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 17,720 |
| Cabell County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 12,700 |
| Harrison County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 11,128 |
| Kanawha County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 28,458 |
| Mercer County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 9,611 |
| Monongalia County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 10,731 |
| Putnam County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 9,631 |
| Raleigh County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 12,372 |
| Wood County Schools | 5/13/2014 | 3 | 5 | 13,462 |
| Raleigh County Schools (special election) | 11/4/2014 | 1 | 5 | 12,372 |
State profile
| Demographic data for West Virginia | ||
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 1,841,053 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 24,038 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 93.6% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 3.3% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 0.7% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 1.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 19.2% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $41,751 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22.2% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in West Virginia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
West Virginia voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
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Academic performance
- See also: Public education in West Virginia
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia), West Virginia had the lowest percentage of students score at or above proficient in math and reading in fourth grade and eighth grade.[2]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| West Virginia | 35% | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| Kentucky | 41% | 30% | 36% | 38% |
| Ohio | 48% | 40% | 37% | 39% |
| Virginia | 47% | 38% | 43% | 36% |
| U.S. average | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014 | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for West Virginia and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[2][3][4]
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores* | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2012 | Average ACT composite, 2012 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| West Virginia | 79% | Third | 20.6 | 68% | 1513 | 15% | |
| Kentucky | 78% | Fifth | 19.8 | 100% | 1741 | 5% | |
| Ohio | 81% | Third | 21.8 | 71% | 1635 | 17% | |
| Virginia | 83% | Second | 22.4 | 25% | 1528 | 71% | |
| U.S. average | 80% | 21.1 | 1498 | ||||
| *Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express | |||||||
Dropout rate
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–11 and school year 2011–12. The event dropout rate for West Virginia was higher than the national average at 3.4 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and lower than the national average at 2.7 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[5]
See also
| West Virginia | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed March 21, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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