West Virginia has never had the luxury of excess when it comes to public education resources. Every classroom, every bus route, every staff position is the result of careful budgeting and often difficult tradeoffs. That’s why West Virginia House Bill 4818 raises serious concerns—not just about policy direction, but about fairness, local control, and fiscal responsibility.
At its core, HB 4818 would require county boards of education to allow charter schools to occupy space in public school buildings—for free—if those buildings are deemed to be operating below 70% capacity. On paper, that might sound like a practical use of underutilized space. In reality, it is anything but.
First, let’s be clear: “unused” space in a school building is rarely truly unused. Enrollment fluctuates. Programs expand and contract. Districts plan for growth, not just current headcounts. That extra classroom might be slated for a special education program, an early childhood expansion, or a career and technical initiative. Capacity is not wasted space—it is flexibility, foresight, and preparedness.
HB 4818 ignores that reality entirely.
Even more troubling is the financial imbalance this bill creates. County school systems are responsible for maintaining these buildings—utilities, custodial services, security, maintenance, and long-term capital improvements. These costs do not disappear when a charter school moves in. In fact, they often increase. Yet under this legislation, charter schools would be granted access to these publicly funded facilities without contributing a dime toward those operational expenses.
That is not efficiency. That is a subsidy.
And it’s a subsidy that comes directly at the expense of traditional public schools already facing tight budgets. In a state where many districts struggle to pass excess levies and maintain basic services, forcing counties to absorb additional costs for outside entities is not just unfair—it is unsustainable.
There is also a fundamental issue of local control. Decisions about school facilities have historically—and appropriately—rested with locally elected boards of education. These boards understand their communities, their enrollment trends, and their long-term needs. HB 4818 strips that authority away and replaces it with a one-size-fits-all mandate from Charleston.
West Virginia communities are not interchangeable. What may appear to be “excess capacity” in one county could be a critical buffer in another. Mandating free access based on a rigid percentage fails to account for the unique realities each district faces.
Supporters of the bill may argue that it promotes school choice. But choice should not come at the cost of undermining the very system that serves the vast majority of West Virginia’s students. Public schools are not just buildings—they are community anchors, employers, and the primary educational providers for our children. Policies that weaken their financial and operational stability ultimately harm the students they are meant to serve.
If charter schools wish to partner with public school systems, there are reasonable, collaborative ways to do so—through negotiated agreements that ensure shared responsibility for costs and respect for local decision-making. What HB 4818 proposes is not partnership; it is imposition.
West Virginia’s public schools deserve thoughtful policy, not mandates that shift burdens without accountability. Giving away publicly funded space for free may sound like a simple solution, but in practice, it creates more problems than it solves.
Our school buildings are not surplus inventory. They are investments—made by taxpayers, maintained by local communities, and intended to serve students today and into the future. We should treat them that way.
Dee Parr
