Kanawha County Schools
| Kanawha County Schools | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| , West Virginia United States | |
| District information | |
| Type | Public School District |
| Motto | Discover. Excel. Advance. |
| Established | 1933 |
| Superintendent | Paula Potter |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 26,000 |
| Other information | |
| Website | https://kcs.kana.k12.wv.us |
Kanawha County Schools is the operating school district within Kanawha County, West Virginia. It is governed by the Kanawha County Board of Education.
Board of education
The Kanawha County Board of Education is constituted by five members, each elected to a four-year term in a nonpartisan election. The board appoints the superintendent.
The members are also paid $160 per meeting and are not allowed to exceed 50 meetings in a school year or else they will not be paid.[1]
Current members:[2]
| Member | Position |
|---|---|
| Ric Cavender | President |
| Becky Jones Jordon | Member |
| Kate White | Member |
| Jim Joseph Crawford Sr. | Member |
| Michael Arbogast | Member |
The superintendent is Paula Potter.
Budget
Kanawha County Schools faced a multimillion-dollar budget crisis for the FY 2012, but had overcome the issue in time. Superintendent Duerring stated that school officials' two major goals, if the shortfall was to occur, is to maintain the current curriculum as much as possible, and not decrease employee wages or benefits.
In 2025 the Kanawha County Board of Education ratified a spending of $337 million for the 2026 fiscal year.[3]
Academic performance
No Child Left Behind
For the 2008–2009 school year, Kanawha was ranked as being "Below AYP - Status Needs Improvement in One Or More Accountability Cells."[4] They did not meet AYP standards for 2008 or 2007 either.[5]
Adequate Yearly Progress[6]
| Year | County meet AYP? | Number of schools meeting AYP | Percentage of schools meeting AYP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | No | 52 | 76.5% |
| 2008 | No | 57 | 83.8% |
| 2007 | No | 57 | 83.8% |
| 2006 | No | 59 | 88.1% |
WESTEST 2
WESTEST (West Virginia Educational Standards Test) 2 is defined by the WVDOE as "a custom-designed assessment for West Virginia students. The individual content assessments measure a student’s levels of performance on clearly defined standards and objectives and skills."[7]
WESTEST 2/APTA Assessment (2008–09)[8]
| Subject | Percentage of students proficient |
|---|---|
| Math | 58.37% |
| RLA | 58.69% |
| Science | 51.43% |
| Social Studies | 55.79% |
Unions
AFT-Kanawha Local 4444 is the locally chartered union of the American Federation of Teachers.[9][10] AFT-Kanawha represents only teachers in Kanawha County. Fred Albert is the president of AFT Local 4444.[11] AFT-Kanawha is a local affiliate of AFT-West Virginia.[12] All AFT local unions are affiliated with the National and WV AFL-CIO [13]
The West Virginia School Service Personnel (WVSSPA)[14] represents school service personnel in Kanawha County Schools. School service personnel include non-administrative office employees, aides, custodians, transportation, maintenance, and school meal providers. WVSSPA is a chartered local of AFT-WV.[15]
The Kanawha County Education Association (KCEA) is an association of school administrators and teachers for this school district.[16] Dinah Adkins is the president. It is a local affiliate of the West Virginia Education Association.
Schools
The following schools are in Kanawha County Schools:[17][18][19][20]
High schools
- Capital High School
- Herbert Hoover High School
- Nitro High School
- Riverside High School
- Sissonville High School
- South Charleston High School
- St. Albans High School
- George Washington High School
Middle schools
- John Adams Middle School
- DuPont Middle School
- Dunbar Middle School
- Elkview Middle School
- Hayes Middle School
- Andrew Jackson Middle School
- West Side Middle School
- Horace Mann Middle School
- McKinley Middle School
- South Charleston Middle School
- Sissonville Middle School
Elementary schools
- Alban Elementary School
- Alum Creek Elementary School
- Andrews Heights Elementary School
- Anne Bailey Elementary School
- Belle Elementary School
- Bridgeview Elementary School
- Cedar Grove Elementary School
- Central Elementary School
- Chamberlain Elementary School
- Chesapeake Elementary School
- Clendenin Elementary School
- Cross Lanes Elementary School
- Dunbar Primary School
- Dunbar Intermediate School
- Edgewood Elementary School
- Elk Elementary Center
- Flinn Elementary School
- Holz Elementary School
- Kanawha City Elementary School
- Kenna Elementary School
- Lakewood Elementary School
- Malden Elementary School
- Mary Ingles Elementary School
- Midland Trail Elementary School
- Montrose Elementary School
- Nitro Elementary School
- Overbrook Elementary School
- Piedmont Elementary School
- Pinch Elementary School
- Point Harmony Elementary School
- Pratt Elementary School
- Richmond Elementary School
- Ruffner Elementary School
- Ruthlawn Elementary School
- Sharon Dawes Elementary School
- Shoals Elementary School
- Sissonville Elementary School
- Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School
- Weberwood Elementary School
Alternative schools
- Chandler Academy
Career and technical
- Ben Franklin Vocational Center
- Carver Career Center
- Garnet Career Center
Former schools
Former high schools
- Booker T. Washington High School – Closed in 1956 when KCS was integrated and became Grant Junior High School, which closed in 1986.
- Clendenin High School (Clendenin, West Virginia) – Consolidated with Elkview High School to form Herbert Hoover High School in September 1963.
- Elkview High School (Elkview, West Virginia) – Consolidated with Clendenin High School in September 1963 to form Herbert Hoover High School.
- Cedar Grove High School (Cedar Grove, West Virginia) – Consolidated into DuPont High School, now Cedar Grove Middle/Elementary School.
- Charleston High School – Consolidated in 1989 with Stonewall Jackson into Capital.
- Dunbar High School – Consolidated into South Charleston HS in 1990.[21]
- DuPont High School – Consolidated in 1999 with East Bank into Riverside, now DuPont Middle.
- East Bank High School – Consolidated in 1999 with Dupont into Riverside, now East Bank Middle.
- Garnet High School – Closed in 1956 when Kanawha County Schools was integrated, now serves as Garnet Career Center.
- Stonewall Jackson High School – Consolidated in 1989 with Charleston into Capital, now West Side Middle.
See also
- Kanawha County Textbook Controversy
References
- ^ AARP Bulletin, "Issues threaten shortfall in Kanawha school budget," February 10, 2010
- ^ "Board of Education". Retrieved November 14, 2025.
- ^ "Kanawha County BOE approves $337M budget for upcoming school year". Retrieved November 14, 2025.
- ^ "West Virginia Department of Education - Kanawha County Schools - Adequate Yearly Progress". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
- ^ "West Virginia Department of Education - NCLB Data List by County". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ "WVDOE - NCLB History". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ "West Virginia Department of Education - WESTEST 2 Overview". Archived from the original on July 26, 2010.
- ^ "WVDOE - WESTEST2/APTA Assessment Data - School Year 2008-09". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ "American Federation of Teachers - A Union of Professionals". AFT. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "AFT-Kanawha Public Group". Facebook. December 14, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "Kanawha Federation of Teachers | American Federation of Teachers". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
- ^ "AFT West Virginia". Wv.aft.org. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "West Virginia AFL-CIO". Wvaflcio.org. December 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "West Virginia School Service Personnel Association". West Virginia School Service Personnel Association.
- ^ "History". West Virginia School Service Personnel Association.
- ^ "Kanawha County Education Association". Pages.suddenlink.net. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "High Schools". Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ^ "Middle Schools".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Elementary Schools". Retrieved October 7, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Career and Technical Schools".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ South Charleston High School