Budget Issues Continue for Boone County Schools

Since 2013, Boone County Schools lost nearly $12 million because of the decline in coal and property taxes. They’ve been looking at cutting teachers and closing schools. Many parents turned out this week to protest changing up Van Junior/Senior High School, which is already 6th grade through 12th. School district leaders are exploring the possibility of making the school K-12. Also, students at Whitesville Elementary School, Ashford-Rumble Elementary School and Sherman Elementary School will be sixth graders at Sherman Junior High, as they convert that to Sherman Middle School. That will put sixth through eighth grade in the same building, which is a model used by many other school districts. The Boone County district is facing a a $1.7 million shortfall for the 2016-17 school year.