Kanawha County Schools


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.
Current members:
MemberPosition
Ric CavenderPresident
Becky Jones JordonMember
Kate WhiteMember
Jim Joseph Crawford Sr.Member
Michael ArbogastMember

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.

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." They did not meet AYP standards for 2008 or 2007 either.
Adequate Yearly Progress
YearCounty meet AYP?Number of schools meeting AYPPercentage of schools meeting AYP
2009No5276.5%
2008No5783.8%
2007No5783.8%
2006No5988.1%

WESTEST 2

WESTEST 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."
WESTEST 2/APTA Assessment
SubjectPercentage of students proficient
Math58.37%
RLA58.69%
Science51.43%
Social Studies55.79%

Unions

AFT-Kanawha Local 4444 is the locally chartered union of the American Federation of Teachers. AFT-Kanawha represents only teachers in Kanawha County. Fred Albert is the president of AFT Local 4444.
AFT-Kanawha is a local affiliate of AFT-West Virginia. All AFT local unions are affiliated with the National and WV AFL-CIO
The West Virginia School Service Personnel 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.
The Kanawha County Education Association is an association of school administrators and teachers for this school district. 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:

High 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 – Consolidated with Elkview High School to form Herbert Hoover High School in September 1963.
  • Elkview High School – Consolidated with Clendenin High School in September 1963 to form Herbert Hoover High School.
  • Cedar Grove High School – 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.
  • 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.