District profile / West Virginia

Kanawha County Schools

Charleston, West Virginia · Public school district · #1 of 49 West Virginia districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

23,085

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$12,713

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · about the same as the West Virginia median

13.6

Students per teacher

2024-25 · West Virginia median 13.2

Kanawha County Schools is a public school district based in Charleston, West Virginia, serving 23,085 students in 63 schools. By enrollment it ranks #1 of the 49 West Virginia districts with 1,000 or more students, making it the largest in the state. Its schools average 366 students each, more than the West Virginia median of 328. It spends about $12,713 per student on day-to-day operations, about the state median. It has roughly 13.6 students per teacher.

How Kanawha County compares

Kanawha CountyWest Virginia median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$12,713

West Virginia median $12,812 · about the same · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$7,608

West Virginia median $7,433 · about the same · FY2020-21

Students per school366

West Virginia median 328 · 12% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher13.6

West Virginia median 13.2 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor256

West Virginia median 312 · 18% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$407.5 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 20%State 45%Local 36%

Measure	Kanawha County	West Virginia median	Year
Current spending per student	$12,713	$12,812	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$7,608	$7,433	FY2020-21
Total spending	$422.1 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$407.5 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	1,700	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	3,549	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	13.6	13.2	2024-25
Students per counselor	256	312	2024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The West Virginia median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

In the news

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Peer districts in West Virginia

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Kanawha County SchoolsCharleston · this district	23,085	63	$12,713	13.6	#1
Berkeley County SchoolsMartinsburg	20,006	33	$11,795	14.9	#2
Monongalia County SchoolsMorgantown	11,193	19	$12,992	14.3	#3
Cabell County SchoolsHuntington	11,188	26	$13,591	12.8	#4
Wood County SchoolsParkersburg	11,098	27	$12,042	13.5	#5

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Dysart Unified District (4243)Surprise, AZ	23,078	$9,269	20.0
Rialto UnifiedRialto, CA	23,073	$14,341	23.2
Coweta CountyNewnan, GA	23,064	$11,049	14.3
Puyallup School DistrictPuyallup, WA	23,026	$14,217	18.8

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-wv-kanawha-county-schools