SB 437 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Fair State Aid Formula Act of 2026

SB 437 replaces West Virginia's current school funding formula with a new system that allocates state aid to county school districts based on student needs and local resources. It directly affects all county boards of education by adding weighted factors for low-income students (+0.30), special education (+0.80), and rural schools meeting specific criteria (e.g., population density under 50/sq mi or bus routes over 15 miles). The formula calculates aid as (base per-pupil amount × weighted enrollment) minus local revenue capacity, plus rural adjustments of $250-$600 per pupil. This aims to reduce funding gaps for high-need and rural districts while requiring annual transparency reports and capping annual aid changes at 3% during implementation.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2026 Last action Feb 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly rewritten from a proposed 'Fair State Aid Formula Act' to a more targeted amendment focusing specifically on special education funding. The original version proposed a complex new statewide formula to distribute aid based on rural isolation and local revenue, while the new version retains the old funding structure but adds specific weightings for special education students and strict rules on how that money must be spent.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed from a comprehensive overhaul of the entire state aid distribution system to a specific amendment regarding the calculation of 'net enrollment' for special education students and the management of funds generated by that calculation.

FISCAL

Removed the proposal to replace the existing funding formula with a new 'Fair State Aid Formula Act' that would have adjusted aid based on rural isolation factors and local revenue capacity.

Established specific funding weightings (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 pupils) for Level I, II, and III special education students to increase their share of state aid.

DEFINITION

Added detailed definitions for three levels of special education students (Level I, II, and III) to determine how many additional students are counted for funding purposes.

Modified the definition of 'net enrollment' to include the new special education weightings after all other enrollment calculations are completed.

REQUIREMENT

Mandated that the additional funding generated by special education weightings must be spent exclusively on direct instruction and cannot be used for facilities, administration, or training.

Added a temporary exemption for the 2026-2027 school year preventing districts from being penalized for failing to meet specific professional educator ratios.

ENFORCEMENT

Required the West Virginia Board of Education to monitor expenditures to ensure special education funds are used only for allowable instructional purposes.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Jan 16, 2026

Committee

To Education

upper

Jan 16, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Jan 16, 2026

Committee

To Education then Finance

upper

1 primary · 6 co-sponsors