Establishing enrollment stabilizer mechanism within public school support plan

SB 554 establishes an enrollment stabilizer mechanism to help West Virginia public school districts plan budgets more predictably by smoothing out year-to-year changes in student enrollment. The bill requires school funding calculations to use the highest of three options: actual recent enrollment, 98% of the prior year's enrollment, or a three-year average of enrollment. It also creates a rural stability add-on for qualifying rural counties experiencing significant enrollment volatility, allowing adjustments to the stabilizer for geographic isolation and local funding capacity. This bill directly affects all 55 West Virginia county school boards, with special protections for rural districts, without increasing the total state funding amount for the basic school support program.