Owen James
April 21, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WMUL-FM) — At the beginning of March, the Cabell County Board of Education held a work session addressing the $12 million-dollar gap in their budget for the 2026 school year. Superintendent Dr. Ryan Saxe emphasized the declining student population in the district as a key issue, warning that it may lead to more budget cuts down the line.
Brandon Barbour, an English Language Arts teacher at Huntington East Middle School, says that he is concerned with how these cuts will affect the quality of his students’ education.
“We’re going to see the effects of programs for the kids, what we can get them in, what type of textbooks we can buy,” Barbour said. “We’re in a technology-driven world now, will we be able to afford those devices for the kids for them to be able to use and be comfortable with, and use them out in their careers? So, I think in the long term it’s going to hurt students.”
Melissa Mullins, a special education teacher at Huntington East, is at risk of losing her job as a result of the cuts.
“I am currently on transfer, and I will have to re-bid on my job as well as take additional tests to re-bid on said job,” she said.
BJ Roberts, a parent of a Barboursville Middle School student, says that the board should prioritize providing ample resources to students before allocating funding for other issues.
“From a policymaker’s standpoint, instead of wasting time on a bunch of other stuff that’s not necessarily going to matter in the long run, put the money where it’s really going to make an impact,” Roberts said. “You’re never going to go wrong when you invest in students and the school system.”