West Virginia Digital Learning Landscape
| State virtual school? | YES |
| Multi-district fully online schools? | NO |
| Online learning requirement for graduation? | NO |
| State approval process for online providers? | NO |
| State approval process for online courses? | YES |
Most of the online learning activity in West Virginia has historically been through the state virtual school, West Virginia Virtual School (WVVS), that serves students in grades K–12. West Virginia State Board of Education Policy 2510 (2022) now requires each district to offer a full-time virtual program for students in grades 6-12. Virtual programs for grades K-5 are optional. Districts can choose to use West Virginia Virtual School to provide virtual instruction, contract with other providers, or offer their own online learning programs. The state’s first multi-district full-time online schools, West Virginia Virtual Academy and Virtual Prep Academy, opened in fall 2022.
The West Virginia Department of Education operates the WVVS program to assist districts in offering both part- and full-time options to students. The WVVS served 8,114 students during the 2021-22 school year. Due to the pandemic, there was a significant influx of students enrolling in WVVS courses for SY 2020-21 and additional one-time funding was provided by the state to offset enrollment costs. WVVS enrollment reached 28,455 students during SY 2020-21 after serving 10,232 students in SY 2019-2020.
Tuition fees for all virtual students are paid by the local school district and diplomas are issued by the district. Districts can offer a local virtual program using district teachers using WVVS curriculum and LMS or with another provider.
Kanawha County Schools Virtual School began as a high school pilot program of 25 students, and now serves over 1,000 full-time and nearly 500 part-time students in grades K-12. The program is taught solely by district teachers and the district created its own curriculum for grades 3-12.
State Policies
West Virginia State Board of Education Policy 2510 (2022) requires each county to offer a full-time virtual program for students in grades 6-12. Policy 2510 also encourages but does not require an online learning experience for each student.
HB 2012 (March 2021) allows the Professional Charter School Board to authorize one “statewide virtual public charter school” that does not count against the existing limit on the overall number of charter schools permitted in WV. The law also allows each district to authorize one virtual charter school to serve students within the district.