As many students choose to study online, attend faith based schools, go to character schools, or be home schooled,  it really hurts public school systems. Over the past couple of years, declining enrollment has caused the elimination of teaching jobs, which can affect East’s ability to offer electives. Newspaper is one elective that has been cut, largely due to the Hope Scholarship.

The Hope Scholarship really hurts public schools. The scholarship enables students to take state money with them, no strings attached, when they leave public schools. This leads to budget cuts that cut public school teachers’ jobs and reduce the number of elective classes offered since there are not enough teachers to teach them. Greenbrier County Schools decided to cut the Newspaper class at GEHS. The 2025-2026 newspaper class is devastated. The class enjoyed writing for The Spartan Shield. The class is saddened to think the legacy won’t be shared for future years.