CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office has filed a motion with the state’s Intermediate Court of Appeals for a stay pending appeal of the preliminary and injunctive relief recently granted against the Hope Scholarship Act.
“The lower court’s ruling undermining parents’ freedom to choose how they educate their children is legally wrong and deeply disappointing, and we are ready to appeal as soon as the lower court issues its written order confirming its ruling from nearly two weeks ago,” Morrisey said in a press release July 19 announcing the motion. “In the meantime, we are urging the appellate court to stay the decision so that thousands of West Virginia families can receive the money the Legislature intended for the upcoming school year — which starts in a matter of weeks.
"The Hope Scholarship Act is an important law and we will fight for our kids and the hard working families of our state to retain this law and uphold its constitutionality.”
Tabit
In 2021, the Legislature passed and Gov. Jim Justice signed the Hope Scholarship Act. It provides money for students leaving the public schools system — the scholarship allows families to use the funding for a variety of expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other extracurricular activities.
Earlier this month, Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit enjoined the state from implementing the program, saying it violates a provision of the state constitution that requires the state to provide a thorough and efficient system of free public schools.
In the motion, Morrisey says the state and its families will suffer irreparable harm without a stay.
"A validly enacted law will stand mute because the Legislature’s policy judgments ‘troubled’ a single judge, and students across the state will be stripped of educational opportunities for at least a year," the motion states.
Morrisey says Tabit acted without jurisdiction and awarded relief “that no party had requested, agreed with baseless claims, and speculated harms into existence.”
At the July 6 hearing, Tabit said the program would violate a provision of the state Constitution that requires the state to provide a complete and free public school system.
The state Department of Education and the state Superintendent of Schools, both of whom were named as defendants in the case, previously issued a statement agreeing with plaintiffs Travis Beaver and Wendy Peters that the program wrongly diverts money from the public school system.
West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals case number TBD (Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers 22-P-24 and 22-P-26)
