CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office has issued an opinion saying county school boards and public schools can’t take certain actions against full-time students who also attend private school programs.
“Excluding students from public schools merely because they are pursuing additional educational opportunities elsewhere would contravene both the United States and West Virginia Constitutions and state statutes,” the November 16 opinion states. “The same is true of any attempt by county school boards or schools to bar students from participating in nonpublic school programs while attending public schools.”
The request for the opinion came from state Treasurer Riley Moore, who is chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board. The Hope Scholarship Act was passed in 2021, and it provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities.
Moore’s letter said some West Virginia students attend public school while also attending private school, thus qualifying to receive funds from the Hope Scholarship. Some public school officials have objected to that. One school system told parents it would not allow students to enroll in public school if the student also is enrolled in a nonpublic school program. One parent also said a public school threatened to mark such students as truant even if they meet attendance requirements.
“These scenarios would undermine the way Hope Scholarship was intended to function,” Morrisey said. “West Virginia families deserve increased options for their children’s individual educational needs, and it has always been my goal to help make our state first in the nation when it comes to educational opportunities for West Virginia’s kids.
“This is about the rights of those parents to choose the best possible education for their children.”
The opinion says any local school authorities who are acting or intending to act against dual-enrolled students should stop immediately.
“We answer both questions the same way: ‘No,’” the opinion states. “And both approaches would undermine the Legislature’s intent in establishing the Hope Scholarship program, further confirming that neither is appropriate. …
“Restrictions on a student’s ‘simultaneous engagement in private education outside of the public-school program’ could not survive a legal challenge.”
The opinion also expresses concern about such actions being taken because of an ideological disagreement with the idea of the Hope Scholarship and are “designed to make it more difficult for students to benefit” from it.
“If our suspicions are right, then the actions … are even more unjustified,” the opinion states. “And parents and students should not be punished merely because they intend to benefit from the Hope Scholarship Act.”
Morrisey’s opinion calls the scholarship “a bold step towards enabling parents to choose the best possible education for their students.”
“But even if local schools authorities disagree, that disagreement does not license them to undermine the program, directly or indirectly,” the opinion states. “We stand ready to act if we suspect that local officials are continuing to do so. …
“This opinion addresses only students who are enrolled full-time in public schools and who are meeting any attendance and academic requirements the school may impose. Our conclusions here do not necessarily extend to other situations, such as a student who is enrolled full-time in a private school and wants to ‘dual enroll’ in some public-school programs part-time.”
The 13-page opinion is signed by Morrisey, Solicitor General Lindsay S. See, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Williams and Assistant Solicitor General Spencer J. Davenport.
