The board overseeing the Hope Scholarship took the first steps toward getting it going again.
A majority of the state Supreme Court last week dissolved a circuit court injunction.
The Hope Scholarship was being challenged over whether it violates the state constitution’s guarantee of a “thorough and efficient” education system. Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit earlier ordered an injunction to halt distribution of the Hope Scholarship for about 3,000 students in its first year.
“I look forward to getting this program up and running,” said Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a member of the board whose office defended the program on behalf of the staet.
The program provides money for students leaving the public school system to use for a variety of education costs. West Virginia’s program also allows students old enough to enter the school system for the time to be eligible immediately.
The scholarship is administered through the state Treasurer’s Office. The Hope Scholarship Board met in an emergency session on Wednesday afternoon to consider updates to program rules following the most recent court action.
“I think we all knew it was going to cause some delay and, frankly, heartache, but we’re now at the point that we can move forward,” said attorney Zak Ritchie, a member of the board.
First was consideration of an emergency rule to clarify that families previously approved for the scholarship would not need to apply all over again.
Second, the board was asked to approve reimbursement to already-approved families for the full academic year, so those who have already incurred expenses this semester for private school or homeschooling with allowable expenses would receive the full year’s amount.
“Meanwhile, the Board and our staff are going to be working diligently over the coming weeks to get this program running again to serve families and students across our state,” Treasurer Riley Moore said.
The Legislature passed and the governor then signed a bill establishing the Hope Scholarships in 2021. Families can use the accounts for a range of expenses like homeschooling, private school tuition, online learning, after-school or summer-learning programs or educational therapies.
The scholarship amount varies each school year. For the 2022-23 year, that amount was to be about $4,300.
More than 3,000 students had already been awarded the scholarship, which would have been used for education expenses this fall, when it was halted in the court system. Without the money, they had to make other arrangements.