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Feb. 5 | Bill waiting on a hearing by House Education Committee
H.B. 5053 was introduced on February 2 by Delegate Christopher Toney and was assigned to the House Education Committee. It has not been scheduled for a hearing yet.
You can make a difference by leaving a public comment and letting the House of Delegates know you oppose this bill.
Summary of H.B. 5053
House Bill 5053 is not very clear. It appears to prohibit a parent from withdrawing their student from public school for 90 days in two situations. First, if the family is involved in an active truancy process. Second, if the family is involved in the “pre-petition process.”
The bill is premised on two legislative findings:
- That parents in the “pre-petition stage” of truancy proceedings are using homeschooling as an “easy out.” Essentially, the bill alleges that parents are using homeschooling as a shield when dealing with truancy allegations.
- That parents may use “short-term homeschooling as a means to circumvent academic accountability measures,” specifically reading proficiency standards.
Our initial concerns with the bill are many:
- The strict 90-day waiting period for families who wish to homeschool would be the most restrictive in the nation.
- Families choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. According to the National Household Education Survey, the number one reason parents choose to homeschool is concern about school environment, including classroom safety, drugs, bullying, or negative peer pressure. In other words, for their children’s safety. This bill would prevent these students from being able to start their education in a safe, loving environment for an additional three months.
- The bill prohibits students from withdrawing (during the specified time) to homeschool—but permits them to immediately withdraw to attend a microschool, a learning pod, or the Hope Scholarship program. The bill targets one specific group of people.
- The bill makes several allegations against the homeschool community without any factual data. For example, the bill asserts that “a county often receives a homeschool notice” upon reaching the pre-petition stage. But the bill provides no evidence that such a statement is true, what constitutes “often” or the possible reasons this may be the case. The bill also alleges that families use “homeschool over-the-summer credit” to bypass reading proficiency standards.
The final sentence of the bill encourages the West Virginia Department of Education to “identify systemic drivers” for public school families who choose to homeschool. Essentially, the bills encourages data gathering on homeschool families.