Latest Updates
Mar. 16 | Both bills dead
H.B. 5669 and S.B. 972 both died because the West Virginia 2025-2026 legislative session ended on March 14. Thank you for contacting your legislators in opposition to these bills!
Mar. 3 | Version of H.B. 5669 passed out of committee, headed for House of Delegates
On March 2, the House Education Committee held a hearing on H.B. 5669 where they heard testimony on the bill for more than an hour. Roy Ramey from WVHEA testified against the bill and was grilled by several delegates.
The committee voted to pass a committee substitute version of H.B. 5669. It will now be voted on by the full House of Delegates.
This committee substitute limits the restriction on homeschooling to reports made against a parent by school personnel. However, the amended bill still eliminates due process and presumes guilt with only an allegation while the research demonstrates that reports by mandated reporters are still overwhelmingly unsubstantiated.
Additionally, the committee substitute to House Bill 5669 does not address any of the evidence-based risk factors that have been recommended to reduce child abuse or neglect fatalities. For these reasons, we strongly oppose this bill and urge you to contact the House. Please send another message even if you contacted the House Education Committee earlier.
Please continue to contact the Senate as well because though S.B. 972 has been stalled by the Senate, the language could still be added to another bill. Respectfully let your Senator know you are opposed to Raylee’s Law as it would do nothing to save lives. Instead, tell your legislator you want to see evidence-based legislation that would actually protect children from abuse and neglect.
Mar. 2 | H.B. 5669 scheduled for a committee hearing at 1 p.m.
H.B. 5669 is scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on March 2 at 1 p.m. Please contact members of the House Education Committee to let them know you oppose this bill. We also encourage you to contact your delegate.
S.B. 972 was withdrawn from the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee and tabled by the full Senate. This bill has been stalled by the Senate, but the language could still be added to another bill, so please contact your Senator and respectfully let them know you are opposed to Raylee’s Law as it would do nothing to save lives. Instead, tell your legislator you want to see evidence-based legislation that would actually protect children from abuse and neglect.
Watch a video update from Tj Schmidt.
Feb. 26 | S.B. 972 Pulled from agenda
S.B. 972 was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on February 26. Thanks to your emails and calls and the attendance of homeschoolers in the committee hearing, the bill was removed from the agenda. However it is not dead yet. Calls are still needed to ensure that the bill is not added to a future agenda.
Check out this update from Tj Schmidt who testified at the hearing.
Feb. 25 | S.B. 972 scheduled for a hearing
S.B. 972 has been scheduled to be heard at 1 p.m. on February 26 by the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.
If you are able, plan to attend the committee hearing to show your opposition to S.B. 972.
West Virginia State Capitol
Charleston, WV
Room 451-M
February 26 @ 1 p.m.
Please contact members of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee to let them know you oppose this bill. (This campaign will also inform members of the House Education Committee that you oppose the related bill, H.B. 5669).
In particular, please contact or call Senator Brian Helton, the Chairman of the Health and Human Resources Committee. Please respectfully let him know that you are opposed to Senate Bill 972 and that you would like him to kill the bill. You can reach Senator Helton at (304) 357-7807 and brian.helton@wvsenate.gov. Let him know if you are in his district (District 09: Raleigh, Wyoming, and part of Fayette county).
Feb. 17 | Bills introduced, assigned to committee
S.B. 972 was introduced on February 17 by Senator Amy Grady and was assigned to the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.
H.B. 5669 was introduced on February 17 by Delegate Fluharty and was assigned to the House Education Committee.
Please contact members of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee and the House Education Committee and let them know you oppose these bills.
Summary of S.B. 972 and H.B. 5669
Three bills similar have been introduced (S.B. 972, H.B. 5669, and S.B. 116) in West Virginia, all containing Raylee’s Law. You can read more about S.B. 116 here.
These bills would prohibit a parent from withdrawing their child from the public school if an allegation of abuse or neglect was either ongoing or was made around the time they attempted to withdraw their child from school.
While the stated intention of each of these bills is to prevent the possibility of child abuse, the restriction on homeschooling would occur without probable cause or due process. They would also restrict parents from making timely decisions about their children’s education and welfare.
Many parents who withdraw their child to homeschool them in the middle of the school year do so because their child is being bullied or abused in the public school or because of a chronic physical or mental health issue. HSLDA often hears from parents who have tried everything to resolve the issue within the school, but officials are either unwilling to make accommodations for the child or unable to protect them from the behavior of others within the school system. Delaying withdrawal for the sake of a maltreatment investigation could mean that children struggling academically in traditional schools will continue to fall behind, while those facing bullying or abuse in the traditional school setting will remain in an unsafe environment.
These bills assume that the mere allegation of abuse or neglect should prevent a parent from beginning to homeschool their child. Yet the West Virginia Department of Human Services, the agency responsible for investigating abuse and neglect, acknowledges that only 8.5 percent of the more than 100,000 reports made to that agency since the middle of 2023 were ultimately deemed to be substantiated. That means that over 91 percent of all reports over the last two and a half years were unsubstantiated or false. These two bills would restrict a parent’s fundamental right to educate their child at home because of a report that is unlikely to be true.
In addition, a bad actor who wanted to stop a parent from homeschooling could do so simply by filing a report.
None of these bills are necessary for school officials to intervene if there are legitimate concerns of possible abuse or neglect. Current West Virginia law enables the county superintendent to seek an order from the county circuit court denying home instruction of a child. The court can grant this order upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the child will suffer neglect in his or her education or that there are other compelling reasons to deny home instruction.
West Virginia law already encourages any person to make a report to the authorities if that person “has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected in a home or instruction or observes the child being subjected to conditions or circumstances that would reasonable result in abuse or neglect.”
In American law, we assume that parents are acting in their children’s best interests unless proven otherwise. Homeschooling families deserve to be treated with fairness, respect, and the presumption of innocence.