The Senate votes to roll back homeschooling requirements, a side bill intended to prevent child abuse

Near the end of the Senate session Thursday, House Minority Leader Mike Woelfel stood up and urged his fellow senators not to advance a bill that would reduce home schooling requirements in West Virginia.

The bill was in its first reading; He did not want there to be a full vote in the coming days. Such rejection of invoices occurs very rarely.

“This eliminates reading, math and science instruction. The teacher doesn’t even have to have a GED. You could be a sixth grader and be a teacher to a homeschool student,” said Woelfel, D-Cabell. “West Virginia is considered the lowest-educated state in America. I can’t imagine what effect that would have…I urge rejection.”

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Mononglia, said, “This is a step too far” and urged members to support Woelfel’s idea of ​​rejecting the bill.

The Republican-dominated Senate coordinated to advance the measure after the debate.

Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, called it “a freedom bill.”

“This is a good bill,” he said. “The parents have the highest interest, love and sovereignty over the children.”

A few hours later, Senate Health Committee Chairman Brian Helton, R-Fayette, announced at the top of the Health Committee that a bill that would have suspended a parent’s request to take their child from public school to homeschooling or to private school had been removed from his committee’s agenda while a child abuse or neglect investigation was pending.

The bill’s sponsor, Amy Grady, R-Mason, said a Republican committee caucus meeting was held ahead of the session “It was very contentious whether we wanted to move forward with the bill or not.”

“I don’t understand how anyone can’t support this, but the people in this building surprise me every day,” she said.

Grady said this would not apply to the majority of homeschooling parents, then emphasized, “In those cases where a child is being abused, it can be the difference between life and death.”

Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, who signed on as a co-sponsor of Grady’s bill, said he has received hundreds of emails in the past two days from homeschool parents and lobbyists opposing the measure. They were not given precise information about the legislation, he said.

“As legislators, we have a duty to protect children and not allow parents to abuse children, and my fear is that if they continue like this, they will attach themselves to an anchor of these parents who are abusing children and don’t deserve support, and that they will be lumped in with them,” Garcia said.

Bill would roll back homeschooling requirements in West Virginia

After Thursday’s action, senators are likely to propose changes Senate Bill 966which would result in changes to the state’s homeschooling requirements. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkeley.

It removes a current requirement that the home teacher must have a high school diploma or “provide a written report of the child’s progress in the areas of reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies.” It changes it to a “parent-selected study.”

Parents or teachers would be required to provide a written report of the child’s progress and standardized assessments chosen by parents would be required.

Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, had supported Woelfel’s attempt to kill the bill. He was one of eight Republicans who joined Woelfel and Garcia in voting not to move forward.

“I know a lot of people who have done a very good job at homeschooling… But I also know a lot of places in my own county where people are trying to homeschool but aren’t able to,” he said. “We need some sort of guardrail to protect these kids and make sure they get a good education.”

Sen. Patricia Rucker, chairwoman of the Senate School Choice Committee, defended the measure, saying 26 of 50 states do not regulate homeschooling like West Virginia does.

“In these states, they notify the appropriate authority that they are homeschooling. And then that’s it. It’s done,” said Rucker, R-Jefferson. “The idea that we have to tell parents what to teach, what criteria they have to meet, the idea that you have to have a certain degree or a certain level of knowledge is actually outdated.”

Future of “Raylee Law” legislation unclear, sponsors not giving up

It’s unclear what will happen to other homeschooling laws designed to protect students from child abuse and neglect.

“I’m not going to give it up, but I don’t know,” Grady said.

She had a committee representative for the measure, Senate Bill 972that would pause a request not only for homeschoolers during a pending child abuse investigation; It would also impact parents in the same situation who want to send their child to a private school or micro-school. Child Protective Services must complete the investigation within 10 days, Grady said.

“I’m a big supporter of parental rights and have always been a supporter of school choice. Plus, the child also has individual rights,” Grady said. “Most members of the Senate … We know what it means to create a safe, loving and caring environment. The reality is that many of our children don’t have that and have no one to listen to them or advocate for them, and that’s exactly what this bill would do.”

The bill is similar to a measure in West Virginia known as “Raylee’s Law,” named after an eight-year-old girl who died of horrific abuse and neglect in 2018 after her teachers notified CPS of possible abuse, prompting her parents to move her to homeschooling.

Del. Shawn Fluharty, R-Ohio, has advocated for legislation in the House of Representatives for years. It passed the House a few times but never reached the Senate.

He noted that the bill came a day after a Mother was convicted to prison for the death of her daughter, Kyneddi Miller, who was homeschooled in Boone County.

“…The supermajority celebrated by defending child molesters and rejecting Raylee’s Law. You can spare me the pro-family and pro-life bulls – we hear election time is coming,” Fluharty said. “The supermajority has been defending child molesters for years by not passing Raylee’s bill. She deserves her vote in the Senate. I commend Sen. Grady and Sen. Garcia for trying, but this proves again what we all know: West Virginia is run by fringe lunatics and not common sense.”

Garcia said he will continue to work with Grady and other senators to get the bill up for a vote before the legislative session is scheduled to end March 14.

“I’m a little angry that it got canceled, but we’re not done with the meeting yet,” Garcia said. “If it can prevent just one (death), I think that’s worth it in the equation.”