WEST virginia legislature
2025 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2819
By Delegates Crouse and White
Introduced February 24, 2025; referred to the Committee on Education then the Judiciary
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §18-8-2a, relating to providing penalties for direct misinformation provided to parents, custodians, reviewers, and other individuals by county or state boards of education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
(a) County or state boards of education shall incur a fine of $500 for each incident providing misinformation to parents, custodians, reviewers, or any other individual through any form of communication, including but not limited to letters, emails, text messages, social media posts, verbal communication, or any other written or spoken formats. Fines shall be payable to the affected parent/individual immediately.
(b) Instances of misinformation for exemptions provided for in §18-8-1(c), §18-8-1(m), and §18-8-1(n) of this code subject to this penalty include but are not limited to:
(1) Incorrect guidance on filing a Notice of Intent (NOI) to homeschool;
(2) Misrepresentation of required information for a Notice of Intent;
(3) Including questions on the Notice of Intent that are not mandated by law without explicitly stating, in bold font and size equal to or larger than the question, that such information is not required by law and failure to provide it will not affect the homeschooling status;
(4) False or misleading information about the validity or recognition of homeschool diplomas;
(5) Misleading claims regarding homeschool students' eligibility to participate in public school sports;
(6) Inaccurate information about homeschool students' access to public school classes or programs; or
(7) Any other incorrect, incomplete, or inaccurate information given to homeschool/Hope Scholarship/Microschool families.
(c) Penalties for Misinformation in Public Platforms: State or county boards of education shall incur a fine of $5,000 for each instance of misinformation disseminated through their official websites and social media platforms or both official websites and social media platforms. An additional fine of $100 per day will be added for each day they remain. These fines shall split equally and be payable to the West Virginia Home Educators Association and Christian Home Educators of West Virginia to support these organizations in educating and informing parents about their rights to homeschool and providing accurate resources.
(d) Penalties for not filing paperwork appropriately and on time for HOPE Scholarship Recipients: County or state boards of education shall incur a fine equal to the amount of scholarship lost by the parent/student paid immediately and directly to the affected HOPE Scholarship families that paperwork was not filed in an appropriate and timely manner causing them to lose their HOPE Scholarship. These funds are to be added into an account in the State Treasurer's office in the names of the students.
(e) All fines collected under this section are intended to ensure compliance with legal standards, reinforce transparency, and safeguard the rights of parents and guardians in the educational process. Fines shall be payable to the affected parent/individual immediately. Instances of misinformation for exemptions in §18-8-1(c), §18-8-1(m), and §18-8-1(n) of this code subject to this penalty include, but are not limited to: Incorrect guidance on filing a Notice of Intent (NOI) to homeschool.
(f) All fines collected under this bill are intended to ensure compliance with legal standards, reinforce transparency, and safeguard the rights of parents and guardians in the educational process.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create penalties for county and state boards of education for providing misinformation to parents, custodians, reviewers, or any other individual through any form of communication.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.