WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2025 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 3327
By Delegates Young, Hornbuckle, Hamilton, Garcia, Lewis, Williams, Pushkin, and Hansen
[Introduced March 12, 2025; referred to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-31-2 and §18-31-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the eligibility of nonpublic schools and education service providers to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## ARTICLE 31. HOPE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
The following words have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1) "Account" or "scholarship" means a Hope Scholarship account, awarded pursuant to this article, to which funds are allocated by the board to the parent or parents of an eligible Hope Scholarship student in order to pay qualifying elementary and secondary education expenses to educate the student pursuant to the requirements and conditions of this article;
(2) "Board" means the Hope Scholarship Board created pursuant to §18-31-3 of this code;
(3) "Curriculum" means a complete course of study for a particular elementary or secondary education content area or grade level including, but not limited to, textbooks; workbooks; student and teacher curriculum kits; activity, learning, or study guides; or any supplemental materials required by the curriculum;
(4) "Education service provider" means a person or organization that receives payments from Hope Scholarship accounts to provide educational goods and services to Hope Scholarship students;
(5) "Eligible recipient" means a child who:
(A) Is a resident of this state;
(B) Whose household adjusted gross income is under $100,000 annually and
(C) Is enrolled full-time and attending a public elementary or secondary school program in this state for at least 45 calendar days during an instructional term at the time of application and until an award letter is issued by the board under §18-31-5(c) of this code, or enrolled full-time in a public elementary or secondary school program in this state for the entire instructional term the previous year, or is eligible at the time of application to enroll in a kindergarten program in this state pursuant to §18-8-1a of this code, except that if on July 1, 2024, the participation rate of the combined number of students in the Hope Scholarship Program and students eligible who have applied to participate in the Hope Scholarship program during the previous school year is less than five percent of net public school enrollment adjusted for state aid purposes for the previous school year, then, effective July 1, 2026, a child is considered to meet the requirements of this paragraph if he or she is enrolled, eligible to be enrolled, or required to be enrolled in a kindergarten program or public elementary or secondary school program in this state at the time of application;
(6) "Hope scholarship funds" means the moneys deposited in a Hope Scholarship student's account in accordance with the requirements of this article:
(7) "Hope scholarship student" means a student who receives a scholarship pursuant to this article;
(8) "Individualized Instructional Program (IIP)" means a customized educational experience that takes place either at home or another location. Hope Scholarship students participating in an IIP are not enrolled in a participating school and shall be governed by the requirements of this article, unless otherwise stated, and not any other compulsory school attendance exemption requirements;
(9) "Parent" means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of an eligible recipient or Hope Scholarship student;
(10) "Participating school" means any private accredited non-public school established and located in West Virginia that provides education to elementary and/or secondary students and has notified the board of its intention to participate in the program and comply with the program's requirements;
(11) "Resident school district" means the county school district in which the student resides; and
(12) "Treasurer" means the West Virginia State Treasurer.
(a) To be eligible to accept payments from a Hope Scholarship account, an education service provider shall:
(1) Submit notice to the board that they wish to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program;
(2) Provide participating parents with a receipt for all qualifying educational expenses for the Hope Scholarship student;
(3) Agree not to refund, rebate, or share Hope Scholarship funds with parents or students in any manner, except that funds may be remitted or refunded to a Hope Scholarship account in accordance with §18-31-7(c) of this code;
(4) Certify that it will not discriminate on any basis prohibited by 42 U.S.C. 1981;
(5) Submit any employee or other person who will have contact with Hope Scholarship students receiving services from the provider to a criminal background check and certify that said background check does not indicate conviction of a felony involving violence to the person and that the employee or other person is not on a federal or state sex offender registry; and
(6) In the case of a participating school, shall
(i) provide notice of each Hope Scholarship student's enrollment annually to the county superintendent of any student for which a student's tuition is being paid through the Hope Scholarship Program;
(ii) Submit annual proof of continued accreditation to the Hope Scholarship Board;
(iii) Submit annually any information related to tuition, school policies, enrollment, and any other requested data to the Hope Scholarship Board.
(b) This article does not limit the independence or autonomy of an education service provider or make the actions of an education service provider the actions of the state government.
(c) Education service providers shall be given maximum freedom to provide for the educational needs of Hope Scholarship students without governmental control.
(d) A participating school or education service provider is not required to alter its creed, practices, admission policy, hiring policy or curriculum in order to accept eligible recipients whose parents pay tuition or fees from a Hope Scholarship account pursuant to this article: Provided, That an education service provider is prohibited from requiring a student or family to pay tuition, costs, or fees above or in addition to the provider's regular tuition or fee schedule based in whole or in part upon a student or family member's participation in the Hope Scholarship Program.
(e) This article does not expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any school district to impose any additional regulation of education service providers beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the program.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill generally relates to the eligibility of nonpublic schools and education service providers to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.