West Virginia Board of Education reinstates school vaccine policy excluding religious exemptions

The West Virginia Board of Education has reinstated its school vaccine policy that excludes religious exemptions for students after a state Supreme Court ruling.

On Tuesday, the West Virginia Supreme Court issued a stay of Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble's ruling last week in which he allowed students whose parents refused the state’s vaccination requirement on religious grounds to attend school and participate in sports, Fox News reported.

The state Supreme Court blocked Froble's ruling pending resolution of appeals in the case.

The state's education board said in a statement that it "is reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to compulsory vaccination laws. This directive will be in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance."

The board added that its priority is to ensure compliance with the state vaccine law "and safeguard the health and well-being of all students across West Virginia."

Last week, the board suspended its vaccine mandate following Froble's ruling, which stated that the state policy prohibiting parents from seeking religious exemptions violated the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Gov. Jim Justice (R).

Earlier this year, Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions for school vaccinations. However, in June, the board voted to instruct public schools to ignore the executive order and follow school vaccine requirements in state law.

The state Senate earlier this year approved legislation that would have allowed the religious exemptions, but the House of Delegates rejected it.

Two groups sued to stop the executive order, arguing that the state legislature, not the governor, has the authority to make such decisions.

Meanwhile, a group of parents sued the state and local boards of education, in addition to the Raleigh County schools superintendent.

Froble last month certified the case as a class action involving 570 families who had received religious exemptions in other parts of West Virginia. He said the class action also applies to parents who will seek religious exemptions to the school vaccinations in the future.

The judge also said that the total number of exemptions so far involved a small portion of the statewide student population and "would not meaningfully reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks."

State law requires students to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and whooping cough before attending school.