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West Virginia Board of Education recommends families follow vaccination law in wake of ruling

Raleigh County order only applies to those plaintiffs

(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Board of Education encouraged families to comply with the state’s compulsory vaccination laws after a court decision this week allowed three Raleigh County students to attend public school without the inoculations.

“While the West Virginia Board of Education is disappointed by the ruling, members of the board will decide next steps in the near future,” said a release issued Thursday afternoon. “This injunction is limited in scope and applies only to those named in this lawsuit. It will have no impact on other students in Raleigh County or throughout the state.

“As students prepare for the upcoming school year, families are encouraged to comply with West Virginia’s compulsory vaccination laws (W. Va. Code 16-3-4) as required by legislative statute,” it said.

Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Raleigh County Board of Education from enforcing the law requiring children attending school to show proof of immunization for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B unless proof of a medical exemption can be shown.

The children of the three plaintiffs in the case received religious exemptions from the West Virginia Department of Health. Religious and conscientious exemptions were made possible by an executive order issued by Gov. Patrick Morrisey earlier this year, citing the state’s 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act.

The state Board of Education voted in June to direct the state superintendent to issue guidance to school systems to follow the vaccination law and not permit the exemptions allowed under the governor’s order. Legislation to codify those exemptions was amended but ultimately rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year.

On Wednesday, a judge in Kanawha County granted the Department of Health’s motion to dismiss a request for a writ of mandamus ordering state health officials to follow the mandatory vaccination law. Judge Kenneth Ballard said the ACLU of West Virginia and Mountain State Justice had not provided the required 30-day notice before filing suit against a state agency or official.

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