(Reporter's Notebook by Steven Allen Adams - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

William Shakespeare gave us one of the great lines with the warning to Julious Caesar to “beware the ides of March.” But that warning should have been given to the House of Delegates a few hours earlier Saturday on the final day of the 2026 legislative session.

I’m referring to the trainwreck of parliamentary procedure and calendar management regarding House Bill 5537, the bill that became the vehicle for this year’s version of Raylee’s Law to help protect children when they’re parents or guardians try to pull them from public school while under CPS investigation.

The state Senate was able to amend Raylee’s Law into a bill repealing obsolete and outdated sections of the education code Friday afternoon. The House received the Senate message on HB 5537 on Saturday after 10 a.m. giving the House a 14-hour window to take up the Senate message and concur, reject or further amend.

In short, the Senate’s version of Raylee’s Law prohibited a county board of education from approving a request for home instruction for an enrolled student while there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation.

Teachers and staff, the mandatory reporters, must inform the county superintendent within 24 hours of making a child abuse or neglect report, and county superintendents must inquire with CPS about the investigation status within 24 hours of receiving notice.

CPS must provide confirmation of the investigation to the superintendent within 48 hours of the request. If CPS fails to substantiate the claim within 10 days of the report or the report is determined to be unfounded, the county school board must approve the home instruction request.

A form of Raylee’s Law has been introduced, either as a standalone bill or amended into a different bill, since at least 2020 since the 2018 death of Raylee Jolynn Browning. Her father, Marty Browning was sentenced in 2022 after being convicted of child neglect causing death. Raylee’s father had pulled her from public school.

The House did not take up the Senate message on Raylee’s Law until after 11:15 p.m., giving delegates just 45 minutes until the midnight deadline to bring the 2026 legislative session to an end.

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Multiple amendments were considered to HB 5537. The debate was marked by intense procedural maneuvers, including motions to limit debate and attempts to table competing proposals.

Ultimately, an amendment from Del. Adam Burkhammer was adopted by voice vote to focus strictly on children in “imminent danger” withdrawing from school, only requiring a 24-hour investigation instead of 10 days. Burkhammer claimed the bill as amended by the Senate would harm home-school families.

“If we really want to protect kids, maybe we should write good law,” said Burkhammer, R-Lewis. “Because the law before you is not going to protect one single child. It will not function. It won’t. You’re trying to attack homeschoolers.”

I know how to read, and I do have a job to point out factual inaccuracies. No version of Raylee’s Law I’ve seen over the years would affect any family currently home schooling their children. None.

Opponents of Raylee’s Law argue that Raylee’s dad did not submit a home school application; he merely pulled her from public school, making her truant. They also argue that CPS had made contact with Raylee before and never acted.

No doubt, chronic truancy is an issue in this state. In fact, my friend Amelia Knisely at West Virginia Watch recently reported that according to the Department of Education, 71% students withdrawing from the public school system over the last three school years had pending truancy issues.

We also all know how overburdened CPS is and the deaths of children over the years that could have been prevented had CPS been more thorough. But is that a good argument against closing a loophole that bad actors can use to shield their abuse of children from the eyes of mandatory reporters, such as teachers?

A very small handful of home school advocates were at the Capitol Saturday protesting Raylee’s Law. And the out-of-state Liberty Action, a far-right advocacy group, was encouraging people to contact their delegates in “all 75 West Virginia districts,” except there are 100 House districts.

Fact of the matter is the Republican-majority in the Legislature has done a lot for home-school families over the last 11 years. According to EdChoice, 85.5% of students attended public schools while 4.6% were home schooled during the 2025-26 school year, ranking in the top 10 of states for school choice. Home schooling has exploded in West Virginia, from around 12,000 students pre-COVID-19 to between 25,000 and 30,000, according to the Department of Education.

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In the end, HB 5537, as amended, passed the House in a 94-1 vote at 11:57 p.m. However, the Senate had just adjourned sine die and was unable to take up the House message to make the midnight deadline.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, is a nationally renowned parliamentarian. But for the life of me I don’t understand how he let the various motions on the debate of HB 5537 get so out of hand. And one can’t help but jump to the assumption that HB 5537 wasn’t taken up until 45 minutes to midnight in hopes that it would not make it.

Given Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s comments at the beginning of session opposing legislation like Raylee’s law and First Lady Denise Morrisey’s pressure against the bill, why even run out the clock? It was likely Morrisey would have vetoed the bill. But since the amended bill passed the House 94-1, delegates can tell voters that they supported protecting abused and neglected children.

House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, has long been the champion of Raylee’s Law. His passionate speech made Saturday night I cannot do justice in print form.

“It’s not about homeschoolers. It’s not attacking homeschoolers,” Fluharty said. “(It’s attacking) those who pretend to be and actual abusers who we’re going after. You should want to do that. Why are we here defending child abusers? It’s insane … How embarrassing, this Legislature. How embarrassing. Shame on all of us. Shame.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com