UPDATE February 17, 2026
From what we have heard to date, prayer and contacts have effectively stopped 5053. We will remain alert and let you know if anything changes, but praise the Lord for His mercies!
We are concerned about HB 5089 which affects students enrolling in public school from other schools including homeschooling. Watch for our analysis, coming soon.
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After the House subcommittee on Public Education heard comments about HB 5053, both written and in person, on February 12th , they concluded with “the bill will be advanced to markup and discussion.” Therefore, we anticipate that the bill will be further discussed this coming week, with possible amendments added, before the subcommittee votes on whether to pass it to the full House Education Committee for consideration.
The subcommittee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, February 17th, at 1—where this bill does not currently appear on the agenda.
Action Requested:
First and foremost, we call all to prayer. Pray for wisdom for everyone involved and for God’s perfect will to prevail. Pray for eyes to be opened and truth to be seen. And pray for God’s continued hand of protection on families and children of every stripe in our great state.
Second, we urge you to contact the bill’s sponsors and members of the House Public Education subcommittee – particularly if they represent your county. A list is given below. Ask them to VOTE NO on this bill because:
- WV’s homeschooling law already empowers county superintendents to seek a court order denying home instruction due to educational neglect or other compelling reasons. The current bill bypasses this important procedural protection, allowing schools to deny the fundamental right to homeschool before any legal determination of truancy has been proven.
- In the past, some families have had to remove their children from the public school system due to verbal or physical abuse by students or others they encounter in the public school setting. Because these situations can precipitate unexcused absences, families in an active or pre-petition truancy situation could need to withdraw immediately out of concern for the immediate safety and well-being of their child.
- Denying the right of parents to withdraw their child to homeschool could not only endanger children in some situations, but it also jeopardizes the right to “due process.” The facts and circumstances of an individual case should be considered before one is deprived of one’s liberties.
- As drafted, the bill unfairly (and we believe, unconstitutionally) targets only those who withdraw from public school to homeschool. Hope and microschool students are not addressed by the bill.
For more detailed information about the bill, see this CHEWV posting.
Contact Information:
HB 5053 Sponsors:
Christopher Toney (Raleigh-R),
Jeff Campbell (Greenbrier/Pocahontas-R)
Roy Cooper (Monroe/Summers-R)
Public Education Subcommittee:
Chairman (and cosponsor): Jeff Campbell (Greenbrier/Pocahontas-R)
Bill Bell (Doddridge/Tyler/ Wetzel-R)
Elias Coop-Gonzalez (Pendleton/Randolph-R)
Joe Ellington (Mercer-R)
Anita Hamilton (Monongalia-D)
Rolland Jennings (Preston-R)
George Miller (Morgan/Berkeley-R)
Jeffery Stephens (Marshall-R)
Bryan Ward (Hardy/Pendleton-R)
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