Hope Scholarship Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Applications Now Open For Hope Scholarship

Applications are now open for new families seeking to receive the Hope Scholarship for the 2024-2025 school year.

The online application process for new families in the program opened March 1, and the deadline to receive 100 percent of the funding for next school year is June 15.

The Hope Scholarship Program is an education savings account program available for kindergarten through 12th grade students.

Last year, the board received more than 6,300 applications during the initial enrollment period.

Existing Hope Scholarship students are required to reapply each year, and the renewal application period for those students began in January. The deadline for existing Hope Scholarship students to submit renewal applications is also June 15.

The scholarship amount for the 2024-25 school year will be $4,921.39.

In December, board members approved a new year-round application model that will allow families to apply for the program throughout the school year featuring prorated scholarship award amounts depending on when they apply.

Under this new timetable, a student application submitted within the following dates will receive the associated level of Hope Scholarship funding:

March 1-June 15: 100 percent of Hope Scholarship annual award amount.
June 16-Sept. 15: 75 percent of Hope Scholarship annual award amount.
Sept. 16-Nov. 30: 50 percent of Hope Scholarship annual award amount.
Dec. 1-Feb. 28: 25 percent of Hope Scholarship annual award amount.

“We’ve seen tremendous interest and participation in the Hope Scholarship over the past school year, and we’re excited to start the application process for new students for the upcoming year,” West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore said. Moore is the chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board.

“This will be the first full academic year to feature our year-round application and prorated funding model, which will offer greater access and flexibility for the program and the families who choose to participate in it,” he said.

To qualify for the Hope Scholarship, a student must be a West Virginia resident and be either:

Eligible to be enrolled in a kindergarten program.
Enrolled full-time in a public elementary or secondary school program in this state for the entire instructional term during the current academic year (2023-2024) immediately preceding the academic year for which the student is applying to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.
Or, 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 remain enrolled and attending public school until a decision is reached on the student’s Hope Scholarship application.

In addition to filling out the application, state law also requires participating families to fill out a notice of intent to participate in the program with their local county superintendent.

Applications are available online at www.HopeScholarshipWV.com.

Student Pregnancy, Cybersecurity Focus Of Education Committees

To start the week, education committees in both chambers have focused on supporting students in difficult situations.

According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia has the eighth highest teen birth rate in the country.

During their meeting Monday, the House Education Committee discussed House Bill 5179. Also known as Jaycie’s Law, the bill would require that each county board develop a written attendance policy for pregnant and parenting students and excuse all absences due to pregnancy or parenting related conditions up to eight weeks.

The bill originated from a social worker in Cabell County who had seen the school system requiring teenage girls to go back to school one week after giving birth.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, moved to amend language that would require schools to refer pregnant students to pregnancy health organizations.

“It requires the school to refer a girl to an unlicensed health care provider,” he said. “A lot of them also are religious based, maybe they’re not a member of that religion. There’s a lot of issues with that, sending somebody, putting it in code to go to this place that looks like a doctor’s office, but isn’t a doctor’s office.”

Pushkin’s amendment originally removed any reference to pregnancy health organizations from the bill. But after discussion, he reformed the amendment to make the requirement a permissive choice to refer students to the organizations.

Del. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston, said he believed the bill’s referral to resources fulfilled the lawmakers’ promise to support pregnant women made when the state’s abortion restriction was passed in 2022.

“This is giving support where the schools have to at least discuss with these young mothers places where they can go and get support for them,” he said. “If we make it permissive, some schools may do it. Others don’t want to get involved, won’t do it. And I think by making it so they have to do it, we’re doing the best for these young ladies.”

The amendment did pass, and the bill was recommended to the full chamber.

Other Business

The House committee also advanced bills regarding in-state tuition for all National Guard members and their dependents, as well as Hope Scholarship funding.

House Bill 4945 makes several changes to code relating to the Hope Scholarship, including permitting the Hope Scholarship board to provide an estimate of the program’s future enrollment to the Department of Education by Dec. 10 of each year for funding, rather than relying on the prior year’s enrollment.

“This would allow us instead of it being solely based on the number of applications received in the prior year, it would allow us to estimate,” said Amy Willard, assistant treasurer of savings programs for the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. “We would do that using trends that we’re seeing in the program, any data that we have on birth, stuff like that to try to estimate that incoming kindergarten class. But there is still the provision that if there was unused money, like at the end of the fiscal year, that that appropriation would be reduced. So we would still always estimate what our need was for the year.”

Pushkin again moved to amend the bill, this time excluding Hope Scholarship funds from being used out of state. About $300,000 in Hope funds were spent out of state in the program’s first year.

However, Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, pointed out that a similar restriction had been proposed when the Hope Scholarship was being created.

“One of the reasons why it was voted down at that time was because of the purchase of curriculum and purchase of, paying for field trips or paying for other things that the state does buy out of state,” he said. “And when we’re talking about, you know, the amount of students that do potentially attend border school, schools that are outside of our border are from border counties. Remember, we’re still trying to give the parents of West Virginia an option for their education. And that’s the whole purpose of the Hope Scholarship.”

The amendment was rejected, and House Bill 4945 was recommended to the full House, with a reference to the Finance Committee.

Other bills advanced by the committee:

H. B. 4882, extending in-state tuition rates to all members and veterans of the National Guard, reserves, and armed forces as well as their spouses and dependents.
H. B. 5038, relating to research and economic development agreements for state institutions of higher education.
H. B. 5050, relating to authorizing legislative rules regarding higher education.
H. B. 5056, relating to substitute service personnel positions.
H. B. 5153, relating to revising, updating and streamlining the requirements governing the West Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship.

Teaching Cyber Security

In the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, senators heard from law enforcement about the need for students to be educated about online safety.

Senate Bill 466 requires the state board to develop an education program to teach safety while accessing technology. The committee previously discussed and laid over the bill on Jan. 18, and both times the discussion focused on the requirement for instruction on the risks associated with sharing sexually suggestive or sexually explicit materials.

SGT Jillian Yeager of the State Police’s Crimes Against Children Unit told the committee her office of 12 investigators has received 6,000 tips of sexual cybercrimes against minors in the past four years, mirroring a national spike during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. She said education like the kind proposed in Senate Bill 466 would go a long way to reducing such instances.

“I firmly believe that if we mandate cyber safety training in the state, that it will greatly reduce our number of cyber tips simply by educating children to help themselves not become victims to these predators online,” Yeager said.

The committee voted to recommend the bill to the full Senate, and laid over the only other bill on the agenda due to time constraints.

Study Looks At Cost Of Hope Scholarship For Public Schools

The analysis from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy published Wednesday estimates the Hope Scholarship costs West Virginia public schools up to $21.6 million.

A new report calculates the state’s education voucher program cost on public schools.

The analysis from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, published Wednesday, estimates the Hope Scholarship costs West Virginia public schools up to $21.6 million.

The Hope Scholarship allows K-12 students to receive state funds that can be used for tuition at private schools, homeschool curriculum, and other qualifying expenses.

Kelly Allen, executive director of the center, estimates the diverted funding will mean up to 364 paid positions, educators and personnel, could be lost.

“We hear a lot from proponents about the impact on the families and students who utilize the Hope Scholarship, but we really wanted to take a look at what the impact the Hope Scholarship is having on public schools,” she said.

Allen and Sean O’Leary, senior policy analyst for the center, arrived at the figure by multiplying the state school aid formula by the number of Hope Scholarship applicants in its second year.

“The state aid formula also has a calculation for the number of teachers, educators and the number of school service personnel based on enrollment figures for each county,” Allen said. “We were able to estimate how much less funding they would get for those positions with that drop in attendance related to students leaving the public school district for the Hope Scholarship.”

One of the biggest concerns the report highlights is the lack of public reporting on how Hope Scholarship money is being spent, as well as the academic outcomes for the students receiving the funds.

“I can go on the Department of Ed’s website right now and look up test scores, assessments for any public school in the state,” Allen said. “But there is no such mechanism for private schools, and there’s no data collected for Hope Scholarship students.”

Another West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report earlier this year showed that thousands of dollars in Hope Scholarship funds are being spent outside of the state and at unaccredited institutions. The state Treasurer’s office, which oversees the voucher program, previously said spending Hope Scholarship funds in out-of-state school systems is permissible and consistent with the “money follows the student” intent behind the Hope Scholarship.

“We’re seeing our public schools pare back art and music classes, or teachers buying supplies out of their own pockets,” Allen said. “It just seems really, really concerning that these dollars aren’t being accounted for, tracked in the same way that our public schools are accountable.”

Allen applauded Treasurer Riley Moore for voluntarily reporting Hope Scholarship figures, but pointed out he will no longer be in his position after the 2024 election. Moore is running for a Congressional seat in West Virginia’s 2nd district.

“I think it’s really important that robust public reporting be codified,” she said. “He will not be the treasurer next year, so we shouldn’t rely on the generousness of the current treasurer.”

In its second year, the Hope Scholarship program has grown significantly, and Allen expressed concern over the financial impact of continued expansion.

On Tuesday the Hope Scholarship Board approved changes to the program’s legislative rules that will allow eligible students to apply year-round. A press release from the treasurer’s office announcing the rule changes noted that “more than 6,000 students have been awarded the Hope Scholarship for the current 2023-2024 academic year, nearly triple the 2,333 students who received it the previous academic year.”

In an email, Allen told WVPB the expanded application window “will almost assuredly increase costs of the program and create significant disruptions for public schools.”

Mental Health Needs And Retaining Government Emails, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we learned about mental health needs in southern West Virginia, and we heard about efforts to keep state agency emails as lawsuit evidence. We also have reports on the Hope Scholarship, renewable energy, conservation and a planned closure of a pharmacy.

On this West Virginia Week, we have a short show in light of the Thanksgiving holiday. This week, we learned about mental health needs in southern West Virginia, and we heard about efforts to keep state agency emails as lawsuit evidence.

We also have reports on the Hope Scholarship, renewable energy, conservation and a planned closure of a pharmacy.

Liz McCormick is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Attorney General Publishes Opinion On Hope Scholarship Dual Enrollment

State officials continue to clarify the Hope Scholarship for families and school authorities.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said county boards of education or public schools cannot lawfully prohibit a student from participating in a public school program because of the student’s simultaneous engagement in nonpublic education.

The Hope Scholarship requires applicants to be enrolled full-time and attending a public school program in the state for at least 45 calendar days.

In an opinion released last week, Morrisey affirms the practice of “dual enrollment”: enrolling a student in both a public and nonpublic program, only to disenroll the student from the public educational program once Hope Scholarship funds have been secured.

The opinion uses the example of a student attending an in-person private school during the day while attending a virtual public school in the evening.

“In the Hope Scholarship Act, the [West Virginia] Legislature made the express choice to allow students to depart public schools with state funding in hand so long as they are enrolled in public schools for 45 continuous days,” Morrisey said in the opinion. “The Legislature placed no further conditions on this 45-day requirement.”

The opinion also said schools cannot bar public school students from engaging with nonpublic education.

“Altogether, county boards of education or public schools may not lawfully prohibit students from engaging in ‘dual enrollment’ or deny students the ability to participate in public-school programs based on those students’ simultaneous engagement in private education outside public school programs,” the opinion concludes.

State Treasurer Riley Moore, who also serves as the chairman of the West Virginia Hope Scholarship Board, requested the opinion and issued his own clarification of Hope Scholarship use rules in October.

State Treasurer Clarifies Use Of Hope Scholarship

State Treasurer Riley Moore has clarified the allowable spending for Hope Scholarship funds.

Moore, who is also the chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, released a letter Wednesday emphasizing students enrolled full-time in public schools are not eligible to participate in the Hope Scholarship program.

That includes public charter schools, and the letter specifies that “the Hope Scholarship Board approaches public charter schools and the services they provide the same as regular public schools operated by county boards of education.”

More than 6,000 West Virginia students’ families signed up for the Hope Scholarship savings account this year, which awards close to $4500 for private and homeschooling expenses.

The confusion stems from Hope Scholarship students who are not enrolled full-time in a school being allowed to use the funds for certain classes or services a public school might provide.

As funding for public schools is based on enrollment numbers, Moore’s letter says the restriction prevents schools from “double-dipping,” or receiving both public funding and Hope funds for these services.