West Virginia’s highest court will take on a legal battle over the state’s school vaccination requirements, but it denied a request by state school officials that it do so quickly.
The state Supreme Court on Thursday set a deadline of Dec. 12 for the West Virginia Board of Education to prepare its appeal of a Raleigh County judge’s July ruling against it. That ruling was in regards to a lawsuit brought by three Raleigh County families over the board’s refusal to accept religious exemptions to the state’s mandatory school vaccine requirements.
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble in July granted a preliminary injunction in the case that allows students in the case to attend class with a religious exemption to the vaccination requirements.
The school board had filed notice of appeal and asked the high court to both expedite a review of the appeal and temporarily halt the proceedings in the lower court.
In the scheduling order Thursday, the court denied both motions. Justices also set a deadline of Jan. 26 for the plaintiffs in the case to respond to the board’s appeal. The board will then have until Feb. 16, 2026 to write a reply, if necessary.
After the Feb. 16 reply brief deadline, the court writes, the appeal will be ready for review.
The Raleigh lawsuit is one case in a legal battle over religious freedom and the state’s strict school vaccination requirements. Every state requires school students to be vaccinated against a number of infectious diseases including polio, chicken pox and measles. Florida officials announced this week plans to eliminate its vaccine mandates.
West Virginia has been one of only five states that have not allowed students to opt out of the shots because of their religious or philosophical objections to them.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order on his second day in office requiring the state to allow religious exemptions. His order is based on the 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act. He argues that the religious freedom law, when read alongside the vaccination law, calls for the religious exemptions.
Morrisey has not rescinded that executive order, even though the state Legislature earlier this year rejected a bill that would have established those religious exemptions in state code.
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble has scheduled a two-day hearing next week on a permanent injunction in the lawsuit, which he recently consolidated with a lawsuit brought against the state health department by two parents of immunocompromised students over its issuance of religious exemptions. Plaintiffs in that case are represented by the ACLU of West Virginia and Mountain State Justice.
The hearing is set for Sept. 10 and 11 at the Raleigh County Judicial Center. During that hearing, the judge has said he wants to consider issues that include whether the state’s vaccination law is constitutional without religious exemptions and the authority of Morrisey’s executive order.
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
