W.Va. Supreme Court stay allows charter schools to move forward
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CHARLESTON - Public charter schools will be able to meet their deadlines over the next few months for starting schools next year, after West Virginia's high court on Thursday lifted a stay.
The Supreme Court granted an order Thursday staying a decision by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey last December granting a motion by two teachers union members for a preliminary injunction to block further implementation of the public charter school pilot program.
"Upon consideration, the court is of the opinion to and does grant the motion to stay," the order stated. "It is ordered that the Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Denying Motion to Dismiss entered in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County ... is stayed pending resolution of this appeal."
"The Supreme Court of Appeals was right to stay the Kanawha County Circuit Court's preliminary injunction of the charter school bill while it considers the merits of the appeal," said Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. "The stay will give the charter schools that have already been approved the ability to prepare for the upcoming school year while the case is being briefed and argued. The stay also prevents West Virginians from being deprived of the option to send their children to charter schools while this litigation moves forward."
The order was unanimous with no dissents. Judge Alan Moats from the 19th Judicial Circuit in Barbour and Taylor counties sat on the court on temporary assignment after former justice Evan Jenkins resigned from the court earlier this month.
Bailey granted the injunction on Dec. 19, 2021, after hearing from both parties in a virtual hearing the week before. She also rejected a motion to dismiss the case from the Attorney General's Office and a motion to stay her decision, resulting in the Attorney General's Office appealing the stay to the state Supreme Court.
Sam Brunett and Robert McCloud filed a lawsuit in September against Gov. Jim Justice, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, asking the court to allow county residents to vote for proposed charter schools, block the Professional Charter School Board from approving charter schools and declare the charter school law unconstitutional.
Burnett and McCloud are teachers with children in the public school system. They also are leaders in the state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. They are represented by the public interest law firm Mountain State Justice and Joshua Weishart, a professor of law at West Virginia University.
The Supreme Court decision comes as deadlines loom for three brick-and-mortar public charter schools and two statewide virtual charter schools approved last November by the Professional Charter School Board. The approved schools are slated to start for the 2022-2023 school year next year.
The deadline for public charter schools to have a contract between the school's governing board and the Professional Charter School Board is March 15. The public charter school enrollment period, applications or lottery begins April 15. A bill passed by the House of Delegates Tuesday, which is now in the Senate, would move both deadlines to May 15.