CHARLESTON, West Virginia — The West Virginia Board of Education on Tuesday reinstated a vaccine mandate in schools after the state Supreme Court suspended a lower court ruling that allowed parents to cite religious beliefs to refuse vaccinations required for their children to attend classes.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled to suspend ruling handed down last week by Raleigh County District Judge Michael Froble in a class action lawsuit. In issuing the injunction, Froble said children from families who objected to the state's mandatory vaccination law on religious grounds would be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.
The Supreme Court suspended Froble's decision pending an appeal decision in the case. In light of this, the board said in a statement that it is “reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions from mandatory vaccination laws. This directive will remain in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance.”
The board further stated that its priority is to ensure compliance with the vaccine law “and protect the health and well-being of all students in West Virginia.”
The board suspended the vaccine mandate last week following Froble's decision, which said the state policy prohibiting parents from seeking religious exemptions violated the law. Religious Equal Protection Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Republican Gov. Jim Justice.
West Virginia was among the few states that provided only medical exemptions for school vaccinations when Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued a decree in January allowing religious exemptions. In June, the board ordered public schools to ignore Morrisey's order. Two groups sued regarding the executive order, saying the Legislature, not the governor, has the authority to make such decisions.
A law allowing religious exemptions passed the State Senate and rejected by House of Delegates earlier this year. Froble said in his ruling that failure to comply with the law does not determine the application of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendants' argument that religious exemptions could only be created through legislation.
Morrissey spokesman Drew Galang said in a statement Tuesday evening that the governor's office is reviewing the Supreme Court's ruling.
Miranda Guzman and other parents sued state and local boards of education and superintendent of Raleigh County Schools. Guzman received a religious exemption from mandatory vaccinations from the state health department and enrolled her child in elementary school for the 2025-26 school year. But on June 17, Guzman received an email from a local school principal asking him to revoke his diploma, the lawsuit says.
Last month, Froble certified the suit as a class action involving 570 families who sought and received religious benefits in other parts of the state. He said the class action also includes parents seeking religious exemptions in the future.
West Virginia's school vaccination policies have long been viewed by medical experts as among the most protective of children in the country. State law requires that children receive vaccines against chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before entering school.
At least 30 states There are religious freedom laws, including one signed by Georgia's governor in April. The laws are modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, which allows for challenges to federal regulations that conflict with religious beliefs.
