West Virginia's Board of Education said Tuesday that it is reinstating the state's public school vaccine mandate without religious exemptions after the state Supreme Court paused a lower court order that had allowed families to opt out.
The high court stayed a permanent injunction entered by Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble, who had barred education officials from refusing to honor religious objections to the state's compulsory immunization law. The stay restores the previous policy while appeals proceed.
"In light of the West Virginia Supreme Court's stay of the class certification order and the permanent injunction order entered in Raleigh County Circuit Court, the West Virginia Board of Education is reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to compulsory vaccination laws," the board said in a statement.
The directive remains in effect until the court provides further guidance, the board said.
Froble ruled for parents in a class-action case that officials had to recognize religious exemptions under West Virginia's 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act. West Virginia has long been among the states with the strictest school vaccination requirements, typically allowing only medical exemptions.
The fight comes as vaccination rates among schoolchildren have dipped below the 95% level that public health experts say helps prevent outbreaks through herd immunity.
The board has also clashed with Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who issued an executive order earlier this year saying religious exemptions should be allowed.
Education officials previously told county school systems to ignore that directive, saying lawmakers must change the policy.
State law requires students to be immunized for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and whooping cough to attend school. About 30 other states allow religious exemptions.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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