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Lawmakers made some good decisions regarding the state House Education Committee's substitute for House Bill 5180. They reinstated a requirement that those providing home instruction to students must have a minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent. They removed a section that would have exempted homeschool, micro school and learning pod students who choose to attend a public school class from vaccine requirements.
They also passed a bipartisan effort led by Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, and Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, to amend the bill and add protections for children that are being homeschooled by a parent, guardian or other person during an active child abuse investigation.
Raylee's Law is named for Raylee Jolynn Browning, a child in Oak Hill who died in 2018 due to child abuse from her father, Marty Browning. Raylee had been pulled from public school by Marty. He, along with his girlfriend and girlfriend's sister, were sentenced in 2022 after being convicted for child neglect causing death.
"I often wonder what she would look like today," Fluharty, the lead sponsor of Raylee's Law, said hile holding up a large photo of Raylee. "She'd be my niece's age, your niece's age, your granddaughter's age ... Raylee doesn't have a lobbyist. Kids situated like her don't have lobbyists. All they have as a defense mechanism is us."
The 99-0 vote to include Raylee's Law in House Bill 5180 shows that lawmakers in Charleston can work together to put the best interests of West Virginia's children first. The measure prohibits a county board of education from authorizing home school instruction when there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation. That's the right move to safeguard our children.