The 2024 Regular Legislative session concluded with 280 bills crossing the finish line. See our Bill Tracking sheet for a complete list of education-related bills. Some of the key education bills have already been signed by the governor and some are still awaiting the governor’s signature. Below are some highlights of the Completed legislation:

• SB 146 - Creating adult education taskforce - This bill requires the State Superintendent of Schools to create a task force to consider options for direct funding of adult education learning centers and submit a report of recommendations to the Legislature.
• SB 172 - Revising requirements of local school improvement councils. (LSIC). The bill changes the makeup of the LSIC by removing the requirement of a bus driver as one of the ESP members and gives the principal the ability to appoint the three parent/guardian/custodian members instead of a PTO election. The bill requires minutes to be taken at every meeting and then made available to the public on the school’s website. The bill would also require the state board to ensure training in the role and governance of LSICs would be provided to principals, county boards, and others the state board determines appropriate, upon employment and every three years thereafter. This bill was signed by the governor on March 7 and goes into effect on May 26, 2024.
• SB 568 - Creating multi-tiered system for school absenteeism by requiring counties to take certain actions regarding truant students.
• HB 4709 - Relating to vocational and technical education programs -l establishes a pilot program for middle school students and states, “A four-year pilot program is hereby established to provide participating middle schools with an elective course to better prepare fifth through eighth grade students to take advantage of West Virginia’s career and technical education programs and to improve students’ college and career readiness prior to high school.” Participation in this middle school pilot program is contingent to the availability of existing funding.
• HB 4883 - Relating to increasing annual salaries of certain employees of the state. The bill contains the governor’s pay raise of $2,460 for teachers and $140 per month for service professionals.
• HB 4945 - Specific changes in the Hope Scholarship Program allows the Hope Scholarship Board to estimate the number eligible for the scholarship instead of the exact number of participants from the previous year. That allows for more students to participate in the program. The bill also adds all records accepted or maintained by the Board containing personally identifying information of a Hope Scholarship student, are confidential and not a public record subject to Freedom of Information Act.
• HB 5105 - To eliminate the vaccine requirements -allows private schools to make a vaccination policy that could allow a religious exemption unless they participate in WVSSAC sports or competitive school clubs. It does not change the vaccine mandates for public schools. –awaiting governor’s signature
• HB 5540 - Requires fentanyl prevention and awareness education in middle schools and high schools (Lakens Law). Laken’s Law would be used to prevent overdose deaths in teens and young adults in grades 6-12. Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, students would receive instruction on fentanyl, heroin, and opioid awareness, prevention, and abuse. Students would be instructed in the life-saving use of FDA-approved opioid reversal agents such as NARCAN and the available state and community resources that work to prevent and reduce youth substance use. –awaiting governor’s signature