Hope Scholarship remains blocked after appeals court denies motion to stay

CHARLESTON - One of the first decisions by West Virginia’s new Intermediate Court of Appeals on Tuesday could mean that the state’s broad educational savings account program remains on hold going into the new school year.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Tuesday evening that the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) denied a motion by his office to stay an earlier ruling by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit that granted a preliminary and permanent injunction against the Hope Scholarship education savings account program.

“It’s disappointing the Intermediate Court did not see that the lower court’s injunction will undermine the fundamental freedom of parents to choose the best education for their children,” Morrisey said in a statement. “The thousands of families who are set to receive scholarship money from the Act will now be in limbo trying to figure out what’s going to happen to their children’s education.”