Public Comments

• required language-access procedures for families (translation/interpreting standards),
• disability-specific behavioral safeguards (e.g., specific processes before exclusionary discipline for students with disabilities),
• clear due-process requirements tied to the new “trauma-informed” discipline approach.

• embeds “implicit bias” work inside a state policy landscape moving to eliminate DEI programs and trainings (SB 474),  
• delegates too much to later rulemaking,  
• lacks concrete, enforceable safeguards for disability-related behavior supports and language access.  

• Primary care shortage areas: West Virginia has 126 designated primary care HPSAs, with ~793,019 people living in designated shortage areas; only ~38.28% of need met, and 163 additional practitioners needed to remove the designations.  
• Mental health shortage areas: West Virginia has 124 mental health HPSAs, only ~5.68% of need met, and 94 practitioners needed to remove designations.  
• Rural hospital financial stress: 43% of rural hospitals in West Virginia operate on negative margins.  

Vote no to Senate Bill 388. Spend your time elsewhere, on issues that will actually have a measurable effect on West Virginians. Requiring bibles in classrooms will do nothing for ensuring mountaineers have clean water, safe roads, access to reliable internet, access to good paying, career jobs, that public schools are properly funded, paying teachers what they deserve, for reducing the costs of childcare (did you know NM has free childcare for everyone in their state? Proves it can happen! Figure out what NM is doing!). Do something that is tangible for improving our lives! I couldn’t care less that my kids have access to a bible in a classroom. They have access to a bible at home which is where it should be. All I see in this bill, is that not only are teachers expected to be social workers, therapists, correctional officers, protect their students from mass shootings, pay for supplies for their students over and over again, but now they’re supposed to be preachers and priests as well? They’re supposed to answer questions about the Bible in their classroom? Well I’ll tell you, you can put whatever version of the Bible is closest to what you believe in the classrooms, but you can’t guarantee your child’s teacher is going to answer questions about it in the way you would. So maybe keep religion instruction where it’s meant to be and that’s in the home.

I highly disagree. 

Letting teachers carry guns in schools might seem like it will make students safer, but it’ll only do more harm than good. Teachers aren’t trained like security guards or policemen, so in a real emergency they’re more prone to making mistakes. Mistakes that can lead to someone being injured, or worse. For example, a teacher could end up shooting at another armed teacher during an emergency, thinking they posed a threat, or a student could steal a teacher’s gun and use it against them. Having guns in classrooms would make students and teachers feel more scared than safe. Furthermore, It would cost a lot of money for training and insurance, money that can be put into things like improving school lunch, equipment, or remodeling a certain area in the school. Instead of allowing unqualified teachers to carry a concealed weapon on school grounds, the board should work on things that can actually protect students, like better security, surveillance systems, or support for their mental health. 

• The new section §16-11A-1 makes it a felony “to attend any public-school function or attend or participate in public school or athletic events in any capacity, regardless of participation by offender’s own children” for those required to register on the WV “sex offender registry.”
  • It is restrictive and inclusive to registrants on the “sex offender registry” only, while allowing all other “Central Abuse Registry” registrants with misdemeanor or felony offenses constituting child abuse or neglect, free to attend school events, as well as all other persons with past convictions for murder, assault, etc.
  • It is broad in its language, prohibiting a total ban for said registrants without any exceptions, such as parent-teacher conferences, expulsion hearings, and reviews.
  • It is not based on any current disruptive behavior but rather past behavior/convictions that, in many cases, are decades old.
  • As written, it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Plaintiff has a right to due process in any proceedings initiated by a governmental authority. ( in Supp. 4, ECF No. 7) In this case, no due process rights are afforded to registrants before they are banned from school property.
    • In Cole v. Montague Bd. of Educ., 145 Fed.Appx. 760, 762-63 (3d Cir. 2005) (citing Lovern, 190 F.3d at 648), the court “held that parent’s claim that prohibiting him from entering school property without a hearing violated due process.”
    • McNett v. Jefferson-Morgan Sch. Dist., 2:21-cv-01064-RJC, 12 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 23, 2021)established that plaintiffs have a due process claim on the basis that a school board defendant had violated their due process rights by banning the parents from a public school without a hearing and by refusing to accept a petition for a hearing. Again, no due process will be incorporated if HB 5020 is passed as written.
• Restricting persons from school property.
  • “School officials have the authority to control students and school personnel on school property, and also have the authority and responsibility for assuring that parents and third parties conduct themselves appropriately while on school property.” Lovern v. Edwards, 190 F.3d 648, 655 (4th Cir. 1999) (citing Carey v. Brown, 447 U.S. 455, 470-71 (1980); Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 582-83 (1975)).
  • “School officials are well within constitutional bounds in limiting access to school property where it is necessary to maintain tranquility.” Cunningham v. Lenape Reg'l High Dist. Bd. of Educ., 492 F.Supp.2d 439, 448-49(D.N.J. 2007).
• Requiring parent-teacher conferences to be off-school property
  • It is restrictive and inclusive to registrants on the “sex offender registry” only, while allowing all other “Central Abuse Registry” registrants with misdemeanor or felony offenses constituting child abuse or neglect, free to have parent-teacher conferences on school property.
  • It is overbroad and includes all “sex offender registry” registrants regardless of whether said registrant has a conviction for a minor-related offense, so why would they need to be restricted from school property?
  • It’s unnecessarily burdensome and inconvenient for teachers.
• Considering the above, it’s clear that HB 5020, written as a blanket ban without justification, reasoning, and, most notably, due process, is or will be found unconstitutional if passed.

As a West Virginia constituent in Beckley, Raleigh County, I oppose HB 4583.

West Virginia schools and families are facing urgent, practical needs right now: staffing shortages, student mental health, attendance barriers, facility needs, and the everyday strain many households are carrying. This bill does not respond to those realities. Instead, it directs school time and state attention toward a symbolic political observance that is not rooted in West Virginia’s specific history or current priorities.

I support teaching accurate, evidence-based history, including the harms of authoritarian regimes across the world. But HB 4583 is not written as a balanced, academically grounded standard. It mandates a specific annual observance and a required lesson framed through a political lens, placing schools in the middle of culture-war messaging rather than education. When the Legislature tells educators what conclusions to emphasize, it risks turning learning into propaganda and undermining professional teaching standards.

Public education should build critical thinking skills, civic literacy, and the ability to evaluate power and policy using facts, context, and multiple perspectives. If the state is going to require additional instructional time, it should be for priorities that measurably benefit West Virginia students and strengthen public schools, not for a partisan signal that distracts from real work.

Please vote no on HB 4583 and focus legislative effort on policies that materially improve the lives, education, and well-being of West Virginians.

This bill is idiotic.  I’m 1000% more concerned that the school provide an actual education.  Wv ranks where in education?  🙄

1. Specifying attached support rooms (sensory rooms, break rooms, focus rooms, etc) be included in the code.

1. Requiring county boards to maintaining video/audio footage for two years. The cost of upgrading existing systems is an undue expense on LEAs without a fiscal note to support this change in Code.
2. Requiring new audio devices for staff while changing a student in an unattached restroom. The initial cost for any classroom staff to be equipped with a new, portable audio device and storage of additional audio files for at least 365 years is another undue burden on counties. NOTE: IDEA (federal funds) cannot be spent on any of these anticipated costs. It is not an allowable cost.

1. What if a staff member refuses to wear a portable audio device? I anticipate many refusing or filing a grievance, creating additional stress and costs on an LEA.
2. What if there are general education students in the unattached restroom? Do their parents have any rights to refuse their child to be recorded on an audio device? We have many changing areas within the girls/boys restrooms in the schools. What legal protections/guidance can be provided to counties to avoid additional grievances and parental complaints?

1. Requiring 15 minutes of audio/video review every SEVEN days (instead of 90). Some schools in Kanawha County have four self contained classrooms with attached restroom and a sensory area. This would require two hours and 15 minutes a week (for ONE school) of just listening/reviewing audio and video files, including the documentation. KCS has over 50 schools.  While I understand the intent for increased protection of our students, this is an unrealistic, legal burden to place on LEA/school staff. I would recommend considering 60 calendar days, instead of 90 days.
2. Allowing parents to retain video footage for 60 days past the statute of limitations. Parents or guardians are permitted to view the footage at anytime, multiple times, with any legal representative. Allowing copies of the footage would not only infringe on other students/staff confidentiality that may also be on the footage, it is not going to increase any protection of our vulnerable students. It will only create additional sharing of inaccurate information over social media platforms in which LEAs have no control of the dialogue or false statements made in response.
3. Allowing parents/guardians to view footage outside of an alleged incident with no legal definition of a "reasonable request".  LEAs have a solid process of any parental/guardian concern to be screened and reported. Student confidentiality MUST be maintained and this would allow parents/guardians to view footage that would not involve their own child, a clear violation of FERPA and student confidentiality.

• “The term separation of church and state came from one letter by Thomas Jefferson to a congregation.” “The first amendment was to keep the government out of religion, not religion from government.” “The establishment clause was to keep from establishing a National Religion.” “States established their own religions prior to the constitution.” “Separation of church and state is a myth.”
  1. This is incorrect in many ways. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both made countless statements about the need to keep the two entities separate. Whether using this term in full or not, the intent is clear
     1. Thomas Jefferson: “[E]very one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the U.S. and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.” To Rev. Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808
     2. Thomas Jefferson: “Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions…therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to the offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow citizens he has a natural right” -“Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

• Thomas Jefferson: “…yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical…” – “Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

1. Thomas Jefferson: “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion” – Treaty of Tripoli Article 11 1797
2. James Madison: “[T]he number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State." - Letter to Robert Walsh, March 2, 1819
3. James Madison: “The members of a Govt as such can in no sense, be regarded as possessing an advisory trust from their Constituents in their religious capacities.” – Journal Entry

• Thomas Jefferson wrote the “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” that formally severed ties between the state government of Virginia and the Church of England.
• James Madison wrote “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments” in 1785, before he wrote the First Amendment, where he wrote in opposition to a proposal by Patrick Henry that all Virginians be taxed to support “teachers of the Christian religion.” To this day it is one of the most detailed writings against the government establishing of a state sponsored religion.

1. Thomas Jeferson and the infamous letter to Danbury Baptist: “...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State" - Letter to Danbury Baptists Association 1802
   1. This has been used time and time again to express and confirm this founding father’s position on the Establishment Clause and the Free-Exercise Clause.
   2. This is the one many pastors and political leaders have been quoting saying that this is the origin of this concept of “separation of church and state.” However, it is not the first instance nor is it the only instance that this concept is discussed by our constitutional framers and founders.
2. There are more quotes from these two below in the link I provided as-well-as being easy to find online and other sources.

1. These men didn’t even believe that government should make any form of religious proclamations as well, like calling for national prayer. It could not be more clear.
2. States that had established, state sponsored religions slowly phased this out after adopting the United States Constitution, the last being Massachusetts in 1833.
3. What many historians gather from these men is that they believed that for Religion and Government to both flourish, they must do so on their own. That religion is best suited without government influence, and that government is best suited without religious influence. Religion does inform us, but it should not dictate.

• “The bible is the main inspiration of our founding documents.”
  1. This is not true, while the Bible informed many of our founding fathers in their basis of morality, they sought many secular sources to inform how they wanted our nation to be setup from our founding documents. Including: the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, English Common Law (stemming from Anglo-Saxon principles and ideas that predate Christianized Anglo-Saxon Groups).
  2. The First Amendment, penned by James Madison took inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” which was penned to end the state of Virginia’s state sponsored religious ties to the Church of England, in 1786. It established that no individual could be forced to attend or support any religious institution or suffer penalties for their beliefs. This is a clear indication to Thomas Jefferson’s intent to keep states themselves from establishing a religion within their own state.
• “The ten commandments informed our Bill of Rights and is as foundational as the constitution.” “The Ten Commandments influenced our laws.”
  1. The only similarity here is that there are ten amendments within the Bill of Rights and ten commandments. There is no historic proof that there is any inter-relation there. Just look at them in order and read. “Thou shalt have no other g*ds before me, does not inspire the Establishment or Free Exercise Clause, they are antithetical.
  2. The only commandments we see that are similar to laws that we have are to not kill or steal. There are no laws against children talking back to their parents, being jealous of your neighbors, lying (under most circumstances), or adultery (those phased out). To not kill and to not steal are two very common moral standings of most cultures – regardless of religion.
• “The Bible is the foundation of Western Civilization.”
  1. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. Western civilization was well established before the Christian Bible as we know it was formed in the 5^th Century AD. There were groups and civilizations where influences are still seen today that were not Christianized until much later.
• “The Aitken Bible teaches us a lot about the history of our nation and events during the Revolutionary War.”
  1. The website for The First American Bible, the group that will be providing these $200 Bibles, paid for by donations to them, offers only one lesson plan. That lesson plan is divided into three topics, and only one discusses the Aitken Bible.
  2. The Aitken Bible only has a few paragraphs discussing these events and how it came to be.
  3. The Aitken Bible lost money during production and Congress did not seek to fund it, few copies were made because it was not being purchased.
  4. Senator Bartlett claimed that it could teach students about printing methods at the time, the edition being given is not a replica. It is printed using modern production techniques.
• “This is for educational purposes only, not religious.”
  1. Opinion/Observation: if it was for educational purposes, why are we not also championing the supply of our foundational documents to the same classrooms? The organization behind the bibles “First American Bible” only supply one lesson plan on this specific Bible, yet it cost $200 for one lesson? The notion appears, to me, to be to slowly introduce religion in the classroom and into state government. Going against the very wishes of the men who originated our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Senator Grady went on to list content standards on the Revolutionary period, including “contributions by western Virginia” to demonstrate how this specific bible could be used to align with state standards. The Bible wasn’t even printed in western Virginia, most of the content standards she listed would apply very loosely.
  2. It is the 250^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, why are these same lawmakers not trying to make, at least, this document available to teachers to use as supplement and a physical representation of the very document that made us the country that we are today?

• “The term separation of church and state came from one letter by Thomas Jefferson to a congregation.” “The first amendment was to keep the government out of religion, not religion from government.” “The establishment clause was to keep from establishing a National Religion.” “States established their own religions prior to the constitution.” “Separation of church and state is a myth.”
  1. This is incorrect in many ways. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both made countless statements about the need to keep the two entities separate. Whether using this term in full or not, the intent is clear
     1. Thomas Jefferson: “[E]very one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the U.S. and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.” To Rev. Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808
     2. Thomas Jefferson: “Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions…therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to the offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow citizens he has a natural right” -“Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

• Thomas Jefferson: “…yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical…” – “Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

1. Thomas Jefferson: “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion” – Treaty of Tripoli Article 11 1797
2. James Madison: “[T]he number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State." - Letter to Robert Walsh, March 2, 1819
3. James Madison: “The members of a Govt as such can in no sense, be regarded as possessing an advisory trust from their Constituents in their religious capacities.” – Journal Entry

• Thomas Jefferson wrote the “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” that formally severed ties between the state government of Virginia and the Church of England.
• James Madison wrote “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments” in 1785, before he wrote the First Amendment, where he wrote in opposition to a proposal by Patrick Henry that all Virginians be taxed to support “teachers of the Christian religion.” To this day it is one of the most detailed writings against the government establishing of a state sponsored religion.

1. Thomas Jeferson and the infamous letter to Danbury Baptist: “...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State" - Letter to Danbury Baptists Association 1802
   1. This has been used time and time again to express and confirm this founding father’s position on the Establishment Clause and the Free-Exercise Clause.
   2. This is the one many pastors and political leaders have been quoting saying that this is the origin of this concept of “separation of church and state.” However, it is not the first instance nor is it the only instance that this concept is discussed by our constitutional framers and founders.
2. There are more quotes from these two below in the link I provided as-well-as being easy to find online and other sources.

1. These men didn’t even believe that government should make any form of religious proclamations as well, like calling for national prayer. It could not be more clear.
2. States that had established, state sponsored religions slowly phased this out after adopting the United States Constitution, the last being Massachusetts in 1833.
3. What many historians gather from these men is that they believed that for Religion and Government to both flourish, they must do so on their own. That religion is best suited without government influence, and that government is best suited without religious influence. Religion does inform us, but it should not dictate.

• “The bible is the main inspiration of our founding documents.”
  1. This is not true, while the Bible informed many of our founding fathers in their basis of morality, they sought many secular sources to inform how they wanted our nation to be setup from our founding documents. Including: the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, English Common Law (stemming from Anglo-Saxon principles and ideas that predate Christianized Anglo-Saxon Groups).
  2. The First Amendment, penned by James Madison took inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” which was penned to end the state of Virginia’s state sponsored religious ties to the Church of England, in 1786. It established that no individual could be forced to attend or support any religious institution or suffer penalties for their beliefs. This is a clear indication to Thomas Jefferson’s intent to keep states themselves from establishing a religion within their own state.
• “The ten commandments informed our Bill of Rights and is as foundational as the constitution.” “The Ten Commandments influenced our laws.”
  1. The only similarity here is that there are ten amendments within the Bill of Rights and ten commandments. There is no historic proof that there is any inter-relation there. Just look at them in order and read. “Thou shalt have no other g*ds before me, does not inspire the Establishment or Free Exercise Clause, they are antithetical.
  2. The only commandments we see that are similar to laws that we have are to not kill or steal. There are no laws against children talking back to their parents, being jealous of your neighbors, lying (under most circumstances), or adultery (those phased out). To not kill and to not steal are two very common moral standings of most cultures – regardless of religion.
• “The Bible is the foundation of Western Civilization.”
  1. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. Western civilization was well established before the Christian Bible as we know it was formed in the 5^th Century AD. There were groups and civilizations where influences are still seen today that were not Christianized until much later.
• “The Aitken Bible teaches us a lot about the history of our nation and events during the Revolutionary War.”
  1. The website for The First American Bible, the group that will be providing these $200 Bibles, paid for by donations to them, offers only one lesson plan. That lesson plan is divided into three topics, and only one discusses the Aitken Bible.
  2. The Aitken Bible only has a few paragraphs discussing these events and how it came to be.
  3. The Aitken Bible lost money during production and Congress did not seek to fund it, few copies were made because it was not being purchased.
  4. Senator Bartlett claimed that it could teach students about printing methods at the time, the edition being given is not a replica. It is printed using modern production techniques.
• “This is for educational purposes only, not religious.”
  1. Opinion/Observation: if it was for educational purposes, why are we not also championing the supply of our foundational documents to the same classrooms? The organization behind the bibles “First American Bible” only supply one lesson plan on this specific Bible, yet it cost $200 for one lesson? The notion appears, to me, to be to slowly introduce religion in the classroom and into state government. Going against the very wishes of the men who originated our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Senator Grady went on to list content standards on the Revolutionary period, including “contributions by western Virginia” to demonstrate how this specific bible could be used to align with state standards. The Bible wasn’t even printed in western Virginia, most of the content standards she listed would apply very loosely.
  2. It is the 250^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, why are these same lawmakers not trying to make, at least, this document available to teachers to use as supplement and a physical representation of the very document that made us the country that we are today?

• “The term separation of church and state came from one letter by Thomas Jefferson to a congregation.” “The first amendment was to keep the government out of religion, not religion from government.” “The establishment clause was to keep from establishing a National Religion.” “States established their own religions prior to the constitution.” “Separation of church and state is a myth.”
  1. This is incorrect in many ways. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both made countless statements about the need to keep the two entities separate. Whether using this term in full or not, the intent is clear
     1. Thomas Jefferson: “[E]very one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the U.S. and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.” To Rev. Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808
     2. Thomas Jefferson: “Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions…therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to the offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow citizens he has a natural right” -“Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

• Thomas Jefferson: “…yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical…” – “Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom” 1786

1. Thomas Jefferson: “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion” – Treaty of Tripoli Article 11 1797
2. James Madison: “[T]he number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State." - Letter to Robert Walsh, March 2, 1819
3. James Madison: “The members of a Govt as such can in no sense, be regarded as possessing an advisory trust from their Constituents in their religious capacities.” – Journal Entry

• Thomas Jefferson wrote the “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” that formally severed ties between the state government of Virginia and the Church of England.
• James Madison wrote “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments” in 1785, before he wrote the First Amendment, where he wrote in opposition to a proposal by Patrick Henry that all Virginians be taxed to support “teachers of the Christian religion.” To this day it is one of the most detailed writings against the government establishing of a state sponsored religion.

1. Thomas Jeferson and the infamous letter to Danbury Baptist: “...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State" - Letter to Danbury Baptists Association 1802
   1. This has been used time and time again to express and confirm this founding father’s position on the Establishment Clause and the Free-Exercise Clause.
   2. This is the one many pastors and political leaders have been quoting saying that this is the origin of this concept of “separation of church and state.” However, it is not the first instance nor is it the only instance that this concept is discussed by our constitutional framers and founders.
2. There are more quotes from these two below in the link I provided as-well-as being easy to find online and other sources.

1. These men didn’t even believe that government should make any form of religious proclamations as well, like calling for national prayer. It could not be more clear.
2. States that had established, state sponsored religions slowly phased this out after adopting the United States Constitution, the last being Massachusetts in 1833.
3. What many historians gather from these men is that they believed that for Religion and Government to both flourish, they must do so on their own. That religion is best suited without government influence, and that government is best suited without religious influence. Religion does inform us, but it should not dictate.

• “The bible is the main inspiration of our founding documents.”
  1. This is not true, while the Bible informed many of our founding fathers in their basis of morality, they sought many secular sources to inform how they wanted our nation to be setup from our founding documents. Including: the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, English Common Law (stemming from Anglo-Saxon principles and ideas that predate Christianized Anglo-Saxon Groups).
  2. The First Amendment, penned by James Madison took inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s “Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom” which was penned to end the state of Virginia’s state sponsored religious ties to the Church of England, in 1786. It established that no individual could be forced to attend or support any religious institution or suffer penalties for their beliefs. This is a clear indication to Thomas Jefferson’s intent to keep states themselves from establishing a religion within their own state.
• “The ten commandments informed our Bill of Rights and is as foundational as the constitution.” “The Ten Commandments influenced our laws.”
  1. The only similarity here is that there are ten amendments within the Bill of Rights and ten commandments. There is no historic proof that there is any inter-relation there. Just look at them in order and read. “Thou shalt have no other g*ds before me, does not inspire the Establishment or Free Exercise Clause, they are antithetical.
  2. The only commandments we see that are similar to laws that we have are to not kill or steal. There are no laws against children talking back to their parents, being jealous of your neighbors, lying (under most circumstances), or adultery (those phased out). To not kill and to not steal are two very common moral standings of most cultures – regardless of religion.
• “The Bible is the foundation of Western Civilization.”
  1. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. Western civilization was well established before the Christian Bible as we know it was formed in the 5^th Century AD. There were groups and civilizations where influences are still seen today that were not Christianized until much later.
• “The Aitken Bible teaches us a lot about the history of our nation and events during the Revolutionary War.”
  1. The website for The First American Bible, the group that will be providing these $200 Bibles, paid for by donations to them, offers only one lesson plan. That lesson plan is divided into three topics, and only one discusses the Aitken Bible.
  2. The Aitken Bible only has a few paragraphs discussing these events and how it came to be.
  3. The Aitken Bible lost money during production and Congress did not seek to fund it, few copies were made because it was not being purchased.
  4. Senator Bartlett claimed that it could teach students about printing methods at the time, the edition being given is not a replica. It is printed using modern production techniques.
• “This is for educational purposes only, not religious.”
  1. Opinion/Observation: if it was for educational purposes, why are we not also championing the supply of our foundational documents to the same classrooms? The organization behind the bibles “First American Bible” only supply one lesson plan on this specific Bible, yet it cost $200 for one lesson? The notion appears, to me, to be to slowly introduce religion in the classroom and into state government. Going against the very wishes of the men who originated our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Senator Grady went on to list content standards on the Revolutionary period, including “contributions by western Virginia” to demonstrate how this specific bible could be used to align with state standards. The Bible wasn’t even printed in western Virginia, most of the content standards she listed would apply very loosely.
  2. It is the 250^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, why are these same lawmakers not trying to make, at least, this document available to teachers to use as supplement and a physical representation of the very document that made us the country that we are today?

“I strongly support this bill to align the school calendar with a start date of the Tuesday after Labor Day and an end date of the Friday before Memorial Day. This schedule provides consistency and predictability for families, educators, and communities across the state.

Beginning school after Labor Day allows students and teachers to start the year well-rested and prepared, leading to stronger engagement and smoother transitions at the start of the academic year. Ending before Memorial Day helps reduce instructional disruptions caused by late-spring fatigue and improves attendance during the final weeks of school.

This calendar also benefits working families by offering clearer planning for childcare and summer employment, supports local economies that rely on summer tourism, and promotes a healthier balance between instructional time and student well-being. Overall, this change would create a more effective, family-friendly, and student-centered school year.

1. As a paraprofessional, this bill should definitely be passed! Students are struggling when expected to go 180 and when we have all these snow days, it just makes it worse. We shouldn’t be held accountable for things out of our control. Let’s go back to the way it was. We don’t need all these weeks off during the school year!! Let’s pass this bill of the sake of our students!!

I believe This bill will be absolutely helpful. If we could pass this bill and Eliminate the spring breaks that we in Wv always get when weather is still bad, we would be able to have the 160 days instructional days, as well as Pl days w staff to to be able to do better by our students and schools.

• WVU maintained and renewed international partnerships with foreign universities and energy entities during the same years it cited financial crisis to justify domestic program cuts
• These agreements covered energy research, language instruction, and international exchanges
• Senior leadership approved or renewed these agreements while domestic language, culture, and DEI programs were eliminated

• Environmental monitoring gaps
• Public health risks
• Energy and infrastructure funding transparency
• Agency refusal to exercise jurisdiction despite acknowledging complaints

• First Amendment protections (speech, academic freedom, association)
• Equal protection, particularly for communities not aligned with state-preferred cultural or moral frameworks

1. Undefined funding source / amount

• The bill requires the “foundation allowance for instructional funding” to be distributed directly and equally to teachers, but it does not define which line-items or how much money qualifies as “instructional funding,” nor how the amount per teacher is calculated.  
• Without definitions, this could cause inconsistent implementation across counties and budget confusion.

2. “Direct and equal” distribution may not match classroom needs

• HB 4860 mandates funding be equal to teachers rather than based on student enrollment, grade level, subject area (e.g., CTE/labs), special education needs, or classroom size.  
• Equal distribution can be simple, but it can also misalign with real cost differences between classrooms.

3. Procurement controls are reduced

• The bill explicitly exempts purchases from district vendor registration and quote requirements.  
• Those controls exist to prevent waste, favoritism, and price-gouging. Removing them increases risk and makes it harder to ensure best value for taxpayers.

4. Account ownership / liability is unclear

• The account is held in the teacher’s name for “exclusive use,” funded by state deposits, and accessed by P-card.  
• The bill does not address what happens when a teacher transfers, resigns, is terminated, or retires (e.g., who controls remaining funds, how funds are recovered, and who is liable for disputed charges).

5. Online publication is transparency—but could create privacy/safety issues

• Publishing purchases online may improve transparency, but HB 4860 does not specify what details must be posted (vendor name, item description, campus/teacher identifier, redactions).  
• If postings are tied to individual teachers, it could expose staff to harassment or targeted complaints while they are trying to supply classrooms.

6. Training is required, but enforcement/auditing is not

• The bill requires the State Auditor to provide training, but it does not set audit intervals, penalties, dispute processes, or enforcement mechanisms for misuse.  

• Define “foundation allowance for instructional funding” and specify the appropriation/budget mechanism.
• Restore basic procurement safeguards (e.g., allow exemptions only up to a dollar threshold; require receipts/itemization; restrict certain merchant categories).
• Add clear rules for allowable purchases, returns, lost/stolen cards, fraud reporting, and what happens to funds when employment ends.
• Require standardized transparency postings with redaction rules and no personally identifying details beyond what is necessary.