CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is praising the state Department of Education for issuing new guidance on how schools should support Hope Scholarship students with disabilities who return to public classrooms.
McCuskey said the Department’s response aligns with concerns his office raised earlier this month, arguing that policies like those adopted by Kanawha County Schools were not the appropriate way to handle returning Hope Scholarship students who need special education services.
In a letter to the Department, the Attorney General asked schools to recognize that returning students differ from those seeking an initial evaluation and urged districts to take steps ensuring students with disabilities receive services immediately upon re‑enrollment.
The Department’s reply adopts what it calls the “appropriate framework” — the same steps proposed by the Attorney General — and agrees that the process must be “meaningfully different from treating re‑enrollment as an entirely new initial referral.”
According to McCuskey, the new guidance means returning students will receive more support, including disciplinary protections and interim services from their first day back in public school. He said the Department also plans to issue statewide guidance reaffirming those principles.
The Attorney General added that Kanawha County Schools’ earlier letter — which the Department described as “legally imprecise and inconsistent with federal regulations” — will be corrected.
McCuskey said he looks forward to continued collaboration with the Department to ensure students with special needs receive the services they are entitled to.
