A hearing in yet another court case over religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements has been set for 10 a.m. Wednesday in Kanawha Circuit Court.
This is awkwardly timed because a circuit judge in Raleigh County last week announced his intent to certify a class of families with similar claims. The class could cover the more than 570 families whose students are seeking admission to school all over the state after receiving religious exemptions from the state health department.
But Raleigh Circuit Judge Michael Froble will not enter a final written order about the class certification for another week or so. And Judge Froble said he would produce a final, overall order on the religious exemptions case by the end of November.
That puts cases like the one in Kanawha into sort of a weird zone for now. Because without a final order on class certification, Judge Froble and Kanawha Circuit Judge Rich Lindsay would remain counterparts with different jurisdictions.
Corey Palumbo, a lawyer representing the Raleigh County school board in last week’s case and the Kanawha school board in this week’s case, pointed out that challenge to Judge Froble.
“We’re probably not going to have an order in this case until sometime in November. There will be other cases before that,” Palumbo said to Judge Froble.
“So what do you what do you encourage us to let other judges know about what’s happened here today, or what is going to happen may happen in the future? Because I know there’s a hearing in Kanawha County next week. There’s likely to be one in Jefferson County, before an order is entered. There will be other things happening.”
The Jefferson County case refers to a lawsuit filed in magistrate court over the denial of religious exemptions for five students.
There is also a case in circuit court in Berkeley County that has been partially resolved. There, Judge Michael Lorensen denied a temporary injunction for nine families seeking to have religious exemptions honored by the school system, but the judge scheduled a full evidentiary hearing in November for the families to be heard more fully.
Froble asked the lawyers in his courtroom for their thoughts on how to approach this: “Do you believe the court has the authority in this case to issue an order staying all pending cases, pending by decision in this case?” he asked.
Then the judge said, “I’d like to do it, but I’m not sure I can.”
The case in Kanawha County was filed on behalf of the family of an elementary school student, asking for a temporary injunction to allow the student to attend public school.
The complaint contends the family acquired a religious exemption for school vaccines from the state Department of Health. The exemption from the health department is dated Sept. 15, three days before the date of the lawsuit filing. The first day of school for students in Kanawha County schools was August 20.
The Kanawha County school system did not allow the student to attend public school on the basis of the religious exemption, citing a directive from the state Board of Education.
The family contends that it is suffering irreparable harm through the loss of education.
Lawyers for the Kanawha County school board filed a response opposing the temporary injunction, saying West Virginia’s compulsory vaccination law does not explicitly provide for religious or conscientious exceptions.
“Indeed, the Legislature has repeatedly rejected bills attempting to create one, including in the most recent 2025 legislative session,” wrote lawyers for the Kanawha school board.