Panel advances charter school bill after debate on part‑time tuition, benefits and direct payments

The committee voted to report House Bill 2167 (listed in the transcript as House Bill 21 67) to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass after adopting technical and substantive committee amendments. The bill covers multiple charter-school issues: allowing charter schools to charge fees or “tuition” for part‑time participation similar to non‑charter public schools (for example, for a single course or participation in student activities), permitting noncertified or unlicensed charter-school staff to proctor state assessments if they complete annual training and the school maintains a qualified-staff list, establishing alternate application deadlines for conversion charter schools, allowing governing boards to remove a member by board vote, and providing for direct payment to charter schools that do not participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System or PEIA of funds that otherwise would go to CPRB or PEIA (including an unfunded liability portion).

Committee counsel explained the sections and the committee amendment that added provisions from Senate Bill 89 to allow alternative high-risk population charter schools and clarified direct-payment language. Senior senators and committee members questioned the use of the word “tuition” for part‑time charges and whether the term would confuse the public; committee guests explained the intent: to allow charter schools to charge a part‑time fee for a one-off class or activity and to accept HOPE Scholarship funds for that portion of instruction when appropriate. Ben Beaks, testifying for Every Kid (an advocacy group), said the provision aligns charter schools with noncharter public schools that already accept partial HOPE Scholarship payments for single-course participation.

The committee debated whether payments that would otherwise be paid to retirement or PEIA should go directly to charter schools and whether charter schools should be required to provide retirement or insurance benefits if they accept those direct payments. Senator from Marion proposed an amendment that would have required charter schools receiving direct allocations to provide retirement or health insurance benefits (or at least a provision that the money be used to provide such benefits). Multiple senators opposed that amendment on the grounds it would reduce charter schools’ flexibility; the amendment was rejected by voice vote. A technical amendment correcting agency names (inserting “West Virginia” into references to the Department of Education) was adopted.

After the debate and the technical fixes, the committee moved and adopted the motion to report HB 2167 as amended to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. The transcript records voice votes and no roll-call tallies in committee.