WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2023 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced House Bill 2619
By Delegates Burkhammer, Foster, Pinson, Crouse,
Chiarelli, Summers, Espinosa, Kimble, Brooks,
Ridenour and C. Pritt [Introduced January 17, 2023; Referred to the Committee on Education then Finance]
 Intr HB 2023R2553
1 A BILL to amend and reenact §18-31-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
2 amending the definition of eligible recipient for the Hope Scholarship Program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 31. HOPE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
§18-31-2. Definitions.
1 The following words have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly
2 indicates a different meaning:
3 (1) "Account" or "scholarship" means a Hope Scholarship account, awarded pursuant to
4 this article, to which funds are allocated by the board to the parent or parents of an eligible Hope
5 Scholarship student in order to pay qualifying education expenses to educate the student pursuant
6 to the requirements and conditions of this article;
7 (2) "Board" means the Hope Scholarship Board created pursuant to §18-31-3 of this code;
8 (3) "Curriculum" means a complete course of study for a particular content area or grade
9 level, including any supplemental materials required by the curriculum;
10 (4) "Education service provider" means a person or organization that receives payments
11 from Hope Scholarship accounts to provide educational goods and services to Hope Scholarship
12 students;
13 (5) "Eligible recipient" means a child who:
14 (A) Is a resident of this state; and
15 (B) Is enrolled full-time and attending a public elementary or secondary school program in
16 this state for at least 45 calendar days during an instructional term at the time of application and
17 until an award letter is issued by the board under §18-31-5(c) of this code, or enrolled full-time in a
18 public elementary or secondary school program in this state for the entire instructional term the
19 previous year, or is eligible at the time of application to enroll in a kindergarten program in this state
20 pursuant to §18-8-1a of this code, except that if on July 1, 2024, the participation rate of the
21 combined number of students in the Hope Scholarship Program and students eligible who have
1
 Intr HB 2023R2553
22 applied to participate in the Hope Scholarship program during the previous school year is less than
23 five percent of net public school enrollment adjusted for state aid purposes for the previous school
24 year, then, effective July 1, 2026, a child is considered to meet the requirements of this paragraph
25 if he or she is enrolled, eligible to be enrolled, or required to be enrolled in a kindergarten program
26 or public elementary or secondary school program in this state at the time of application;
27 (6) "Hope scholarship funds" means the moneys deposited in a Hope Scholarship
28 student’s account in accordance with the requirements of this article.
29 (7) "Hope scholarship student" means a student who receives a scholarship pursuant to
30 this article;
31 (8) "Parent" means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with
32 legal authority to act on behalf of an eligible recipient or Hope Scholarship student;
33 (9) "Participating school" means any private school that provides education to elementary
34 and/or secondary students and has notified the board of its intention to participate in the program
35 and comply with the program’s requirements;
36 (10) "Resident school district" means the county school district in which the student
37 resides; and
38 (11) "Treasurer" means the West Virginia State Treasurer.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend the definition of eligible recipient for the Hope Scholarship Program.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
2


Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 18-31-2