The bill amends the Code of West Virginia to include tuition and fees at microschools as qualifying expenses for the Hope Scholarship Program. Specifically, it adds a new provision that allows parents of Hope Scholarship students to use funds from their accounts for tuition and fees at a microschool, defined in the code. This addition is marked as (13) Tuition and fees at a microschool as defined in 18-8-1(n)(1)(B); and it replaces the previous item (13) in the list of qualifying expenses, which has been deleted. In addition to this new provision, the bill maintains existing qualifying expenses for educational services, such as tuition at participating schools, tutoring services, and fees for standardized assessments. It emphasizes that Hope Scholarship funds are strictly for educational purposes and cannot be refunded or shared with parents or students. The bill also allows the Hope Scholarship Board to establish reimbursement procedures for qualifying expenses not available through the existing online portal, ensuring that the program remains flexible and responsive to the needs of students and families.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 18-31-7