‘We’re standing up for them:’ House passes bill that would bar homeschooling in child abuse cases

Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, held up a poster of Raylee Browning, a child who died from abuse and neglect after her parents removed her from public school to homeschool her. The West Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 5180 with Raylee's Law as an added amendment on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Raylee's Law would prevent parents from removing their child from school to homeschool them if a teacher has reported them for abuse. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

After years of consideration, a House Democrat led a successful bipartisan vote on an amendment that would pause or potentially deny a parent’s request to homeschool if a teacher has reported suspected child abuse.

The amendment was fashioned after previous legislation introduced as “ Raylee’s Law ,” which was named for an eight-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 after her parents withdrew her from school. Educators at her elementary school had notified Child Protective Services of potential abuse.

The legislation has been brought to the Legislature since 2019 , but never passed — an effort largely led by Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio.

On Tuesday, Fluharty successfully folded the amendment into House Bill 5180 , a bill that removed certain requirements for homeschool children. A voice vote approved the amendment.

After nearly two hours of debate on the amendment, in which those against it largely argued it was an attack on homeschooling, Fluharty held up a large poster that showed Raylee’s face.

“I want every child who is isolated, and a victim of child abuse to know we’re standing up for them,” he said, becoming emotional as he asked for support for his amendment. “Raylee doesn’t have a lobbyist … all they have as a defense mechanism is us.”

The amendment went through changes — with input form Republicans, including some who homeschool their children — over the last week to narrow the scope of how it would work.

“This is what good government looks like — bipartisanship, coming together,” Fluharty said.

School officials would only be able to pause a parent’s request to homeschool if a child abuse or neglect investigation was made by a teacher or school personnel in the child’s district. “If the complaint is not substantiated within 14 days of initiation, the superintendent shall authorize home instruction,” the amendment said.

It would also require the county superintendent to be notified when a teacher or school personnel makes a child abuse or neglect referral to prevent a communication gap.

With only 11 Democrats in the House of Delegates, Republican support for the amendment was key in getting it up for a vote.

Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, whose children are homeschooled, was a part of the bipartisan push for the amendment, which he called a solution years in the making.

“For the first time in six years, I have never seen us work so publicly and delicately on an issue with so much high energy,” he said. “I’m proud that we have the courage and strength to … put this together and get it to a vote.”

Steele continued, “I’m not going to write a law that’s going to bring [Raylee] back. I’m not going to write a law that’s going to keep the parent from going down that evil, ugly road … but I can write a law that will cause our system to work together more closely to prevent that evil conduct from taking a child down.”

Lawmakers who spoke out against the measure, including several who homeschool their children, felt that the amendment targeted parents who wanted to take their children out of public school for homeschooling.

“We have narrowed this to the point that we are targeting one set of individuals, and those individuals are parents who are choosing to homeschool their children,” said Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, who added that the potential 14-day pause on a homeschool request would make homeschool parents be “guilty until proven innocent.”

Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, added, “I have been deeply in the homeschool community long enough to know… I know this amendment will be abused.”

Some Republicans cited concerns that teachers would falsely report child abuse out of retaliation for a family’s choice to homeschool.

“I don’t know a single teacher that has the time or has demented personality to drive around just looking for innocent homeschool children to report frivolously,” Del. Todd Kirby, R-Raleigh, said in response.

Crouse and other Republicans noted that Child Protective Services failed to adequately investigate abuse referrals for Raylee. They called on the Legislature to “fix CPS” instead of changing rules for homeschool requests.

CPS regularly fails to investigate child abuse and neglect referrals in the required timeframe and has struggled with adequate staffing amid a child welfare crisis .

The legislation would not apply to parents currently homeschooling their children, according to Fluharty.

Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, whose children are homeschooled, pushed lawmakers to vote yes on the amendment. “If this protects one child then it’s worth it. I realize it’s a hard vote, but it’s not a hard vote for me,” he said.

House members unanimously passed the bill that included the amendment.

The bill, with the Raylee’s Law amendment, will head to the Senate for consideration.

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