newsfromthestates.com · September 6, 2026
Facing a school closure, Mingo County parents file lawsuit to block Hope Scholarship expansion | News From The States [ Skip to main content ](#main-content) [   Part of States Newsroom ](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/) search Sort by Latest Relevant Search Search  Stories From The States Colorado ranchers join fight against fossil fuel companies 28:57 https://play.prx.org/e?ge=prx\_14251\_3c1657e2-db5d-478b-98db-eb90ca023a81&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F14251%2Fstoriesfromthestates.xml [   Part of States Newsroom ](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/) News ###### Facing a school closure, Mingo County parents file lawsuit to block Hope Scholarship expansion ## Share [Bluesky](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#bluesky)[X](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#x)[Facebook](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#facebook)[Email](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#email)[Copy Link](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#copy_link)  [West Virginia](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/state/west-virginia) [News](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/news) # Facing a school closure, Mingo County parents file lawsuit to block Hope Scholarship expansion [Courts & Justice](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/category/courts-justice) [Education](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/category/education) Sep 06, 2026 | 11:17 am ET By [Amelia Ferrell Knisely](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/author/amelia-ferrell-knisely) Share [Bluesky](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#bluesky)[X](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#x)[Facebook](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#facebook)[Email](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#email)[Copy Link](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/#copy_link)  Description The Lincoln Walks at Midnight Statue sits in front of the West Virginia state Capitol building in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo by Lexi Browning/West Virginia Watch) A new lawsuit brought by Mingo County parents seeks to stop universal expansion of the Hope Scholarship, the state’s education voucher program. The parents say their children’s school, which is [set to close next year](https://wchstv.com/news/local/mingo-county-faces-dingess-elementary-closure-after-next-school-year), has been impacted by public schools’ financial distress while the state spent millions of dollars expanding the Hope Scholarship. They noted lawmakers [declined to address the school funding formula](https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/04/20/lawmakers-didnt-address-wv-school-funding-formula-issues-more-teacher-and-staff-cuts-announced/). The Hope Scholarship [opened up to all West Virginia students](https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/03/03/hope-scholarship-voucher-opens-up-to-all-wv-students-lawmakers-propose-211-to-300m-to-cover-cost/) in grades K-12 for the first time this school year. It gives students around $5,400 this school year to pay for in- and out-of-state education outside of public schools and [other eligible expenses](https://hopescholarshipwv.gov/Home/About/FAQ#Usage). [More than 25,000 students](https://wvmetronews.com/2026/08/08/more-than-25000-hope-scholarship-students-to-receive-first-round-of-funding-next-week/) are now using the program. Eleven Mingo County parents filed [the lawsuit](https://westvirginiawatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Hope-lawsuit-Filing-092026.pdf) Sept. 4 against the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, which manages the Hope Scholarship, along with the Hope Scholarship Board and the West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt. According to the lawsuit, Blatt was sued in her official capacity only because the state Department of Education transfers funding to the county school systems. The parents asked a Kanawha County judge to stop universal expansion, saying that Hope Scholarship’s massive expansion coupled with the Legislature’s failure to update the school funding formula violates the state’s constitutional obligation to maintain a “thorough and efficient system of free schools.” “Dingess is a small, rural community. There is no participating Hope Scholarship education service provider offering a full-time school program within a reasonable commuting distance of Plaintiffs’ homes,” the lawsuit said. “Plaintiffs’ children cannot, as a practical matter, use a Hope Scholarship as a substitute for their public school. If Dingess Elementary closes, their alternative is a longer bus ride to a consolidated school, not a private school.” The suit specifically requested that the judge ban further disbursement of the Hope Scholarship to new, first-time applicants who only became eligible under the universal expansion. Up until this year, the Hope Scholarship was restricted to incoming kindergarten students or public school students enrolled for at least 45 days during the current school year. The parents also asked the judge to mandate that defendants provide information on Hope Scholarship disbursements by county and recipient type so the court can evaluate the financial impact on public schools. The state has spent [around $155 million](https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/06/22/hope-scholarship-price-155m-so-far-after-26617-wv-students-apply/) on the Hope Scholarship so far this school year. Lawmakers [already allocated](https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/03/05/wv-lawmakers-rush-budget-to-governor-early-to-deal-with-any-of-his-potential-vetoes/) $277 million for the Hope Scholarship to account for any student who chooses to use the program in the 2026-27 school year under universal expansion. ## Hope Scholarship faced prior legal challenge in state Supreme Court Lawmakers created the Hope Scholarship in 2021, making it the nation’s broadest education savings account programs based on how and where parents could use the money. It quickly faced a massive legal challenge when a Kanawha County judge ruled that [the Hope Scholarship program was unconstitutional](https://www.wsaz.com/2022/07/06/hope-scholarship-program-ruled-unconstitutional/) and would drain money from public schools. In 2022, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals [reversed that decision](https://www.wsaz.com/2022/10/06/wv-supreme-court-rules-hope-scholarship-program-constitutional/) and ruled that the program was constitutional and could go forward. Parents in Mingo County noted that ruling in their lawsuit, saying the potential effects on public schools in 2022 — when around 3,000 students were using the Hope Scholarship — are now measurable since public school enrollment has declined and [negatively impacted school finances](https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/06/24/wv-school-leaders-say-multiple-counties-headed-to-insolvency-after-lawmakers-didnt-tackle-funding/). “The harms are no longer hypothetical. Enrollment has declined. The appropriation has grown by more than an order of magnitude. A county system has failed and been taken over by the State. A school is proposed for closure,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also mentioned that lawmakers commissioned a [study](https://westvirginiawatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/RAND_RRA4161-1.pdf) from the RAND Corporation, and it recommended against universal expansion of the Hope