The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals cleared the way for West Virginia Academy to open this Fall by issuing a stay of a lower court's injunction that would have adversely impacted all West Virginia charter schools. "We are very pleased with the ruling by the West Virginia Supreme Court and continue to believe the cases filed against the charter law lack merit," said John Treu, President of West Virginia Academy. "We are mostly happy for the hundreds of families that want their children to be able to attend our school this upcoming Fall."
The ruling comes at an ideal time as West Virginia Academy is accepting applications now for student enrollments for its fall opening and the application deadline is March 31st. The academy will serve grades K through 9 the first year and add a grade each year to eventually include grades K-12. The public charter school anticipates an initial enrollment of more than five hundred students with significant growth in subsequent years as word spreads of its programs and innovative approach to education.
The High Court's unanimous ruling stays an injunction that was issued by a Kanawha County court in December that attempted to pause all activities by the WV Professional Charter School Board (PCSB), which is West Virginia Academy's authorizer. If the injunction had remained in place for just a few weeks longer then a key deadline would pass and West Virginia Academy's opening would have been pushed back to 2023. Charter schools in West Virginia are now free to be issued official charters by the PCSB and complete preparations for this fall including hiring faculty and finalizing initial enrollments. The ruling also bodes well for future rulings in the court case as none of the sitting judges were persuaded that the injunction should remain in effect.