The Marietta Times
May 5th, 2025

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CHARLESTON — A memorandum to county superintendents issued Friday by the West Virginia Department of Education requiring schools to abide by the state’s required immunization program for school-age children was rescinded later that evening after pressure from Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt issued the memorandum to county superintendents Friday to provide guidance for the 2025-26 school year beginning in the fall regarding an executive order by Morrisey requiring state health officials to allow requests for religious or philosophical exemptions to the state’s mandatory immunization schedule to students enter public and private schools in West Virginia,

Legislation to allow for religious/philosophical vaccine exemptions failed earlier this year.

“With the 2025 Legislative session behind us, it is time to consider the status of the religious exemption vaccine issue,” Blatt wrote. “While it is our understanding (the Department of Health) intends to continue to issue non-enforcement letters under the Governor’s Executive Order to parents seeking religious exemptions, we are faced with the fact that state law has not been changed by the Legislature and there is no religious exemption provided for in West Virginia law.”

Morrisey signed Executive Order 7-25 on Jan. 14, citing the 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act to allow for religious and conscientious objections to the state’s school vaccination mandates.

State code requires children attending school to show proof of immunization for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B unless proof of a medical exemption can be shown.

The executive order required the commissioner for the Bureau of Public Health/state health officer to establish a process for parents/guardians to request religious or philosophical exemptions to school-age vaccines, only requiring a request in writing from the parent/guardian.

According to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by West Virginia Watch, the Department of Health had issued 186 vaccine exemption requests since the end of March – more than three times the number of medical exemptions granted in 2023 alone, according to department reports.

A bill introduced on behalf of the Governor’s Office — Senate Bill 460 — included a religious and philosophical exemption to school-age vaccines when it passed the Senate in a 20-12 vote in February.

The bill was amended by the House of Delegates to allow for at least a religious exemption for school-age vaccines, but it was defeated in a 42-56 vote in March.

An attempt in April by Senate Health and Human Resources Committee Chairwoman Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, to amend a limited religious vaccine exemption into another bill had to be walked back.

Despite SB 460 being voted down, the state remains under Morrisey’s executive order.

The Department of Education memorandum instructed county superintendents to honor any student enrolled in public schools with state-issued vaccine exemptions prior to May 1.

But counties were instructed to notify parents/guardians that students with approved religious/philosophical vaccine exemptions would not be permitted to attend public school in the fall.

Counties were also instructed to make sure parents/guardians enrolling their children for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten in 2025-26 understood state law regarding required vaccines.

By Friday night, Blatt sent an email to county superintendents walking back her memorandum at the urging of the Governor’s Office.

“At the Governor’s request, I am rescinding the memo I sent earlier today regarding vaccine exemptions,” Blatt wrote. “We are working collaboratively with the Governor’s office to issue clear guidance to counties on how to comply with Executive Order 7-25.

The Governor’s office has informed me that the West Virginia Department of Health will continue to review and grant religious exemptions to compulsory school vaccine requirements, and counties should honor those exemption requests that have been duly granted.”

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Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, issued an op-ed column Monday regarding a now-rescinded memo put out by state Superintendent of Schools Michelle Blatt about school vaccine exemptions.

Governor’s orders can’t be trumped by bureaucrats

wvnews.com
by Kathie Hess Crouse
May 5, 2025

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State Superintendent of Schools Michelle Blatt issued a memorandum to all county superintendents late last week that directly challenged the authority of Governor Patrick Morrisey’s Executive Order 7-25, signed in January 2025. That Executive Order granted West Virginia families the right to obtain religious and philosophical exemptions from mandatory vaccination requirements for school attendance. Superintendent Blatt quickly rescinded the memo, but it’s worthwhile to note it not only was misguided, but it also served as an open attempt to undermine lawful executive authority.

I will not sit quietly while state agencies act as though they are above the law. Let’s be clear: the Executive Order still stands. It does not hinge on whether or not a bill passed during the legislative session. Executive Orders issued by the Governor are binding unless overturned by the courts or directly superseded by statute. Neither has happened.

Superintendent Blatt’s memorandum claims “county boards must continue to adhere to existing West Virginia State Code and State Board Policy.” It goes on to state “no changes to current immunization requirements for school enrollment” have taken place. She essentially instructed county boards and personnel to ignore the Executive Order entirely.

That was not an interpretation, it was outright defiance — unlawful defiance. It is not within the rights of the State Board of Education, nor any County Board of Education, to pick and choose which legal directives to follow. Their role is to implement law, not to rewrite it based on personal or political preferences. This persistent overreach by unelected bureaucrats, who act as if their authority exceeds that of the Governor or Legislature, must stop now.

The Governor’s Executive Order was issued to restore basic freedoms to West Virginia parents, especially those whose children are medically vulnerable or have already suffered from adverse vaccine reactions. In West Virginia, obtaining a medical exemption is so difficult that many families are left without any option or voice. That’s unacceptable. The Executive Order created a vital pathway for parents to protect their children based on sincerely held religious beliefs or philosophical objections — rights that are recognized in nearly every other state in the nation.

The guidance briefly issued by Superintendent Blatt attempted to erase those rights by telling schools to ignore the Governor’s directive and continue enforcing a one-size-fits-all mandate. Her memo disregarded the dire reality many West Virginia families face and effectively tells them the government knows better than their conscience or their doctor.

Superintendent Blatt’s memo was wrong, both legally and morally. The Executive Order remains in effect and should be enforced. School boards do not have the legal authority to defy the Executive Branch, and no bureaucrat has the power to erase parental rights with a single-page memo.

Parents of West Virginia: you are entitled to the exemptions granted under Executive Order 7-25. You do not need to ask permission from your local superintendent or be bullied by a school nurse or administrator. Stand firm. Exercise your rights. Know that I, and many of my colleagues, are fighting to hold these agencies accountable.

To the West Virginia Department of Education: this ends now. You don’t make law. You follow it.