House 3029

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2025 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 3029

By Delegates Hillenbrand, Crouse, and Horst

[Introduced February 28, 2025; referred to the Committee on Education then Finance]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §18-36-1; relating to requiring the Board of Education to design, test, and deploy an internet-based reporting system to be known as the Home School Portal.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 36. Home School Portal.

§18-36-1. Requiring the Board of Education to adopt a Home School Portal.

(a) Within 365 days following the effective date of this act, or by August 1, 2026, whichever is earlier, the Board of Education shall deploy an internet-based reporting portal, which shall be called the "Home School Portal."

(b) The Home School Portal must meet the following minimum requirements:

(1) It shall be secure, have role-based user access, and provide information privacy;

(2) It shall be designed and tested prior to deployment;

(3) It shall be deployed and operational for use during the 2026–2027 school year;

(4) It shall provide a way for families that choose not to publicly school their children to:

(A) Identify children that will be homeschooled through a Notice of Intent, including specific options for each of the exemptions set forth in §18-8-1; and

(B) Submit and archive all required reports: Provided, That the Board may request, but not require, parents to provide any information that they are not legally required to provide: Provided further, That information the Board requests that is not legally required shall be clearly labeled "optional" or "not required";

(5) It shall include "Dashboards" for both family and school board use;

(6) It shall have an acknowledgement capability for families and school boards to be notified that their submissions have been received, and as appropriate, acted upon. This information shall be easily found on the user's Dashboard, and it shall permit users to opt into push notifications to users to alert them of actions they need to take.

(7) It shall be designed in a manner that fulfills the needs of all 55 counties with a single, common solution.

(c) In developing the Home School Portal, the Board shall include and consult with key stakeholders, including, at a minimum, at least one representative each from the Board, the homeschool community, charter schools, and private schools.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Board of Education to design, test, and deploy an internet-based reporting portal known as the Home School Portal.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.