Lawmakers Invoke Stay in School Aid Lawsuit

Legislative leaders have asked the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to pause an ACLU-WV challenge to the state's school aid formula.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Legislative Policy

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a stone government building and flag in deep red, cream, and navy, evoking the state's school funding policy. — Legislative leaders Randy Smith and Roger Hanshaw asked the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on Wednesday to pause an ACLU-WV lawsuit challenging the state's school aid formula. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Senate President Randy Smith and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw filed an automatic legislative stay with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on Wednesday, halting a lawsuit brought in September by the ACLU-WV on behalf of Lincoln County families. State education officials also sought a delay of the case.

Why it matters

The lawsuit seeks changes to the state's seven-step school aid formula, so the stay pauses a direct legal challenge to how public school funding is distributed across West Virginia. Legislative interim meetings are expected to take up reform of the formula next week.

The automatic stay was filed on Wednesday with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, which the extraction identifies as the court handling the case. The lawsuit targets the seven-step state school aid formula, but the extraction gives no vote counts or funding amounts.

The players

Randy Smith

Senate President and Republican senator from Preston County who co-signed the automatic legislative stay.

Roger Hanshaw

Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and Republican from Clay County who co-signed the automatic legislative stay.

ACLU-WV

The West Virginia affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the school aid formula lawsuit in September.

The details

The ACLU-WV filed the suit in September on behalf of Lincoln County families, and the families are represented by the Attorney General's Office. Smith, R-Preston, and Hanshaw, R-Clay, both signed the filing.

September: ACLU-WV files lawsuit on behalf of Lincoln County families.
Wednesday: Legislative leaders file automatic stay with the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Next week: Legislative interim meetings expected to take up school aid formula reform.
Next year's regular session: Lawmakers expected to address school aid formula reform.

Legislative Context

The legal challenge targets the seven-step school aid formula directly, and the stay shifts the question of its structure from the courts back to lawmakers during the upcoming interim meetings and next year's regular session.

The formula determines how state school funding is allocated, so any change arising from the lawsuit or legislative reform would directly affect district budgets across West Virginia. The stay means the existing seven-step structure remains in place while the case is paused.

The takeaway

The stay moves the school aid formula debate from the courtroom to the Legislature, where interim meetings next week will begin the reform discussion. Readers tracking West Virginia school funding should watch those meetings for concrete proposals.

What happens next

Legislative interim meetings are expected to take up reform of the school aid formula next week, and lawmakers are expected to address it again during next year's regular session.