CHARLESTON – A judge has ruled a $5 million West Virginia Water Development Authority grant to an out-of-state religious school was unconstitutional.
Lindsay
Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Richard Lindsay also said no legal questions remained in the case after the WVWDA modified the scope of the grant, and the authority agreed public funds only will be spent on economic development and not on religious education or advocacy.
In July, Lindsay ruled from the bench the grant violated the state constitution which prohibits the use of public funds for religious education and advocacy.
The WDA had awarded Steubenville-based The College of St. Joseph the Worker the funds last year to expand operations into the state. To access the school’s trades education program, students must receive a degree in Catholic studies because that is the only degree conferred by the school.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia filed a lawsuit in January on behalf of the American Humanist Association to stop the grants from being used to fund the school’s religious ministry.
“We’re satisfied that the court found the original grant unconstitutional and maintained that state funds cannot be spent on religious instruction or sectarian advocacy in the future, even if the funding restrictions could have cut deeper,” AHA Executive Director Fish Stark said. “This was always an affront to West Virginian taxpayers, which is why we took action when our members saw this blatant violation of church-state separation happening in their community.
“We continue to question the wisdom of offering any subsidies to a religious school that could easily have its building costs footed by the Catholic Church – one of the world’s wealthiest religious entities – while West Virginia families still struggle to access clean water and other basic needs.”
ACLU-WV Advocacy Director Rusty Williams agreed.
“Tens of thousands of West Virginians lack access to clean drinking water, and it is unconscionable that their tax dollars were intended to go to an out-of-state entity for purposes that would have violated our Constitution,” Williams said. “We call on the State to prioritize the needs of West Virginians, not the wants of religious institutions, in future decision-making.”
In July, Lindsay had given the WDA 30 days to show evidence of its compliance with its constitutional obligations. The school said it will alter its degree program so future students will receive a degree in philosophy, as opposed to the degree in Catholic studies that was previously required, according to court filings. The WDA also amended its documentation to say “the grant will be used only for the purposes of ‘real estate acquisition, site development, construction, infrastructure improvements, and supplies and equipment for workforce training and all necessary appurtenances thereto in compliance with the WVWDA grant agreement.”
The college also specified that no funds would be used for religious education or educator salaries – questions that were unanswered at the beginning of the suit.
“Here, we have public financing – a $5 million grant – approved by a state government entity to a college that sought to use said grant for purposes other than ‘acquiring instructional and educational training facilities ... to facilitate economic development,’” Lindsay wrote in the September 25 order. “Specifically, and according to the college’s invoice, $1,650,000 of the grant is designated for religious specific education and enrollment of students and $1 million for religious specific advocacy.
“Said distributions are unconstitutional as they violate the establishment clause of the West Virginia and U.S. Constitutions. …
“As long as a state-approved grant is used for non-religious purposes and is a benefit available to the public, said grant is constitutional.”
Last October, the WDA approved the grant for the creation of a construction and real estate company headquartered in Weirton, as well as a new branch campus in the Kanawha Valley.
The school is based in Steubenville, Ohio. On its website, the school describes itself as “radically Catholic from top to bottom.” It explains its work, including its vocational work, as deeply and fundamentally Catholic, inseparable from the religious aspects of the college.
“Our goal is to produce faithful Christians who are virtuous citizens, intellectually formed, and capable of building up the church in their communities,” the site states.
The complaint said the WDA was created by the Legislature to provide communities in West Virginia with financial assistance for the development of wastewater, water and economic infrastructure that will protect the streams of the state, improve drinking water quality, protect public health and encourage economic growth.
“The agency serves as a revenue bond bank that provides financing for construction of wastewater and water facilities to local governmental agencies,” the complaint states. “To accomplish its mission, the West Virginia Water Development Authority acts as the administrator and fiduciary of the West Virginia Infrastructure Fund.
“Using money from the Infrastructure Fund, the WDA buys local government bonds and makes grants to local governments and loans for economic development projects at the direction of the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council.”
According to the complaint, the school submitted a grant request to the WDA requesting funds through the Economic Enhancement Grant Program.
“In the college’s grant request, they sought $2,150,000 in funding to create a mission-driven, non-profit construction and real estate development company in West Virginia,” the complaint states. “They sought $1,650,000 in funding to support the education of their students and to increase enrollment and scholarships for West Virginian students. They requested $200,000 to extend a branch campus to the State of West Virginia and $1,000,000 in funds for advocacy projects.”
The complaint says the proposal was considered, and ultimately approved, despite it failing to identify which cabinet secretary issued the required grant recommendation. This portion of the grant application was instead left blank, the complaint states.
In a press release, the ACLU also cited news outlets that have reported Delegate Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock) and officials in former Gov. Jim Justice’s office advocated for the school to receive the grant. McGeehan submitted the school’s grant proposal to the water authority on behalf of its dean, Andrew Jones.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail previously reported McGeehan sent the college’s proposal to Brian Abraham, Justice’s chief of staff, with a link to the school’s registration with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, citing a previous discussion with him and copying House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay) on the email.
McGeehan then sent a grant application completed by Jones to WDA Executive Director Maria Prezioso via email on October 4, according to the complaint.
“Despite the deficiencies in the school’s application and its manifest, explicit religious purpose, the College of St. Joseph the Worker was awarded a grant by the defendants which would allow them to expand their work, which they state is inherently and innately tied with their Catholic education, mission, and ministry,” the complaint states.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 25-C-48
