(Photo Illustration – MetroCreativeConnection)
CHARLESTON — A circuit court judge in Kanawha County sided with the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday, granting an injunction for West Virginia taxpayer funds going to an Ohio-based Catholic-affiliated trade school program.
After a hearing Wednesday morning in Charleston, Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Richard Lindsay ruled in favor of the ACLU-WV and the American Humanist Association, blocking the awarding of $5 million last October by the state Water Development Authority to the College of St. Joseph the Worker, a Steubenville-based college affiliated with the Catholic Church.
The ACLU-WV filed suit against the WDA in January after the authority awarded the $5 million to the college, which allows students to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Catholic Studies while also receiving training in several trades, including carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. The college promotes graduating students with zero debt. The award came from the state Economic Enhancement Grant Fund (EEGF).
According to the grant proposal, the college proposed using the $5 million award to create a construction and real estate company headquartered in Weirton for training apprentices, scholarships for the recruitment of West Virginia students and training facilities near Weirton, and creation of a branch campus in the Kanawha County/Putnam County area.
The college had also proposed using $1 million of the EEGF award for advocacy, including $750,000 to create the “Center for the Common Good” to support “life-affirming policy in West Virginia.” This think tank would focus on conservative public policy. However, the grant agreement signed by the college with the WDA prevents the use of EEGF monies for anything other than workforce training.
Lindsay agreed with the position of the ACLU-WV that the award by the WDA to the college violated Article III Chapter 15 of the West Virginia Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which guarantees religious freedom, stating that “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever.”
“We’re proud to have taken a stand on behalf of our members and are encouraged that the court held the line on this unconstitutional appropriation of funds,” said Amitai Heller, legal director for the American Humanist Association, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“The separation of church and state is non-negotiable, and the West Virginia Water Development Authority had no business granting public infrastructure dollars to fund religious education and advocacy,” Heller continued. “Our members saw this blatant violation of church-state separation happening in their community and in concert with the ACLU of West Virginia, we acted.”
Lindsay granted motions offered by the ACLU-WV for an injunction blocking the WDA’s funding for the College of St. Joseph the Worker, which would require the WDA to claw back the funding, which was transferred shortly after the October 2024 agreement was finalized. Lindsay gave the WDA 30 days to show that it was in compliance with the court’s ruling.
A request for comment from WDA Executive Director Marie Prezioso was not returned.
The Economic Enhancement Grant Fund was created by the Legislature in 2022 by House Bill 4566, which empowers the WDA to create a EEGF subaccount to provide grants to governmental agencies and not-for-profits to cover all or portions of costs for infrastructure projects.
According to State Code, funds in this EEGF subaccount can be used “to cover all or a portion of the infrastructure projects to enhance economic development and/or tourism when recommended by the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Economic Development and/or the Secretary of Tourism.”
“Public dollars should always serve the public good, and we will keep fighting in the courts to defend this principle as long as we need to,” Heller said.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.
