BECKLEY — A Raleigh County judge granted class action status to the more than 570 students granted religious exemptions to West Virginia’s compulsory vaccine law, with the case likely heading for a final conclusion as soon as today.

Wednesday marked the resumption of a hearing after a month-long break on a permanent injunction being sought by Raleigh County parents against their local school system and the West Virginia Board of Education.

The parents were granted a preliminary injunction in July by 14th Circuit Judge Michael Froble after the state Board of Education voted earlier this summer to instruct all 55 county school systems to continue to follow the state’s compulsory vaccine law despite a January executive order from Gov. Patrick Morrisey allowing the Department of Health to gr

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