CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice allowed a bill to become law on Wednesday, but without signing it, saying, “I fear we’re heading down the wrong path with our high school athletes.”

House Bill 2820 became a law on Wednesday after Justice did not sign or veto it. According to West Virginia State Code, if the governor does not sign or veto a bill within a certain time frame, it automatically becomes law. The bill allows HOPE Scholarship recipients who are moving from a public to private or homeschool to participate in sports and extracurricular activities, which Gov. Justice said he supports, but in a Wednesday press release, he also voiced concern for the future of high school sports.

“I fully support the ability of our HOPE scholarship recipients, students in microschools or learning pods, homeschooled students, or our private school students to participate in extracurricular activities at their school or at their local public school,” Gov. Justice said. “However, the extra provision in this bill which allows all public school students to transfer schools and retain athletic eligibility one time during their four years of high school is something I have a big problem with.”

The HOPE Scholarship offers funding to give parents the option to build an “individual learning experience” for their child, according to the scholarship’s website, such as a private school or homeschool option.

Despite his support for the scholarship, Justice continued that he is concerned that the bill will allow students to transfer with no academic reason and “with no purpose other than jumping to a better athletic team.”

“I couldn’t veto this bill because I strongly support allowing our HOPE scholarship recipients, students in microschools or learning pods, homeschooled students, and our private school students to participate in extracurricular activities across the board,” Justice said. “However, I will ask the Legislature next session to revisit the transfer rules, because if we don’t, I fear we’re heading down the wrong path with our high school athletes and opening up the door to many unintended consequences.”

For the past several years, private schools in West Virginia have been considered a higher class than their population warrants because they are generally considered to have an advantage over rural schools of the same size.