Committee Substitute
House Bill 2224 History
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COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2224
(By Delegates Proudfoot and Lindsey)
(Originating in the House Committee on Education)
[March 9, 1993]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article five,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to whom public
schools are open; and requiring county board approval prior
to public school enrollment by student suspended or expelled
from public or private school.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article five, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-15. School term; exception; levies; ages of persons to
whom schools are open.
(a) The board shall provide a school term for its schools
which shall be comprised of (1) an employment term for teachers
and (2) an instructional term for pupils. Nothing in this
section shall prohibit the establishment of year-round schools in
accordance with rules to be established by the state board.
The employment term for teachers shall be no less than ten
months, a month to be defined as twenty employment days exclusive
of Saturdays and Sundays:
Provided,
That the board may contract
with all or part of the personnel for a longer term. The
employment term shall be fixed within such beginning and closing
dates as established by the state board:
Provided, however,
That
the time between the beginning and closing dates does not exceed
forty-three weeks.
Within the employment term there shall be an instructional
term for pupils of not less than one hundred eighty nor more than
one hundred eighty-five instructional days:
Provided,
That the
minimum instructional term may be decreased, by order of the
state superintendent of schools, in any West Virginia county
declared to be a federal disaster area by the federal emergency
management agency. Instructional and noninstructional activities
may be scheduled during the same employment day.
Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day shall be
minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach. The
instructional term shall commence no earlier than the first day
of September and shall terminate no later than the eighth day of
June.
Noninstructional days in the employment term may be used for
making up canceled instructional days, curriculum development,
preparation for opening and closing of the instructional term,
in-service and professional training of teachers, teacher-pupil-
parent conferences, professional meetings and other related
activities. In addition, each board shall designate and schedule
for teachers and service personnel six days to be used by theemployee outside the school environment. However, no more than
eight noninstructional days, except holidays, may be scheduled
prior to the first day of January in a school term.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the
contrary, if the board has canceled instructional days equal to
the difference between the total instructional days scheduled and
one hundred seventy-eight, each succeeding instructional day
canceled shall be rescheduled, utilizing only the remaining
noninstructional days, except holidays, following such
cancellation, which are available prior to the second day before
the end of the employment term established by such county board.
Where the employment term overlaps a teacher's or service
personnel's participation in a summer institute or institution of
higher education for the purpose of advancement or professional
growth, the teacher or service personnel may substitute, with the
approval of the county superintendent, such participation for not
more than five of the noninstructional days of the employment
term.
The board may extend the instructional term beyond one
hundred eighty-five instructional days provided the employment
term is extended an equal number of days. If the state revenues
and regular levies, as provided by law, are insufficient to
enable the board of education to provide for the school term, the
board may at any general or special election, if petitioned by at
least five percent of the qualified voters in the district,
submit the question of additional levies to the voters. If at
the election a majority of the qualified voters cast their
ballots in favor of the additional levy, the board shall fix theterm and lay a levy necessary to pay the cost of the additional
term. The additional levy fixed by the election shall not
continue longer than five years without submission to the voters.
The additional rate shall not exceed by more than one hundred
percent the maximum school rate prescribed by article eight,
chapter eleven of the code, as amended.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that excess levies as
they currently exist create unequal educational opportunities
from county to county based on the difference in the will of the
voters and also based on the differences in property wealth among
the counties; that prior to the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four, the Legislature shall proceed to
equalize educational opportunities over and above the
opportunities afforded by each county's property values by
considering the existence or nonexistence of excess levies as a
factor in the distribution of equity moneys; and that on and
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
four, the Legislature shall implement a plan for the equitable
distribution of funds so as to eliminate the inequities resulting
from county excess levies.
(c) The public schools shall be open for the full
instructional term to all persons who have attained the entrance
age as stated in section five, article two and section eighteen,
article five, chapter eighteen of this code:
Provided,
That any
student suspended or expelled from public or private school shall
only be permitted to enroll in public school upon the approval of
the board of education of the county where the student seeks
enrollment:
Provided, however,
That in making such decision, theprincipal of the school in which the student may enroll shall be
consulted by the superintendent and the principal may make a
recommendation to the superintendent concerning the student's
enrollment in his or her new school:
Provided further,
That
persons over the age of twenty-one may enter only those programs
or classes authorized by the state board of education and deemed
appropriate by the county board of education conducting any such
program or class:
And provided however further,
That
authorization for such programs or classes shall in no way serve
to affect or eliminate programs or classes offered by county
boards of education at the adult level for which fees are charged
to support such programs or classes.