COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4368
(By Delegates DeLong, Caputo, Fragale, M. Poling,
D. Poling and Tucker)
(Originating in the Committee on Education)
[February 20, 2008]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5A-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §18A-5-1 of said code;
and to further amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §18A-5-1c, all relating to student
behavior and discipline in schools; reducing school violence
and disorderly conduct; alternative learning settings;
establishing and implementing consistent and effective
discipline policies; legislative findings; and establishing
the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5A-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §18A-5-1 of said code be amended and
reenacted; and that said code be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-5-1c, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-2. Local school improvement councils; election.
(a) A local school improvement council shall be established at
every school consisting of the following:
(1) The principal, who
shall serve serves as an ex officio
member of the council and
be is entitled to vote;
(2) Three teachers elected by the faculty senate of the
school;
(3)
Two One bus operator who transports students enrolled at
the school and one school service
personnel person, each elected by
the school service personnel employed at the school;
(4) Three parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of students
enrolled at the school elected by the parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) members of the school's parent teacher organization.
Provided, That If there is no parent teacher organization, the
parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) members shall be elected by
the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of students enrolled at
the school in such manner as may be determined by the principal;
(5) Two at-large members appointed by the principal, one of
whom resides in the school's attendance area and one of whom
represents business or industry, neither of whom is eligible for membership under any of the other elected classes of members;
(6) In the case of vocational-technical schools, the
vocational director.
Provided, That If there is no vocational
director, then the principal may appoint no more than two
additional representatives, one of whom represents business and one
of whom represents industry;
(7) In the case of a school with students in grade seven or
higher, the student body president or other student in grade seven
or higher elected by the student body in those grades.
(b) Under no circumstances may more than one parent member of
the council be then employed at that school in any capacity.
(c) The principal shall arrange for such elections to be held
prior to the fifteenth day of September of each school year to
elect a council and shall give notice of the elections at least one
week prior to the elections being held. To the extent practicable,
all elections to select council members shall be held within the
same week.
(d) Parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s), teachers and
service personnel elected to the council shall serve a two-year
term and elections shall be arranged in such a manner that no more
than two teachers, no more than two parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) and no more than one service person are elected in a
given year. All other non-ex officio members shall serve one-year terms.
(e) Council members may only be replaced upon death,
resignation, failure to appear at three consecutive meetings of the
council for which notice was given, or a change in personal
circumstances so that the person is no longer representative of the
class of members from which appointed. In the case of a vacancy in
an elected
membership position, the chair of the council shall
appoint another qualified person to serve the unexpired term of the
person being replaced or, in the case of an appointed member of the
council, the principal shall appoint a replacement as soon as
practicable.
(f) As soon as practicable after the election of council
members, and no later than the first day of October of each school
year, the principal shall convene an organizational meeting of the
school improvement council. The principal shall notify each member
in writing at least two employment days in advance of the
organizational meeting. At this meeting, the principal shall
provide each member with the following:
(1) A copy of the current applicable sections of this code;
(2) Any state board rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to
the operation of these councils; and
(3) Any information as may be developed by the department of
education on the operation and powers of local school improvement councils and their important role in improving student and school
performance and progress.
(g) The council shall elect from its membership a chair and
two members to assist the chair in setting the agenda for each
council meeting. The chair shall serve a term of one year and
no
a person may
not serve as chair for more than two consecutive
terms. If the chair's position becomes vacant for any reason, the
principal shall call a meeting of the council to elect another
qualified person to serve the unexpired term. Once elected, the
chair is responsible for notifying each member of the school
improvement council in writing two employment days in advance of
any council meeting.
(h) School improvement councils shall meet at least once every
nine weeks or equivalent grading period at the call of the chair or
by three fourths of its members.
(i) The local school improvement council shall meet at least
annually with the county board, in accordance with the provisions
in section fourteen, article five of this chapter. At this annual
meeting, the local school improvement council chair, or another
member designated by the chair, shall be prepared to address any
matters as may be requested by the county board as specified in the
meeting agenda provided to the council and may further provide any
other information, comments or suggestions the local school improvement council wishes to bring to the county board's
attention. Anything presented under this subsection shall be
submitted to the county board in writing.
(j) School improvement councils shall be considered for the
receipt of school of excellence awards under section three of this
article and competitive grant awards under section twenty-nine,
article two of this chapter and may receive and expend such grants
for the purposes provided in such section. In any and all matters
which may fall within the scope of both the school improvement
councils and the school curriculum teams authorized in section five
of this article, the school curriculum teams
shall be deemed to
have jurisdiction.
(k) In order to promote innovations and improvements in the
environment for teaching and learning at the school, a school
improvement council shall receive cooperation from the school in
implementing policies and programs it may adopt to:
(1) Encourage the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) in their child's educational process and in the
school;
(2) Encourage businesses to provide time for their employees
who are parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) to meet with
teachers concerning their child's education;
(3) Encourage advice and suggestions from the business community;
(4) Encourage school volunteer programs and mentorship
programs; and
(5) Foster utilization of the school facilities and grounds
for public community activities.
(k) On or before the eighth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five
(l) Each local school improvement council
annually shall
develop and deliver a report to the countywide council on
productive and safe schools. The report shall include:
(1) Guidelines for the instruction and rehabilitation of
pupils students who have been excluded from the classroom,
suspended from the school or expelled from the school, the
description and recommendation of in-school suspension programs, a
description of possible alternative settings, schedules for
instruction and alternative education programs and an
implementation schedule for such guidelines. The guidelines shall
include the following:
(1) (A) A system to provide for effective communication and
coordination between school and local emergency services agencies;
(2) (B) A preventive discipline program which may include the
responsible students program devised by the West Virginia board of
education as adopted by the county board,
of education pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e), section one, article five,
chapter eighteen-a of this code; and
(3) (C) A student involvement program, which may include the
peer mediation program or programs devised by the West Virginia
board of education as adopted by the county board,
of education
pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e), section one, article
five, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
and
(2) The local school improvement council's findings regarding
its examination of the following, which also shall be reported to
the county superintendent:
(A) Disciplinary measures at the school; and
(B) The
fairness and consistency of disciplinary actions at
the school. If the council believes that student discipline at the
school is not enforced fairly or consistently, it shall transmit
that determination in writing, along with supporting information,
to the county superintendent. Within ten days of receiving the
report, the superintendent, or designee, shall respond in writing
to the council. The county board shall retain and file all such
correspondence and maintain it for public review.
(C) Any report or communication made as required by this
subdivision shall comply with any applicable provision of state,
federal or county board policy, rule or law, as appropriate,
regarding student privacy rights.
(l) (m) The council may include in its report to the county-
wide council on productive and safe schools provisions of the state
board of education policy 4373, student code of conduct, or any
expansion of such policy which increases the safety of students in
schools in this state and is consistent with the policies and other
laws of this state.
(m) (n) Councils may adopt their own guidelines established
under this section. In addition, the councils may adopt all or any
part of the guidelines proposed by other local school improvement
councils, as developed under this section, which are not
inconsistent with the laws of this state, the policies of the West
Virginia board of education or the policies of the county board. of
education
(n) (o) The state board of education shall provide assistance
to a local school improvement council upon receipt of a reasonable
request for that assistance. The state board also may solicit
proposals from other parties or entities to provide orientation
training for local school improvement council members and may enter
into contracts or agreements for that purpose. Any training for
members shall meet the guidelines established by the state board.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-1. Authority of teachers and other school personnel; exclusion of pupils students having infectious
diseases; suspension or expulsion of disorderly
pupils students; corporal punishment abolished.
(a) The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) in exercising authority over the school
and
shall have has control of all
pupils students enrolled in the
school from the time they reach the school until they have returned
to their respective homes, except that where transportation of
pupils students is provided, the driver in charge of the school bus
or other mode of transportation shall exercise such authority and
control over the
children students while they are in transit to and
from the school.
(b) Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education, the
teacher shall exclude from the school any
pupil or pupils student
known to have or suspected of having any infectious disease, or any
pupil or pupils who have student who has been exposed to any
infectious disease, and shall immediately notify the proper health
officer or medical inspector of the exclusion. Any
pupil student
so excluded
shall may not be readmitted to the school until the
pupil he or she has complied with all the requirements of the rules
governing those cases or has presented a certificate of health
signed by the medical inspector or other proper health officer.
(c) The teacher may exclude from his or her classroom or school bus any
pupil student who is guilty of disorderly conduct;
who in any manner interferes with an orderly educational process;
who threatens, abuses or otherwise intimidates or attempts to
intimidate a school employee or a
pupil student; who willfully
disobeys a school employee; or who uses abusive or profane language
directed at a school employee. Any
pupil student excluded shall be
placed under the control of the principal of the school or a
designee. The excluded
pupil student may be admitted to the
classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee,
provides written certification to the teacher that the
pupil
student may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of
disciplinary action, if any,
which that was taken. If the
principal finds that disciplinary action is warranted, he or she
shall provide written and, if possible, telephonic notice of the
action to the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s). When a
teacher excludes the same pupil from his or her student is excluded
from a classroom,
the school or
from a school
bus two times in one
semester, and after exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom
discipline provided in the school discipline plan, the
pupil
student may be readmitted to the
teacher's classroom,
and the
school or
the school bus only after the principal, teacher and, if
possible, the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the
pupil
student have held a conference to discuss the
pupil's student's disruptive behavior patterns, and the teacher and the principal
agree on a course of discipline for the
pupil student and inform
the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the course of action.
Thereafter, if the
pupil's student's disruptive behavior persists,
upon the teacher's request, the principal may, to the extent
feasible, transfer the
pupil student to another setting.
The
Legislature finds that isolating students or placing them in
alternative learning centers may be the best setting for
chronically disruptive students. The county board
of Education
shall create more alternative learning centers or placements,
subject to funding, to correct these students' behaviors so they
can return to a regular classroom without engaging in further
disruptive behavior.
(d) The Legislature finds that suspension from school is not
appropriate solely for a
pupil's student's failure to attend class.
Therefore,
no pupil may a student may not be suspended from school
solely for not attending class. Other methods of discipline may be
used for the
pupil student which may include, but are not limited
to, detention, extra class time or alternative class settings.
(e) Corporal punishment of any
pupil student by a school
employee is prohibited.
(f) Each county board is solely responsible for the
administration of proper discipline in the public schools of the county and shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions of
this section to govern disciplinary actions. These policies shall
encourage the use of alternatives to corporal punishment, providing
for the training of school personnel in alternatives to corporal
punishment and for the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) in the maintenance of school discipline. The county
boards
of education shall provide for the immediate incorporation
and implementation in the schools of a preventive discipline
program which may include the responsible student program and a
student involvement program which may include the peer mediation
program, devised by the West Virginia Board of Education. Each
county board may modify those programs to meet the particular needs
of the county. The county boards shall provide in-service training
for teachers and principals relating to assertive discipline
procedures and conflict resolution. The county boards
of education
also may establish cooperatives with private entities to provide
middle educational programs which may include programs focusing on
developing individual coping skills, conflict resolution, anger
control, self-esteem issues, stress management and decision making
for students and any other program related to preventive
discipline.
(g) For the purpose of this section:
(1) "
Pupil or Student" includes any child, youth or adult who is enrolled in any instructional program or activity conducted
under board authorization and within the facilities of or in
connection with any program under public school direction:
Provided, That, in the case of adults, the
pupil-teacher
student-teacher relationship shall terminate when the
pupil student
leaves the school or other place of instruction or activity;
(2) "Teacher" means all professional educators as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter and
shall include includes
the driver of a school bus or other mode of transportation; and
(3) "Principal" means the principal, assistant principal, vice
principal or the administrative head of the school or a
professional personnel designee of the principal or the
administrative head of the school.
(h) Teachers shall exercise other authority and perform other
duties prescribed for them by law or by the rules of the state
board not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and
chapter eighteen of this code.
§18A-5-1c. Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The mission of public schools is to prepare students for
equal and responsible citizenship and productive adulthood;
(2) Democratic citizenship and productive adulthood begin with standards of conduct in schools;
(3) Schools should be safe havens for learning with high
standards of conduct for students; and
(4) Rights necessarily carry responsibilities.
(b) In recognition of the findings in this section, the
following Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel is established:
(1) The right to attend a school and ride a bus that is safe,
orderly and drug free;
(2) The right to learn and work in a school that has clear
discipline codes with fair and consistently enforced consequences
for misbehavior;
(3) The right to learn and work in a school that has
alternative educational placements for violent or chronically
disruptive students;
(4) The right to be treated with courtesy and respect;
(5) The right to a attend a school and ride on a bus that is
free from bullying;
(6) The right to support from school administrators when
enforcing discipline policies;
(7) The right to support from parents, the community, public
officials and businesses in their efforts to uphold high standards
of conduct; and
(8) The responsibility to adhere to the principles in this
Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and School
Personnel, and to behave in a manner that guarantees that other
students and school personnel enjoy the same rights.
The purpose of this bill is to reduce acts of student violence
and disruptive behavior through the implementation of a Bill of
Rights, School Discipline Committee, series of County-wide meetings
and increased penalties for chronically disruptive students.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.