WEST virginia legislature

2022 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 4467

By Delegates Hanshaw (Mr. Speaker), Summers, Toney, Rowan, Cooper, Anderson, Jennings, Queen, Young, Tully, and Clark

[Originating in the Committee on Finance; February 25, 2022.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-18d, relating to establishing a model project to provide early childhood classroom assistant teachers in certain grade levels and enrollment levels in said grade levels.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.

ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-5-18d. Model project for additional early childhood classroom assistant teachers.

(a) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the State Superintendent shall select three hundred first grade classrooms having more than 12 students each to establish and implement a model project wherein an early childhood classroom assistant teacher shall be hired and placed in each classroom. The State Superintendent shall determine criteria to select the classrooms for the model project and shall establish a mechanism to assess the impact of the placement of an early childhood classroom assistant teacher. The model project shall conclude at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Annually, the State Superintendent shall request a legislative appropriation in an amount sufficient to fund the model project.

(b) The State Superintendent shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability by August 1, 2024, and every year thereafter, its findings and recommendations, if any, regarding the implementation and impact of the model project.