H. B. 2595
(By Delegates Harrison, Mathews, Carmichael, Fahey, Overington,
L. Smith and Beach)
[Originating in the Committee on Education
]
[February 28, 2001]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article eight, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section two, article nine-a of said chapter, all relating to
instruction of children in the home or other approved place;
requiring county board reports on exemptions to compulsory
school attendance; providing for equal instructional terms;
removing expired provisions; requiring a certified copy of
birth certificate with request for certain exemptions from
compulsory school attendance; requiring test giver for home
instructed students to submit signed statement that test
given in accordance with standardized conditions; requiring
that teachers preparing portfolio assessment narratives be state licensed or certified teachers and that persons
preparing narrative sign the narrative; removing requirement
that person providing home instruction have formal education
at least four years higher than most academically advanced
student; providing time period for improvement of low test
scores; authorizing child receiving home instruction to take
same standardized test administered in public schools at
county board expense, including scoring; providing for test
administration, reporting of scores, remediation, and
condition for loss of exemption; permitting certain students
exempted from compulsory school attendance to take public
school classes on internet with certain conditions and
receive high school credit; permitting certain private
school students to take classes in a public school under
certain conditions; permitting home instructed and other
exempted students to participate in public school extra
curricular activities under certain conditions; and
including home instructed and certain other exempted
students in net enrollment count of public school support
plan.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section two, article
nine-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-1. Commencement and termination of compulsory school
attendance; exemptions.
Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the school
year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to the first
day of September of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly
supported kindergarten program and continue to the sixteenth
birthday.
Exemption from the foregoing requirements of compulsory
public school attendance shall be made on behalf of any child for
the following causes or conditions, each such cause or condition
being subject to confirmation by the attendance authority of the
county
. No exemption from compulsory school attendance, except
Exemptions A and K as herein provided, shall be granted for a
child of compulsory school age unless the person requesting the
exemption for the first time presents a copy of the child's
original birth record certified by the state registrar of vital statistics confirming the child's identity, age, and state file
number of the original birth record to the attendance authority
of the county subject to and in conformity with the provisions of
the provisions of section five-c, article two of this chapter
relating to birth certificates required upon admission to the
public schools: Provided, That nothing shall require the
presentation of a second copy of the birth certificate if one was
previously filed with the county superintendent or the child was
previously enrolled in the public schools of the state. The
county board shall annually report to the department of education
the type of exemption granted,
the number of students granted an
exemption and student progress as indicated by student test
scores or other measures authorized pursuant to this section as
applicable:
Exemption A. Instruction in a private, parochial or other
approved school. -- Such instruction shall be in a school
approved by the county board of education and for a time equal to
the school term instructional term for pupils of the county for
the year. In all such schools it shall be the duty of the
principal or other person in control, upon the request of the
county superintendent of schools, to furnish to the county board of education such information and records as may be required with
respect to attendance, instruction and progress of pupils
enrolled between the entrance age and sixteen years;
Exemption B. Instruction in home or other approved place.
-- (a) Such instruction shall be in the home of such child or
children or at some other place approved by the county board of
education and for a time equal to the school term instructional
term for pupils
of the county. If such request for home
instruction is denied by the county board of education, good and
reasonable justification for such denial must be furnished in
writing to the applicant by the county board of education. The
instruction in such cases shall be conducted by a person or
persons who, in the judgment of the county superintendent and
county board of education, are qualified to give instruction in
subjects required to be taught in the free elementary schools of
the state. It shall be the duty of the person or persons
providing the instruction, upon request of the county
superintendent, to furnish to the county board of education such
information and records as may be required from time to time with
respect to attendance, instruction and progress of pupils
enrolled between the entrance age and sixteen years receiving such instruction.
The state department of education board shall
develop guidelines for the home schooling of special education
students including alternative assessment measures to assure that
satisfactory academic progress is achieved.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
Exemption B, the person or persons providing home instruction
meet the requirements for Exemption B when the conditions of this
subsection are met: Provided, That the county superintendent
shall have the right to seek from the circuit court of the county
an order denying the home instruction, which order may be granted
upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the child
will suffer educational neglect or that there are other
compelling reasons to deny home instruction.
(1) The person or persons providing home instruction present
to the county superintendent or county board of education a
notice of intent to provide home instruction and the name and
address of any child of compulsory school age to be instructed
:
Provided, That if a child is enrolled in a public school, notice
of intent to provide home instruction shall be given at least two
weeks prior to withdrawing such child from public school;
(2) The person or persons providing home instruction submit satisfactory evidence of: (i) a high school diploma or
equivalent; and (ii) formal education at least four years higher
than the most academically advanced child for whom the
instruction will be provided: Provided, That during the school
year two thousand--two thousand one only, the requirement of a
formal education at least four years higher than the most
academically advanced child is waived;
(3) The person or persons providing home instruction outline
a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year; and
(4) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
annually obtain an academic assessment of the child for the
previous school year. This shall be satisfied in one of the
following ways at the option of the person or persons providing
home instruction:
(i) Any child receiving home instruction annually takes a
standardized test, to be administered at a public school in the
county where the child resides, or administered by a licensed
psychologist or other person authorized by the publisher of the
test, or administered by a person authorized by the county
superintendent or county board of education: Provided, That when
the test is not administered at a public school, the person administering the test shall submit a signed statement to the
superintendent that the test was administered under standardized
conditions as set forth by the published instructions of the
selected test
. The child shall be administered a test which has
been normed by the test publisher on that child's age or grade
group. In no event may the child's parent or legal guardian
administer the test.
Where a test is administered outside of a
public school, the child's parents or legal guardian shall pay
the cost of administering the test.
The public school or other qualified person shall administer
to children of compulsory school age the comprehensive test of
basic skills, the California achievement test, the Stanford
achievement test or the Iowa tests of basic skills, achievement
and proficiency, or an individual standardized achievement test
that is nationally normed and provides statistical results which
test will be selected by the public school, or other person
administering the test, in the subjects of language, reading,
social studies, science and mathematics and shall be administered
under standardized conditions as set forth by the published
instructions of the selected test. No test shall be administered
if the publication date is more than ten years from the date of the administration of the test. Each child's test results
shall
be reported as a national percentile for each of the five
subjects tested. Each child's test results
shall be made
available on or before the thirtieth day of June of the school
year in which the test is to be administered to the person or
persons providing home instruction, the child's parents or legal
guardian and the county superintendent. Upon request of a duly
authorized representative of the West Virginia department of
education, each child's test results shall be furnished by the
person or persons providing home instruction, or by the child's
parent or legal guardian, to the state superintendent of schools.
Upon notification that the mean of the child's test results
for any single year has fallen below the fortieth percentile, the
county board of education shall notify the parents or legal
guardian of said child, in writing, of the services available to
assist in the assessment of the child's eligibility for special
education services: Provided, That the identification of a
disability shall not preclude the continuation of home schooling.
If the mean of the child's test results for any single year
for language, reading, social studies, science and mathematics
fall below the fortieth percentile on the selected tests, then the person or persons providing home instruction shall initiate
a remedial program to foster achievement above that level. and
the student shall show improvement. If, after two calendar
years, If the
mean of the child's test results do not show
improvement on the next annual test and if the mean of the
child's test results continue to
fall below the fortieth
percentile level on the second following annual test, home
instruction shall no longer satisfy the compulsory school
attendance requirement exemption; or
(ii) The county superintendent is provided with a written
narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's
work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for
the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. This
narrative shall be prepared and signed by a teacher licensed or
certified to teach at the appropriate program level in the public
schools of West Virginia certified teacher or other person
mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the
county superintendent. It shall be submitted on or before the
thirtieth day of June of the school year covered by the
portfolio. The parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for
payment of fees charged for the narrative; or
(iii) Evidence of an alternative academic assessment of the
child's proficiency mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal
guardian and the county superintendent is submitted to the county
superintendent by the thirtieth day of June of the school year
being assessed. The parent or legal guardian shall be
responsible for payment of fees charged for the assessment. ; or
(iv) Upon timely request to the county superintendent
by the
child's parents or legal guardian or the person or persons
providing home instruction, any child receiving home instruction
may annually take the same standardized test or tests as
administered to students of the same age, age group or relevant
grade level in the state's public schools. All costs of the
purchase, scoring and administration of the test shall be paid by
the county board.
The test shall be administered at a public
school in the county where the child resides.
Each child's test
results
shall be made available on or before the thirtieth day of
June of the school year in which the test is administered to the
person or persons providing home instruction and the child's
parents or legal guardian by the county superintendent.
Upon notification that the child's test results for any
single year fall below the fortieth percentile, or in the event that the test used in the public schools is not a nationally
normed test, then the level established by the state board as
acceptable for public school students in the age, age group or
relevant grade level and subject matter tested, the county board
shall notify the parents or legal guardian of said child, in
writing, of the services available to assist in the assessment of
the child's eligibility for special education services:
Provided, That the identification of a disability shall not
preclude the continuation of home schooling.
If the child's test results for any single year fall below
the fortieth percentile or acceptable level, then the person or
persons providing home instruction shall initiate a remedial
program to foster achievement above that level. If the child's
test results do not show improvement on the next annual test and
if the child's test results continue to fall below the fortieth
percentile level or acceptable level on the second following
annual test, home instruction shall no longer satisfy the
compulsory school attendance requirement exemption.
(c) The superintendent or a designee shall offer such
assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials and
available resources, as may assist the person or persons providing home instruction subject to their availability. Any
child receiving home instruction or private instruction pursuant
to Exemptions B and K of this section may, upon approval of the
county board of education, exercise the option to attend any
class offered by the county board of education as the person or
persons providing home instruction or whose child is receiving
private instruction may deem appropriate subject to
preregistration at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the
instructional term or semester as applicable and any other normal
registration and attendance requirements.
(d) When classes recognized as part of the public school
curriculum are available over the internet, any child exempted
from compulsory school attendance pursuant to Exemptions B and K
of this section shall, at the discretion of the parents or legal
guardian, be permitted to take any such classes subject to
registration requirements as shall be established by the state
board. The county superintendent shall provide the child with
the same textbooks and other curricular materials for public
school classes taken via the internet as are provided to students
taking such classes in the public schools: Provided, That nothing
in this section shall require the public schools to provide exempted students with computers and other technology and
services necessary for access to the internet. Any child who
takes public school classes via the internet shall go into the
public school each grading period to take a monitored test
covering the subject matter of the class or classes. The test
shall be administered by the county test coordinator or his or
her designee. Any child who completes public school classes via
the internet shall receive the same public school credit for the
class as is provided to students completing the class in a
traditional classroom setting in the public schools and such
credits when awarded for classes at the high school level shall
be applied toward the award of a public school diploma.
(e) Any child receiving home or private instruction pursuant
to Exemptions B or K of this section who takes a combined total
of two or more credits per semester under a straight block
schedule or three or more credits per semester under another form
of schedule, which credits are in core courses or core electives
taken in the public schools or via the internet in accordance
with subdivision (d) of this exemption,
shall be eligible to
participate in all extra curricular activities at the school in
the attendance area in which the child resides, including sports, as are offered to students in the public school: Provided, That
home instructed students meet the same attendance and academic
performance requirements for the activity as public school
students with respect to the credits taken.
(d) The legislative oversight commission on education
accountability shall conduct a study on the effects of the home
instruction exemption on the students being instructed in the
home. The study shall include, but is not limited to, the
effects that a home instructor's education attainment level has
on the academic abilities of the child instructed. As part of
the study, the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability shall collect data relating to students who are
instructed under the home school exception, including, but not
limited to, assessment test scores or performance on other
assessment mechanisms, the number of students who are instructed
under the home school exemption, the grade level at which the
students are being instructed and the age of the students:
Provided, That the names of the students shall not be collected.
The legislative oversight commission shall collect the data and
complete the study on or before the first day of December, two
thousand.
Exemption C. Physical or mental incapacity. -- Physical or
mental incapacity shall consist of incapacity for school
attendance and the performance of school work. In all cases of
prolonged absence from school due to incapacity of the child to
attend, the written statement of a licensed physician or
authorized school nurse shall be required under the provisions of
this article: Provided, That in all cases incapacity shall be
narrowly defined and in no case shall the provisions of this
article allow for the exclusion of the mentally, physically,
emotionally or behaviorally handicapped child otherwise entitled
to a free appropriate education;
Exemption D. Residence more than two miles from school or
school bus route. -- The distance of residence from a school, or
school bus route providing free transportation, shall be reckoned
by the shortest practicable road or path, which contemplates
travel through fields by right of permission from the landholders
or their agents. It shall be the duty of the county board of
education, subject to written consent of landholders, or their
agents, to provide and maintain safe foot bridges across streams
off the public highways where such are required for the safety
and welfare of pupils whose mode of travel from home to school or to school bus route must necessarily be other than along the
public highway in order for said road or path to be not over two
miles from home to school or to school bus providing free
transportation;
Exemption E. Hazardous conditions. -- Conditions rendering
school attendance impossible or hazardous to the life, health or
safety of the child;
Exemption F. High school graduation. -- Such exemption shall
consist of regular graduation from a standard senior high school;
Exemption G. Granting work permits. -- The county
superintendent may, after due investigation, grant work permits
to youths under sixteen years of age, subject to state and federal
labor laws and regulations: Provided, That a work permit may not
be granted on behalf of any youth who has not completed the eighth
grade of school;
Exemption H. Serious illness or death in the immediate
family of the pupil. -- It is expected that the county attendance
director will ascertain the facts in all cases of such absences
about which information is inadequate and report same to the
county superintendent of schools;
Exemption I. Destitution in the home. -- Exemption based on a condition of extreme destitution in the home may be granted only
upon the written recommendation of the county attendance director
to the county superintendent following careful investigation of
the case. A copy of the report confirming such condition and
school exemption shall be placed with the county director of
public assistance. This enactment contemplates every reasonable
effort that may properly be taken on the part of both school and
public assistance authorities for the relief of home conditions
officially recognized as being so destitute as to deprive children
of the privilege of school attendance. Exemption for this cause
shall not be allowed when such destitution is relieved through
public or private means;
Exemption J. Church ordinances; observances of regular
church ordinances. -- The county board of education may approve
exemption for religious instruction upon written request of the
person having legal or actual charge of a child or children:
Provided, That such exemption shall be subject to the rules
prescribed by the county superintendent and approved by the county
board of education;
Exemption K. Alternative private, parochial, church or
religious school instruction. -- In lieu of the provisions of Exemption A herein above, exemption shall be made for any child
attending any private school, parochial school, church school,
school operated by a religious order or other nonpublic school
which elects to comply with the provisions of article
twenty-eight, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia.
The completion of the eighth grade shall not exempt any child
under sixteen years of age from the compulsory attendance
provision of this article: Provided, That there is a public high
school or other public school of advanced grades or a school bus
providing free transportation to any such school, the route of
which is within two miles of the child's home by the shortest
practicable route or path as hereinbefore specified under
Exemption D of this section.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-2. Definitions.
For the purpose of this article:
"State board" means the West Virginia board of education.
"County board" or "board" means a county board of education.
"Professional salaries" means the state legally mandated
salaries of the professional educators as provided in article
four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
"Professional educator" shall be synonymous with and shall have the same meaning as "teacher" as defined in section one,
article one, chapter eighteen of this code.
"Professional instructional personnel" means a professional
educator whose regular duty is as that of a classroom teacher,
librarian, counselor, attendance director, school psychologist
or school nurse with a bachelors degree and who is licensed by the
West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional
nurses. A professional educator having both instructional and
administrative or other duties shall be included as professional
instructional personnel for that ratio of the school day for which
he is assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis in
appropriate instruction, library, counseling, attendance,
psychologist or nursing duties.
"Service personnel salaries" shall mean the state legally
mandated salaries for service personnel as provided in section
eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
"Service personnel" shall mean all personnel as provided for
in section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
For the purpose of computations under this article of ratios of
service personnel to adjusted enrollment, a service employee shall
be counted as that number found by dividing his number of employment days in a fiscal year by two hundred: Provided, That
the computation for any such person employed for three and one-
half hours or less per day as provided in section eight-a, article
four, chapter eighteen-a of this code shall be calculated as one
half an employment day.
"Net enrollment" means the number of pupils enrolled in
special education programs, kindergarten programs and grades one
to twelve, inclusive, of the public schools of the county.
Commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, net enrollment
further shall include adults enrolled in regular secondary
vocational programs existing as of the effective date of this
section: Provided, That net enrollment shall include no more than
one thousand such adults counted on the basis of full-time
equivalency and apportioned annually to each county in proportion
to the adults participating in regular secondary vocational
programs in the prior year counted on the basis of full-time
equivalency: Provided, however, That no tuition or special fees
beyond that required of the regular secondary vocational student
is charged for such adult students. Commencing with the school
year beginning on the first day of July, two thousand one, net enrollment shall include
each child receiving home instruction
pursuant to Exemption B, section one, article eight of this
chapter, counted as one-half full-time equivalent student.
Commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of
July, two thousand one,
net enrollment shall include each child
exempted from compulsory school attendance pursuant to said
Exemption B who takes credit classes in a public school or who
takes credit classes recognized as part of the public school
curriculum via the internet as provided in section one, article
eight of this chapter, counted as an additional one-sixth full-
time equivalent student for each such credit class taken up to a
combined total of three credit classes during the school year.
Commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of
July, two thousand one,
net enrollment shall include each child
exempted from compulsory school attendance pursuant to Exemptions
A and K, section one, article eight of this chapter, who takes
credit classes in a public school or who takes credit classes
recognized as part of the public school curriculum via the
internet as provided in section one, article eight of this
chapter, counted as one-third full-time equivalent student for
each such credit class taken up to a combined total of three credit classes during the school year.
"Adjusted enrollment" means the net enrollment plus twice the
number of pupils enrolled for special education. Commencing with
the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety, adjusted enrollment means the net enrollment
plus twice the number of pupils enrolled for special education,
including exceptional gifted, plus the number of pupils in grades
nine through twelve enrolled for honors and advanced placement
programs, plus the number of pupils enrolled on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, in the gifted program
in grades nine through twelve: Provided, That commencing with the
school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety, no more than four percent of net enrollment of
grades one through eight may be counted as enrolled in gifted
education and no more than six percent of net enrollment of grades
nine through twelve may be counted as enrolled in gifted
education, exceptional gifted education (subject to the limitation
set forth in section one, article twenty of this chapter) and
honors and advanced placement programs for the purpose of
determining adjusted enrollment within a county: Provided,
however, That nothing herein shall be construed to limit the number of students who may actually enroll in gifted, honors or
advanced placement education programs in any county: Provided
further, That until the school year beginning on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, the preceding
percentage limitations shall not restrict the adjusted enrollment
definition for a county to the extent that those limitations are
exceeded by students enrolled in gifted education programs on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine: And
provided further, That no pupil may be counted more than three
times for the purpose of determining adjusted enrollment. Such
enrollment shall be adjusted to the equivalent of the
instructional term and in accordance with such eligibility
requirements and rules as established by the state board. No
pupil shall be counted more than once by reason of transfer within
the county or from another county within the state, and no pupil
shall be counted who attends school in this state from another
state.
"Levies for general current expense purposes" means ninety-
eight percent of the levy rate for county boards of education
calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to the provisions
of section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this code.
"Basic resources per pupil" for the state and the several
counties means the total of (a) ninety-five percent of the
property tax revenues computed at the levy rate for county boards
of education calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to the
provisions of section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of
this code, , but excluding revenues from increased levies as
provided in section ten, article X of the Constitution of West
Virginia, and (b) basic state aid as provided in sections twelve
and thirteen of this article, but excluding the foundation
allowance to improve instructional programs as provided in section
ten of this article, and excluding any funds appropriated for the
purpose of achieving salary equity among county board employees,
this total divided by the number of students in adjusted
enrollment: Provided, That beginning with the school year
commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one, and thereafter, the foundation allowance for
transportation costs as provided in section seven of this article
shall also be excluded and the total shall be divided by the
number of students in net enrollment: Provided, however, That any
year's allocations to the counties of the eighty percent portion
of the foundation allowance to improve instructional programs, as provided in section ten of this article, shall be determined on
the basis of the immediately preceding school year's basic
resources per pupil.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
