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Engrossed Committee Substitute House Bill 4149 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted


ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

for

H. B. 4149


(By Delegates Pino, Perry and C. White)

[Originating in the Committee on Education]


[February 6, 2002]


A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen-a, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to school consolidation and closure; public hearings; requirements; rules relating to public hearings; and report.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen-a, 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.

§18-5-13a. School closing or consolidation.

(a) In addition to the provisions of section thirteen of this article, prior to any final decision of a county board of education on any proposal to close or consolidate any school, except in cases in which a construction bond issue was passed by the voters and which bond issue included the schools to be closed or consolidated, the county board of education shall:
(1) Prepare and reduce to writing its reasons and supporting data regarding such the school closing or consolidation. The written reasons required under this section shall be available for public inspection in the office of the county school superintendent during the sixty days preceding four successive weeks before the date of the public hearing required by this section; and
(2) Provide for a public hearing. Notice of which shall be advertised by publication the hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the affected school at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall contain the time and place of the hearing and the proposed action of the school county board. A copy of such the notice shall be posted at the affected school any school proposed for closure, and at each school affected by a proposed consolidation, in conspicuous working places for all professional and service personnel to observe. and such The notice shall remain posted for four successive weeks prior to the date of the required public hearing. At least a quorum of the school county board members and the county superintendent from the county wherein the an affected school is located shall attend and be present at the public hearing. Members of the public shall have the right to may be present, to submit statements and testimony, and to question county school officials at the public hearing. Any such proposal to close or consolidate any school by any county board of education shall be further subject to any current rules and regulations of the state board of education relating to school closing or consolidation: Provided, That after the effective date of this section the state board shall promulgate rules and regulations which shall prescribe in detail the type of supporting data a county board of education shall include as part of its written statement of reasons required by this section for school closing or consolidation, including the transportation time of the affected students and which shall include any data required by the state board of education to amend a county's comprehensive educational facilities plan.
This section shall take effect on the date of passage and shall affect any school not physically closed or consolidated as of that date: Provided, That the written reasons shall include all supporting data required by the state board of education to amend a county's comprehensive education facilities plan.
(3) At least sixty days prior to any public hearing on school closure or consolidation required by subsection (2) of this section, the county board of education shall provide its reasons and supporting data regarding the school closure or consolidation to the local school improvement council representing an affected school which is proposed to be closed or consolidated, and any school which will receive the students who are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation. Any local school improvement council representing an affected school may submit findings and recommendations to the county board of education relating to the proposed closure or consolidation prior to or at the public hearing.
(b) The state board shall provide by rule, and in detail, the type of supporting data a county board shall include as part of its written statement of reason required by this section for school closing or consolidation. The rule shall require at least the following data:
(1) The transportation time of the affected students; and
(2) Any data required by the state board to amend a county's comprehensive educational facilities plan.
(c) The state board shall promulgate a rule, in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, that establishes the procedure to be followed by county boards when conducting a public hearing on the issues of school consolidation and closing.
(1) In developing the rule, the state board shall consult with groups representing the various education and community interests. The groups include, but are not limited to, professional organizations representing teachers, administrators, service personnel, and boards of education, school parent-teacher groups, and
groups organized for the purposes of opposing and supporting particular school closings and consolidations.
(2) The rule shall provide standards for at least the following:
(A) The appropriate forum and venue for public hearings to be held;
(B) A process for affording interested parties the opportunity for their perspectives to be expressed; and
(C) Scheduling and organizing public hearings when more than one school within a county is proposed for consolidation or closure.
(3) It is the purpose of this subsection to provide for uniformity among the counties in the procedures followed when scheduling, organizing and conducting public hearings on the issues of school consolidation and closure. The state board shall develop the rule by the first day of September, two thousand two. The board shall present the rule to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability during the October, two thousand two, interim meeting period.


Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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