H. B. 4501
(By Delegates Fragale, DeLong, Martin,
Louisos, Perry, Duke, Sumner and Paxton)
[Introduced February 13, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-18a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing the compensation for
aides and para-professionals with large numbers of pupils in
kindergarten and grades one through six.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-18a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-18a. Maximum teacher-pupil ratio.
County boards of education shall provide, by the school year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-three--eighty-four, and
thereafter, sufficient personnel, equipment and facilities as will
ensure that each first and second grade classroom, or classrooms
having two or more grades that include either the first or second
grades shall not have more than twenty-five pupils for each teacher of the grade or grades and shall not have more than twenty pupils
for each kindergarten teacher per session, unless the state
superintendent has excepted a specific classroom upon application
therefor by a county board.
County boards shall provide by the school year one thousand
nine hundred eighty-four--eighty-five, and continue thereafter,
sufficient personnel, equipment and facilities as will ensure that
each third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade classroom, or classrooms
having two or more grades that include one or more of the third,
fourth, fifth and sixth grades, shall not have more than
twenty-five pupils for each teacher of the grade or grades.
Beginning with the school year one thousand nine hundred
eighty-six--eighty-seven, and thereafter, no county shall maintain
a greater number of classrooms having two or more grades that
include one or more of the grade levels referred to in this section
than were in existence in said county as of the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-three: Provided,
That
for the prior school years, and only if there is insufficient
classroom space available in the school or county, a county may
maintain one hundred ten percent of such number of classrooms.
During the school year one thousand nine hundred eighty-four--
eighty-five, and thereafter, the state superintendent is
authorized, consistent with sound educational policy, (a) to permit
on a statewide basis, in grades four through six, more than twenty-five pupils per teacher in a classroom for the purposes of
instruction in physical education, and (b) to permit more than
twenty pupils per teacher in a specific kindergarten classroom and
twenty-five pupils per teacher in a specific classroom in grades
one through six during a school year in the event of extraordinary
circumstances as determined by the state superintendent after
application by a county board of education.
The state board shall establish guidelines for the exceptions
authorized in this section, but in no event shall the
superintendent except classrooms having more than three pupils
above the pupil-teacher ratio as set forth in this section.
The requirement for approval of an exception to exceed the
twenty pupils per kindergarten teacher per session limit or the
twenty-five pupils per teacher limit in grades one through six is
waived in schools where the school-wide pupil-teacher ratio is
twenty-five or less in grades one through six: Provided,
That a
teacher shall not have more than three pupils above the
teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section. Any
pre-kindergarten or kindergarten teacher who has more than twenty
pupils per session and any classroom teacher of grades one through
six who has more than twenty-five pupils shall be paid additional
compensation based on the affected classroom teacher's average
daily salary divided by twenty for kindergarten teachers or
twenty-five for teachers of grades one through six for every day times the number of additional pupils enrolled up to the maximum
pupils permitted in the teacher's classroom. Any pre-kindergarten
aide, kindergarten aide or para-professional who has more than
twenty pupils per session, or any aide or para-professional in
grades one through six who has more than twenty-five pupils per
session, shall be paid additional compensation based on the
affected employee's average daily salary divided by twenty for
kindergarten aides or para-professionals, or the average daily
salary divided by twenty-five for aides or para-professionals in
grades one through six, for every day times the number of
additional pupils enrolled up to the maximum number of pupils
permitted in the classroom. All such additional compensation shall
be paid from county funds exclusively.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, commencing with the school year beginning on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, a teacher in
grades one, two or three or classrooms having two or more such
grade levels, shall not have more than two pupils above the
teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section: Provided,
That
commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, such teacher shall not have
more than one pupil above the teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in
this section: Provided, however,
That commencing with the school
year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, such teacher shall not have any pupils above the
teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section.
No provision of this section is intended to limit the number
of pupils per teacher in a classroom for the purpose of instruction
in choral, band or orchestra music.
Each school principal shall assign students equitably among
the classroom teachers, taking into consideration reasonable
differences due to subject areas and/or grade levels.
The state board shall collect from each county board of
education information on class size and the number of pupils per
teacher for all classes in grades seven through twelve. The state
board shall report such information to the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Education Accountability before the first day of
January of each year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the
compensation for aides and para-professionals with large numbers of
pupils in kindergarten and grades one through six.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.