Senate Bill No. 739
(By Senators Plymale and Minard)
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[Introduced March 23, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2E-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §18-4-1, §18-4-2 and
§18-4-4 of said code; and to amend and reenact §18-5-1a of
said code, all relating to including the hours of training
county board members have acquired; interim term of county
superintendents; appointment of interim county superintendent
in cases of medical incapacitation; compensation; and county
board member training standards review committee.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2E-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §18-4-1, §18-4-2 and §18-4-4 of said
code be amended and reenacted; and that §18-5-1a of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-4. Better schools accountability; school, school district and statewide school report cards.
(a) For the purpose of providing information to the parents of
public school children and the general public on the quality of
education in the public schools which is uniform and comparable
between schools within and among the various school districts, the
state board shall prepare forms for school, school district and
statewide school report cards and shall promulgate rules concerning
the collection and reporting of data and the preparation, printing
and distribution of report cards under this section. The forms
shall provide for brief, concise reporting in nontechnical language
of required information. Any technical or explanatory material a
county board wishes to include shall be contained in a separate
appendix available to the general public upon request.
(b) The school report cards shall include information as shall
be prescribed by lawfully promulgated rule by the state board to
give the parents of students at the school and the general public
an indication of the quality of education at the school and other
programs supportive of community needs, including, but not limited
to, the following:
(1) Indicators of student performance at the school in
comparison with the county, state, regional and national student
performance, as applicable, including student performance by grade
level in the various subjects measured pursuant to a uniform
statewide assessment program adopted by the state board; school attendance rates; the percent of students not promoted to next
grade; and the graduation rate;
(2) Indicators of school performance in comparison with the
aggregate of all other schools in the county and the state, as
applicable, including average class size; percent of enrollments in
courses in high school mathematics, science, English and social
science; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics, science,
English and social science at middle, junior high and high school
grade levels; percentage distribution of students by career cluster
as indicated on the individualized student transition plan;
pupil-teacher ratio; number of exceptions to pupil-teacher ratio
requested by the county board and the number of exceptions granted;
the number of split-grade classrooms; pupil-administrator ratio;
operating expenditure per pupil; county expenditure by fund in
graphic display; and the average degree classification and years of
experience of the administrators and teachers at the school;
(3) The names of the members of the local school improvement
council, created pursuant to section two, article five-a of this
chapter; and
(4) The name or names of the business partner or partners of
the school.
In addition, every county board shall annually determine the
number of administrators, classroom teachers and service personnel
employed that exceeds the number allowed by the public school support plan and determine the amount of salary supplements that
would be available per state authorized employee if all
expenditures for the excess employees were converted to annual
salaries for state authorized administrators, classroom teachers
and service personnel within their county. The information shall
be published annually in each school report card of each such
county.
(c) The school district report card shall include the data for
each school for each separately listed applicable indicator and the
aggregate of the data for all schools, as applicable, in the county
for each indicator. The statewide school report card shall include
the data for each county for each separately listed indicator and
the aggregate for all counties for each indicator.
(d) The report cards shall be prepared using actual local
school, county, state, regional and national data indicating the
present performance of the school and shall also include the state
norms and the upcoming year's targets for the school and the county
board.
The state board shall provide technical assistance to each
county board in preparing the school and school district report
cards.
Each county board shall prepare report cards in accordance
with the guidelines set forth in this section. The school district
report cards shall be presented at a regular school board meeting subject to applicable notice requirements and shall be made
available to a newspaper of general circulation serving the
district. The school report cards shall be mailed directly to the
parent or parents of any child enrolled in that school. In
addition, each county board shall submit the completed report cards
to the state board which shall make copies available to any person
requesting them.
The report cards shall be completed and disseminated prior to
January 1, 1989, and in each year thereafter, and shall be based
upon information for the current school year, or for the most
recent school year for which the information is available, in which
case the year shall be clearly footnoted.
(e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (c) of this
section, the school district report card shall list: (1) The names
of the members of the county board, the dates upon which their
terms expire and whether they have attended an orientation program
for new members approved by the state board and conducted by the
West Virginia School Board Association or other approved
organizations, and
number of hours of training that meets standards
prescribed by the West Virginia Board of Education received during
the school term reported other school board member training
programs; and (2) the names of the county school superintendent and
every assistant and associate superintendent and any training
programs related to their area of school administration which they have attended. The information shall also be reported by district
in the statewide school report card.
(f) The state board shall develop and implement a separate
report card for nontraditional public schools pursuant to the
appropriate provisions of this section to the extent practicable.
ARTICLE 4. COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
§18-4-1. Election and term; interim superintendent.
(a) The county superintendent shall be appointed by the board
upon a majority vote of the members thereof to serve for a term of
not less than one, nor more than four years. At the expiration of
the term or terms for which he or she shall have been appointed,
each county superintendent shall be eligible for reappointment for
additional terms of not less than one, nor more than four years:
Provided, That at the expiration of his or her term or terms of
service the county superintendent may transfer to any teaching
position in the county for which he or she is qualified and has
seniority, unless dismissed for statutory reasons. The appointment
of the county superintendent shall be made
after January 1, and on
or before June 1 for a term beginning on July 1 following the
appointment.
(b) A county superintendent who fills a vacancy caused by an
incomplete term shall be appointed to serve until the following
July 1:
Provided, however, That the board may appoint an interim
county superintendent to serve for a period not to exceed
one hundred twenty two hundred forty days from the occurrence of the
vacancy.
(c) The president of the county board, immediately upon the
appointment of the county superintendent, or the appointment of an
interim county superintendent, shall certify the appointment to the
state superintendent.
(d) During his or her term of appointment, the county
superintendent shall be a resident of the county, or of a
contiguous county in this state, which he or she serves. The
county superintendent in office on the effective date of this
section shall continue in office until the expiration of his or her
term.
§18-4-2. Qualifications; health certificate; disability; acting
superintendent.
(a) Each county superintendent shall hold a professional
administrative certificate endorsed for superintendent, or a first
class permit endorsed for superintendent, subject to the following:
(1) A superintendent who holds a first class permit may be
appointed for one year only, and may be reappointed two times for
an additional year each upon an annual evaluation by the county
board and a determination of satisfactory performance and
reasonable progress toward completion of the requirements for a
professional administrative certificate endorsed for
superintendent;
(2) Any candidate for superintendent who possesses an earned
doctorate from an accredited institution of higher education and
either has completed three successful years of teaching in public
education or has the equivalent of three years of experience in
management or supervision as defined by state board rule, after
employment by the county board shall be granted a permanent
administrative certificate and shall be a licensed county
superintendent;
(3) The state board shall promulgate a legislative rule in
accordance with article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code, to address those cases where a county board finds that course
work needed by the county superintendent who holds a first class
permit is not available or is not scheduled at state institutions
of higher education in a manner which will enable the county
superintendent to complete normal requirements for a professional
administrative certificate within the three-year period allowed
under the permit; and
(4) Any person employed as assistant superintendent or
educational administrator prior to June 27, 1988, and who was
previously employed as superintendent is not required to hold the
professional administrative certificate endorsed for
superintendent.
(b) In addition to other requirements set forth in this
section, a county superintendent shall meet the following health-related conditions of employment:
(1) Before entering upon the discharge of his or her duties,
file with the president of the county board a certificate from a
licensed physician certifying the following:
(A) A tuberculin skin test, of the type Mantoux test (PPD skin
test), approved by the Director of the
Department Division of
Health, has been made within four months prior to the beginning of
the term of the county superintendent; and
(B) The county superintendent does not have tuberculosis in a
communicable state based upon the test results and any further
study;
(2) After completion of the initial test, the county
superintendent shall have an approved tuberculin skin test once
every two years or more frequently if medically indicated.
Positive reactors to the skin test are to be referred immediately
to a physician for evaluation and indicated treatment or further
studies;
(3) A county superintendent who is certified by a licensed
physician to have tuberculosis in a communicable stage shall have
his or her employment discontinued or suspended until the disease
has been arrested and is no longer communicable; and
(4) A county superintendent who fails to complete required
follow-up examinations as set forth in this subsection shall be
suspended from employment until a report of examination is confirmed.
(c) If the superintendent, due to accident or illness, becomes
incapacitated to an extent that could lead to prolonged absence,
the board, upon unanimous vote, may enter an order declaring the
incapacity and it shall appoint an acting superintendent until such
time as a majority of the members of the board determine that the
capacity no longer exists. However, an acting superintendent shall
not serve as such for more than one year, or later than the
expiration date of the superintendent's term, whichever is less,
without being reappointed by the board of education.
§18-4-4. Compensation.
On or before
the first day of May June 1 of the year in which
the superintendent is appointed, the board shall fix the annual
salary of the superintendent for the period of appointment for the
term beginning on the following July 1. The board shall pay the
salary from the general current expense fund of the district.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-1a. Eligibility of members; training requirements.
(a) No person shall be eligible for membership on any county
board who is not a citizen, resident in such county, or who accepts
a position as teacher or service personnel in the school district
in which he or she is a resident or who is an elected or an
appointed member of any political party executive committee, or who
becomes a candidate for any other office than to succeed oneself.
(b) No member or member-elect of any board shall be eligible
for nomination, election or appointment to any public office, other
than to succeed oneself, or for election or appointment as a member
of any political party executive committee, unless and until after
that membership on the board, or his
or her status as member-elect
to the board, has been terminated at or before the time of his
or
her filing for such nomination for, or appointment to, such public
office or committee:
Provided, That "office" or "committee", as
used in this subsection and subsection (a) of this section, does
not include service on any board, elected or appointed, profit or
nonprofit, for which the person does not receive compensation and
whose primary scope is not related to the public schools.
(c) A member or member-elect of a county board, or a person
desiring to become a member of a county board, may make a written
request to the West Virginia Ethics Commission for an advisory
opinion on whether another elected or appointed position held or
sought by the person is an office or public office which would bar
serving on the board pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this
section. Within thirty days of receipt of the request, the Ethics
Commission shall issue a written advisory opinion in response to
the request and shall also publish such opinion in a manner which
to the fullest extent possible does not reveal the identity of the
person making the request. Any county board member who relied in
good faith upon an advisory opinion issued by the West Virginia Ethics Commission that holding a particular office or public office
is not a bar from membership on a county board of education and
against whom proceedings are subsequently brought for removal from
the county board on the basis of holding such office or offices
shall be entitled to reimbursement by the county board for
reasonable attorney's fees and court costs incurred by the member
in defending against such proceedings, regardless of the outcome
the proceedings. Further, no vote cast by the member at a meeting
of the board shall be invalidated due to a subsequent finding that
holding the particular office or public is a bar to membership on
the county board. Good faith reliance on a written advisory
opinion of the West Virginia Ethics Commission that a particular
office or public office is not a bar to membership on a county
board of education is an absolute defense to any civil suit or
criminal prosecution arising from any proper action taken within
the scope of membership on the board, becoming a member-elect of
the board or seeking election to the board.
(d) Any person who is elected or appointed to a county board
on or after May 5, 1992, shall possess at least a high school
diploma or a general educational development (GED) diploma:
Provided, That this provision shall not apply to members or
members-elect who have taken office prior to May 5, 1992, and who
serve continuously therefrom.
(e) No person elected to a county board after July 1, 1990, shall assume the duties of board member unless he or she has first
attended and completed a course of orientation relating to
boardsmanship and governance effectiveness which shall be given
between the date of election and the beginning of the member's term
of office:
Provided, That a portion or portions of subsequent
training such as that offered in orientation may be provided to
members after they have commenced their term of office:
Provided,
however, That attendance at the session of orientation given
between the date of election and the beginning of the member's term
of office shall permit such member or members to assume the duties
of board member, as specified in this section. Members appointed
to the board shall attend and complete the next such course offered
following their appointment:
Provided further, That the provisions
of this section relating to orientation shall not apply to members
who have taken office prior to July 1, 1988, and who serve
continuously therefrom.
(f)
Commencing on the effective date of this section, members
Members shall annually receive seven clock hours of training in
areas relating to boardsmanship, governance effectiveness, and
school performance issues including, but not limited to, pertinent
state and federal statutes such as the "Process for Improving
Education" set forth in section five, article two-e of this chapter
and the "No Child Left Behind Act" and their respective
administrative rules. Such orientation and training shall be approved by the state board and conducted by the West Virginia
School Board Association or other organization or organizations
approved by the state board:
Provided, That the state board may
exclude time spent in training on school performance issues from
the requisite seven hours herein required:
Provided, however, That
if the state board elects to exclude time spent in training on
school performance issues from the requisite seven hours, such
training shall be limited by the state board to a feasible and
practicable amount of time. Failure to attend and complete such an
approved course of orientation and training relating to
boardsmanship and governance effectiveness without good cause as
determined by legislative rules of the state board shall constitute
neglect of duty.
(g) In the final year of any four-year term of office, a
member shall satisfy the annual training requirement before January
1.
(h) The state board shall appoint a committee known as the
"county board member training standards review committee" whose
members shall meet at least annually. The committee shall
determine, subject to state board approval, whether particular
trainings and training organizations shall be approved, and whether
county board members have satisfied the annual training
requirement. Members of the committee shall serve without
compensation but may be reimbursed by their agencies or employers for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the
performance of their duties under this subsection.
(i) The state board shall petition the circuit court of
Kanawha County to remove any county board member who has failed to
or who refuses to attend and complete the approved course of
orientation and training. If the county board member fails to show
good cause for not attending the approved course of orientation and
training, the court shall remove the member from office.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include the hours of
training county board members have acquired; interim term of county
superintendents; appointment of interim county superintendent in
cases of medical incapacitation; compensation; and county board
member training standards review committee.
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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