H. B. 2068
(By Delegates Spencer and Ashcraft)
[Introduced February 10, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article five, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
corporal punishment in the public schools.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article five, chapter eighteen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-1. Authority of teachers and other school personnel;
exclusion of pupils having infectious diseases; suspension
or expulsion of disorderly pupils; corporal punishment
abolished.
The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent or
guardian in exercising authority over the school, and shall have
control of all pupils enrolled in the school from the time they
reach the school until they have returned to their respectivehomes, except that where transportation of pupils is provided,
the driver in charge of the school bus or other mode of
transportation shall exercise such authority and control over the
children while they are in transit to and from the school.
Subject to the rules of the state board of education, the teacher
shall exclude from the school any pupil or pupils known to have
or suspected of having any infectious disease, or any pupil or
pupils who have been exposed to such disease, and shall
immediately notify the proper health officer, or medical
inspector, of such exclusion. Any pupil so excluded shall not be
readmitted to the school until such pupil has complied with all
the requirements of the rules governing such cases, or has
presented a certificate of health signed by the medical inspector
or other proper health officer. The teacher shall have authority
to suspend any pupil guilty of disorderly, refractory, indecent
or immoral conduct, and the district board of education may expel
or exclude any such pupil if, on investigation, the conduct of
such pupil is found to be detrimental to the progress and the
general conduct of the school.
The principal shall have the authority to administer
moderate corporal punishment by means of the open hand or a
paddle subject to the following restrictions:
(1) Corporal punishment should be administered only as a
last resort after use of alternative methods of discipline have
failed to correct the inappropriate pupil behavior;
(2) Pupils are informed of the rules and regulations thatgovern the school;
(3) The pupil is informed of the school rule or rules
allegedly violated and is given an opportunity to explain his or
her behavior prior to the administration of corporal punishment;
(4) Punishment is administered without anger or malice. The
amount of physical force used is not wanton or in excess of the
offense, is suitable to the pupil's age and mental and physical
conditions and is applied without discrimination;
(5) The punishment is administered by the school principal
or by a specific designee authorized by the principal to
administer such punishment and in either case in the presence of
another adult professional employee and not in the presence of
another pupil;
(6) The punishment is administered by use of the open hand
or paddle to the buttocks;
(7) A report which includes a description of the pupil's
conduct prompting the use of corporal punishment and the name of
the witness is attempted to be made informally by telephone or
notice sent with the child to the parent or guardian at least
twelve hours prior to administration of the corporal punishment
and is made orally in the school office by the end of the school
day and a written report is filed in the school office within
twenty-four hours of the incident;
(8) The parent or guardian of the pupil is notified in
writing of each instance of corporal punishment within three
school days;
(9) Each school principal shall be responsible for the
maintenance of discipline in his school;
(10) Corporal punishment shall not be administered to a
pupil: (a) Identified as handicapped, learning, hearing, mentally
or behaviorally disabled; or (b) whose parent has petitioned in
writing to the school principal that corporal punishment not be
administered to the pupil and attached a certificate from a
physician that by reason of a physical or emotional condition the
pupil should not be subjected to corporal punishment; or (c) if
medical information available to school authorities indicates
that the pupil should not be subjected to corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment of any pupil by a school employee is
prohibited.
The West Virginia board of education and county boards of
education shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions of
this section encouraging the use of alternatives to corporal
punishment, providing for the training of school personnel in
alternatives to corporal punishment and for the involvement of
parents and guardians in the maintenance of school discipline.
For the purpose of this section: (1) "Pupil" shall include
any child, youth or adult who is enrolled in any instructional
program or activity conducted under board authorization and
within the facilities of or in connection with any program under
public school direction: Provided, That in the case of adults
the pupil-teacher relationship shall terminate when the pupil
leaves the school or other place of instruction or activity; (2)"teacher" shall mean all professional educators as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code and
shall include the driver of a school bus or other mode of
transportation.
Teachers shall exercise such other authority and perform
such other duties as may be prescribed for them by law or by the
rules of the state board of education not inconsistent with the
provisions of this chapter and chapter eighteen.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to abolish corporal
punishment in the public schools.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.