H. B. 2623


(By Delegate Paxton)
[Introduced March 17, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to education; public school support; and foundation allowance for service personnel.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article nine-a, 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 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.

§18-9A-5. Foundation allowance for service personnel.

The basic foundation allowance to the county for service personnel shall be the amount of money required to pay the annual state minimum salaries in accordance with the provisions of article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code, to such service personnel employed: Provided, That no county shall may receive an allowance for an amount in excess of thirty-four servicepersonnel per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment: Provided, however, That the state superintendent of schools is authorized in accordance with rules and regulations established by the state board and upon request of a county superintendent to waive the maximum ratio of thirty-four service personnel per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment and the twenty percent per year growth cap provided in this section to the extent appropriations are provided, in those cases where the state superintendent determines that student population density and miles of bus route driven justify such waiver, except that no waiver shall may not be granted to any county whose financial statement shows a net balance in general current expense funds greater than three percent at the end of the previous fiscal year: Provided further, That on or before the first day of each regular session of the Legislature, the state board, through the state superintendent, shall make to the Legislature a full report concerning the number of waivers granted and the fiscal impact related thereto. Every county shall utilize methods other than reduction in force, such as attrition and early retirement, before implementing their reductions in force policy to comply with the limitations of this section.
For any county which has in excess of thirty-four service personnel per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment, such the allowance shall be computed based upon the average state minimum pay scale salary of all service personnel in such the county: Provided, That for any county having fewer thanthirty-four service personnel per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment, in any one year, the number of service personnel used in making this computation may be increased the succeeding years by no more than twenty percent per year of its total potential increase under this provision, except that in no case shall such limit be fewer than two service personnel until the county attains the maximum ratio set forth Provided, however That where two or more counties join together in support of a vocational or comprehensive high school or any other program or service, the service personnel for such the school or program may be prorated among the participating counties on the basis of each one's enrollment therein and that such the personnel shall be considered within the above-stated limit.
Every county board of education shall annually determine the number of service personnel employed that exceeds the number allowed by the public school support plan and determine the amount of salary supplement that would be available per state authorized employee if all expenditures for such the excess employees were converted to annual salaries for state authorized service personnel. Such This information shall be published annually in each school report card of each county.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the reference in the existing law to computation of minimum pay for service personnel in counties which have fewer than 34 service personnel per 1000 students. Currently, this computation may be increased in succeeding years by 20% a year of its total potential increase.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.