Senate Bill No. 385
(By Senators Withers, Wagner, Boley,
Bailey and Dalton)
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[Introduced March 17, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eighteen-a, article five,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring
county boards of education to limit the number of pupils in
each first grade class to not more than twenty pupils for
each teacher.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eighteen-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.
ยง18-5-18a. Maximum teacher-pupil ratio.
County boards of education shall provide, by the school year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-three--eighty-four ninety-three-
-ninety-four, and thereafter, sufficient personnel, equipment and
facilities as will ensure that each first and second gradeclassroom or classrooms having two or more grades that include
either the first or second grades shall not have more than
twenty-five twenty pupils for each teacher of the grade or grades
and county boards of education shall ensure that each
kindergarten session shall not have more than twenty pupils for
each kindergarten teacher per session, unless the state
superintendent has excepted a specific classroom or a specific
kindergarten session upon application therefor by a county board
of education.
County boards of education shall provide by the school year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-four--eighty-five, ninety-three-
-ninety-four, and continue thereafter, sufficient personnel,
equipment and facilities as will ensure that each second, third,
fourth, fifth and sixth grade classroom, or classrooms having two
or more grades that include one or more of the second, 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 ofclassrooms.
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 two 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 teacher in first grade classrooms and the
twenty pupils per kindergarten teacher per session limit or the
twenty-five pupils per teacher limit in grades one two through
six is waived in schools where the schoolwide pupil-teacher ratio
is twenty-five or less in grades one two 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
kindergarten teacher who has more than twenty pupils per session,any first grade teacher who has more than twenty pupils per
classroom and any classroom teacher of grades one two 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 and first grade
teachers or twenty-five for teachers of grades one two through
six for every day times the number of additional pupils enrolled
up to the maximum pupils permitted in the teacher's classroom.
All such additional compensation shall be paid from county funds
exclusively.
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 require county boards
of education to limit the number of pupils in each first grade
class to not more than twenty pupils for each teacher.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be strickenfrom the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.