Senate Bill No. 410
(By Senator Lucht)
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[Introduced March 19, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article five-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to local
school improvement councils; and removing the requirement
that recommendations submitted by local school improvement
councils to the legislative oversight committee requesting
a waiver of certain rules and statutes be submitted to the
Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article five-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 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-3. Authority and procedures for local school improvement
councils to request waivers of certain rules, policies and
interpretations.
The intent of this section is to establish a mechanism whichallows local school level initiatives to be designed and
implemented to meet local school needs and circumstances. In
accordance with this intent, a local school improvement council
established under the provisions of this article may propose
alternatives to the operation of the public school which
alternatives will meet or exceed the high quality standards
established by the state board and will increase administrative
efficiency, enhance the delivery of instructional programs,
promote community involvement in the local school system or
improve the educational performance of the school generally. The
proposal of the council shall set forth the objective or
objectives to be accomplished under the proposal, how the
accomplishment of such objective or objectives will meet or
exceed the standards established by the state board, the
indicators upon which the meeting of such standards should be
judged and a projection of any funds to be saved by the proposal
and how such funds will be reallocated within the school. The
alternatives proposed by the council may include matters which
require the waiver of policies or rules promulgated by the state
or county board of education, state superintendent
interpretations and interpretations of the county or state boards
of education: Provided, That such request for waiver be
submitted to the appropriate board adopting said rule or policy
and that board may approve the waiver: Provided, however, That
the state superintendent need only be notified that the local
council intends to waive the interpretation: Provided further,That notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the
contrary, council is not prohibited from permitting off-site
classrooms to be developed in conjunction with local businesses
if those sites have met the requirements established by the local
board of education and if sites are located off campus. For an
alternative to be proposed, at least two-thirds of the members
must vote in favor thereof: And provided further, That if the
alternative to be proposed relates to a waiver of policies or
rules, promulgated by the state or county board of education,
state superintendent interpretations and interpretations of the
county or state boards of education affecting employees, then
prior to the proposal of the alternative, a majority of the local
affected employee group involved must agree.
A council may also submit a written statement, with
supporting reasons, to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability recommending a waiver of a statute or
legislative rule, which the commission shall review and determine
whether a recommendation should be made to the Legislature to
waive such statute or rule.
When a council decides to propose an alternative, it shall
forward a copy of the proposal to the state board of education
and the affected local board of education. The state board shall
acknowledge receipt of the proposed alternative, promptly review
the proposed alternative in consultation with the county board or
their agents and, in its discretion, approve implementation of
the alternative or reply to the council within a reasonable timeas to its reasons for not approving the proposed alternative. If
the state board approves a proposed alternative, the state board
shall provide appropriate notice to the local school improvement
council and the county board of education and shall establish a
process for evaluation of the operation of the alternative.
Approval for the operation of the alternative may be continued or
revoked at any time based on the results and findings of the
evaluation.
The state board shall submit a report to the legislative
oversight commission on education accountability and the governor
on the first day of July of each year summarizing the proposed
alternatives received, approved or rejected, continued or revoked
during the preceding school year and the results and findings of
the evaluations. The report shall specifically identify all
policy, rule, and interpretation waiver requests received during
the preceding year and the disposition of each.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement
that recommendations for waivers of rules and statutes by school
improvement councils submitted to the legislative oversight
committee on education accountability be made only to the
Legislature.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.